vx8550
Latest
Verizon adds "Blue Ice" to Chocolate's palette
Pretty much everyone under Verizon's huge, red umbrella has been staring longingly at the LG Voyager as of late, but if you remember, LG's got an established big seller in Verizon's stable that it's gotta worry about, too. The VX8550 Chocolate slider has added another color (or flavor, if you buy into Verizon's marketing scheme) in time to pick up a holiday sale or two: "Blue Ice." It's currently on sale at Circuit City with direct sales following on next Friday, December 7 for $80 after a $50 rebate.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Crystal ball (or spreadsheet, in this case) reveals Verizon release dates
We've caught boatloads of noise detailing Verizon's pipeline for the remainder of the year (and possibly into early '08), but exact launch dates have been harder to come by. Granted, the carriers often don't know these until the last minute anyway -- network test failures and supply problems being what they are -- but Boy Genius Report has scored a spreadsheet that should at least start to give us a rough idea of what we can expect for the next few months. The Samsung i760 finally (and we do mean finally) launches on October 19, followed by the Juke two days later on the 21st. The first of November sees the BlackBerry Pearl 8130, LG VX5400, and Palm Treo 755p (probably right about the same time Alltel gets it), with the LG Venus coming just a short few days later on the 4th. The 15th sees two new shades for the G'zOne Type-S -- black and "burgundy / gold" -- alongside the Samsung u900 "FlipShot." The ultra-cool LG Voyager and G'zOne "Type-Sptt" (possibly just a Type-S without the cam) slide in on November 18, with two new VX8550 shades dropping on the 21st. Whew! Now, the real question: how many of these dates are actually gonna hold?
Up close and personal with the LG VX8550
Now that the successor to LG's Chocolate line has been available to Verizon Wireless customers, we thought it would only be fitting to put the latest addition through the paces and see if the VX8550 is a worthy successor. From a quick glimpse, both the LG VX8500 and the VX8550 both share the slide up form factor both sporting a hidden keypad. LG has kept the camera on the back of the slide on the VX8550. This allows for safe storage of the camera when not being used while also decreasing the amount of fingerprints, smudges, and scratches on the lens.
Motorola W385, new LG Chocolates live on Verizon
Thinking back to when we first caught wind of it, the turnaround on the ambiguously named VX8550 Chocolate from LG wasn't that bad -- but the same can't be said of Verizon's other retail introduction today, the midrange Motorola W385. This thing's been kicking around as a rumored Big Red device since April at the latest -- and yes, we'll admit that our sense of time is a bit skewed, but that's, like, forever. Anyhoo, pick up the VGA-cam'd, 160 x 128 screen'd W385 for $70 after all the contracts and discounts have been applied; meanwhile, the VX8500 successor can be yours for a nice, round hundie.Read - LG Chocolate (Blue Mint)Read - LG Chocolate (Black Cherry)Read - LG Chocolate (Black)Read - Motorola W385
LG's VX8550 gets inspected, reviewed
You know the newest member of the Chocolate lineup that just launched moments ago? Well, the sly folks over at PhoneArena were somehow able to scrounge up a VX8550 for themselves and give it a good once over for the rest of us doing without. The crew was able to inspect the minutiae that we're all intrigued by, including the chrome scroll wheel, rearranged keypad, microSD slot that handles cards up to 4GB in size, and all the application critiquing you could ever want. Review wise, they seemed quite pleased with the overall call quality, noting that it was "better than the previous model" and featured "noticeably less noise and distortion when the volume was raised to the highest setting." It was realized, however, that the quoted battery life was about an hour overstated, and although the new navigational pad presented a few quirks, the overall vibe was definitely positive.
Verizon, LG intro new Chocolate
We'll spare you the "even sweeter the second time around" punnage that Verizon couldn't help crack and get straight to the point here. Following up its hit VX8500 last year, Verizon has introduced a new Chocolate to its lineup, the aptly-named VX8550. The re-upped model gets very slightly trimmer by shaving a few hundredths of an inch off every dimension from its predecessor, a new keypad with touch feedback, and something LG is calling "Trace Motion" -- some sort of lighting that works in conjunction with the new nav wheel. Carried over from the original Chocolate are the 1.3 megapixel cam, microSD slot, and wealth of music-related features, though sadly, the rumored 3.5mm jack ain't here. Look for it in stores July 9 in your choice of "Black Cherry" and "Blue Mint."
Verizon poised to launch LG VX8550?
It looks like Verizon and LG are gearing up to release to their latest addition in the Chocolate lineup, the VX8550. This round, the VX8550 is sportin' two new colors than before -- this time "black cherry" and "blue mint" will make your mouth water, and lets not forgot the traditional black. The device is expected to hit the street around around July 9 and cost $100 with a two year contract. There's even talk about reducing the cost of the music essentials kit that includes a microSD card, data cable, Bluetooth headset, and a gift card for music. Could this be Big Red's attempt to persuade consumers away from AT&T's music phone for their own latest addition? We hope not.[Thanks, HTC Kid and SC]%Gallery-4335%
New Chocolate: LG's VX8550 for Verizon comes into view
Sorry, Shine hopefuls, the VX8700 will have to hold you over for at least a bit longer. After some buzz had suggested that the FCC-outed VX8550 would be a true Shine slider for Verizon, we now have word from sources that it'll actually be a facelift to the year-old VX8500 Chocolate. For what it's worth, the changes are definitely for the better -- we'd dare say LG's been listening to the VX8500's critics -- with properly placed Send / End buttons, Lock switch on the side, and what appears to be a true 3.5mm headphone jack (still an all-too-rare feature on handsets). Some are reporting that the d-pad is considerably easier to use and possibly "used differently" than its predecessor, though what that means remains to be seen. Documents suggest that it'll hit in black, red, and blue, though if the original is any gauge, we can expect a full rainbow of hues hitting over several months. No word on a release date or price, but with press shots in the pipe, we figure it might show up in time to commemorate the VX8500's one-year anniversary.[Thanks, anonymous tipster]%Gallery-3572%
LG prepping Chocolate successor for Verizon?
Goodness, has it really been nearly a year since Verizon's VX8500 Chocolate from LG hit streets? Indeed it has, and by cellphone standards, we reckon that's an eternity; Verizon has managed to keep the line fresh by injecting color after color after color, but sooner or later, you've gotta drop new hardware. That appears to be what we're looking at here, at least in false-colored, rendered form: meet the LG VX8550, a phone whose model name we can only take to mean that a successor to the aforementioned VX8500 is in the works. Details are few and far between -- LG really has this FCC filing locked down -- but we can make out that it'll be a CDMA / EV-DO piece with Bluetooth, and the rendering seems to suggest that it could be a slider, or perhaps a pudgy candybar. We're clueless on a release date for this one, but if Verizon wanted to celebrate the VX8500's anniversary with the VX8550's launch, they'd be looking at late July or early August.[Thanks, Brian]
