Camera Phones Plaza

Is that time of the year when all manufacturers are rolling out as many devices as they can in order to consolidate their portfolio before the shopping season. It seems like this year, mobile phones manufacturers are launching as many phones as they can to compete with BlackBerry devices. The BlackBerry devices started to become one by one a market success. Therefore, the other manufacturers are trying to bring into their product the BlackBerry vibe, either for the business users or normal users who wants a top level (high end) phone. Samsung is one of the few manufacturers that are starting to release phones with full QWERTY keyboard, with both candy bar form factor and slide form factor.

A Samsung phone that is attacking directly the BlackBerry share of the market is the B7330 Omnia PRO announced in September this year, with a release date of end of October 2009. This phone sports an excellent business design. Samsung successfully merged normal materials with nice finishes and created a conservative, yet styled design. The front case of the B7330 Omnia Pro includes a nice glossy frame that surrounds the display and a matte grey plastic frame with a full black keyboard (with ten red keys, the number keys).

Above the display you get beside the earpiece an ambient light sensor, and the second video camera that enables the video calling. Under the display you get the four way navigational key (up down, left and right) with the centered OK key. on the left side of the four way key you get one soft key, the home key, and the call key, while on the right side of the four way key you can find another soft key, the back key, and the end call key. All the navigational keys are well sized, easy to use, and made out of a nice material.

Under the navigational keys you can find the full QWERTY keyboard, with acceptable sized keys, made out of the same material, and that offers great feedback. However, unless you are really familiar with a QWERTY keyboard, don't try to type in a hurry because you just might write a completely different message. The top and bottom part of the B7330 Omnia PRO lack any ports, slots or buttons.

On the right side of this phone you can find the covered (with glossy black plastic) memory card slot and the dedicated camera key, while on the left side, Samsung included the volume controls and the combo port (or universal port) with the headset / charger / connectivity cable, also covered with the same glossy black plastic cap. The back cover of this phone sports a glossy black plastic finish, which makes the B7330 too slippery. Samsung included in the upper side, centered, the 3.2 megapixels digital camera lenses and the loudspeaker grill. Unfortunately the camera lacks LED or Xenon flash, but includes auto focus. Overall, the B7330 Omnia PRO sports a nice design with a good build quality.

The build quality is almost solid, but can't be considered flawless because of the back cover made out of a rather thin glossy plastic. With a height of 114.9 mm, wide of 59 mm, deep of 10.8 mm, the B7330 weights about 107 grams, making this phone easy to carry around. The B7330 Omnia PRO works in 2 G network - GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, and 3 G network HSDPA 900 / 1900 / 2100. Samsung included a 2.62 inches TFT display with a resolution of 320 x 320 pixels, capable of rendering about 65000 colors. Thanks to the ambient light sensor, this display will provide sufficient brightness under any environment light conditions.

The 528 MHz processor and the 256 MB of RAM are more than sufficient to run the latest operating system, Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5 standard. It is needless to say that this operating system is flawless. Some people prefer S60 software for their business applications, but in the light of day, the Windows Mobile 6.5 standard is the best solution for a business orientated phone. Neither iPhone OS 3.0 or Android have successfully achieved the level of the Microsoft operating system for mobile phones.

Samsung added about 270 MB to the onboard memory value, expandable by using micro SD memory cards or Trans Flash memory cards up to 32 GB. The connectivity is well ensured by the Class 10 GPRS with 4+1 / 3+2 slots, with a varying speed from the lower 32 KB per second up to 48 Kb per second, HSDPA with the higher value of 7.2 MB per second, HSCSD, EDGE Class 10 with a maximum speed of 236.8 Kb per second, HSUPA with 2 MB per second, Wi-Fi with 802.11 b/g profile, Bluetooth version 2.0 with A2DP profile, and USB connectivity.

Beside the front cover camera for the video calling, B7330 Omnia PRO includes a 3.15 megapixel digital camera with a maximum resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels including auto focus and geo tagging. This isn't the best camera ever embedded into a phone, but it is an average camera for a business phone model, since it is highly unlikely to see 8 megapixel cameras on business phones until the end of next year. By know you probably already realized that Windows Mobile 6.5 standard includes beside excellent audio and video player, Microsoft Outlook Mobile, Pocket Office, which enables you not only to view, but also to edit Word documents, Excel documents, and to strictly view Power Point documents, and PDFs.

