Manufacturing wars
Clare Hopping
Related Links
By Clare Hopping - Monday 3 November 2007
It seems that mobile phone manufacturers are determined to make fashion conscious consumers' choice a nightmare, and are ripping each other off in the process.Take the iPhone for example (yes, I know it's now a somewhat over talked about subject). Now, take all of the rips offs. For a start, there's the HTC Touch. Launched before the iPhone, it was the first we saw on the market with an intuitive touch screen interface.
Next came LG's Viewty, and although this doesn't feature the same 'pinch' interface as the iPhone, the five-megapixel camera beats Apple's device hands down.
Now, even Samsung is jumping on the bandwagon with the F700, but with the bonus of a slide out QWERTY keyboard to help with writing texts and emails. It's a shame manufacturers get so frightened with a little outside competition, especially as the iPhone hasn't seen the interest expected by either Apple or O2 in the UK.
After all, who wants to pay £270 plus a £35-£55 per month contract for something that is a little bit special? The iPod Touch does most functions, except call people and take photos which to be honest are the least impressive features of the iPhone.