SINGAPORE —The world’s first cell phone for Muslims is now on the market. It was introduced in Asia by the Singapore based company Ilkone Asia.

According to the company’s web site, the Ilkone I-800 phone provides Islamic prayer times for users wherever they are in the world and even points them toward Mecca when they select the city and country where they may be.

The phone also contains the full text of the Koran with English translations.

Commenting in a release on his company’s web site, Ilkone’s CEO Saqer Tellawi said an international consortium spent two years in research and development prior to launching the phone. That consortium comprised partners from the United arab Emirates, Egypt, England, Australia and South Korea.

Some of the research time was spent focusing on key areas ranging from design to manufacturing and distribution networks, Tellawi added.

“The objective of the i-800 is to satisfy the needs of specific Muslims around the world, and the Middle East in particular, through a range of phones providing advanced Islamic solutions, applications, and functionality,” Tellawi said. “Ilkone will be a relevant and integral part of the personal lives and practices of modern Muslims everywhere, and the advanced mobile technology of Ilkone phones will meet their practical, technological, and emotional needs.”

According to Ilkone’s web site, the i-800 was first introduced in Lebanon, followed by Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, North Africa, India, Bangladesh and Singapore. It is scheduled to soon be available in Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Bangladesh, Iran , Pakistan and India.

Ilkone is attempting to “to satisfy the specific needs of mobile phone users around the world in general and with special focus in the Middle East market,” the company says on its web site. “Through a range of mobile phones with advanced solutions, applications, and functions that address the special needs of the modern mobile users of today, ‘Ilkone’ mobile phones will meet the practical, technological, and emotional needs of our customers.”

On its web site Ilkonbe says that by using special applications and features which are not used in other cell phones, ir aims to become “the choice mobile solution for the discerning mobile users of today.”

The name ‘Ilkone’ comes from the Arabic word meaning “universe.” Ilkone says that by using the expertise of a number of international companies it is developing “unique applications for special-interest market segments.”

Ilkone Mobile Telecommunication
http://www.ilkonetel.com/ilkone.htm