LG announces iPhone-looking Prada phone

Seoul (Korea) - LG Electronics has announced a touchscreen Prada phone that looks and functions eerily like Apple’s iPhone. The phone, much like its Chocolate phone cousin, is marketed towards luxury users and includes a leather case, pre-loaded content and ring tones. LG’s phone could even beat Apple’s iPhone to market.

The tri-band 12mm thin phone normally has glowing touch-sensitive icons, but the icons disappear when the phone is not in use. A 2 megapixel camera on the back has an LED flash along with a Schneider-Kreuznach lens. Like other Korean phones, the Prada phone can play back MP3/ACC/WMA music along with MPEG4/H.264 video clips. Extra content can be loaded through a MicroSD slot.

Unfortunately there is no mention of the phone coming to the United States. The phone will be sold starting in February to the UK, France, Germany and Italy for about $775 (US). Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore will get the phone in late March. LG’s home country Korea will have the phone in the second quarter.

LG’s choice of marketing a phone with a Prada name makes sense for fashion conscious consumers in Asia. Prada is known for making fashionable and high-end accessories like handbags and sunglasses.