iPhone & LG KE850: separated at birth?

by Ryan Block, posted Jan 11th 2007 at 3:22AM

Two sparsely-buttoned large, touchscreen phones: the Apple iPhone, and the LG KE850 (which already won the International Forum Design Product Design Award for 2007). Separated at birth, or possible lawsuit number two for Apple? You decide.

Filed under: Handsets, LG, Apple

Tags: breaking news, BreakingNews, iphone, ke850

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Neutral

hip2b2 @ Jan 11th 2007 4:25AM

and i thought the FIC linux handset was the only look and work alike. looks like there are others too!

Neutral

Atanas Boev @ Jan 11th 2007 5:25AM

The problem with both phones is that 0 and "dial" are quite closely placed. Remember how Steve Jobs dialed "4" during the keynote, trying to type in 408?
I would put dial "over" the phone number on top.

There is a button on top "Dial..." and when you type in, the name changes to "Dial 4" then to "Dial 40", etc. Then you touch the number to dial.

Neutral

Mobilehavoc @ Jan 11th 2007 9:27AM

I sure as hell hope LG sues the pants of Apple on this one - those arrogant bastards in Cupertino deserve it - oh yes, Apple re-invented the phone - NOT.

Neutral

Convergenista @ Jan 11th 2007 9:38AM

Let the price wars begin. This form factor is exactly what I've been searching for, so I was thrilled to follow the iPhone launch on Tuesday. I had my mental checklist of what I needed in a convergence device, and they were really hitting all bases (and then some -- love the selectable voicemail and the sensor that knows if I'm in landscape mode). But then the price sunk in -- and I gotta say, Steve Job's explanation of the price ticked me off a little. Like I'm supposed to value his device by adding up the price of the three devices he's replacing? Um, yeah, it's going to be insanely convenient, thank you, but you're not giving me three times the battery life of one device, or having to sell me three sets of processors and memory and screens (etc.). Listen, I'm all for the R&D geeks (meant with deep, true appreciation) getting paid big money for staying up all night for the last 2 years and pissing off their families because they're working on the most important piece of technology to emerge in this century (because that's what inventors have always had to tell themselves to work those freakin' hours)... but if I'm just going to be lining the pockets of the Apple shareholders, I'm keeping my money, juggling my devices, and waiting for the prices to come down. Wish I could have been an early adopter on this one, but I think I'll wait for the second wave.

Highly Ranked

emigre @ Jan 11th 2007 10:06AM

yeah, it's the first time ever two companies design similar looking phones. and it's amazing that they look so similar. i mean if i were going to design a phone that was one huge touchscreen, it would look COMPLETELY different. for one, it would be just a large screen with just a button or two on the bottom and... ohh, wait. nevermind. OF COURSE THEY LOOK THE SAME THEY'RE BOTH FULL TOUCHSCREEN PHONES. how ELSE would it look?

Neutral

Andres�n @ Jan 11th 2007 10:20AM

With devices of this form factor likeness is inevitable. There is a big touch screen and not much else. Where and how do you make it stick out. Sure there's some space left, and obviously the OS will be different between different devices but at a glance theese devices (and future devices of this form factor) will look a lot alike.

Neutral

Jeff @ Jan 11th 2007 10:30AM

Emigre... how else would a full screen touchscreen dialer app look? Take a look at how Windows has handled it... let's see... shave about 40% off of the width of the screen to make room for important buttons that couldn't go anywhere else... except for maybe the 45% of vertical space that they left available for other stuff. In other words, just because it seems obvious to try to make touch screen dialing buttons as big as possible doesn't mean everyone will or has. Not that I'm bitter about my xv6700 or anything. Ever wonder why Microsoft Phones as called "Pocket *PC's*"? At least Apple has the common sense to call theirs a "Phone" and focus on voice calls as the #1 priority...

Neutral

Stephen @ Jan 11th 2007 10:31AM

Basically, every Windows Mobile phone has a touchscreen keypad like that. Big whoop.

