Muslim mobile points out Mecca

Ilkone i800 has recently been released in several countries. And the timing is good. The Muslim Fast of Ramadan has been going on for a week.

On the outside Ilkone i800 looks like an ordinary phone. The design is simple, in silver grey, and it is actually hard to tell Ilkone apart from one of Samsungs less expensive models. Like most new phones it's got a large colour screen. The phone also supports sms and mms.

But on the inside this phone is different. Take for example the alarm that tells you when it is time to pray. It starts calling out to me from the corner of my desk, where I have put the phone, only a short while after I have started it for the first time. The program uses time zone information for the alarm to go off at the right time during the day. And night. Luckily you can switch of this function or adjust it so that it only calls out when you want it to. Like when you are awake.

Under the Islamic Applications choice in the menu you find Qiblah Direction. This is where you can set Ilkones internal compass so that it points out the direction towards Mecca. As you can guess from the name, the program Prayer Times keeps track of when it is time to pray.

The Calendar that comes with the phone contains information about the times for sunrise and sunset during Ramadan. This is to help you decide when it is OK for you to eat or drink and when you shouldn't.

The book of Koran has its own symbol in the main menu. You can choose to read it in Arabic or translated in to English.

So what about ordinary phone calls? Well, the sound from the speaker is pretty powerful, although it could be crisper. But it is good enough. And if you decide to buy this phone, it most probably isn't because of the sound quality anyway.