During the review he broke down some of the technology behind the eye popping specs, as well as taking note of a feature set that is high on performance and low on ordinary TV functions. Being a monitor, the 65VX100U does not feature a built-in HDTV or analog tuner and standard definition source imputs like composite and S-video. However, it does include 4 HDMI jacks, one component video, one PC input (VGA), and a RS-232 jack.

As far as performance is concerned, Gary compared it side by side with the 50-inch Kuro and found that Pioneer won on ultimate black level and in the effectiveness of its anti-reflective screen, but the latter results in an purple-reddish tint that can be clearly seen when compared side by side with the 65VX100U. The Kuro also requires a higher level signal to come out of black, which obscured details that the Panasonic did not. All in all, it seems that if you have $10,000 to plunk down on a 65-inch flat panel, the 65VX100U should be at the top of your list. [HD Guru]

Though the first buyers will likely be rich dudes, the movie business is also going to be interested in it as a monitor, since it can handle 120% of the HDTV color gamut, enough to maybe get a good looking movie on a TV for one damn time. And let's not forget that Pioneer has shut down its own panel production lines and plans to go with Panasonic's. I asked if Pioneer would get a shot at the sweet new one—though there wasn't a straight answer, the sense I got was "probably not, at least not at first." Go Panasonic, kicking some TV ass!

DARE TO BE DIFFERENT WITH HOT NEW LG PHONES FROM VERIZON WIRELESS

Touch-screens, Music and More Offer Customers an Array of Mobile Options

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – For the hottest looks and coolest features in wireless phones this summer, Verizon Wireless is expanding its LG line-up with three devices that offer unique features with loads of possibilities. The LG Dare™, LG Decoy™ and the new LG Chocolate™ 3 are scheduled for their debut on the nation’s most reliable wireless network through July.

“These summer phones join our other popular LG phones – the enV2™, the Voyager™ and the Venus™ – to offer our customers an array of applications, downloadable games, music and other content that is unparalleled in its variety and ability to enhance customers’ lifestyles,” said Mike Lanman, vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless. “By unveiling these devices now, we are giving our customers the opportunity to choose the device that’s right for them, backed by the most reliable wireless network in the nation.”

LG Dare
From the sleek, slim appearance, to the all touch-screen operation, the LG Dare will be the talk of the season. Loaded with multimedia functionality, this 3G V CAST-capable phone has VZ NavigatorSM, V CAST Music, and a 3.2 megapixel still and video camera that automatically adapts to low or unevenly distributed light for better quality pictures. The photo editing tool lets customers turn their photos into personal masterpieces with features that include borders, landscape and a fun doodle feature right on the screen. Customized photos can be uploaded to a social networking site directly from the phone. The intuitive and graphical contact list allows customers to find the right number with the flick of a finger for speedy texting, e-mailing and phoning. Favorite contacts can be reached with a drag and drop photo interface. Additional information on the LG Dare will be available later this month.

LG Decoy
A dream for the multi-tasking consumer, the glossy front and satin back LG Decoy is the world’s first phone to have a Bluetooth® hands-free headset integrated into the design. The headset slips into the back of the device for easy transport and charging. The slider phone also sports a five-way directional joystick for easy navigating through all of Verizon Wireless’ multimedia features such as V CAST Music and V CAST Video. Customers planning to hit the road this summer can download VZ Navigator on the Decoy to get visual and audible directions to thousands of destinations, locate businesses and other points of interest, get maps of a location, and share directions with others. The Decoy will be in stores on June 16.

