Motorola to give phones fashion makeover

Motorola is in talks with fashion houses such as Gucci about customising mobile phones with branded, interchangeable covers.

The company has unveiled its first mobile phone with swappable front inserts – the V.66. Rival Nokia was first to develop the removable fascia market and Ericsson has since followed.

The tri-band V.66 phone, with GPRS capability – which allows for a Web connection that is always on and Internet access faster than WAP – has been specially designed to appeal to fashion-conscious consumers.

The phone goes on sale in the UK later this year with a range of colour front covers, including black onyx, seashell, water drops and slip grip. Motorola is in talks with fashion houses to extend the range of covers.

The company is also on the verge of introducing the Accompli 008, which combines a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) with a mobile phone.

Working in partnership with Sega, the company is developing a phone designed specifically to appeal to gamers through its shape and usability. The model will go on sale next year.

Motorola is also developing a number of futuristic concepts including a “mood hood”, an item of clothing which enables users to listen to music, watch pictures and communicate with friends.

Another concept is “other’s eyes”, a device which allows users to relay real-time pictures and sound of their whereabouts to each other.