There has been a rumor flowing about the stylish LG Prada Mobile phone KE850, that it is the smarthphone that Verizon Wireless plans to use to fight AT&T (Cingular) when the iPhone ships next month.
The Prada delivers an advanced touch-screen interface, called ClearPad, which is similar to the MultiTouch technology Apple is incorporating into the iPhone. Verizon Wireless’ counter-phone is as slim as the LG Prada. This sleek phone which measures half-inch thick and has a 3-inch touch-screen, also includes a camera, and can also play music and videos and allow for document viewing.
According to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, it can be said that the iPhone is thinner that typical smartphones. Apple iPhone features a 3.5-inch, 160 dot-per-inch color screen, a 2 mega pixel digital camera and a touchscreen that the company calls “Multitouchâ€.
While the Apple iPhone will sell for $500 (4GB model) and $600 (8GB model) with a two-year agreement, the Prada will go for around $600 without a contract. Therefore, Verizon, if it chooses, could subsidize the Prada to lower the cost to buy one significantly for its customers, making it even more competitive with the iPhone.
Verizon Wireless’s Vice President, Jim Grace commented, “We said no. We have nothing bad to say about the Apple iPhone. We just couldn’t reach a deal that was mutually beneficial.” Grace said that Verizon has no regrets about turning down the iPhone, but “Time will tell” if they made the right decision. Denny Stigl, Verizon COO, hints that Verizon has the upper hand here, due to the iPhone being locked into Cingular’s inferior network for five years, adding, “The issue is not the Apple-ness of the iPhone itself, but with the cellular network that it is running on…That will be the true test of the iPhone: What will the iPhone experience be?”
In February 2007, LG had accused Apple iPhone for copying its LG Prada concept.