By doing so, Samsung successfully completed the user experience. The on board Lithium Ion battery has a value of 1500 mAh. However, we must wait for the final version to hit the stores before jumping to conclusions regarding the offered battery. Overall, the B7330 Omnia PRO can be considered a good competitor against the BlackBerry, especially because it its line you can find more than one phone. The direct sibling of the B7330 Omnia PRO is the B7320 Omnia PRO. This Samsung model sports a better design, by all means. The B7320 Omnia Pro was first announced on May 2009, and released a few months later, in August 2009.

With a height of 111.8 mm, wide of 59.6 mm, deep of 12.6 mm, the B7320 weights more than B7330, 110 grams. Even so, it not a big phone, or impossible to carry around; more likely it's the other way around. The B7320 sports an excellent design, with a full brown metallic - plastic case. Samsung has successfully merged these two materials and created a beautiful look. The front cover sports around the display a glossy look, while the front frame is made out of brown metal. Above the display you get beside the "Samsung" logo, the ambient light sensor, and the second video camera for enabling the video calls.

Under the display you can easily find the navigational buttons, which look exquisite made out of a trans-lucid material (basically similar to plastic). However, the style overcomes functionality. Therefore, be prepared to press hard on those navigational keys in order to get a proper feedback. As you already imagined, the B7320 includes a four way key (up, down, left and right), with a centered Ok key made out of stainless steel. You get two more buttons in the navigational pad of the B7320 than in B7330.

Therefore, you can find two soft keys, the home key, the mute key, the call key, the lock switch, the back key and the end call key. Under the navigational keys you can find the same QWERTY keyboard from the B7330, with acceptable sized keys, including several empowering keys such as messaging, browser, sync, or even camera key. I suggest you take your time when typing a text for the first time with this keyboard, since you might need some adjusting time. You can find on the right side of this phone the micro SD memory card slot (covered with a nice brown plastic cap), while on the left side you can find the volume controls and the combo port, headset / connection / charger (covered with the same plastic brown cap).

On the back side of this phone you will get a 3.15 megapixel digital camera, and the loudspeaker grill. The B7320 Omnia PRO works in both 2G network (GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900) and 3G network (HSDPA 900 / 1900 / 2100). Samsung included in this model a 2.4 inches display with a 320 x 240 pixels resolution, capable of rendering up to 65000 colors. The available operating system is Windows Mobile 6.1 standard, upgradeable to Windows Mobile 6.5. Even more, you don't need to worry about hardware specifications, because this phone will run easily the latest operating system thanks to the Qualcomm MSM 7201A 528 MHz processor, with 256 MB of RAM.

The same business applications are also onboard, Pocket Office, Microsoft Outlook Mobile, Adobe Flash Lite, Windows Media Player 10, and others. The on board memory is only about 100 MB, expandable value using the micro SD memory cards or the Trans Flash memory cards, up to 16 GB.

The connectivity department is well ensured, but not as fast as the one found on the B7330, with Class 10 GPRS (4+1 / 3+2 slots) with a varying speed from 32 Kb per second and 48 Kb per second, HSCSD, HSDPA with a maximum speed of 3.6 MB per second, HSCSD, Class 10 EDGE with a maximum speed of 236.8 Kb per second, Wi-Fi with the 802.11 b/g profile, second version of Bluetooth including the A2DP profile, and second version of USB connection. The included camera on this model is a 3.15 megapixel camera with a top photo resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels including several features like auto focus, geo tagging, and face and smile detection. The Lithium Ion battery included within the B7320 Omnia PRO has a value of 1480 mAh, sufficient for 590 hours of standby time and up to 10 hours of talk time. For an average user these values mean about 3 days of autonomy.

Overall, the Omnia PRO B7320 is a more stylish competitor for the BlackBerry aiming the public that want the BlackBerry only for the connectivity, design, and QWERTY keyboard. The second phone, B7330 Omnia PRO is strictly aiming the business user who needs a business phone, with a conservative look, and a QWERTY keyboard. Even more, Samsung successfully delivers two candy form competitors for the BlackBerry devices.

