LG has unveiled the Prada-branded handset - the KE850 - it announced late last year and the two firms must be spewing: their designer phone looks a lot like Apple's iPhone, right down to the touchscreen-controlled snazzy graphical user interface.

The Prada phone's touchscreen sits on top of a tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE radio, an 800mAh battery and, on the back, a two megapixel camera with LED flash. It has a MicroSD memory card slot for storage expansion, and Bluetooth 2.0 and USB 2.0 for device connectivity. It has full media playback features.

The KE850 is slightly smaller than the iPhone: 9.9 x 5.4 x 1.2cm to the Apple gadget's 11.5 x 6.1 x 1.2cm. But the LG lacks Wi-Fi, according to the published spec.

The price advantage goes to Apple too. LG said the KE850 will retail for around €600 ($777) when in ships in Europe late February and then around Asia the following month. The iPhone is set to cost $499-599 (€386-463), but you'll have to wait until the summer for it. ®