Fashion Houses Go Mobile

Here’s my question to you, dear reader: do you think it’s a bit ridiculous the way every industry seems to want to cash in on the mobile phone market? Vehicle manufactures have already gotten a taste of this market with handsets like the Porsche P9521 or the Hummer mobile by Fly. Even watchmakers are getting a piece of the action – witness Tag Heuer’s Meridiist. What could be next? Oh yes, the fashion industry... how could I forget?

Fashion phones are nothing new, but I’m not referring to those mobiles manufactured by companies like Nokia or Sony Ericsson that simply look flashy and stylish, I’m talking about actual Fashion Houses launching mobiles with their personal brand. So here are some of the big names in fashion that have launched their own brands of fashion-centric mobile handsets.

LG KE850 Prada
The LG Prada could have been considered an iKiller, but it doesn’t really have too many exceptional features that make it stand out as a sincere contender. The 3-inch touchscreen display has a 240 x 400 pixel resolution and 256K colors. It doesn’t support 3G or have Wi-Fi, but it does support Bluetooth with an A2DP profile, USB connectivity (v2.0) and WAP/GPRS/EDGE.

The Prada comes equipped with a 2 megapixel camera with flash and offers video recording too. Other features include external memory support via microSD, and a media player for audio and video content. There's an integrated FM radio. An MS document viewer allows you to download and read .TXT, .DOC, .XLS, .PDF and .PPT files. The Prada also has a few preloaded games for entertainment, but it's all still too little. Maybe they should throw in the model as well?

Samsung Armani
Another would-be iKiller is the Samsung Giorgio Armani mobile phone. Designed in collaboration with the famous fashion designer, the Samsung Armani is a rather stylish looking handset, but of course that goes without saying. This slim and sleek touchscreen handset comes with a 240 x 320 pixel, 2.6-inch touchscreen display.

The Armani is a GSM handset that supports EDGE and GPRS for Internet connectivity, and Stereo Bluetooth and USB v2.0 for other connectivity. The handset has a 3.2 MP autofocus camera with video recording feature. Other features include an MS document viewer and a media player for music and videos. The Armani’s memory can be expanded using microSD cards.