Other than that, this Korea-only phone sports goodies you will never be worthy of (like DMB television, an electronic dictionary and the near-magnetic attraction of pretty Korean models).

Check out that phone on the right. It's like, "These leaves just adore me." [LG via I4U]

The feature set remains unchanged from the original and it is planned for release at the end of July 2007. Initially it will be made available within the UK, France, Netherlands and Austria (no stateside plans yet).

The Shine used to prance about like Paris Hilton, driving too fast and pissed with the ramifications. The new makeover, however, wouldn't batter an eyelash at a stretch inside; instead it would take down the system and look suave doing it. [Product Page Via MobileMentalism]

They thought the video recording with 320x240 resolution at 15fps was decent enough, and the V CAST streaming over EV-DO was good as well. The phone needs to be recharged every other day, which is short for a phone that doesn't offer that much in the way of features. All in all it's a pretty sexy phone that's good for the crowd who cares more about how the phone looks than how many extra features the manufacturer can cram inside. – Jason Chen

LG VX8700 [LaptopMag]

Priced around $100, the Diamond is a spitting image of the Shine. Everything from the QVGA screen to the silver finish will fool your friends into thinking you spent too much on your phone. Plus, late/cheap adopters will score a MicroSD slot for additional storage.

You can hit the link and order your own online, but I prefer to buy my knock-offs the old fashioned way: from a shady dealer on the street who stores inventory in a garbage bag. As a bonus, you might get mugged!

Jumbo picture after the jump.

– Mark Wilson

Product Page [via gearfuse]

Although the regular Shine didn't make it over here, the flip version did, which probably makes the chances about 50/50 that we'll be seeing this as well. – Jason Chen

LG offers taster of candybar Shine [Reg Hardware via Geek Sugar]

Next to the other clamshells and LG's crappy Chocolate phone, the LG VX8700 looks like valedictorian in a class of special-ed kids. So consider it welcome relief from drudgery if you're sticking with Verizon.

Stats:

Verizon's setup also has EVDO data, Bluetooth, 240 x 320 pixel screen, a 3 line external monitor, and Verizon's location based services (for a fee, of course.)–Brian Lam
Verizon's LG VX8700 [via Engadget]

Screen: Sucks. it's a mirrored screen. Unless in total dark, what you have is goddamn glare.

Slide: There are two places to put your finger when you slide this phone up. On the rolling knob, which your thumb will undoubtedly slip on. Or the mirrored finish. Your call, slip or smudge.

Battery Life: Sucks. It must take a lot of battery to blast light through that one-way tinted mirror top.

Case: Nice. What? You thought I was going to just bash the Shine the whole post? The case is gorgeous, but the phone isn't as small as I'd like.

Music playback: Great. The UI for playback includes a EQ, and the built-in speakers are great, too. The otherwise annoying roll-bar is great for getting through long lists of songs. Good job, LG.

But there's more bad.

Keypad: Just like a RAZRs. They're almost asking to be sued.

UI: Mixed. On the main screen, nothing is labeled well. The main menu's screens work like a charm, though.

Browser: Sucks. Doesn't render anything well.

Extras: It can read PowerPoint files, and I'm assuming XLS and DOC files, too. Whoop de Do.

Camera: It's freaking good. Ain't no Carl Zeiss in a Nokia, but it's not bad at all. There's a strong LED flash and the 2MP shooter even has white balance, and autofocus.

It's not so much that it sucks as that it is an expensive but mediocre phone. Which means you should pass if you care about handsets. The software and functionality are just "ok" while being packed in a shell that looks glorious.

So, don't sweat the fact that this phone isn't Stateside. You're not missing anything. Just take your average high-end phone and slap a makeup mirror onto its top. There you go. Shiny cellphone. –Brian Lam

LG Shine [Gizmodo]

LG Announces New Clamshell Music Phones [Digital Trends]

The second, a flip-phone version of the Shine, looks to be in production sometime soon as well. Too bad for us, there's still no word on when any of these Shine editions—Au or not—will make its way to the states.

Update: The flip version seems to be headed to Verizon in July. Thanks MacVicta!

– Jason Chen

Sogi [via Electronista via Crunchgear]

KU970 [iDNES.cz via CrunchGear]

– Jason Chen

Shiny Video Review: LG Shine Phone [Shiny Shiny]

CES 2007 [Gizmodo]

There's both CDMA and GSM versions planned, so it's up in the air whether Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile or Cingular will get it first. Our guess is on Verizon, seeing as LG's got a pretty good working relationship with them already. – Jason Chen

LG Shine Phone Set to Hit EU and US Markets [Far East Gizmos via Slashgear]

If the Chocolate can make it stateside, I don't see why we won't see Shine sometime in the future. LG, just let it ship with a certain buttery beat as a ringtone (think "Shinin'" from Lumines), and this will be a hit. – Nicholas Deleon

LG to reveal 'Shine phone' the successor of its chocolate phone [Aving USA]