As we’re nearing the 5-year anniversary of the original iPhone’s release here in the US, we can’t help but recall how much of a profound impact it made in the mobile landscape. Before its arrival, smartphones primarily consisted of portrait QWERTY devices like those that came from RIM and Palm – with a few touch options from the Windows Mobile smartphone camp. Revolutionary in many ways, Apple’s pride and joy didn’t only shatter our perception of what it means to be an aesthetically good-looking smartphone, but it seemingly left the competition in the dust in terms of the platform experience.
Well, as everyone else quickly tried to keep pace with the iPhone, we were all introduced to devices that were given the notoriety of being an “
iPhone killer.” Nowadays, the terminology is sparsely used, seeing that we’re surrounded by many smartphones that are on the same pedestal as the iPhone – well, in terms of popularity and sales. However, during the original iPhone’s early days, it seemed like the coined term was being tossed around by many devices, and of course, some were more memorable than others.
With that in mind, here are
5 devices once thought to be original iPhone killers. If you owned any of the mentioned devices, were you gung-ho telling friends and people about the superiority of your device?
5 devices once thought to be original iPhone killers
5 devices once thought to be original iPhone killers
1. LG Prada
So why the stylish LG Prada? Although the original iPhone popularized capacitive touchscreen technology, the LG Prada KE850 was actually the first mobile phone with a capacitive touchscreen. Crazy, right? Furthermore, there was the whole controversy with LG claiming that Apple copied the design of the LG Prada, but strangely, they never moved forward with a lawsuit. Stylish for its time, it really was one magnificent looking device, but the platform experience wasn’t all that compelling.
2. Samsung SGH-F480
Some of you are probably wondering what is the Samsung SGH-F480. Well, it was released after the original iPhone back in May 2008, but the interesting part is the fact that it was the first TouchWiz phone ever. Donning an attractive design like the LG Prada, the looks of the Samsung SGH-F480 was aided by a brushed metal back cover. In addition, it packed some serious heat with features like a 2.8” QVGA capacitive display, 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, front-facing camera, and a microSD slot. Crazy to believe, but this is where TouchWiz first came to light. Like the LG Prada before it, the Samsung SGH-F480’s TouchWiz UI still didn’t offer the same level of intuitiveness as iOS.
3. HTC Touch
Some of you will remember the HTC Touch, since we saw variants of it on
Verizon and Sprint. Made available around the same time as the iPhone, the HTC Touch relied on the usual
Windows Mobile experience – though, it clearly stood head over most other Windows Mobile smartphones thanks to its heavily customized skin in
TouchFLO. Unlike the previous two device, this was running a full-fledged smartphone OS, which provided some additional productivity functionality to users. Indeed, it’s a power user’s kind of device, but it didn’t quite gain the same level of success found with the iPhone.
4. LG Voyager
Back then, Verizon was doing whatever it could to try and extinguish the iPhone’s rise to fame. Enter the memorable LG Voyager, a convertible style device that keenly made sure to talk about its multimedia prowess. Not only did it offer a touchscreen, but it even made sure to appease text messaging junkies with its spacious landscape keyboard. Packed with an arsenal of hardware, Verizon marketed the LG Voyager as an iPhone killer due to its extensive multimedia access via Big Red’s own V CAST service, which provided video, TV shows, and music downloads.
5. Samsung Instinct
And that brings us to the biggest device to hold the ubiquitous title of being an iPhone killer – Sprint’s exclusive in the Samsung Instinct. You’ve seen it in TV commercials more likely and even at the movies, as Sprint pointed out its faster 3G EV-DO data speeds over EDGE with the iPhone, free voice guided turn-by turn GPS directions, and its ability to watch “Live TV”. Oh yeah, did we mention that it made good use of Sprint’s $99.99 Simply Everything Unlimited Plan? Of all the devices, this one clearly got a lot of advertising, but as we’ve come to see too often with devices during that time, the experience wasn’t as satisfying when compared to the iPhone.