It is impossible to correctly predict the next step in the continuous evolution of the mobile phones. Some time ago everybody thought that the touch screen is the ultimate challenge. Time brought the truth to the surface. With some time and money invested the touch screen technology was not even that hard to reach. Well, only for Nokia the touch screen feature was very hard to develop and include in their phones. Only now, at the end of 2009, Nokia just released (not yet user approved) the capacitive touch screen within the X6. Until the X6 you really had to use that horrible stylus to get around the menu (which basically works within slow motion on the half of the Nokia touch screen phones).

However, the rest of the manufacturers have easily come up with good touch screens and excellent back software development. Right now, the current trend has changed its course, from the fully touch screen phones, to the touch screen plus keyboard phones. Because everybody is so into every single trend that goes on in United States, the QWERTY phones have started to conquer the Europe markets as well. These phones that I am talking about are not business phone models (were the QWERTY keyboard is necessary) but multimedia phones (at best). It all started with the release of the social networking web sites, which easily grew in popularity in a record time.

For anyone that doesn't want to use BlackBerry gadgets alternative QWERTY phones are essential. Even more, there was no point in buying a business phone only for the full keyboard. Therefore, manufacturers like LG started to create phones with QWERTY keyboard, affordable for the mass customers. The AT&T is one of the most famous carrier phones in the United States, since 2007 when the iPhone carrier controversy exploded. Since then, AT&T started to improve its portfolio (not only the subscription offer but also the dual banded phones). LG is one of the few manufacturers that decided to brand some of their phones with the AT&T logo. Two of QWERTY AT&T branded phones from LG, released this year, is the LG GT 365 Neon also known as LG TE 365 and the LG Xenon.

The first phone, GT Neon 365 was announced and released in March 2009. Basically this phone looks the same like the KS 360. However, the details make a true difference between this two phone models. In terms, of design, the GT 365 sports an interesting form factor, QWERTY slider from right to left. The phone is made entirely out of plastic. No special finishes will improve the phone's looks. The front cover sports a black look (not glossy plastic) with the earpiece above the display and the navigational buttons below the display.

The navigational buttons are also made out of plastic which makes them a little harder to use. This phone lack a five way key pad, but sports separate keys with the same controls (left, right, up, down, and ok). You also get two fully customizable soft keys, the key pad key (to display on the semi touch screen display the key pad to dial a phone number), the back key, the call key, and the end call key, which also contains the turn off and on function. The QWERTY keyboard can be opened from right to left (in that moment the phone's display changes from portrait mode to landscape mode).

The full keyboard sports round keys, not very great in terms of form factor. However, you can easily text even within a hurry. A nice feature is the backlight of the QWERTY keyboard. The build quality is not exceptional, but it works, you shouldn't have any particularly problems with this phone. It looks nice with the black - white - green - yellow combination (youthful target to say at least). The main disadvantage of this phone is that it runs in the 2G network only, GSM 850 / 1800 / 1900. With a height of 101.5 mm, wide of 51 mm, deep of 16.8 inches, the GT 365 weights about 108 grams. The phone is rather average in terms of weight or dimensions.

LG included into the GT 365 a 2.4 inches TFT display with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels, capable of rendering about 256000 colors. The only capable features of the display are the touch screen dialing, plus the OK on screen button. In terms of software, you are going to appreciate this phone since it includes anything you might need, excellent phone book, average music and video player, good calendar and other features. The onboard memory is limited to 15 MB, expandable value using the micro SD memory cards or Trans Flash memory cards, with 4 GB unit. The connectivity is not the best ensured department, since you will have to work only with GPRS, EDGE, Bluetooth (the 2.0 version with the A2DP profile), and USB 2.0 connectivity. LG included in this phone only a 2 megapixel digital camera with a maximum photo resolution of 1600 x 1200 pixels.

A nice feature is the photo and video editor which will allow you to improve the quality of your photos taken and videos recorded. The included battery is almost a joke with the 800 mAh Lithium Ion battery, which theoretically will allow 250 hours of standby and up to 4 hours of talk time. Basically you will not get more than 36 hours of autonomy. Overall the GT 365 Neon is a good balanced average phone sporting a QWERTY keyboard. If you are willing to go online with GPRS and EDGE then the LG GT 365 Neon might be a good solution. The second LG model, developed for AT&T is the Xenon.

