The PRADA Phone by LG (KE850), better known as the LG Prada,[2] is a touchscreen mobile phone made by LG Electronics, created in collaboration with Italian luxury designer Prada.[3] It was first announced on 12 December 2006[4][5] and was made official in a press release on 18 January 2007.[2]
The Prada was the first mobile device with a capacitive touchscreen, thus not requiring the use of a stylus.[6] Its black minimalist look, designed by Kang-Heui Cha,
The LG Prada was announced shortly before Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the iPhone on 9 January 2007.[10][11][12] After the release of the iPhone the head of the LG Mobile Handset R&D Center was quoted saying he believed Apple had stolen the idea from the Prada after it was announced as part of the iF Design Award, where it won a prize in March 2007.[13]
The LG KE850 phone featured a glass covered touchscreen,[14] with a monochromatic user interface based on Flash, and there are influences by Prada not only in the interface but some pre-loaded content on the device such as ringtones.[15] There is a Micro SD slot for expandable memory, Bluetooth, and a few other extras include the ability to view PDF and Microsoft Office documents.[16] Four games were pre-loaded: Halloween Fever, Photo Puzzle, Virus, Pipe.
The model released in South Korea also featured a DMB TV receiver.[17]
The KE850 Prada was first released in the UK, France and Italy in March 2007,[1] retailing for 599 euros, followed by other European territories as well as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea.[18] It was not released in American territories.[19]
A silver coloured model of the Prada was released in January 2008. It also featured a virtual QWERTY keyboard in place of T9.[20]
The KE850 sold 1 million units[21][22] in the first 18 months.[23] The touch slate design of the Prada would then influence those of other phones by LG, including the LG KS20 Windows Mobile smartphone,[24] and the LG Viewty in 2007.[25]
A successor, the LG Prada II (KF900) was announced in October 2008,[26] as well as the LG Prada 3.0 (P940) in 2012.
