LG Renews Prada Partnership to Bring Designer Android Phone

LG, purveyor of the Prada Phone, has announced that it is renewing its partnership with the famed fashion house to launch a new Android smartphone with the joint branding. While previous LG Prada handsets were feature phones–non-smartphones–with touchscreen capabilities, the new Prada designs were shown with a capacious touchscreen and it is revealed that LG will be bringing the Android OS to the phone.

The Prada phone by LG 3.0 will be arriving in 2012. Speculations for hardware specs for the new phone include a new Nova display with a 4.3-inch size, dual-core CPU, 8-megapixel rear camera, front-facing camera, and Android 2.3 Gingerbread that could be upgraded to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich at a later date.

The handset was previously rumored to be called the LG Prada K2 and has been leaked before in both photos and videos.

Via: Electronista

Press release:

PRADA AND LG SIGN EXCLUSIVE AGREEMENT CEMENTING PARTNERSHIP

PRADA Phone by LG 3.0 to be launched in 2012; the collaboration has resulted in
mobile phones with a strong identity

SEOUL, Nov. 24, 2011 — PRADA and LG Electronics (LG) today renewed their exclusive mobile phone partnership at a signing ceremony in Seoul, Korea. Building on this partnership’s previous success, the two companies will develop the PRADA phone by LG 3.0, for launch in early 2012.

Under this partnership, LG will be PRADA’s exclusive mobile phone partner. The collaboration, which began in 2006 and resulted in two premium mobile phones being introduced in 2007 and 2008, focuses on key elements within the smartphone, including software and user interface down to its design and packaging.

“The partnership between Prada and LG has always been characterised by an innovative approach and uncompromised quality of style, design and breakthrough technology,” said Mr. Patrizio Bertelli, CEO of PRADA Group. “These values are common to both our brands, which have always anticipated, and often set, the trends in many fields. We were therefore delighted to cooperate again with LG in the development of the latest creation of the mobile communication industry.”

“Our working relationship with PRADA is unique in its longevity and success, something no other phone company and luxury brand have been able to replicate,” said Dr. Jong-seok Park, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “Having successfully launched two PRADA phones by LG, we look forward to collaborating further to develop premium handsets with a strong identity and the most sophisticated style.”

The PRADA phone by LG 1.0, a pioneer in the mobile phone space, was an unqualified success, selling over one million units. This premium handset combined high-end technology with a design embodying superior style. As evidence of its place in design history, the PRADA phone by LG 1.0 is part of the permanent collection in New York City’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Shanghai.

The PRADA phones by LG were avant-garde in the technology they offered to users. The PRADA phone by LG 1.0 was the world’s first touchscreen mobile phone, and the 2.0 provided an innovative mobile experience through its unique watch with Link technology, which allowed for easy access to caller ID, SMS text messages, call history, call block and two-way alarm notification.