This phone is truly an evolution from the Neon, not only in design but also in features. The Xenon was announced in March 2009, and released in April 2009. The Xenon looks really attractive with a matte plastic in lighter and darker blue with metallic effect, and the stainless steel front frame. You get the same form factor, slider but from left to right. Basically, the Xenon looks great closed and opened. The front cover sports a nice display, above it being placed the earpiece, while below the display you can find beside the "AT&T" logo the multitasking / launcher key, the call key and the end call key.

When opened the QWERTY keyboard looks very nice, with good sized keys made out of a good plastic. However, these keys are almost united between them, LG leaving almost no space. As you can imagine the usability is affected by this disadvantage. However, for someone who doesn't sport big fingers, the keyboard is accessible in usage. The feedback is well presented, and you get no flex when using the keys. Overall, the build quality is certainly remarkable, LG delivering a solid build quality. With a height of 105.5 mm, wide of 53.5 mm, deep of 15.8 inches, the Xenon weights about 108 grams. This phone is not the lightest or thinnest on the market but it will certainly be a good compromise for any AT&T user that needs a good QWERTY phone.

LG included in this phone a 2.8 inches touch screen TFT display with a resolution of 240 x 400 pixels, capable of rendering up to 65000 colors. The Xenon is really improved in the network department, running in both 2G networks GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 and 3G network HSDPA with 850 / 1900. The embedded memory has a value of 80 MB, expandable if you are planning to use the micro SD memory cards or Trans Flash memory card, up to 16 GB.

The connectivity department is ensured by the Class 10 GPRS (4+1 / 3+2 slots) with a varying speed between 32 Kb per second and 48 Kb per second, Class 10 EDGE with a maximum speed 236.8 Kb per second, HSCSD, Bluetooth version 2.0 with A2DP, HSDPA with a maximum speed of 3.6 MB per second, and version 2.0 micro USB connections. However, the Xenon still lacks Wi-Fi. The same digital camera from the GT 365 Neon was included in the Xenon, 2 megapixel digital camera, with a resolution of 1600 x 1200 pixels, LED flash, with geo tagging. The camera can only record videos in QVGA mode with 15 frames per second. LG included within this phone a better Lithium Ion battery, 950 mAh, capable of 264 hours of standby time, or 4 hours of talk time. For an average user, these values mean about 2 hours of maximum autonomy.

Overall, the LG Xenon is a good phone, definitely better than GT 365 Neon, with an excellent design, better connectivity, and a better delivered performances. The QWERTY phones, non business, are certainly trying to deliver the new direction in the mobile phones market. However, it is highly unlike that all manufacturers are going to deliver the middle range phones with a QWERTY keyboard. Therefore, at best the middle to multimedia QWERTY phones successfully created a new range in the mobile phone market.

The year 2007 represented a serious knockdown for every phone manufacturer, mainly because of the iPhone launch. Since then we have seen so many supposed competitors of the iPhone, from all the manufacturers. Even now, in the end of 2009, none of the phone manufacturers successfully launched a serious competitor. Even so, with the launch of so many mobile phones, some good and some bad, you can certainly find a late 2008, early 2009, touch screen phone with excellent features, acceptable interface, and a small price tag. If you are looking for a semi cheap phone but nice looking and not yet retiring, you should look at LG KC 910 Renoir.

This is a solid phone not only in build quality but also in hardware specifications, since the LG KC 910i Renoir (announced in February 2009 and released in May 2009) sports the same hardware configurations with smaller improvements but higher price than KC 910 Renoir. The KC 910 Renoir was announced in 2008, and released in late November, 2008. Even so, you might be surprised to find out, what excellent features this phone packs.

Therefore let's have a quick look at the key features offered by KC 910 Renoir, such as 3 inches touch screen TFT display, 8 megapixel camera (including the xenon flash and other important features like face tracking), video recording n excellent format, great connectivity, multitasking enabled, Office document viewing and editing, handwriting recognition, and the DivX / XviD video playback.

The main disadvantages of this phone includes several small details as no video streaming within the Wi-Fi connection, stylus included in the package but no stylus compartment onboard the KC 910 Renoir, and the "love it or hate it" design. As you can notice, LG successfully created a market success, this being the reason for which KC 910i Renoir was launched (it would have been even better if the KC 910i Renoir would have packed 12 megapixels camera than the 8 megapixels camera from the KC 910 Renoir).


