Despite having an official launch date of the 14th, it appears that you can splash out a whole day earlier if you’re into the LG Chocolate 3 from Verizon aka the VX8560. Not sure if a whole 24 hours will make any difference to their sales, but their marketing department obviously think so! Here’s a breakdown of what you can get your mits on
* 2 Mp camera (still and vid)
* GPS
* 3.5 mm headphone jack
* black or light blue colour choice
* 1 GB internal memory
* microSD slot (up to 8 GB)
* built-in FM transmitter
* 2.2 inch 320 x 240 res internal display
* 1.76 inch 176 x 220 res external display
* integrated stereo speakers
* Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity
The LG Chocolate 3 certainly has all the bells and whistles, we quite like the built in FM transmitter. It’s price tag is US$130 after mail in rebate but that’s hooked up with a two year plan. US$300 will get you an unshackled version of this puppy.
The LG Dare touchscreen smartphone is now available at Verizon’s online store. This supposed iPhone killer packs a decent set of specs to back up this claim, check them out for yourself
* 3 inch 240 x 400 res LCD touchscreen with tactile feedback
* 3.2 Mp camera (2048 x 1536 max res) and camcorder (640 x 480 max res)
* plays mp3, wma, aac audio files
* microSD slot for up to 8 GB of expanded memory
* Bluetooth connectivity
* 104.1 x 55.9 x 12.7 mm
* 106.6 g
* 360 hours battery life on standby
* 280 minutes battery life in use
Not bad and with a price tag of US$200 after discount with a two year plan, LG and Verizon have dared to put together a rather neat package. Whether it will truly be an iPhone killer we’re not so sure, but it certainly is another option to consider when looking at cheap smartphones.
After all the hoopla surrounding the 3G iPhone, Verizon decide to go on the offensive with a remarkably boring phone, the Nokia 6205 clamshell. Just look and see
* 1.3 Mp camera
* 58 MB memory expandable up to 4 GB with microSD memory card
* Bluetooth connectivity
* GPS with Verizon’s VZ Navigator service
* 2 inch 220 x 176 res internal display
* 1.28 inch 128 x 128 res external display
Yeah, ho hum, eh? The only good thing about this unit, if it’s your bag, is the limited edition Dark Knight version which is unleashed on the 15th of June with a plain version out in July. Oh yeah the price tag’s not too shabby either at US$70 after rebate with a two year shackle. So if you’re looking for a cheap and cheerful cellphone with a cool bat logo but not a lot else, groove on over to the Verizon site.
The snazzy looking Blackberry Curve 8830 is now available with a two year plan over at Verizon with a price tag of US$220 after a $100 online discount. Accordingly to the spiel
The BlackBerry® Curve 8330 smartphone delivers on the BlackBerry promise with no compromises. BlackBerry push technology is designed to deliver emails to your smartphone as they arrive so you read and respond to them.
Ooooo! Here’s some more bits and pieces on the latest offering from the world of RIM.
* Dual–band 800/1900 Mhz
* 96 MB memory
* BlackBerry® 4.3 Desktop Software
* 2.5 inch 320×240 res display
* BroadbandAccess connect capable
* Mobile IM for BlackBerry
* 2.0 MP Camera
* Media Player
* Bluetooth® Wireless Technology
* microSD memory expansion slot (up to 8GB)
* 107.1 x 62.1 x 16.1 mm
* 119g
* Battery - 260 minutes of talk time or up to 264 hours on standby
Personally I’m not too excited by the Curve, it’s offering nothing special from the guys at RIM whilst shackling you to Verizon. The SMT 5700 over at AT&T offers similar bells and whistles yet boasts a smaller price tag. RIM’s school report reads ‘Must try harder’.
The rumour is that the Motorola W755 clamshell will effectively be given away free when you purchase it along with a Verizon two year shackle plan. And judging by the specs we can see why they may well be tossing these out like candy at Halloween
* CDMA dual band (800/1900 MHz)
* 3G Capable
* 1.3 MP camera with video capturing functionality
* plays mp3 and acc audio files with touch-sensitive buttons
* 80MB memory
* microSD slot
* predictive text
* mini USB connectivity
* 1.2 stereo bluetooth connectivity
Yeah, nothing to phone write home about, so if you’re up for a cell phone to just make phone calls on - ooh, how retro - the Motorola W755 at Verizon may just be the deal for you! The phone will be launched in early May and sport either a grey casing or a potentially vomit inducing purple version.
Verizon have just launched the XV6900 just in time for CTIA Wireless 2008 and will be available from their stores and website in April. The XV6900 is the HTC Touch rebranded for Verizon and whilst sporting a new white face contains the usual bells and whistles available on the Touch as follows
* Windows Mobile 6 Pro, Outlook Mobile, Internet Explorer Mobile
* AIM, MSN and Yahoo messenger services
* One touch access as per the HTC Touchflo
* Speakerphone
* Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity
* microSD slot for up to an extra 8 GB
* 2MP camera for stills and video
* 2.8 inch touch screen
This little sucker will set you back US$350 with a $50 rebate plus the usual two year plan. If you’re still keen check out the video review we dug up a while ago of the HTC Touch.
We’ve been hearing all sorts of good things about the Palm Treo 755p, which is available on Verizon, Sprint and Alltel, so we thought we’d better check it out ourselves. Well this is what we found:
So PhoneArena aren’t overly impressed with the Treo and advise Sprint customers to check out the Centro. We must agree with PA on this, the Treo doesn’t look that great and there are better options out there offering the same features and functionality that will fit more comfortably in your, err, palm.
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