Crave

LG Chocolate Touch VX8575 in hand

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Perhaps the biggest letdown of the LG Chocolate Touch VX8575 from Verizon Wireless is that it's not the LG Chocolate BL40. After getting teased for months by the sexy shots of the LG BL40, we thought there might be a chance we would see it stateside. Alas, the LG Chocolate Touch VX8575 looks nothing like its European cousin. In fact, the touch-screen interface reminds us a lot of previous LG touch screen handsets, like the LG enV Touch for example. The geometric shapes on the back of the phone and the bloblike buttons underneath the display are about the only things that are unique about the phone's design.

Still, that doesn't mean the Touch VX8575 is a terrible phone. Continuing the Chocolate tradition of strong music features, the Chocolate Touch VX8575 has a great music player with Dolby Music equalizer settings (both manual and preset modes), an FM radio, and an integrated song ID feature. There's also a really fun "Join the Band" feature that gives you either a virtual drum kit or a scrolling 88-key keyboard to play along with your tunes. The drum kit even has a cowbell, which we found amusing.

That, and it has a nice 3.2-megapixel camera, EV-DO Rev. 0, V Cast video access, stereo Bluetooth, and a 3.5mm headset jack. We weren't big fans of the full HTML browser--you have to keep going back to a URL-entry page to enter URLs, for example--but it's otherwise a decent touch-screen music phone from Verizon Wireless. The LG Chocolate Touch VX8575 is $79.99 with a two-year service agreement with Verizon Wireless.

Read our full review of the LG Chocolate Touch VX8575

HTC Droid Eris

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

When it rains it pours. On Thursday, Verizon Wireless opened the floodgates and unleashed a handful of cell phones and smartphones that should make their way into your hands just in time for the holiday shopping season. It looks like there's a little something for everyone, so let us know which you are most excited about in our comments section.

Here is a roundup of all of today's news:

Verizon's Droid Eris offers Android for less
Verizon introduces BlackBerry Curve 8530
LG Chocolate Touch is now official
Samsung's Convoy goes rugged
Verizon offers prepaid wireless for laptops

LG Chocolate Touch

(Credit: Verizon Wireless)

We've been waiting for months for Verizon to finally unveil the latest in the line of LG Chocolate phones, and it's here at last. The LG Chocolate Touch VX8575 is officially available today, making it the first touch-screen version of the Chocolate phone lineup. As we suspected, it's very different from the LG BL40 and looks a lot more like the other LG touch-screen handsets we've seen, like the LG Dare for example.

The Chocolate Touch continues the Chocolate tradition of music-specialized phones, with music features like the Dolby Mobile equalizer, an FM radio, integrated song ID, stereo Bluetooth, and even a unique "Join the Band" feature that lets you play around with a full drum kit and a scrolling 88-key keyboard. Other features include quick access to social networks like Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace, EV-DO Rev. 0, a full HTML browser, and a 3.2-megapixel camera with settings like intelligent shot (for improved quality) and panorama shot (for three guided sequential shots).

The phone is available now for $79.99 with a $50 mail-in rebate and a new two-year agreement. The rebate will be in the form of a debit card.

The Android onslaught continues with the announcement of Sony Ericsson's Xperia X10 and the rumors of Verizon's HTC Droid Eris. Though we will get to see the Droid Eris in our hot little hands--and for the bargain price of $99--the X10 may never see life in North America. We're not thrilled that the Moto Droid skimped on the finger-pinching multitouch. Also in the podcast, Nicole talks rips on the Twitter Peek.

Xperia X10

(Credit: Sony Ericsson)

Rumor of the week
Leaked docs confirm Droid Eris details: November 6, $99

News
Verizon to raise ETF for "advanced devices"
Android and iPhone price plan comparison
Xperia X10 drawing new lines in Android battle
Motorola Milestone is GSM Droid LG Chocolate Touch to drop on November 5?
HTC HD2 coming to a U.S. carrier in early 2010
Does cell phone design still matter?

Reviews
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Sony Ericsson Equinox

Upcoming reviews
Cricket Captr
Twitter Peek
Samsung Code
Nokia 3711

The media-rich LG PS80 is also one of the most stylish plasmas we've seen this year.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

When LG announced its LG PS80 series of plasma TVs at CES 2009, the series earned one of our three nominations for Best of CES in the TV category. We've already reviewed the other two nominees--Panasonic's G10 plasmas and Vizio's VF551XVT LED-based LCD--and both scored higher than the PS80. It's not that we're disappointed in the interactive features that originally caused us to nominate the LG. Those include built-in Netflix streaming, which is still an LG exclusive (at least until Sony turns its own version on, or Samsung or Vizio step up), Yahoo Widgets, and YouTube capability. Since then LG has also added the high-definition eye candy of Vudu's on-demand video rental service. Those interactive add-ons work great, and combined with LG's picture adjustment prowess they comprise the most impressive features list seen on any plasma this year.

Unfortunately for the PS80, its picture quality impressed us less. Its lighter black levels are the main culprit, abetted by it below-par video processing and even minor image retention--all areas that other plasma TVs outperform the LG. On the other hand its color accuracy is still very good, and of course it enjoys the off-angle fidelity of plasma that easily trounces any LCD. Armed with superb style and that stellar features list, the LG PS80 might still appeal to people willing to focus less on picture quality than on built-in content options.

Read the full review of the LG PS80 series.

LG PS80 series--photos

LG's 15-inch OLED TV, which is set to go on sale in Korea by December.

(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET)

On the heels of announcing a 15-inch OLED display going on sale in Korea this December, LG predicts that prices for panels using the coveted technology will fall below those of LCD panels in seven years.

"Forty-inch and larger OLED panels will be fairly expensive in 2012, but they will be available in the market," said Won Kim, VP of OLED sales and marketing, at a trade show in Japan yesterday. "OLED panels will cost less than LCD panels in 2016."

Allow me to dissect that prediction for a moment. Calling the affordability of any technology so far in advance is pretty bold, but 7 years is a long time and a lot can happen between now and then. But I think the main message to be gleaned from Kim's words for customers watching the market and still waiting for OLED is: don't.

What looks to be the LG VX8575 Chocolate Touch.

(Credit: PhoneArena)

If the rumors are true, we might finally be seeing the LG Chocolate Touch VX8575 for Verizon as soon as next week. Leaked sources have informed Engadget that the phone will be announced November 5, while we've seen a few comments on Boy Genius Report that say it might come out either on the 5th or the 6th.

The phone, if you'll recall, is the touch-screen version of the famous Chocolate brand, and looks nothing like the LG BL40 that debuted in Europe not too long ago. In fact, it looks little more than a refresh of the LG Dare. Still, we'll withhold judgment until we've actually seen the device.

Some expected features include a HTML browser, a 3.2-megapixel camera, EV-DO Revision 0, and GPS with VZ Navigator. No official word on the pricing or the launch date, but we'll let you know once we have it.

Update: We've heard from PhoneArena that the phone will be $79.99 with a two-year agreement.

LG Helix

(Credit: Cricket)

Cricket and LG announced the LG Helix Wednesday, making it LG's first AWS-capable handset. It's a pretty basic phone with a 2-inch color display plus a small external display. It has a 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, a speakerphone, and voice commands.

The Helix will be available in silver or pink at a suggested retail price of around $139.99 without a contract.

In honor of our special guest, Micky Hoogendijk, we cover gadgets with an international flare. You might think that a show as classy as this one might not include any questionable content. You would be wrong.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

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