LG Chocolate 3
Chocolate gets even sweeter this summer, and the latest iteration of this iconic mobile music phone is even more stylish and functional than its predecessors. The new LG Chocolate 3 trades in its slider form factor for a slim flip style that brings with it the quintessential music player complete with control wheel on the outside and an FM transmitter to play music through a car stereo. The new Chocolate is the perfect MP3 player for listening and accessing more than 3 million songs from Verizon Wireless’ V CAST Music library. It has dual speakers and Bluetooth for wireless stereo sound, and inside is a Gigabyte* of memory to store the latest tunes. Add in the option of expandable memory with an 8 GB microSD™ card, and customers can pack thousands of songs onto this new version of a rock solid winner. The new Chocolate has a 2.0 megapixel camera, so customers can capture the best of summer fun to share with friends. The phone also supports V CAST Video and ESPN MVP, making this marquee mobile music device more than just another phone. The LG Chocolate 3 will be in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and available online in July.

REDMOND, Wash. May 13, 2008 Today, Microsoft Corp. reshapes the webcam experience with the LifeCam VX-5000, a webcam with a unique bendable attachment base that molds to virtually any surface — from your notebook to your desktop — so you can take it anywhere. For personalized flair, the LifeCam VX-5000 features a brightly colored ring around the front of the webcam that will be offered in the colors Cool Blue, Lucky Green and Fire Red, allowing consumers to choose their favorite to suit their style. To complement the fresh new look, the LifeCam VX-5000 features MSN Photo Swap, a special feature that lets consumers share digital photos in midvideo conversation and see real-time reactions as both callers view the pictures. The new webcam arrives just in time to help share summer vacation memories and keep consumers connected throughout the year. "With the LifeCam VX-5000, we are changing the perception of webcams from boring and bulky to fun and flexible," said Michael Cowan, product marketing manager for the Hardware Division at Microsoft. "We designed this LifeCam to match the experience its technology delivers — it's all about fun and letting consumers share their personalities."

Photo Swap: A Feature You'll Flip Over
Digital camera owners have on average more than 1,200 photos stored on their computer, and Photo Swap helps bring the pictures to life as a virtual photo album. Using Windows Live Messenger, consumers can easily share pictures from summer vacations or holiday gatherings with ease. The best part is with Photo Swap they can see and hear the reaction of their friends and family — whether across town or across the country — and feel like they are sitting right next to each other.
See, Hear, Share — Easy as 1, 2, 3
The VX-5000 comes with Windows Live optimizations and the latest version of LifeCam software, making it easier than ever for users to experience a great video call. Key features and benefits include the following:
Windows Live Call Button, located on top of the LifeCam, allows users to open their Contact Picker (a tool showing which contacts are currently online) with one touch, so they can quickly initiate video calls to friends and family.
LifeCam Dashboard incorporates full LifeCam navigational controls (pan, tilt, zoom, face tracking and Video Effects) within the Windows Live Messenger interface, enabling a seamless and easy navigating experience.
World-class VGA optics with a VGA sensor, 640x480 video resolution and 1.3-megapixel still photography (interpolated) offer high picture quality.
Built-in unidirectional microphone with acoustic noise cancellation delivers crystal-clear audio.
Pan, tilt and 3X digital zoom features allow users to adjust the image to see more clearly.
Pricing and Availability
The LifeCam VX-5000 will be widely available in June 2008 for an estimated retail price of $49.95. The webcam is available now for pre-sale on Amazon.com and will ship in June when it is widely released. The LifeCam VX-5000 will be backed by a worldwide three-year limited hardware warranty from Microsoft Corp. More information about the LifeCam VX-5000 can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/hardware.

Currently slated for mid-to-late Q2, preliminary specs for the VX9700 include a 3.2-megapixel camera with a Schneider Kreuznach lens, touchscreen, a full QWERTY keyboard and both a microUSB port and a microSDHC slot.

[Howard Forums and Howard Forums]

Because it's not truly a "smartphone" but rather one of the most overblown feature phones to date, I will review each feature in its arsenal:

Touchscreen: The Voyager's touchscreen isn't as responsive as the iPhone's, though it is a lot nicer than the TouchFLO experience on the HTC Touch (Sprint's, at least). The biggest innovation is force-feedback: when your finger lands in the right place, you get a bit of a vibration. Immersion's haptic technology is behind this, so it's got momentum, but still a ways from being useful in a blind-typing situation.