In the design department, the Renoir, both first and second generation sports a merged design between the conservative looks and the stylish design. In my opinion this kind of merged design should be more often used by manufacturers, since it offers the phone a higher value than it might actually has. This phone is made out of high quality materials, the front cover being made out of glossy material (fingerprint magnet and scratches magnet), while the back cover is made out of metallic looking materials.  On the front side of the KC 910 Renoir you can find above the display beside the "LG" logo and the earpiece the second digital camera for enabling the video calls, and a light senor for a better screen brightness adjustment.


Below the 3 inches display you get only three physical keys, including the launch / task manager application, the call key and the end call key (which also includes the power on and off function). On the right side of Renoir you can find the volume controls (with the down key also featuring the mute function), the lock / shutter key (for turning off the touch screen), and the camera dedicated key. On the left side of the KC 910 Renoir, LG included the universal connectivity port (with computer connectivity, recharge function, and headset adapter) covered by a plastic cap. Also covered with a plastic cap on the left side is the memory card slot. On the back side, Renoirs sports in the upper left corner a nice designed 8 megapixel camera lenses with the Xenon flash.


This camera also includes lens cover, which may seem hard to open, depending on the occasion (sometimes works flawlessly, and sometimes you won't get to open this lens cover until the third try). Both top and bottom sides of the Renoir lack of any ports, slots or buttons. To complete the design LG also added some really nice touches, such as the stainless steel frame surrounding the Renoir. With a height of 10.78 mm, wide of 55.9 mm, deep of 14 mm, the KC 910 Renoir weights about 114 grams, making this phone average in terms of portability.


Overall, in terms of design this phone looks very good with its conservative looks rolled within a stylish finish, while in terms of construction this phone is really well build, Samsung quality even. If you were wondering, under the back cover of the Renoir, LG included a standard Lithium Ion battery with 1000 mAh, capable of 264 hours in standby time, and about 3 hours in talk time. These values should mean for an average user about three (or maximum four) days of autonomy. Even more, if you use your phone less than others, or the Renoir is your second phone, you should get up to six days of autonomy. This phone will run in both 2G network with GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 quad band version, or GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900 tri band version, and 3G network with both HSDPA 900 / 2100 and HSDPA 850 / 1900 (the American version of Renoir).


LG included within this phone a 3 inches TFT resistive touch screen with a resolution of 240 x 400 pixels, capable of rendering up to 256000 colors. LG also embedded an accelerometer sensor for auto rotate. Even more, the ambient light sensor does its job and successfully adjusts the brightness level within the light conditions in every environment. Therefore, you should have no problems using this phone under direct sunlight. However, the reflective angle might be annoying since the front cover of this phone is glossy, making the light reflect from the case. Unfortunately, this display is only resistive and doesn't sport the capacitive technology. Therefore, the all day carrying of a stylus might be annoying.


Beside the nice display, LG also included a great Dolby Mobile speakerphone which provides a nice quality sound, and even a lower bass level. The onboard memory has a value of 100 MB, expandable if using the micro SD memory cards, or Trans Flash memory cards with a 16 GB value. The connectivity is ensured by EDGE< GPRS Class 10 (with 4+1 / 3+2 slots) with a varying speed from the lower 32 Kb per second to the upper 48 Kb per second, HSDPA with 7.2 MB per second, Wi-Fi with 802.11 b/g profile, Bluetooth version 2.0 with A2DP, and USB connection. At a first glance you might be tempted to say that Renoir is a multimedia oriented phone.


In part you might be right. However, it would be a shame not to recognize the Renoir's business features, including the multitasking, the Office document viewer (including all the Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007 file formats, Words, Excels, Power Point, and even PDFs), solid phone book with a lot of customizable contact information, strong messaging and telephony functions. The music player and video player are also included with a lot of features. Beside the common by now rendering of MP3 files and AAC files, Renoir also is capable of playing MP4 video files, and DivX / XviD file formats.


Even more, this phone is shipped with an excellent user interface. It maybe not the latest LG version (like the one found on the KC 910i Renoir), but it still provides with excellent customizable features, adequate speed, really nice animations (Apple iPhone comparable), and the widgets, which are not number limited like in the LG Prada II. However, a common feature with the Prada II is the pre installed theme pack, which makes this user interface even more customizable. LG included into this phone an excellent 8 megapixel digital camera with a maximum resolution for the still photos of 3264 x 2448 pixels.