Neutral

TexRob @ Jan 11th 2007 10:44AM

Some of you people are so stupid:

"I sure as hell hope LG sues the pants of Apple on this one - those arrogant bastards in Cupertino deserve it - oh yes, Apple re-invented the phone - NOT."

Do you know how long these development processes take? I know you don't, because if you did, you wouldn't be saying stupid stuff like this.

The anti-Apple fanboys are way worse than the Apple fanboys.

Neutral

Matt @ Jan 11th 2007 10:58AM

Keep in mind that apple has this multi-touch technology patented.

Neutral

Luis @ Jan 11th 2007 11:07AM

The LG always reminded me of the Motorola ROKR E6. I always thought that was a clone and now the iPhone.

Neutral

funkright @ Jan 11th 2007 11:20AM

Anyone care to take a stab @ who the end manufacture of the Apple device may be? Possibly Samsung (or their OEM)?

Neutral

emigre @ Jan 11th 2007 12:04PM

the difference is the interface. this has ALWAYS been apple's strongest area of expertise. if every other company is forced to use single-point-of-contact touch screens, and apple can expand their multi-touch input, it will blow away every other os. the intuitive nature of pinching an image to scale it down is just the start. EVERYTHING apple does is based on human intuition, not on some engineer deciding that people will have to LEARN how to use their device.

on the other hand, multitouch is the exact OPPOSITE of the apple standard: a one button mouse. go figure.

Neutral

Travis @ Jan 11th 2007 12:25PM

Why the iPhone is different, the LG doesn’t have:
1. The multi-touch technology.
2. The iPod dock (enabling the use of thousands of iPod accessories).
3. A decent media player (updated iPod interface).
4. A decent photo browser (iPhoto mobile).
5. An online media store (iTunes Store).
6. A full web browser (Safari).
7. Partnerships with Google, Yahoo and Cingular.
8. OS X.
9. Over 200+ patents to protect the technology.

There's a lot more to the iPhone than just its looks.

I would like to see heavy dot Mac integration though. If Apple was smart, they would offer a free dot mac account with every iPhone purchased.

Low Ranked

aredo @ Jan 11th 2007 12:34PM

Since Bill Gates actually owns Apple it's quite obvious that they can't produce anything original on their own. Microsoft never produced anything original and anything that was new and different from anything else was produced by other Companies paid by Microsoft to do the stuff, just like the DirectX API.

Neutral

emigre @ Jan 11th 2007 12:39PM

"I would like to see heavy dot Mac integration though. If Apple was smart, they would offer a free dot mac account with every iPhone purchased."

hey Travis, Apple is smart enough - they're not going to give away .mac when they have plenty of people paying for it.

They're also smart enough to keep v2.0 of the iPhone under wraps until long after i buy the edge version w/o GPS :(

Neutral

Martin @ Jan 11th 2007 12:46PM

When these photos first appeared wasnt there speculation about this being the iPhone? Looks like they might have been right after all. Perhaps this was all part of Apple's disguise plans.

Why would a phone have SEND and END buttons and SEND on screen?

Neutral

AkaiWRX @ Jan 11th 2007 12:57PM

It's like saying how dare you invent a ball that looks like a ball or how your car design looks amazingly like a car!

Neutral

LordObento @ Jan 11th 2007 2:41PM

Great thing about patents is you can get around them.... Mac makes a 1 button mouse? where PC's make a 2 and 3 button mouse. Just got to make something along the lines of Multi-touch without being exactly like multi-touch.

Neutral

Albert @ Jan 11th 2007 3:02PM

I have to agree with alot of the other posters. With a touchscreen based phone they're all gonna look pretty much the same. Its like getting a patent on keyboard design

Neutral

Al @ Jan 11th 2007 3:18PM

Accusing Apple of copying. How dare you. Do you know how long it takes to copy an interface?

Apple came out with a damn good GUI interface on their Mac in 1984.

Guess when Windows 95 got to market.

Blatant copying does not happen overnight.

