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Escape sells GSM Chocolates, reception not included
Typically, we'd expect a company like Best Buy to be looking out for its loyal customers coming in to pick up some bleeding-edge mobile tech (by US standards, anyway), especially when they're willing to pay super-premium prices for the privilege. Imagine our surprise, then, to get a promotional email from Escape (Best Buy's pet project for high-end electronics in Chicago) advertising LG KG800s -- that's the original Chocolate for those not up to speed on LG's model numbering convention -- at a stiff $520. That in and of itself is neither surprising nor interesting; KG800s are relatively easy to come by, even in the States, and plenty of importers are willing to ship one to your door. What is interesting, though, is that the KG800 doesn't support GSM 850. Why would a giant in the American electronics retail market push crippled, not-intended-for-US-sale phones, knowing full well that the buyers are going to have a subpar experience? And furthermore, couldn't they come up with an actual shot of the KG800 rather than using Verizon's press photos of the VX8500, a phone that doesn't even look the same? We called Escape yesterday and were told that the phone had sold out pretty briskly after the promo email had gone out, which doesn't surprise us -- we wouldn't expect the average Escape customer to think twice about the compatibility of a shiny new phone in their showroom. If it has Best Buy's blessing, it must be at least usable... right?Update: To clarify, the KG800 being sold by Escape is a tri-band GSM model with reception on the 900, 1800, and 1900MHz bands. While 1900 will buy you reception in the US, 850 is accounting for an ever-increasing percentage of coverage. We're glad to see a store like Escape accomodating the needs of cash-flush technophiles, but we'd like to see them make it a little clearer in the future when certain phones might not give the best experience -- particularly for 850-heavy Cingular customers.
Verizon's Chocolate site goes live
In what's likely the first salvo of a forthcoming big-ass marketing blitz, Verizon has gone live with its site promoting the VX8500, their carrier-exclusive rendition of LG's KG800 "Chocolate" phone. The first Chocolate and its siblings are fairly ubiquitous now in Europe and Asia, but we've yet to see any of them stateside, so Verizon would probably like nothing more than to see the VX8500 spark RAZR-like pandemonium when it drops in the next few months. The site's being coy about specs for now -- in fact, the only thing you can do is look at the phone and sign up for a release notification -- but as we previously reported, the phone looks to be packing a 1.3 megapixel camera, microSD slot, and a handful of physical changes (like the circular d-pad) that should make it more music-friendly than the original.[Via phoneArena]
Unboxing the Chocolate
Ah, what could be better than a good, old fashioned unboxing? Not a lot, and in today's episode we'd like to introduce you to the packaging and subsequent de-packaging of an LG KG800 Chocolate phone, courtesy of MobileBurn's Brad Kellett. It's only a few short, beautiful pictures, but because the likelihood of your having one in the States is so low, we'd like to show you how LG turned it out. (Hint: they did well.) Enjoy.
LG's Chocolate-like KG810 now official
We've seen this phone floating around recently, and now LG has officially launched the KG810, a clamshell in the mold of their sought-after KG800 Chocolate slider. When we skim the spec sheet, we can't find much to complain about -- quad-band GSM, 128MB of internal flash, 1.3 megapixel camera, built-in FM tuner, and of course the heat-sensitive controls made famous by the Chocolate. According to Digital-lifestyles.info, LG is curiously insisting that the KG810 is not a member of their recently-launched "Black Label" fashion series, of which the KG800 is the founding device, but we like this diminutive flip just the same. No word on a US launch, but we can lust from afar.
Hands-on with the KG800 (Chocolate) and Dopod S300 (Star Trek)
Good times can be had over at our sister site, Engadget Chinese, which has managed some alone time with two recent releases, the LG KG800 Chocolate and Dopod S300 HTC Star Trek. Both phones are plenty sexy in their own way, with the KG800's obvious aesthetics leading the charge, but the S300's ability to pack in all that Windows Mobile goodness in such a small package earning it plenty of kudos as well. Decisions, decisions.Read: LG KG800Read: Dopod S300