The optics is ensured by the Schneider Kreuznack, sporting both manual focus and auto focus, and the Xenon flash. As it was to be expected, this camera includes within its settings menu enough features for any amateur photographer to be satisfied including the face detection feature and the geo tagging feature.


Also, the video recording mode is excellent providing two possible resolutions, the VGA with 30 frames per second, and the QVGA with 120 frames per second. Both resolutions offer good videos with excellent detail rendering and fluidity within the 120 frames per second videos. The retail package of Renoir is strictly market dependent since it is shipped worldwide. However, you should find within its package the mandatory charger, the stylus, the USB cable, a stereo headset with remote controls (which includes a 3.5 mm audio jack), CD software and an 8 GB micro SD. Overall, LG knows Renoir is a success; otherwise it would never have created its small upgrade, KC 910i Renoir.

This phone is great in every way you might want to look at it, great multimedia features including an 8 megapixel camera, full connectivity package, excellent design, for an average price. However, the only true disadvantage is the resistive touch screen technology which involves the use of a stylus. If this is something that you can live with, then KC 910 Renoir or even KC 910i Renoir might be the phone for you.

We all know that two logos or brands sell better than one. These kinds of associations are made more and more frequently with only one purpose only, market domination. However the brand association is not entirely easy to make. For instance two phone manufacturers will never associate their brands (only if one company is bought by the other company, then a temporary period starts ~ 2 years until full takeover). It is highly unlikely to see Nokia Samsung, or LG Sony Ericsson, and even more it would be pointless. However, some manufacturers are trying everything just to sell more products (exclusive products). This process started back in 2007 when Apple announced the first generation of iPhone.

By then LG wrapped up in no time a partnership with Prada, launching the first Prada phone and the first LG touch screen device. Since then the market has changed a little bit and an upgrade to LG Prada was mandatory. Announced on October 2008, LG Prada II or KF 900 was launched in December 2008. For the optimistic people out there this month, October 2009, means the announcement of Prada III.

However, LG hasn't yet approved 9officially) of any replacement of the Prada II. As you may already know, this phone includes an excellent design, by all means exquisite, with a flawless build quality. Even more, LG understood that a fashion phone with the latest specs would mean a market success. Therefore, starting from the Prada I design and including features like QWERTY keyboard, Wi-Fi and HSDPA, LG successfully created one of the best stylish phones on the market. In terms of success, this phone has reached its expectations. However, we can't talk about great sale numbers, since this phone is rather exclusivist and so is its price. With the latest Samsung Armani announcement (also adding QWERTY keyboard to the feature list) LG could still surprise us before Christmas with a Prada III. Until then, let's review the LG Prada II, because this year it is going to be on sale on this year shopping season.

Before taking into consideration its main disadvantages, let's take a look at the key features, such as the 3 inches WQVGA touch screen, QWERTY keyboard, excellent communication and connectivity, 5 megapixel auto focus digital camera, improved interface, office document viewer, accelerometer sensor, and support for the DivX / XviD video formats. Its main disadvantages are not that heartbreaking at all. If you know very well the Prada I, then Prada II will seem very familiar in terms of design (but then again all the iPhones lookalike so no need to complain about the familiar design), no GPS, not the latest multi touch features, relatively bad video recording (LG really has a problem with video recording, it is not a Prada II problem, rather a LG problem), and no flash support in the web browser (very second generation operating system for iPhone mobile platform from LG).

The only real disadvantage is the material used in the Prada II build, plastic, and too much plastic for a fashion phone. In terms of design, the Prada II doesn't look to different than Prada I. the upgrade was more in terms of hardware and software, rather than style. The Prada II is made entirely out of plastic, with a combination between glossy black plastic and silver matte plastic. Also, you get really nice chrome finishes elements that will improve the overall look. The build quality is good, even if we are talking about a QWERTY plastic phone; you get no flex or weir noises when pressed to hard. The design is now style business, rather than fashion only. If you are looking for a complete new design, you still have to wait for the third generation, because if you let a side the QWERTY keyboard the visual differences between Prada I and Prada II, are similar with the visual differences between iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS.

