The date is November 9, 2007, and the queue outside the Apple Store on Regent Street has been growing for days. The iPhone has finally landed in the UK, exclusive to O2, and it has just made every other handset in the world look like a steam-powered tractor. It’s a slab of glass and aluminium with o…
LG Viewty
It is October 2007, and LG has just released a handset that feels like it was designed to be the ultimate ‘iPhone killer’ for people who actually care about their camera. The KU990, better known as the ‘Viewty,’ is a sleek, black-and-silver slab of technical ambition that puts high-end photography a…
Samsung G600
While the iPhone is hogging the headlines, Samsung has quietly released a technical powerhouse for the person who still wants a ‘proper’ phone with a ‘proper’ camera. The G600, launched in mid-2007, is a 5-megapixel slider that is arguably the most balanced handset Samsung has ever built. It’s finis…
BlackBerry Curve 8300
It is May 2007, and Research In Motion (RIM) has just performed a brilliant piece of corporate alchemy. They have taken the stern, grey-suited DNA of the BlackBerry and injected it with a dose of consumer-friendly fun. The result is the BlackBerry Curve 8300, and it is currently the most desirable o…
Nokia N95
Welcome to March 2007, and Nokia has just released the ‘Computer 2.0.’ The N95 is the absolute zenith of the pre-touchscreen era, a device so packed with technology that it feels like the engineers in Finland were simply trying to see if they could break the laws of physics. It is a ‘dual-slider’; s…
Sony Ericsson W880i
Welcome to early 2007, and Sony Ericsson has just released a phone that is so thin it could arguably be used as a bookmark. The W880i is the ultimate ‘thin’ Walkman, measuring just 9.4mm thick and finished in a stunning brushed stainless steel. It is a masterclass in ‘slim-tech,’ weighing only 71g, …
Nokia 6300
Welcome to the beginning of 2007, where Nokia has just released a phone so fundamentally right that it has effectively become the ‘uniform’ for the British middle class. The Nokia 6300 is not a technical ‘Godzilla’ like the N95; instead, it is a masterclass in understated, premium industrial design.…
Sony Ericsson K800i
It is the summer of 2006, and Sony Ericsson has just dropped the hammer on the mobile world. The K800i isn’t just a phone; it is the first to carry the ‘Cyber-shot’ branding, and in the UK, it has instantly become the ‘coolest’ bit of kit you can own. It’s a chunky, masculine, dual-front candybar fi…
LG Chocolate
Welcome to May 2006, and LG has just changed the mobile design rules forever with the KG800, better known as the ‘Chocolate.’ This is the first device in their ‘Black Label’ series, and it is less of a telephone and more of a piece of minimalist art. When you take it out of the box—which, in a strok…
Motorola L7
It is the start of 2006, and Motorola has decided that if you liked the Razr but found the whole ‘flipping’ thing a bit too much like hard work, you should probably buy the SLVR L7. Following on from the L6, the L7 is the premium ‘candybar’ expression of Motorola’s obsession with thinness, and it is…