Mobile phone manufacturers try hard to differentiate each handset they produce in terms of both looks and services. This can result in some quite bizarre looking devices, or, as in the case of the Crystal GD900 from LG - which has been out for a while now but is worth another look - an entirely innovative user interface.

The handset is a slider whose number pad is made from transparent tempered glass. At times the number pad is completely devoid of all markings except for the faintest etchings. As you touch the number pad area it springs into life, the pad populated by brilliant white glowing characters.

There is absolutely no denying that in our view the result is visually amazing. And it goes further. There is a huge array of touch controls. When you are viewing photos, for example, you can move through them with horizontal sweeps on this area. You can also use it to pinch to zoom in photos, web pages, maps and email.

These controls are replicated on the screen, which is touch responsive. What you don't get on the screen, though, is the range of twelve gesture-based commands that you can assign to launch up to nine applications. Now you can see why this whole slider area has been termed the ‘Transparent Touchpad' by LG.

Elsewhere the handset is less full of wow-shaped features. LG employs a user interface we've seen before. It is based around four main screens that you move through by finger-sweeping. You can customise them with widgets. There's a strip of shortcuts to the main menu, dialler, contacts and messaging along the bottom of the screen.

The Crystal GD900 also features a cube-like interface which you can turn under a finger. It is just a way of getting to those four main screens, and while it looks pretty it serves no really useful purpose.

This is a 3G device and a web browser takes advantage of the large screen which measures 3-inches and delivers 800 x 480 pixels. But we found loading pages a bit hit and miss. Graphics-heavy pages were often reluctant to load for us.

There is a front camera for two-way video calling, and the main camera shoots at 8 megapixels. Test photos were a little washed out, though we did think the macro mode was good.

There's no Wi-Fi, which is a very notable absence, and nor is there GPS. The headset connector is microUSB rather than 3.5mm. The headset provided is two-piece so you can use your favourite headphones if you wish, though.

Text entry options include a QWERTY tappable keyboard in wide mode - and there is an accelerometer to automatically flip the screen - and handwriting recognition. That latter works but seems to require you to wait between letters while it recognises them one by one, so it is a bit slow.

Verdict
There is no denying that the gesture controls and transparent number pad are both novel and impressive. We aren't convinced they won't start to feel gimmicky after a short while, though. The absence of GPS and Wi-Fi both irritate, and there are better 8-megapixel cameras to be found.

Company: LG

Tags: lg qwerty user interface universal serial bus mobile phone wi-fi handset nokia