With a height of 104.5 mm, wide of 54 mm, deep of 16.8 mm, the Prada II weights about 130 grams. All the above values mean that this phone is neither the lightest nor the thinnest on the market. The front side sports a nice glossy black look with silver finishes like the "Prada" logo and the front panel keys. Above the touch screen you get the earpiece and the second digital camera for enabling video calls. Under the touch screen you get the back key, the call key and the end call key with the power on and off function. All these three keys are really great to use (a little undersized in terms of height), but offer sufficient feedback (no matter how hard you press them).

On the right side of the phone you get the covered micro SD memory card slot, the shutter key, the dedicated camera key and the multitasking / launcher key. On the left side you are only going to find the volume controls. All these keys are chrome finished adding an extra value to the overall design of the Prada II. On the top of this phone you will find a connector with double function, both charger function and headset function (this too is covered with a protective cap). The glossy black plastic cover case sports on the upper left corner the 5 megapixel digital camera lenses, the dual LED flash and a mirror for self portrait. The Prada II slides to the right to reveal the QWERTY keyboard, the opposite direction of the GW 520; besides having a different design and layout this keyboard is in terms of construction and feedback very similar to the QWERTY keyboard found on GW 520.

These keys are 7 mm wide with a 1.5 mm space between them. The backlit lamination is adequate in intensity and color. When you slide the QWERTY keyboard out the display will automatically switch between the portrait modes to the landscape mode. In terms of software, the included operating system and user interface are evolved from the Prada I. even more, the user interface works faster, and the multitasking includes no glitches or freezes. Overall, the software upgrade is definitely a plus. However, there are some hardware changes that provide the software improved performances, such as the capacitive touch screen, which means no stylus is necessary for a complete user experience.

Even more this user interface is fully customizable (although there are available four pre-installed themes). If you are familiar with the LG Cookie, then you will find this user interface logic and intuitive since it's a close version to the user interface found on the LG Cookie. However, the Prada II is limited to only seven widgets such as music player, FM radio, analog clock, notes, and others. Overall, the user interface found on the Prada II is not exactly as good as the Samsung Touch Wiz. The phonebook, call log, music player, video player are all good applications, with sufficient to features to provide to the user. Even more as a business feature you get the office document viewer. All Microsoft Office documents and PDFs can be opened on the Prada II.

Therefore, Prada II packs enough features from the multimedia line and the business line. The LG Prada II works in 2G network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 and in 3G network, HSDPA 900 / 2100. LG included in this phone a 3 inches TFT capacitive touch screen display with a resolution of 240 x 400 pixels (WQVGA), capable of rendering about 256000 colors. LG also included an accelerometer sensor for auto rotate.

The brightness offered is not exceeding the Prada I values. You only get good brightness in artificial light environment, while under direct sunlight the colors on this display will easily get washed out. The included memory is only 60 MB. However, you can easily expand this value by using micro SD memory cards or Trans Flash memory cards up to 16 GB. The connectivity is ensured by GPRS Class 10 (with 4+1 / 3+2 slots) and a varying speed from 32 Kb per second to 48 Kb per second, EDGE Class 10, with a maximum speed of 236.8 Kb per second, HSCSD, Wi-Fi with 802.11 b/g profile, HSDPA up to 7.2 Mb per second, Bluetooth version 2.1 with A2DP, and USB 2.0 connection. The primary camera included has a 5 megapixel value, with Schneider Kreuznach optics, providing a maximum photo resolution of 2592 x 1944 pixels, with auto focus and dual LED flash.

Even more, you get sufficient editing features for photos before you take them, and even after. This camera can also record videos in 720 x 480 pixel resolution with 30 frames per second. The second video camera enabled video calling. Unfortunately LG included only a 950 mAh Lithium Ion battery. This unit will provide at best 400 hours in standby mode, or 3 hours of talk time. For an average user these values should mean about two days of autonomy, within normal usage. LG definitely thought the advertising of this phone will not improve sales without a complete retail package.

Therefore, you get an excellent designed leather cube retail box, with the Prada phone on top (very iPhone like), underneath it being included the accessories, such as mandatory charger, cleaning cloth, CD software, USB cable, user manual, leather case engraved with "Prada logo", stereo handset with music controls remote including a 3.5 mm jack on the remote, and last but not least, the 1 GB micro SD memory card. Other accessories can be found on LG's portfolio, but keep in mind they cost extra.

