As I think we've firmly established, we call these iPhone clones because they are made superficially with the look and feel of the iPhone in mind. They are not direct competitors to the iPhone, as they don't run on a smart, open platform like iPhones—or Blackberry and Windows Mobile phones—do. The Dare, like the Instinct, is closed and proprietary, geared to customers who like much of what the carrier has to offer, and would just like a better way to make use of it. And after spending some time with the Dare, I can safely say that, much like the Instinct, it really does let you do that. Easier Access
For starters, Verizon has done away with its dependence on unchangeable, annoyingly deep menus. With the Dare, you can drag any app or function directly to the desktop for one-click access. You can add key people to the Favorites launcher, where you simply drag their face to the phone or message icons to call or launch a new SMS.Even those cryptic notification icons always seen at tops of phones are clickable on the Dare.E-mail and Web
Let me get this off my chest first: The Dare browser is WAY better than the Instinct's, both in rendering speed and page layout. You can navigate Gizmodo with very little trouble, especially if you're going read-only. My only complaint was that there was no way I could find to speed-scroll through so many blog posts without giving my thumb a callous.Verizon's E-mail app is basically the same as it's been for about six or eight months. I do not recommend it for business use, as it's not very full featured, but I was able to get the Dare to notify me whenever any mail from three different accounts came through, and the iPhone-like QWERTY keyboard with pop-up letters really helped when typing. The only trouble I had sending e-mail was due to a funky POP3 account with ambiguous recommended settings. (One negative: You can't edit POP settings once you've configured them, so I had to keep deleting and adding the same account over and over again.)

Premium Unlimited-Use Plans
The good news is, unlimited use of e-mail and web are included in Verizon's new premium price plans, along with unlimited text messaging, unlimited use of basic V Cast clips and ACTUALLY USEFUL stuff like the ESPN MVP sports and WeatherBug web apps. Though it seems at first glance that pricing is a tad higher that Sprint's, the difference is negligible:



$80/month - 450 primetime talk minutes
$100/month - 900 primetime talk minutes
$120/month - 1350 primetime talk minutes
$140/month - Unlimited talk minutes
And yes, there are family premium plans that give you these perks for multiple (compatible) phones. The phone itself is $200 after a mail-in rebate.

Lighter Features
In our introductory walkthrough video, we showed you some awesome traits. After a revisit during our review, here's how those features held up:

• Slow-mo video cam - It's a bit grainy, but with decent light, it could make some interesting videos at 120 frames per second. The 3.2 megapixel camera is decent, but nothing to write home about.

• Full photo editing - Speaking of camera, the editing feature is not as "full" as we first thought. There's no red-eye reduction or shadow/highlight or color adjustment. Most of the options are actually novelty, and even for being silly they are not very useable.

• Music player - Good: Plays MP3s and even iTunes Plus DRM-free AACs that you drag to the "My Music" folder of the MicroSD card (up to 8GB); Bad: Still has issues with tags, and appears to count image metadata as additional song files, so browsing by Artist or Album is fine, but browsing "All Songs" is messy. In addition to that the video player reads standard MP4 (but not H.264), and pauses songs when you switch to video playback, only to pick up where it left off once you're done.Hardware
Like the Sprint Instinct, there's a 3.5mm jack for universal headphone fit, but unlike the Instinct, the Dare has a motion sensor inside that tells whether you're holding the phone horizontally or vertically. Videos, photos and the music browser all automatically adjust, as do keyboards and web pages. It's a nice touch, though I'll be honest, you don't really miss it on the Instinct.

The Dare's touchscreen leaves something to be desired. It's not as snappy as the Instinct's, and even after calibrating the screen, I found myself resorting to fingernail tapping to gain some precision.

The body of the Dare is a tad chunkier, but shorter too, with a slightly stubbier screen.

Dare vs. Instinct
The Instinct is, inside and out, a more elegant device. I preferred Instinct's e-mail app, and its included news, sports and weather web apps were great. Verizon is promising some unlimited-use apps like ESPN MVP and WeatherBug to compete with that, and while they're pretty nice programs, they were not ready to be used on the Dare at the time of this review.

The thing I can't stand about the Dare is VZ Navigator. I have tried to appreciate this, and since unlimited use of it comes with the premium plan, it can be considered a feature of the phone. Still, it's the worst GPS UI I've ever played around with, and Verizon would do much better to kill off their own licensed app and go with Telenav, which Sprint and AT&T both use.

Still, after playing with both, I have to say that the Instinct's aesthetic assets don't fully make up for the Dare's key advantages, one of which happens to be Verizon's network. In the northeast at least, there's no substitute.

Conclusion
Like the web apps, there are a few more wait-and-sees: Visual voicemail isn't in effect yet, and may or may not come via over-the-air update. Rhapsody is just launching today, and for $15/month extra you will be able to sideload the Dare with Rhapsody-to-Go tracks, though a Windows PC is required for that.

