When It Comes to Design, These Are No IPhones

 

Not the Apple of Your Eye

The iPhone may not be the most ergonomic device -- since when does a glass slab fit nicely against a human head -- but at least it has a design that's simple, considering the impressive computing power and capabilities inside. 

Previous mobile phones seem to suffer the opposite: complex designs on the outside, and not much going on internally to boot.

Here are some devices from the past decade that surely would have stood out in today's sea of Apple and Android smartphones. Whether that's a good thing or not, we'll leave to you.

Did They Sell Out?

GoldVish, based in Geneva, Switzerland, showed little restraint with Le Million, a solid gold and diamond-studded phone. It cost a million euros ($1.3 million) when it debuted in 2006. With spout-like tips at both ends, the luxury phone looked vaguely amoeba-like. Only three were made.

Ahead of Its Time

Amid all the recent talk about an upcoming Apple "iWatch," it was a decade ago when China Electronics Corp. introduced the F88 cellphone watch. This early attempt at wearable electronics included a separate finger ring that served as a speaker. To listen to calls, the user had to hold the ring up to his ear. The price? Reportedly more than a thousand dollars.

Fashion Weak

Apple's iPhone and iPod aren't just mobile devices, for many they're fashion accessories. Siemens tried to attain the same status with its line of Xelibri phones, released in 2003, but perhaps they tried too hard. Making their phones look like makeup compacts and necklace pendants didn't pay off. The line was discontinued within a year because of poor sales.

Snake on a Phone

British mobile phone maker Vertu teamed with French jeweler Boucheron on a diamond-encrusted, purple-and-peach phone with a snake slithering around the frame. Priced at $310,000 when it came out in 2006, eight of the Cobra phones were made. 

Dual Dials

With its two numeric keypads, it's hard to know whether to hold Toshiba's G450 up to your ear, point it at your TV or quietly stash it in a drawer. This phone, which debuted in 2008, hewed to the candy-bar dimensions of the time and doubled as a computer modem.

Murder by Numbers

When it debuted in 2003, the Nokia 7600's palm-size design and video screen were considered innovative. Usability was another matter: The keypad was split to the right and left of the screen, making dialing a dizzying experience.

One for Each Eye

Why have only one screen on your cellphone when you can have two, Saeok Hong Jeong reasoned. The Korean inventor patented the design of his hydra-headed device and presented it at a major trade show in 2006. Of course, compared with the size of today's "phablets," the double screens on his prototype would come up short. It's unclear if the phone was ever actually sold.

So Simple It's Hard

Nokia's 7380 phone is an example of what happens when you take a minimalist design to the extreme. The phone, which came out in 2006, didn't have a keypad. In its place was an iPod-like click wheel, which works fine when you're scrolling through tunes -- less so when you're trying to punch out digits to make a quick call.

Fit for a Queen?

Givori, a Dubai-based high-end cellphone accessory maker, teamed up with Nokia to deliver this mishmash of crystals, jewels and ornaments to evoke the Egyptian Queen Nefertiti. Fifty were made, and each was individually styled so that no two phones looked exactly alike (because that would be totally embarrassing). The price of originality? About $4,500.