Highly Ranked

freality @ Jan 11th 2007 3:35PM

Multi-touch is not novel.

http://www.slashgear.com/fic-linux-cellphone-can-it-capture-the-imagination-of-the-open-source-community-072392.php/2/

Neutral

Tom @ Jan 12th 2007 12:10AM

Yes..Apple totally copy LG KE850. LG KE850 already announced a long time ago before Apple. LG KE850 will launches first before Apple. What's special about Iphone? Nothing! just this phone is using apple OS ? what's the big deal...Also Battery life is max. 5hour? then what's actual battery life? guess what it's only max. 2 hours. I won't buy a piece of crap.

Neutral

StoreAlerts.com @ Jan 12th 2007 10:56AM

Nah, that design is to general to cause problems for Apple.

Neutral

Don Willliams @ Jan 17th 2007 12:42PM

Apple copy LG, or did LG copy Apple?

If Apple did copied LG, the question that first comes to mind is this: Sine the LG was first seen around Dec. 17, how did Apple managed to not only copy the LG phone, but how, in three weeks, did they managed to make several working prototypes and then, in the same time period..... take out 250 iPhone patents?

Come on, many of those patents go back two years plus! Any body who thinks Apple copied LG has got to explain all these nagging questions!

Maybe Nokia copied Palm... after all, they do both use keyboards, don't they?

Everybody who makes laptops copies Apple's old Powerbook 100 design, you know, the one with the recessed keyboard and touch pad in front. Maybe Apple should sue the pants off of every laptop maker for coping the look and feel of the Powerbook 100?

If you believe that Apple copied LG then you probably also believe in the Easter Bunny too?

PS, the LG and iPhone look the same, the same way Ford and GM cars look the same.... they all have steering wheels, doors, trunks, etc.

Neutral

Rachel @ Jan 18th 2007 5:21AM

First off Apple blows anything Microsoft out of the water. There technology is better all the way around. And maybe Apple did get the idea from the LG but how many spoofs are there out that are the same as the RAZR or any other phone.

Neutral

Jimbo @ Jan 18th 2007 8:53AM

It's good to know that while people like my neighbor are wasting a year away from his kids while serving in Iraq, that the REALLY important issues like telephones and operating system superiority and copycat designs are still being addressed in august forums such as this, which I was lucky enough to stumble upon. I think we can all agree that if more people worried about these substantive issues, and stopped fretting about all the stuff that clogs the front page of the NY Times every day, we'd be a better and wiser country. God bless you all!

Neutral

Tim @ Jan 18th 2007 12:35PM

For anyone with half a brain:

It is very obvious that the LG phone is a copy of the iPhone. The iPhone was in development for 2.5 years, the LG phone probably for a few months if that. The fact that LG has not even posted any specs or details yet and only mock-ups of the Prada interface, the fact that they announced the phone literally just before Macworld (which may well have prompted Apple to release the iPhone earlier than planned), and the similarity of both form factor and visual interface point one way only.
Then there is the fact that the interface is not actually consistent (hardware and software 'send'and 'home' button, horizontal and vertical interface on the same display screen...).
Rumors and patent application drawings for the iPhone or widescreen touchscreen iPod have been flying around for ages.

It is totally ludicrous to suggest that all touch screen phones inevitably would have the same interface for dialling. Show me another one then that looks as similar to the iPhone interface as this one (which happens to be on a device that is also strikingly similar in appearance to an iPod / the iPhone).

More importantly this misses the point completely, as it is not only the interface that was copied but the whole touchscreen device. If it were not for the iPhone, you can bet your bottom dollar, there would be no KE850 touchscreen phone.
I is completely different from the plethora of Windows mobile touchscreen phones, yet completely similar to the iPhone.

Of course you will not get any of the user experience and simplicity and usability of the iPhone.

Having said that, the LG phone DOES look fantastic (especially with the PRADA interface), if it were not for the chrome hardware buttons on the screen, I would probably say better than the iPhone itself, which interface and screensize aside, could be sharper. I don't think one of Apple's best efforts, the corners are too round and the black bar at top and bottom look a bit heavy handed).
I just hope PRADA is not going to back out of the deal because of controversy...