Overall, the LG Prada II is truly a good phone. It packs into a stylish, excellent branded, package all the features you might need, including excellent camera, great connectivity and a capacitive touch screen. If you are looking for a two branded phone, then for less money, then maybe you are looking for a Prada II with an original price tag reduced (since this phone is almost one year old, more precise 10 months).

Although the current direction of the mobile phone manufacturers is represented by the need to offer affordable touch screen mobile phones, the market is still equipped with a large variety of keyboard mobile phones. For the time being, this classic phones in every form you can get (candy-bar, flip or slide) are solid investments. Nokia 6600 slide is one of these good investments. Even if this is a tiny phone, the build feels solid and it looks rather appealing.  Nokia launched this phone as an affordable, yet stylish solution, a range in which the 6600 slide doesn't have competitors. The main disadvantages of this phone are: the fingerprint magnet case, rigid batter cover, no hot swap for memory card, no camera shutter key, no multitasking or smart dialing, no office viewer.

The Nokia 6600 slide is very tiny, with a height of 90 mm, wide of 45 mm, and deep of 14 mm, it weights around 110 g. the 6600 slide is made out of plastic with a glossy finish. It is fingerprint magnet, and the smudges are hard to clean. On the front case, 6600 slide includes an earpiece centrally placed right above the Nokia logo up front. To the right the handset has a video call camera and the ambient light sensor. Under the display on the both sides of the D-pad Nokia included the soft keys and the call button and end button. On the lower deck of the phone we can find the keypad made entirely out of plastic, but with a metallic finish.

The build quality is good and the 6600 slide is easy to use. On the top of the Nokia 6600 slide you can find the micro USB port (covered with a plastic cap). The right and left side of the phone include the charge plug and the 2.5 mm audio jack. The bottom part of the 6600 slide is clear of any ports. On the back side, we get the 3 MP camera lenses with dual LED flash and a loudspeaker. Because of the loudspeaker positioning you might miss a few calls before you get used to the phone.

Nokia 6600 slide comes equipped with a 2.2 inches display with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels, TFT technology with up to 16 million colors. The screen remains pretty readable even in the sun. You get up to 8 text and 3 service lines all written in a readable font. Because of the ambient light sensor, the display will save power when in bright places. The 6600 slide is shipped with a Li - Ion battery of 1000 mAh (BL-4U). The official press release informs that the standby value of this phone goes up to 340 hours, while the talk time is up to 4 hours. For an average user the phone will last about 2 days with 2 hours of call and 3 hours of music playback. If you want to listen continuously to music, you should know this phone powers down after 12 hours and 10 minutes.


The phone has only 18 MB internal memory, but you can expand it with micro SD or Transflash memory card (up to 4 GB). The connectivity in ensured by Class 32 GPRS up to 88 kbps, HSCSD, Class 32 EDGE up to 296 kbps, 3G with 384 kbps, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP and micro USB 2.0 port. Nokia 6600 slide runs in 2G networks (GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900) and 3G network (UMTS 850 / 2100).  Nokia 6600 slide is armed with a 3.15 megapixel camera, with a resolution that goes up to 2048 x 1536 pixels, with autofocus and dual LED flash. Even do the camera is not a high feature; Nokia offers settings like white balance, three quality levels, and special effects (grayscale, sepia and negative).

The camera speed is not remarkable and saving files is on average too. The 6600 slide allows recording video in 3GP format with the following resolutions: 128 x 96, 176 x 144, 352 x 288, 640 x 480 pixels at 15 frames per second. Nokia 6600 slide uses the S40 5^th edition standard set of features and applications. The menu is somewhat customizable but don't expect too much. Active standby mode is available. It consists of 4 tabs that can be edited or relocated.


Nokia ships 6600 slide with a standard package. Beside the handset itself, Nokia included a regular charger, data cable, and stereo headphones on a detachable remote, a quick start guide and a manual, but also a 512 MB micro SD card. The 6600 slide has a modular reception quality. Sometimes the 6600 slide get an excellent reception, and sometimes loses all the reception. Nokia 6600 slide is a good representative of the S40 middle range. If you are looking for a good feature slide phone, but not in the high ranger, or for that matter luxury range, Nokia 6600 might just be a good solution for you.