Last night Apple unleashed the iPhone. A new mobile that was suppose to be a reinvention of the phone, at least according to Jobs himself. The main feature of the iPhone is most certainly the very aesthetically appealing [multiple input] touchscreen that has killed off the need for any actual buttons. Everything is handled via the large 3.5″ display with a 480×320 pixel resolution (160dpi). One of the main features of the iPhone is its ability to double as an iPod and to do that it comes with up to 8 GB of integrated storage. When it comes to the remaining specifications they are, to be frank, not that impressive.
The iPhone has WiFi, Bluetooth, EDGE, 2 Mpixel camera, 8h talktime and 250h standby time. Nothing out of the ordinary and certainly not revolutionary. The 2Mpixel camera has to be considered substandard considering the quality of today’s high-end phones and smartphones. The insides of the iPhone can be seen over at Anandtech.
The video playback features of the iPhone is quite nice though, but really only strengthens what yours truly have been hearing so far, “it’s an iPod you can also make phone calls from.” Living in Scandinavia we may have a different perspective or other needs than the American market, but the iPhone doesn’t impress us the least, besides the sweet-looking touchscreen interface of course.
The choice of webapps instead of an actual SDK has been harshly criticized by programmers worldwide and there are some drawbacks Apple seems to have simply ignored in favor of the “coolness” of using Safari for everything. The fact that you have to be connected at all times to actually use the services. (what your experience of AT&T’s coverage?)
Enter the Prada.
On the 28th LG launched The Prada Phone, also known as KE850. The Prada surfaced back in December when LG unveiled its creation at a small electronics convention in Asia. It showed off an impressive design, but most of all an intuitive and complete touchscreen interface. The Prada is smaller (115x61x11.6mm vs. 99x54x12mm) and much lighter than the iPhone (135 vs 85g) and while the iPhone is indeed button-free, the Prada does have a few buttons; make call, end call and a back button on the front, plus four buttons on the sides.
On the right side you have quick button for the key/screen lock and a button that can do two things; start the music player (quick press) or the camera (long press). On the left side there are two more buttons. One for activating the speaker phone and one for adjusting the volume. There is also a hidden multipurpose connector (USB cable, headphones, charger) there.
The specifications are a mixed bless. The camera of the Prada seems to be slightly better than the iPhone’s, but mainly because of better optics and improved the autofocus and LED flash. It’s still just 2Mpixel. The Prada doesn’t have that much internal storage (8 MB), but instead a microSD slot and ships with a 256MB memory card. MicroSD is cheap though, 2GB costs about $25. The Prada doesn’t have WiFi either, which is rather unfortunate to be honest.
Both phones cause some mixed feelings, but while the Prada never claimed to be a revolution, just a stylish companion, the iPhone did and you have to be stoned to believe it [own remark]. None of the phones are 3G and both are very expensive. The Prada costs $675 and then you can pick a subscription of your choice. The iPhone will cost you to three times as much as just the phone itself costs $499-599, while the subscription will cost at least $59.99 a month for two years.
