Verizon to get a piece of Chocolate?

Just as our Asian friends are likely starting to tire of their glossy black pearls of LG goodness, we're now getting word that the Chocolate might make its first official US appearance in CDMA form as Verizon's flagship phone. The VX8500, as it'll likely be known, bears a strong resemblance to the original, but appears to lack the checkerboard keypad and trades a square d-pad for a circular, music-friendly design. There's some rampant speculation that the VX8500 is slated for an October launch, but other than that, deets are sketchy. As always, we'll be on the lookout for more solid information.

Update: Like we said, we're on the lookout for more solid information, and Phone Scoop has quickly delivered. Expect the VX8500 to sport a 1.3 megapixel shooter, MicroSD slot, and EV-DO data when it drops, plus an update version of Verizon's much-maligned user interface that supports soft menus for the phone's side keys.

[TeleCustom @ Jun 26th 2006 8:00PM]

the phone is meh, but that PRS Custom 22 with the Bird Inlays is teh secks.

...if only they still put birds in the CE models, I'd be a happy man.

[kerunt @ Jun 26th 2006 8:07PM]

Why does every decent phone have to be ruined with "music playing capabilities"?

[sheauxdown @ Jun 26th 2006 8:10PM]

You're asking the wrong question.

Why does every decent phone have to be raped with Verizon's shitty menu system that was probably done in MS Paint.

[rnitch @ Jun 26th 2006 8:33PM]

check out what i found by accient
type in engadget,cin/ into ur address bar
it goes to some wierd chat thing, its awsomely wierd

[lg @ Jun 26th 2006 9:10PM]

look, this chocolate thingy phone really sux. u know why? 'cause i'm using one atm (i'm in korea) and though it was a hit, it was short lived. why? you get too much fingerprints all over the phone plus there's nothing special about it. it's bluetooth and dmb that's happening here. you can kiss goodbye to chocolate phones here. they even came out with white chocolate phone which is pathetic.

[Rj @ Jun 26th 2006 9:13PM]

I hope Verizon does pick this one up, then I'll finally have something to look forward to when I get my new after two screw.

[Tim @ Jun 26th 2006 9:43PM]

Black stands for the NSA listening in on your cellphone calls. Again. Why should I pay for a cellphone when the government has made the technology in such a way where I have exactly no privacy period. Who cares about black. I'm more worried about that big ugly Verizon logo.

[jamdawg @ Jun 26th 2006 9:49PM]

Also, coming to verizon: The LG vx8600 AKA the chocolate flip phone.

[Shaun B @ Jun 26th 2006 9:51PM]

looks very nice, if it comes out i would pick one out for myself. probaly has v-cast and the usual.. they should make some new features. GPS navigation works well not like those 500-1000$ ones but gets you there.

[bliss @ Jun 26th 2006 10:03PM]

I personally think the phone has a nice design... and plus, the post said "flagship" model...it's supposed to be the most standard model, right?

[Jesse @ Jun 27th 2006 6:31AM]

Too bad they wasted it on a subpar service provider.
Verizon puts the same god damn menu system on every handset, and it looks like shit. Like the guy above me said,it looks like someone drew it in MS paint.
Verizon phones with nice screens are pointless, its always ruined by the colorless no graphics menus or low quality cameras.

[LordJezo @ Jun 27th 2006 9:10AM]

See that GUI on the phone there?

Yeah, kiss it goodbye. Verizon puts that horrid interface on every one of it's phones.

Hooray for generic conformity!

[mike. @ Jun 27th 2006 10:58AM]

While this phone certainly looks very nice, I can't get excited about it until it's been officially released, and thoroughly reviewed and given the thumbs-up by at least three or four of the tech sites that whose opinions I respect.

What DOES interest me about this phone is that maybe, just maybe it means that Verizon will actually start carrying some interesting (and interesting-looking) phones now. Have you seen their current lineup? It's just silver flip-phone, silver flip-phone, silver flip-phone, ooh! blue-ish flip-phone!, silver flip-phone, silver flip-phone. Ugh, when will these companies realize that, in addition to good and reliable service/hardware/software, sometimes people just want something that doesn't look like every other effing thing out there?

[Phil @ Jul 21st 2006 1:41AM]

Agree 100% with you, mike. Verizon's phone selection is like 5 years behind every other US provider out there. I mean, they are just now getting the Razr. And I'm supposed to be excited that I can now get the phone most of my friends without Verizon have had for the past year or two? Because it plays MP3s? Puh-leeze.

Unfortunately I'm stuck with Verizon and their craptacular phone selection. So I'm really excited to hear that the Chocolate is coming to Verizon. Even with the crappy interface and other useless features I'll definitely be picking it up. And hopefully after another 2 years they will finally bring their phone selection into the 21st century.

[Megan @ Jul 30th 2006 5:01PM]

Nokia, I do. At the moment, I have a kyocera k404, which is total and utter crap. Sure, I can call people, but that's it. My twelve year old brother has a better phone than I do. He has the Razr. I live for music, and love to take pictures. When I get a new phone, I will most likely be getting this one.