The touchscreen's fatal flaw—the dealbreaker—is that it can't be used to scroll through Verizon's own menus. The screen will show a slide-bar on the right side when there are more menu items to scroll down to, but it's next to impossible to grab the bar and scroll. On the rare occasions that I was able to move the slide-bar, I didn't have real control over it. Others that I showed the phone to have had the same problems. And yes, Virginia, I did calibrate the touchscreen. Three times. (I don't know who Virginia is either.)

UPDATE: I want to thank commenter Pikes for suggesting the counterintuitive scrolling technique. "Have you tried pulling the menu UP instead of using the scroll bar?" While it doesn't propel the phone directly into iPhone territory, it certainly does alleviate some of the annoyance I encountered during my testing.

E-Mail: As many who saw our Sizemodo yesterday pointed out, the Voyager is slightly chunkier than the iPhone because it also opens up into a screen-and-keyboard config, like the enV before it. Typing isn't so bad; it beats the Voyager's blatant iPhone-style touchscreen typing, though even that isn't too bad. It's nice to have a choice.When you work your way through the interface though, you see an envelope icon indicating messaging. It would make sense to have that icon represent both messaging and e-mail, but alas, it doesn't. The way Verizon handles e-mail is still half-baked at this point, though my guess this will improve over time. At the moment, it takes many clicks to get to it, even after it's installed: Menu>Get It Now>Tools on the Go>Mobile Email.

Once you're in, you can choose from multiple inboxes from different webmail accounts. I was happy to see how many webmail types were pre-configured; the only noticeable omission was Gmail, but you can always set it up manually. Using the e-mail program was relatively pleasant, but when I wasn't in it, I would only get new-mail notifications from one of my two accounts.

Navigation: I am a big fan of portable GPS navigation devices, so the whole GPS-on-phone thing has escaped me, in spite of its lower cost. The screens are too small and the commands don't have enough detail for my Garmin- and TomTom-spoiled self. But the Voyager's big touchscreen brings easier and better navigation closer to reality. It's definitely the best example of VZ Navigator I've seen to date. That said, the screens are still too rudimentary to compete with the PNDs, and the menu system is a little clunky. But this is something I plan to fiddle with more, because for once I can actually see myself using a phone to navigate.

Music:
On the Voyager, the microSD slot is on the side, easily accessed without yanking the battery out or anything. (And it'll take cards up to 8GB, in case you are curious.) After inserting your microSD card and letting the phone build its file structure (my_pix, my_music, etc.) you can then stick that microSD into your computer's card reader and drag over your tunes. It's a primitive player—it won't look in folders and it won't always play compatible tracks. But the little speakers sound damn good, and you don't need all kinds of Verizon specialty software to load in your own MP3s.

Camera/Video: Just as you can take music from your PC and play it on the phone via the microSD card, you can also take pics and videos and save them to the card to take with you—rather than spending good money MMS-messaging your own pictures to yourself. Photo quality on the 2-megapixel camera is fine in decent light. And shooting with the large touchscreen works fine for both photo and video (files that come out are QuickTime-playable 3GPP2).

Browser: iPhone lovers will tell you that the iPhone has the best browser on any phone, and to date, I think they are right. While the Voyager does its best to capture the styles of a page, it easily misinterprets your finger gestures (are you scrolling or clicking?) and its lack of speed is surprising given the bandwidth advantage of EV-DO over EDGE. I was surprised to see such an advanced browser on an LG phone, but alas, it's still no match for browsers from Apple, RIM or Palm.

There are other aspects to this device that are sure to please some people: it is compatible with Verizon's V Cast Mobile TV service—provided it's available in your area. (When we try to tune in, we get an error saying "No V Cast Mobile TV Signal.") Chronic text-messagers will be excited about the easy-access messaging; call me old-fashioned but I only wish access to e-mail were as straightforward and integrated.

