Doomed to fail: the LG KT610

Available now 
11th June 2008
NEW! - Play / download MP3 podcast

Sometimes you can tell when a manufacturer has no faith in their own product, and the LG KT610 is a prime example of that. Although it was announced in February of this year at Mobile World Congress, LG's efforts to promote the KT610 have been almost non-existent. A handful of half-hearted press releases, a lack of decent pictures and specifications and a refusal to answer press enquiries shows that perhaps LG expects the KT610 to sink without trace.

To be honest, we've seen some blooming awful phones from LG, but the LG KT610 isn't one of them. Best described as a cut-down version of the Nokia E90, the KT610 is a Symbian smartphone with a full QWERTY keyboard, 3.5G support and a 2.4" 400 x 240 pixel main display. Because it's an S60 smartphone, the KT610 will support all the usual S60 features and functions.

It doesn't have WiFi, and the KT610 lacks GPS, the superb 800 pixel wide display on the E90 and also comes with a very basic 2 megapixel camera. On the other hand, this 109 x 54 x 17mm device is less than half the weight of the brick-like E90 and is little bigger than a standard business phone.

The keyboard looks good, and the relatively wide screen will be handy for emails and much better than a standard display for web browsing.

So, the LG KT610 seems appealing, even if it's not as feature-packed as some handsets. The number of Symbian S60 devices with QWERTY keyboards is pitifully small, so it is clear that the KT610 is a useful option.

So why does it seem to be getting the cold shoulder from LG? After all, someone in LG went to all the trouble to design the thing, so surely LG should be promoting it? We suspect that the problem is this: fashion. LG have gone completely mad for touchscreen phones, and the kT610 is firmly in the non-touchscreen camp. It's not a very attractive device either, so it doesn't really fit in with the trendy image that LG is trying to promote.

The rumour is that the LG KT610 is just about to hit sales channels, but then it was meant to be out last month. We think that LG won't make any real effort to promote the KT610, at least based on their past track record.