In January '07, LG launched the Prada, a pioneering phone in both the touch-screen and fashion-branded genres. Since then, it has been eclipsed by upstarts from Armani, Apple (of course), and even LG, whose Vu was basically the Prada without the branding. Unfortunately, the just-introduced Prada II ain't quite as groundbreaking. The sequel has a sliding keyboard, a five-megapixel camera, and Wi-Fi—solid stuff, but hardly game-changing. It's also a few euros pricier; importers should expect to pay around $800 when it's out in Europe later this year. We'd guess a cheaper stateside version—the Vu II, perhaps?—will come stateside sometime in '09.

Also: Today marks the 25th anniversary of the first commercial cellphone call (on a Motorola DynaTAC, naturally). To celebrate, Gizmodo put together a snappy little historical timeline. Think of it as the road to the LG Prada II.