In the end you have a lot of powerful hardware working towards a not all-together clear objective. I like a lot of what I see, and to further the iPhone comparison, it would be nice to see Verizon and LG follow suit and update the Voyager software, but I am not sure that's in the cards. To be worth $300 and the large sums of money you will spend each month on service, this phone needs a smoother touchscreen, a more integrated e-mail system and a much smarter browser. [Verizon's Voyager page]

I'm excited about this phone, which will probably land in the $250-$300 range when it hits in mid November. It's much more of an engaging piece of technology than the enV ever was (in part thanks to a bigger WQVGA screen). Also, as a touchscreen device, it's closer to iPhone than Chocolate, though it does incorporate some snazzy force feedback. Using flicks and drags, you can scroll through long lists of contacts with your thumb, tap on selected parts of HTML webpages using a thumbnail view and swipe through menus and media playlists easily. OK, it's not Apple—not yet near—but it's a good start.

Since it's a Verizon media powerhouse, it has V Cast Music and Video, plus the new MediaFLO streaming TV (where available). On the sideloading front, it will take MP3s, WMAs and non-DRM AACs. And it supports microSDHC cards up to 8GB.

Do I love it? Not sure yet, but I'm definitely interested in giving it a try.

LG's Voyager vs. enV Sizemodo:

From the fact sheet:

The Voyager™ by LG from Verizon Wireless
The LG Voyager* is the first phone from Verizon Wireless that features a large external touch screen. Packaged in a lateral-clamshell design that hides a full QWERTY keypad, The LG Voyager is exclusive to Verizon Wireless and comes packed with a number of cool features, including a HTML browser for enhanced Internet browsing, full V CAST-capabilities - including V CAST Mobile TV, V CAST Music and the ability to play .mp3, .wma and unprotected .aac files, and V CAST Video. These capabilities, coupled with Verizon Wireless' high-speed wireless broadband network, make downloading music or surfing the Web while on-the-go quick and easy.

Other features mobile multimedia addicts will love include:
Speakerphone
VZ Navigator
Picture, text, video and instant messaging
Bluetooth stereo for headsets and speakers
Built-in stereo speakers
2.0 megapixel camera
Expandable microSD memory slot of up to 8 GB

The Venus is LG's answer to that slender hot-selling mobile device, the iPhone Nintendo DS. Yep, it's got a straight-up LCD on top and a smaller touchscreen below, and buttons change constantly to keep with the context.

It's a hyperserious feature phone, with Bluetooth stereo, support for non-DRM MP3, WMA and AAC, and a microSDHC slot that can take up to 8GB cards (if you can find them).

Forget music though: it's best attribute is its 2-megapixel camera. When you turn the closed phone on its side and tap the camera button, you get an active preview plus a touch-sensitive set of options. Tap "Take" and the menu shifts to saving and sharing, and even zooming (though it wouldn't let me crop after zooming).

Though the camera makes good use of the "DS" concept, the main navigation is irritating. Too often I found myself wanting to touch the inactive part of the screen, and the part that was touch sensitive was not always easy to control. In the main menu, the arrow looks scrollable, but if you touch anywhere but the tips of the arrows, it won't behave.

Of all of the Verizon phones today, the Venus was the one that I had the most mixed feelings about. Maybe it was because of my experience with that damned Chocolate. And maybe it was because the Voyager seemed to shoot past it in good qualities and high performance, without being a whole lot bigger. On top of all of that, it's ostensibly a "fashion" phone, but I can't imagine the girls getting into this one.

I could be wrong, maybe we'll give it another spin when it ships in mid November. Though unconfirmed, it will probably sell in the $200 range.

From the fact sheet:

The Venus™ by LG from Verizon Wireless
Fashion-forward customers will love The Venus by LG, exclusively available from Verizon Wireless. This fashion statement has dual front screens - the lower screen features touch sensitive navigation. The slim, stylish slider comes in both black and pink and features a dedicated music key for easy access to music. The player supports .mp3, .wma and unprotected .aac file playback, plus Bluetooth stereo so customers won't need to clutter their cutting-edge look with headset or stereo wires.