If the LG is going to actually be launched in it's current form and 3G, I will probably get the PRADA version until a 3G iPhone becomes available.
I like the Schneider Kreuznach optics, that is very cool and overall, it looks a sure winner in the current market.

But if we are talking origin, it IS a copy of the iPhone...

Now where are those specs for the KE850 (and what a snappy name...)...

Neutral

HZC @ Jan 19th 2007 8:51AM

We all talk about who should sue who, but we all know that it's about building upon each other's ideas. Microsoft has shown us that over the years ;-)

It's good that there's competition out there as it'll keep the price of these phones down to a more sane price bracket. Are you ALL glad there's more than ONE to choose from now?

Before the iPhone was announced, there were many rumours of a connection with Taiwan (I think) - that a company there would be manufacturing the phone. It's easy to imagine that a design concept like that could easily leak out. But to say who's copying who would be speculation and moot.

Looking at the two phones side-by-side though, the iPhone is definitely better looking! Why is it that companies are still designing screens with so much "dead" border space? That makes it look like it was designed five years ago.

I wouldn't mind paying $500 for the phone, but I would like it to have, in order of importance: (1) an SD slot (2) GPS (3) an even wider screen for wide-screen movies (maybe they could move the home button to the side or make it smaller or something)

I'm sure future generations will bring: more built-in memory, longer battery life.

Neutral

bill @ Jan 19th 2007 2:01PM

in response to a few posts here.
1. i'm suprised someone didn't tag this guy. someone said "bill gates owns apple" .. wrong.... he's a board memeber but he owns maybe 40% and has no interest in apple. in fact, he's retired from his own company.

2. as for .Mac integration... i hope so too.. but just a note for all you fellow mac heads...i found out something interesting on apple's site that none of their sales people conveniently told me this. IF YOU RENEW YOUR .MAC ACCOUNT 6 MONTHS BEFORE IT EXPIRES YOU GET 50% OFF. YES... SO BE THE EARLY BIRD AND GET YOUR DOT MAC FOR ONLY 50 BUCKS A YEAR FROM NOW ON!!!!

Neutral

bill @ Jan 19th 2007 2:04PM

EDIT FROM MY LAST POST:
Went to renew my .Mac this morning after being reminded, turns out Apple doesn't do that anymore. But, don't buy straight from apple anyway. Try pricegrabber, search around google too cause i've always paid between 60-80 a year for my .Mac as opposed to Apple store.

Neutral

Fab @ Jan 20th 2007 8:19AM

"It is very obvious that the LG phone is a copy of the iPhone. The iPhone was in development for 2.5 years, the LG phone probably for a few months if that. The fact that LG has not even posted any specs or details yet and only mock-ups of the Prada interface"

wrong, i had working LG Protos in my hand as long as 6 month ago. it was not prada labeld then, so thats new. the iphone hardware is nothing more than a pimped pocketpc. Its its MMI thats intuitive. The LG is not bad and sure is more Woman acceptable than your average HTC, but the Multitouch of Apples will own it in all Fancy stuff. But hey, the Prade is available like next week in europe (iPhone Q4 - duh) and will cost around 200€ with a contract

Neutral

Thunderbird @ Jan 22nd 2007 6:35AM

"Bill gates owns apple"

Neutral

Thunderbird @ Jan 22nd 2007 6:36AM

"Bill gates owns apple"... Bill Gates doesn't have anything to do with Apple, know what you are talking about before making a statement (last comment had half the text cut off).

Neutral

xtraa @ Feb 17th 2007 11:44PM

Nah, it is not a rip-of. It is just due to the used technique that they look similar.

The main differences between the iPhone and the Hongkong Pradalette are the
OS and the touchscreen. And if you look closely, you may notice that both phones
are 90% touchsceen. So what. :)

Neutral

N�stor C. @ Jun 27th 2007 4:28PM

@ Travis: Why do you make the number of patents that "protect" the technology appear as an advantage? That would mean zero competition, which I don't see so much convenient for us consumers. Unless you're a shareholder, of course...