LG VX9700 Dare in the wild -- if you can call Verizon "wild"

Sit back, relax, grab the popcorn, and check this out, because there's this really awesome battle going on between LG and Samsung for the hearts and minds of the touchscreen-loving public on Sprint and Verizon right now (and AT&T, too, if you count the LG Vu). The Glyde and Voyager are fighting the good fight as we speak, while the Instinct will be tagging in shortly -- and right behind it will be this puppy, the VX9700 Dare from LG, which is just now getting some of its first shots out in the environs. Like Sprint's Instinct, the Dare goes QWERTY keyboard-free in favor of a virtual pad; specs include a 3.2 megapixel camera, 3.5mm headphone jack, microSDHC support, and a wide QVGA display. Rumors have it landing in July, at which point we can drop the chain-link octagon cage and let it go toe-to-toe with the Instinct for dominance. Remember, guys, no biting or hair pulling, and may the best fashionable Korean touchphone win.

[Via phoneArena]

[deva @ Jun 6th 2008 3:36AM]

meh, i'm waiting for the Xperia.

[stiltskin @ Jun 6th 2008 10:35AM]

You took to long verizon I was going to buy it got tired of waiting I switched to sprint and got a mogul.

[Gamer90 @ Jun 6th 2008 3:37AM]

Burning the midnight (3 AM) oil I see lol. QVGA? As in 240x320? No thanks, Instinct has a way better display.

[mike @ Jun 6th 2008 3:40AM]

it's so great that Apple is able to provide R&D free of charge for all these companies.. this looks exactly like the iPhone keyboard, except they managed to fug it up beyond all recognition.

[anabouboula @ Jun 6th 2008 3:55AM]

Take that Apple!

[Pizzicato @ Jun 6th 2008 4:16AM]

You mean like it has keys with letters on it?

No, really, have you ever had an iPhone in your hands? The keys aren’t shaped square, they aren’t located directly under each other but f. ex. the a between q and w as you would find them on a normal keyboard. There’s certainly no "done"-key. LG doesn’t even use the same font. If you compare the design to other touchscreen devices you will find plenty using a similar interface and were there before the iPhone like the Nokia N800.

[TareX @ Jun 6th 2008 4:24AM]

Normally I hate these kind of comments (e.g. iPhone did that 1st... looks like iPhone....etc)

But I'll have to agree on this one. IT IS EXACTLY LIKE THE IPHONE'S virtual keyboard. EXACTLY. I mean, why LG? Have you gone "Chinese" lately?

[retro77 @ Jun 6th 2008 9:27AM]

Oh, so Apple invented the keyboard now? -1 fanboy

[Bob @ Jun 7th 2008 11:19AM]

There's only so much you can do with a keyboard interface. What were you expecting?

[stiltskin @ Jun 6th 2008 10:46AM]

Just to clarify in landscape the iphones and touchs keys are pretty square.

Uhh how else are they gonna fucking do a on screen keyboard?

It was bound to happy that phones would have touchscreens.

[Jay @ Jun 6th 2008 2:35PM]

How many times do we have to remind the Apple fanboys that the iPhone is neither original or unique
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LG_Prada

[Octagon @ Jun 6th 2008 4:07AM]

Great.

Verizon just doesn't freaking get it. I don't want an iPhone knock-off, I want an iPhone or something that's better than an iPhone. I want a user interface that's slick and well designed. Not this clunky stuff. If it's using the LG touch tech from their current phones then it will also lag and suck as well.

Verizon please commission some company to sit in a room for a while and think, really think, about what they could do to make me want to use their service and interface. Set yourself apart instead of under.

[TareX @ Jun 6th 2008 4:26AM]

There's no turning around it. The only software UI to match the iPhone's speed and fluidity is the HTC Dream running Android.

Which is why those 2 phones are my first choices.

[Micah @ Jun 9th 2008 3:52PM]

You DO know that this type of phone on LG came out before the iPhone right?

[kicks @ Jun 6th 2008 6:40AM]

WTF!!!!!!! are we complaining about virtual keyboards being like iphone's now? what next? you gonna say samsung and LG copied iphone's capability to take pictures not to mention *recording videos*?

Grow UP for goodness sake... i'm feeling ashamed of browsing engadget coz of you lot.

[Steffen Jobbs @ Jun 6th 2008 9:45AM]

It really is rather amazing how all these companies managed to sneak spies into the Apple labs. Worse than the Manhattan project. As soon as the iPhone has an award-winning feature, LG or Samsung manages to come out with almost the exact same features a day later, although theirs are crapped up because of WinMo 6.1's crippling effect.

