Apple iPhone Competitors LG and Samsung Jump on the Touchscreen Bandwagon

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Apple iPhone Competitors LG and Samsung Jump on the Touchscreen Bandwagon

Ever since Apple took the world by storm with its iPod music player, the company has been on the forefront of the coolest new portable entertainment technologies. With its January announcement of the iPhone, the company seems poised to have a similar effect on the mobile phone market.
 
Yet, it remains true that where one company leads, others will follow, and in some cases the followers will come up with something even better. This could end up being the case when it comes to using touchscreen technology on cell phones, PC World blogger Danny Allen suggested Thursday.
 
Allen pointed out that LG’s “Prada” KE850 and Samsung’s F700 phones, both unveiled in the past month, incorporate touchscreen technology in their designs. It remains uncertain when U.S. consumers will be able to get their hands on these phones; according to Allen, “LG has no current plans for a U.S. release of the KE850 and Samsung hasn’t decided when or where the F700 will be launched, or at what price.”
 
I’m going to hazard a guess here: at least one of these phones, if not both, will hit store shelves later this year, roughly the same time as iPhone becomes available.
 
As the images below show, the LG and Samsung phones look on the surface remarkably similar to iPhone. Not having used any of these phones, I can’t attest to how good they actually are. Did LG and Samsung spend two years developing their phones as Apple did? Or are these really, truly copycats?
 
Apple iPhone  LG Prada KE850
Samsung F700
 
Time will tell what these phones, and the other that inevitably will incorporate touchscreens, have under the hood. Regardless, though, I think it’s likely that iPhone will face competition right from the get-go when it hits store shelves.