In addition to the sharp dual screens, The Venus by LG also features:
Expandable memory with microSDTM cards, currently up to 8 GB
2.0 megapixel camera with landscape rendering and zoom/review adjustments

As you can see in the video above, when you put that baby in freespin mode, it can zip through a million lines in seven seconds.

While it's a whole lot smaller than the MX Revolution, it still looks big enough to fit comfortably in your hand. The company says it will last six months on a pair of AAA batteries. Looks like a great travel companion if you don't mind paying $70 for a mouse. [Notebooks.com]

"Celebs" Help Launch LG's New Phone [Geeksugar]

Not much other stuff in the way of details now, but keep an eye out if you're still into the Chocolate's design but hate the fact that you can't use it very well. – Jason Chen

New Chocolate: LG's VX8550 for Verizon comes into view [Engadget Mobile via Crave]

Product Page [via SlashPhone]

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]

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]

The reception on the other hand, is spotty. It was pretty decent on the grounds of CTIA—no doubt pre-rigged by Verizon—but when we got out among the natives and the gators and the native gators, it was hard to maintain video. We did get enough audio to realize we were "watching" Carlos Mencia and that we should change the channel and burn the phone. – Jason Chen

Thanks to slashgear

LG Announces New Clamshell Music Phones [Digital Trends]

But they keys are touch-sensitive! That means no more clicking, and the distinct possibility of joint stress as you pound your fingers onto a hard surface for hours on end. (Disclaimer: maybe touch keyboards are fantastic, let us know if they are actually comfortable to type on for long periods of time).

You'll have to hit the jump for the product shot that is ruined if resized in Photoshop and way too long for the front page.

The Touch Senses Combo Sets are also compatible with XP for those who are not quite ready for Vista. There may or may not be a mouse that comes along with this keyboard...but we think that "combo" is just part of the product's confusing name, implying that you get a keyboard with a keyboard. No word on pricing yet. – Mark Wilson

Press Release

While Laptop Mag, Popular Science, Shiny Shiny, Infosync, Reg Hardware, Maxim, and Pocket Lint have taken lemons and made lemonade, we are taking lemonade and making...super lemonade. Hit the jump to see the absolute cream of the crop products, the one list to catch you up on all the lists: The Best Of, The Best Of CES 2007.

Media Player
LG Super Multi Blue
"We love the quality of Blu-ray, we love the quality of HD DVD, but we don't want to get involved in a format war and back the wrong one. Seems LG doesn't either with the launch of a dual player." (pocketlint)

Portable Media
Sansa Connect
"This WiFi portable audio player provides streaming Internet radio, as well as WiFi content acquisition in one nicely priced package. In other words, any time you find yourself in a WiFi hotspot, you can download new songs." (maxim)
It's just like a Zune, but useful.

Television
Sharp 108" LCD

Computer
OQO Model 02
"Roughly the size of two iPods, the OQO 02 could easily be mistaken for a handheld videogame system or even a slightly oversize Blackberry. But don't let it fool you: It's a fully functional, standalone computer capable of running Windows Vista." (popsci)
And it's a lot nicer than this UMPC.

Phone
LG VX9400
"Though we've seen swivel screen phones abroad...Verizon's V Cast Mobile TV announcement brought forth the first swivel screen for the US...very light, and surprisingly slim, we expected more bulk from the first generation of true mobile TV phones. The screen swivels to landscape mode and clicks nicely into place, and though it isn't very large, we were happy to see video commandeering the entirety of the screen's real estate." (infosyncworld)
No, we weren't tacky enough to say the iPhone.

