Yesterday Verizon COO Denny Strigl was reported as saying that the telco was working on a “very good response” to the iPhone, and now The Street reports that response is the Prada, or LG’s KE 850. The fashion house-designed phone is apparently selling pretty well in the UK and comes with a similarly hefty price tag as the iPhone. “A Verizon representative played down the notion that the company was banking on the Prada as its answer to the iPhone..."We have several music devices coming” including the LG Prada, “but there are others,” the representative said.” Possibly the best way to combat the iPhone is to offer a good, open music service.

One quibble with the story, it implies the Prada phone is a “supersleek iPhone imitation”, but the Prada phone was in the works before the iPhone was displayed.

• Prada Phone, By LG, To Launch Next Year
• Prada Phone Sells Well, Adds T-DMB
• iPhone Exclusive For 5 Years, CDMA Model Forbidden