Next thing they'll try and do is to copy OS X Mobile. Oh, wait. They're already attempting that. It's called WinMo 7, the new and improved Vista for mobile devices.....Who cares...

Less than four days till WWDC and the 3G iPhone. Or how the world was changed by a single mobile device. Awesome.

[Hooterman @ Jun 6th 2008 10:05AM]

The only way the world was changed by that single device was the fact that I have to deal with reading your shit posts about it everyday.

[kicks @ Jun 6th 2008 11:52AM]

lets get thing strait here 'mr jobbs' why would samsung and lg copy stuff from apple? especially concerning mobile phones? samsung and lg already got MUCH MORE MARKET SHARE than apple with its ONE product.
so what if apple mobile os does some fancy eyecandy? it is limited with the incapabilities of the iphone hardware itself.

And its more like lg intros and gets an DESIGN AWARD for its prada and the day after apple got to work on its 'new' and 'ground breaking' iphone.

trust me. i wasn't such an apple anti before. i had 3g ibook and 4g imac. i have to say i was fooled and blinded by the fancy shells. but then when it got down to it, the ibook motherboard died, and imac was a BIG waste of money.

it was the same story for the iphone and the 3G one will be the same too. so much for apple changing the world.

VIVA NETBOOK IDEA FOR ITS CHEAP, DURABLE AND VERSATILE TECHNOLOGY!!!

[Jason @ Jun 6th 2008 8:46AM]

No Diamond....
No Touch Pro....


NO CARE.

[Jason @ Jun 6th 2008 8:47AM]

LMFAO!

[quit ur bchin @ Jun 6th 2008 8:58AM]

OMG!!!! you can use it to talk to people over a wireless network just like the iphone, those bas***s!! I bet it even has a ringer like the iphone! It'd better not be using a contact list the iphone either!

[NickPSU @ Jun 6th 2008 9:14AM]

I've said it once and I'll say it again, this is a variant of the LG Prada... which was announced and hit market before the iPhone so to all you fanboys...


OMG why did the iPhone copy this phones sleek design and they should sue apple... oh wait... they almost did sue apple for copying the design of this exact phone a few years ago, but there was enough dissimilarities that they decided it wasn't worth it.

Please go back to fapping to your WWSJD poster.

[Hurdygurdy @ Jun 6th 2008 10:47AM]

Finally, someone on here says it. LG made Prada first before Apple and there fucking none 3G, video recording, MMS sending piece of shit came out.

[retro77 @ Jun 6th 2008 9:29AM]

I'd rather see one of the new HTC's on Verizon rather than another LG.

[FRZ @ Jun 6th 2008 10:34AM]

Not bad.

[tranzparentl @ Jun 6th 2008 10:40AM]

I got the enV2 recently and I really like it. It doesn't have the touch screen but I like the real keyboard instead of virtual keyboard.

[Jay @ Jun 6th 2008 2:37PM]

I agree....best phone I've ever had

Alomst went with a Voyager but didn't spend wanna spend the extra money

[johnno @ Jun 6th 2008 12:10PM]

head on over to phonearena they have more pictures and video of this phone

[HalfJoey @ Jun 6th 2008 12:20PM]

Just when I thought I was getting excited I saw it doesn't have a physical keyboard... Like someone else said, we dont want a copy of the iPhone we want an improved iPhone and fixes its' problems.

[nickjoedotcom @ Jun 6th 2008 2:43PM]

Can you please think outside of the fricken box on the comments please! How many iPhone comparisons does there have to be? Before you know it flip phones will be tossed into the mix.

Now I'm not trying to be an iPhone hater, but seriously they didn't invent any of the technologies they use, they merely put them in a slightly (very slightly) original package.

To keep the focus on the actual phone pictured I have to say that I'm not too excited for this phone. If the touch screen is nearly as crappy as that of the Voyager, then this is a "hell no" proposition. Form factor and style are looking good though. I think it would make a good secondary look at me kind of phone. Something you switch to for the weekends.

[Micah @ Jun 9th 2008 3:49PM]

Seeing as how the LG Prada has received as many awards as it has and its used by probably more users than the iphone is worldwide, I think it's safe to say that the touch screen won't be an issue. If it ain't broke, don't fix it and I'm hoping Verizon isn't trying to "fix" the keyboard.