Phone model updates

LG Electronics has announced the Prada Phone; set to go on sale in late February for 600 Euros. It will be sold through Prada stores, as well as the usual mobile phone retailers, in Europe. The Prada phone bears a lot of similarities with the recently announced Apple iPhone; it has a wide screen display, a 2-megapixel camera and more significantly, it has a no-button interface with the entire phone covered by a touch sensitive screen. Talking about the iPhone (again!), it will be interesting to see what other phone manufacturers come up with between now and June (when the iPhone is due to hit the market in the US); our bet is that many will come up with touch screen interfaces "inspired" by the hype generated by the Apple gadget. Will they steal the wind out of Apple's sails? and will Apple be driven to perhaps follow up the first iPhone with a more advanced version (3G?), within a month or two of launching the iPhone? Depends on how much they care about the non-US market. What is puzzling is their decision to market the iPhone in late '07 in Europe.. lots can happen between now and end of the year; giving competition much breathing space.

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