Hands0n
13th February 2007, 12:21 AM
Lifestyle handset choice? A handset for every occasion? I've said it before, and now here we go ..... fasten seatbelts for a rapid take-off.
The future of phones was expected to be about downloading football clips and video calls. Instead, it turns out, its all about fashion.
Prada, the Italian designer, has become the latest label to bring out a mobile phone, in collaboration with the South Korean handset maker LG.
Industry experts say that the latest fashion-house foray into the market shows that as features and prices of handsets converge, one factor is increasingly important: style.
Dolce & Gabbana have done it with Motorola, Versace and Cath Kidston have done it with Nokia, and Bang & Olufsen, the consumer electronics company, have put their name to a Samsung phone.
With next generation 3G technology resolutely failing to take off a recent survey found that many people still do not know that the technology allows users to talk and send data at the same time the phone companies are turning to the fashion industry for inspiration.
Mobile phone sales continue to grow internationally one billion were sold last year but in Britain there are now more mobile devices than people, and selling is a struggle.
Charlie Stott, of the brand consultants Wolff Olins, said: The price difference isnt there any more, so what the manufacturers are having to do is build an emotional connection with consumers.
When you see a wall of phones all with the same features and with similar prices, what do you look at next? If theres one with a big fashion label, you connect with that.
The Prada phone, a sleek black touch-screen creation, comes with an extra wide LCD screen, MP3 player and a black leather Prada case. It is expected to retail at £400.
Dolce & Gabbana, another haute couture brand, recently teamed up with Motorola, the US handset giant, to produce a branded phone. The phone bellows out Hello Dolce & Gabbana when opened.
Bang & Olufsen also recently lent its name to a Samsung handset, with Louis Vuitton, the luxury luggage-makers, producing a custom-designed carrying case for the phone.
Analysts gathered yesterday at the industrys annual get-together in Barcelona, say that feature-fatigued consumers are fed up with phones crammed with useless gadgets.
Other gadgetry on display included the first mass-market satellite navigation phone, from Nokia. Set to be released this year, the phone will use GPS technology to beam targeted information such as the location of shops sales to the handset.
Full article at Times Online (http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article1375401.ece)
The future of phones was expected to be about downloading football clips and video calls. Instead, it turns out, its all about fashion.
Prada, the Italian designer, has become the latest label to bring out a mobile phone, in collaboration with the South Korean handset maker LG.
Industry experts say that the latest fashion-house foray into the market shows that as features and prices of handsets converge, one factor is increasingly important: style.
Dolce & Gabbana have done it with Motorola, Versace and Cath Kidston have done it with Nokia, and Bang & Olufsen, the consumer electronics company, have put their name to a Samsung phone.
With next generation 3G technology resolutely failing to take off a recent survey found that many people still do not know that the technology allows users to talk and send data at the same time the phone companies are turning to the fashion industry for inspiration.
Mobile phone sales continue to grow internationally one billion were sold last year but in Britain there are now more mobile devices than people, and selling is a struggle.
Charlie Stott, of the brand consultants Wolff Olins, said: The price difference isnt there any more, so what the manufacturers are having to do is build an emotional connection with consumers.
When you see a wall of phones all with the same features and with similar prices, what do you look at next? If theres one with a big fashion label, you connect with that.
The Prada phone, a sleek black touch-screen creation, comes with an extra wide LCD screen, MP3 player and a black leather Prada case. It is expected to retail at £400.
Dolce & Gabbana, another haute couture brand, recently teamed up with Motorola, the US handset giant, to produce a branded phone. The phone bellows out Hello Dolce & Gabbana when opened.
Bang & Olufsen also recently lent its name to a Samsung handset, with Louis Vuitton, the luxury luggage-makers, producing a custom-designed carrying case for the phone.
Analysts gathered yesterday at the industrys annual get-together in Barcelona, say that feature-fatigued consumers are fed up with phones crammed with useless gadgets.
Other gadgetry on display included the first mass-market satellite navigation phone, from Nokia. Set to be released this year, the phone will use GPS technology to beam targeted information such as the location of shops sales to the handset.
Full article at Times Online (http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article1375401.ece)