I am very content to say that this is Verizon's best attempt at a customizable, user-friendly touchscreen phone, and that, if you are into buttonless touch interfaces, you could do a lot worse across all the carriers. I think the $200 iPhone trumps the $200 Dare if you don't care which carrier you're on, but for those of you who are sticking with Verizon, you might, um, venture to pick up a Dare. [LG Dare at Verizon Wireless]

To sum that up, the Instinct is easily the best, most feature rich iPhone clone on the block, and at $129, is a steal for Sprint customers. My major problem with it is the touchscreen itself—I think the Vu's touchscreen is way more responsive. (Wilson likes it just fine, favoring it over Verizon's cloneys.) The Vu has everything superficial down right—the touchscreen, keyboard (best of the bunch) and phone body—but is really lacking in the feature department, and therefore not really worth the new $199 price, which hinges entirely on its Mobile TV function. If you married the Vu's body and touchscreen to the Instinct's features and price, you'd have a champion here, and a serious iPhone challenger. Too bad LG and Sammy hate each other.

The Voyager isn't considered an iPhone clone anymore, not in the strictest sense, though most of its problems stem from Verizon software rather than the hardware. As Wilson said in his review last fall, it's ambitious but flawed—and the flaws are mostly on Verizon. I'm really hoping Verizon lets the Dare just breathe, because the Vu proves LG is best left to its own devices. The Glyde is just a truly terrible phone. Most clay bricks are more responsive than its touchscreen, especially around the edges, and the crappy, sluggish Verizon software doesn't help. And its keyboard ain't much better.

One thing they all have in common is a shitty browser. There isn't a mobile browser that touches mobile Safari yet. Even when they could render HTML correctly, moving and zooming around the page (especially ones that aren't mobile optimized) is an exercise in self-control—how long can you take it before stabbing your eyes out. Opera mini does load on the Vu, and it's better than the included browser, but it worked kinda wonikly at times. For me, that's a critical flaw in all of these phones.

Best to worst: Instinct, Vu, Voyager, and Glyde.

UPDATE: Check out our review of the LG Dare, which gives the Instinct a run for its money

Price: $299.99 w/ two-year contract and $100 mail-in rebate.

The Verdict: It's glossy black, so it will attract fingerprints as bad as Heidi Klum does MILF comments. The screen is bright and clear, with a good resolution—necessary, since it's the phone headlining the mobile TV launch.

The edges of the touchscreen are less responsive than the rest of it—when you flip to the QWERTY layout for text messaging, for instance, you might have to tap the space button more than once, or at least aim for the top of it (in the gallery there's a picture of me mashing the center of the key HARD but it's still not registering). The problem grew from sort of annoying to genuinely frustrating after cranking through a couple of IMs and text messages telling my posse where to meet up for Iron Man tonight.

You get a somewhat smaller, more cramped keyboard when you go into email. (Which doesn't have support for custom domains (that's the "other" services screen), including Gmail, WTF.) It also drops haptic feedback for some reason, which I thought was unnecessary at first, but I kind of missed it with the email keyboard. Still, overall I'd give the typing experience a B-.

The other big feature of the phone, mobile TV, is as good as mobile TV gets, at least in the states (which might not be saying much). Startup is quick; changing channels is snappy enough; and the resolution is decent most of the time (it can get 1996-RealPlayer bad though) though it won't rival locally stored video on your iPod or iPhone by any means. Content-wise, it has more or less what you'd wanna see in mobile TV, with the CNN exclusivity being the real clinch over Verizon's V Cast. Sony PIX is a nice idea, but five minutes of dark, moody scenes in Memento gave me a headache, so I couldn't imagine a whole movie.

Bottom line, the phone is good, but falls short of very good/greatness, for a couple of reasons: The browser could use some work (it renders Giz better than mobile IE, since it tries to replicate desktop browsing, but rendering times are awful, even on 3G, and zooming is extremely laggy). Also, built-in email is only for a few set services. The music syncing feature isn't compatible with Macs, according to the manual. That said, it is a solid multimedia touchscreen phone that does most of what it does well (mobile TV, touchscreen, XM radio) for people specifically looking for an iPhone alternative. If it was $199, it'd be a worthy value—$299 is pushing it. [AT&T]

Speaking of Sprint, when asked why they only revealed a new all-you-can-eat subscription after Verizon did—and not Sprint—he replied that Verizon is a "high quality" player, number 2 in the marketplace, and they didn't want to give them any edge. Translation? Sprint is a non-player to AT&T. What about WiMax? Ralph is "not too worried about the threat from WiMax." Poor Sprint, they just can't catch a break. [Giz @ CTIA]

The selling point of the Vu is definitely the Mobile TV service. It's implementation here is solid. Mobile TV is a legit service, a step up from AT&T's older Verizon V Cast-like CV service. The phone's homescreen has an easily accessible icon at the bottom, and the entire interface is based around the Vu's touchscreen. It comes with a pull-out antenna, but LG says its meant for use in remote areas. The TV screen itself has buttons for channel up/down and another that brings up an electronic program guide similar to what you'd see in satellite or digital cable. The best part is that the guide is completely touch-friendly and you can jump from channel to channel just by touching a show on the guide.

