The aim of haptic feedback is to make users aware of a touch interaction with their device, such as a key stroke or selection. The technology is most often used by LG for their touch enabled devices. In the game of haptic feedback, Immersion is a major player. They currently provide the haptic feedback for LG devices, several Nokia devices, and even a few non mobile phone applications of the technology as well.

There has been a little executive association between Immersion and Apple as well. Clent Richardson has been appointed as the new CEO of Immersion. Richardson was a former executive for Apple. This may lend this story some more credibility. Haptic feedback would be welcomed with open arms, so lets hope this one comes to fruition.

[Via Palluxo]

I personally think the PRADA phone will give the iPhone a run for its money. It’s sleek and super thin (at just 12 mm). The handset’s music player supports various formats such as MP3, ACC, ACC+, WMA, RA, music multitasking (messaging), while the video player supports formats such as MPEG4, H.263 and H.264. The user interface utilizes Macromedia Flash (which I believed was developed by Pilotfish). And for business users, you’ll be pleased to know all your powerpoint, documents, spreadsheets, pdf files and text files will be easily viewed on the PRADA phone.

Unlike the iPhone, the PRADA is only EDGE Tri-Band (900/1800/1900). It does feature a 2M CMOS camera with integrated LED Flash. Theres an external Micro SD memory slot for memory expansion. The company didn’t disclose the size of the internal storage space (boo! since the iPhone comes in 4 and 8GB). The other downer is the battery its only got 800mAh. For a graphics intensive handset, this is barely enough to keep it going for a few hours, not to mention playing videos and listening to music! My Treo 750 has a 1200mAh battery on it, and as it stands right now, I can barely get through 5 hours of total usage on it.

[Images courtesy of Aving]

The price of EUR 600 will put a dent in your pocket book! If you don’t mind paying the price and happens to live (or knows someone) in UK, France, Germany or Italy, you’ll be able to get your mitts on one late February. Folks in Asia such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore will be able to get theirs late March 2007. Finally, the Korean version is scheduled for launch in the second quarter of 2007. Wait a minute; I don’t remember writing anything about it being available stateside! What gives? What are we chop liver? Are we not good enough to have the PRADA phone?

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[Images courtesy of Aving]

Features
Capacitive Touch Screen
Music Player (MP3, ACC, ACC+, WMA, RA)
Music Multitasking (Messaging)
Video Player (MPEG4, H.263, H.264)
Macromedia Flash UI
Document Viewer (ppt, doc, xls, pdf, txt )

Specifications
EDGE Tri-Band (900/1800/1900)
98.8 × 54 × 12 mm
2M CMOS Camera / LED Flash
External Memory Slot (Micro SD)
Innerpack Battery 800mAh
Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, USB Mass storage

Related: Onyx Concept Phone gives birth to twins: iPhone and LG KE850 [Internal - MYiPhone]

For further information on LG mobile handsets, please visit www.lgpradaphone.com. Via LG Press

Video demonstration of the LG KE850
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On the other hand, the developmental history of the iPhone is a big mystery, but I’m positive this Apple fell from the same tree as the LG KE850. The purpose of this story is to share with you similar characteristics between the Onyx Concept phone, iPhone and LG KE850. It’s not my position to take sides as to whether Apple copied LG or vice versa; we’ll leave that up to the courts.

Let’s take care of the first few questions such as the screen technology. I’ll show you through video demonstration what’s being advertised and what the two devices are capable of when they grow up.

This first video demonstrates Synaptics’ ClearPad touch screen technology, a transparent touch-sensitive capacitive sensor. Far greater in accuracy than traditional passive touchscreen displays, ClearPad’s strength is the resolution and detail it captures from each touch and gesture; the video below shows the Matrix-like stream of data generated simply from swiping a finger across the screen.

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Steve Jobs demonstrates gestures on the iPhone
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The Onyx Concept phone can discriminate between one and two finger use and can even tell when it is being held against a cheek: answering the call automatically. Now while the iPhone hasn’t learned this yet, it does have a distinctly similar trait that they’re also calling the proximity sensor. This sensor detects when you lift the iPhone to your ear and immediately turns off the display to save power and prevent inadvertent touches until iPhone is moved away. It is to be seen whether the LG KE850 will have this feature. The video below features a conceptual explanation of the the proximity sensor, a demo on the Onyx Concept phone, and finally an explanation by Steve Jobs.

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Now the iPhone doesn’t have a GPS (that we know of yet) but it does feature Google maps, which highly resembles the GPS system that we saw on the Onyx Concept phone. This feature is yet to be confirmed on the LG KE850.

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I didn’t notice Steve Jobs demonstrating on-the-fly play list management, so the feature we saw in the Onyx Concept may be implemented down the road.

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John demos the audio features of the Onyx Concept phone

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Note the incredibly straightforward way that two single calls (watch Onyx Concept videos below) are combined into a conference call, by dragging one contact onto the other, and contrast that against the convoluted menus and key presses needed on traditional cellphones.

Looking into a crystal ball, I have a rare opportunity to share with you the potential of these two handsets and future offspring. In a way we’re lucky, considering Synaptics were clear when they exclusively demonstrated Onyx to me that the first derivative consumer handset would appear in early 2007. Until the lawyers have earnt their daily crust and the phones themselves hit the shelves, we’ll just have to enjoy this three-part video walkthrough of the Onyx Concept phone and look with barely-restrained contempt at our bland Nokias, Motorolas and Samsungs.

Synaptics Onyx Concept Phone Conceptual explanation part 1:

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Synaptics Onyx Concept Phone Conceptual explanation part 2:

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Synaptics Onyx Concept Phone Conceptual explanation part 3:

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Now we have solid confirmation that LG’s handset is based on Synaptics technology, and the UI itself looks very similar to that designed by the other side of the Onyx partnership, Pilotfish. Apple information, of course, is harder to come by, and there’s no doubting that their GUI is streets ahead. They’ve referred to it as OS X for a cellphone, and whether that’s true or more like marketing patter the bottom line is that it appears to be a naturalistic and texturally-rich way to interact with your mobile. Based on our observations, then, MYiPhone would wager that the DNA of both handsets can be traced back to Synaptics initial concept, but their personalities – the way they present each app and the ecosystem your data resides in – is most definitely a product of their adopted parents; at the end of the day, isn’t it fair to say that this is pretty much par for the course in the electronics world? Multiple gadgets, often made up of the same core technology, with the interface as their distinguishing factor. On those grounds, Apple – while maybe not the hardware trailblazers here, have nonetheless seized the upper-hand.

View all the images of the Synaptics Onyx Concept Phone in the gallery.