The touchscreen itself is solid for the most part. The haptic feedback lets you know when you've pressed a button, though the screen does require a fairly firm push to get it to respond. It was especially speedy and accurate in the front screen menu and the subsequent apps menus.

The horizontal QWERTY keyboard looks well designed. However, it felt a bit cramped. I made my fair share of typos, partially because I was getting used to the feel of the keyboard, and partially because I couldn't see what letter I was pressing (no iPhone-style pop-up letters).

The music/media player was pretty straightforward, offering categories such as album, artist, etc..., and is all touch-friendly. The VU has a microSD card slot in its back panel that supports cards as big as 8 GB.

The proprietary LG browser pales in comparison to mobile Opera or mobile Safari, and has trouble displaying full-size webpages. Browsing the Gizmodo page was slow and choppy, and the method of scrolling and panning the screen felt unintuitive, perhaps because it's the opposite of the iPhone and iPod touch.

The text message interface does not use the conversation thread style of displaying text messages (a la Palm and BlackBerry), in some ways negating the ease of the touchscreen interface.

The interface also had a few quirks that didn't quite make sense to me. The default keyboard for text entry is an on-screen 10-digit pad that simulates the 0-9 keys on a real phone. The default browsing orientation is portrait mode. Both have to be toggled on and off via buttons on the touchscreen—the landscape/portrait button was particularly vague.

All in all, the Vu's strengths lie in its multimedia features, but the phone could benefit from further embracing the interface design found in some of today's smarter smartphones.

LG MOBILE PHONES OFFER A NEW VU INTO MOBILE ENTERTAINMENT

HIGHLY ANTICIPATED SLEEK TOUCH SCREEN HANDSET DEBUTS AT CTIA

SAN DIEGO, APRIL 1, 2008 — LG Electronics MobileComm U.S.A. Inc. (LG Mobile Phones) announced today at CTIA Wireless 2008 the availability of the new Vu™ by LG, a sleek and stunning touch screen handset with a view into mobile entertainment's newest offering, AT&T Mobile TV. With a large three-inch interactive touch screen accompanied by a minimalist scroll bar design, simplicity is only skin deep. The Vu by LG, offered exclusively through AT&T, is equipped with video, music, and camera features, in addition to offering first-time access to AT&T Mobile TV.

Running on AT&T's 3G network, the Vu offers access to AT&T Mobile Music which provides fast access to downloadable music from eMusic and sideloading compatibility from Napster-to-go and any unrestricted MP3 audio file in addition to streaming digital radio by XM Radio. Loaded with AT&T Video Share, Instant Messaging, and HTML web browsing with touch navigation, the Vu offers the best of AT&T's features in a stylish and fashionable handset.

"The Vu makes a strong statement about aesthetics and functionality thanks to its sleek, smooth exterior and its intuitive, three-inch touch screen technology," said Ehtisham Rabbani, vice president of product strategy & marketing at LG Mobile Phones. "We believe consumers will also embrace the robust entertainment options available via the Vu - benefiting so many busy lives on the go."

"With all of the entertainment and features of the Vu, including AT&T Mobile TV, this phone is a true remote control for your mobile life," said Carlton Hill, vice president of Product Management, Voice Products & Affiliate Marketing for AT&T's wireless unit.

The AT&T 3G network offers download speeds between 600 and 1,400 Kilobits per second (Kbps) and is available in over 265 markets, increasing to nearly 350 by the end of 2008, including all of the top 100 U.S. cities.

Additional features of the Vu by LG include a 2.0-megapixel auto focus camera with video record, and Bluetooth® capability for music, TV and voice. To enhance AT&T Mobile TV experience, the Vu by LG also includes an extendable TV antenna for increased reception. Please visit the LG booth (#449) to check out the Vu and other innovative LG handsets.

The Vu will be available through select AT&T retail locations or at http://www.att.com/wireless beginning in May 2008. For LG's complete handset line-up please visit: www.LGmobilephones.com.

The features the handsets will share include a 3-inch WQVGA 262K color touchscreen, 2MP camera with autofocus, HTML web browser, HSDPA connectivity, 120MB internal memory, USB mass storage mode, and up to 4GB microSD card support. Standing in at 4.25"H x 2.16"W x 0.51"D, the LG Vu is slightly on the larger side, but we can look past its inherent big bones to the 1000mAh battery, which will supply up to 3-hours of talk time. The Vu is set to go on show at CTIA, which gets underway on April 1st, or is that whole event just a well planned joke? Oh, we just can't tell. Now, hit up the link to get your eyeballs filled to the brim with Vu goodness [Phone Arena]

The cool kids are getting into custom-design furniture, like Vuunlimited's Loft Collection coffee table. Since it comes with a printed acrylic top, Vu encourages you to choose one of its soothing nature shots, or send in your own digital image. Might we suggest your mom, your girlfriend or KITT from Knight Rider? If you're going for a self portrait, remember to think like a Third World dictator. Choose a stately image, one you won't mind staring at every day as you make those important decisions like what to eat and who to kill. – Wilson Rothman

Product Page [Vuunlimited via MoCo Loco]