Robot
iRobot Create
"From the company that brought you the Roomba vacuum cleaner comes a robot designed for students, geeks and other 'bot lovers to create their own programmes. See it in action here fetching beer from the fridge or even being controlled by a hamster. Genius." (reghardware)

iPod Dock
Viewsonic PJ258D
"... sleekly designed and weighs less than four pounds. The docking station connects an iPod video player directly to the projector...also supports other digital media, including S-Video and VGA...has a 1024 x 768 XGA resolution, 2000 lumens of brightness, and a 2000:1 contrast ratio." (LaptopMag)
If you don't think iPod docks deserve their own group, you weren't at the show. And it's among the world's most expensive, ludicrous iPod docks at $999.

What were your favorites? –Mark Wilson

Currently the service gives you eight channels, including the major networks, MTV, ESPN, Nickelodeon, and Comedy Central. New networks will probably be added in the future, as the small selection at launch is a product of licensing rather than technology. Overall I was more impressed with the Mobile TV that I expected to be, and look forward to seeing how well this tech catches on. –Adam Frucci

LG

Going directly through a Verizon retailer, this phone will set you back $100 to $150, even with a contract. – Travis Hudson

Product Page [Via Dealhack]

How about high speed EV-DO or a built-in 2.0-megapixel camera? The relatively low price ($150 after a host of rebates and 2-year contract subsidy from VZW) is also attractive. Reuters brings up a good point, however: the U.S. market is getting a hell of a lot of smartphones lately.

The concern is that consumers may not adopt the smartphones are quickly as they did regular smartphones. This is because these smartphones aren't seen to be as "sexy" as regular cellphones. What's the peanut gallery's opinion? Too many smartphones out there? Just don't care? – Nicholas Deleon

LG's enV joins crowded U.S. smartphone market [Reuters via SlashPhone.com]

Product Page [Verizon Wireless]

Pics via HowardForums

Oh, right, the price. Current rumblings point to a $320 (that's retail—the prices drops to $150 if you sell your soul to Verizon for two years) price with a release slated for November 27. With the recent release of the Samsung BlackJack and the pending release of the Treo 680, it looks like Santa could be busy this year handing out smartphones to good boys and girls everywhere. – Nicholas Deleon

LG VX9900 gets release date and price [SlashPhone.org]

If it's an LCD you're after, the company's new VX37L sports an 8ms response time, dual HDMI ports, 1,000:1 contrast ratio, and a 1,366x768 resolution for $999.

Also on the LCD line up is the VX20LHDTV, a 20-inch 720p-capable display with a 700:1 contrast ratio, built-in tuner, and $400-dollar price tag.

Finally, on the grander scale of things is the 1,366x768 Gallevia GV46L, a 46-inch LCD with dual HDMI, component, and composite inputs all for $1,650. I would have liked to have seen Vizio do a budget 1080p display, but looks like Westinghouse still has a stronghold on that market with its very capable LVM-47w1. However, if you're just looking to go HD for the first time and can't afford to splurge too much, these Vizio models should do the trick.

Vizio [via Electronista]
– Louis Ramirez

Keep reading for more glamor shots of the phone and some final thoughts.

Feature-wise, it's essentially a carbon copy of the Chocolate all the kids have now, but in a trendy-three-years-ago flip version. So if flipping is your thing, it's a pretty nice looking cellphone. Atrocious battery life is a Chocolate hallmark, so the 220 minutes of usage time (398 on standby) is not surprising at all. Better keep near a charger since you'll need sooner rather than later. – Nicholas Deleon

Product Page [Verizon Wireless via SlashPhone.org]

The XV8600 will have a 1.3-megapixel camera, a microSD/TransFlash slot, EV-DO for data, Bluetooth A2DP, a talk time of 3.66 hours and a 176x220 pixel screen. The phone will be launched on November 15 and start with a price of $229 with one-year contract and $179 with two-year contract. – Jason Chen

Another piece of Chocolate for Verizon - LG VX8600 [Phone Arena]

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

The Times investigation begins with the wisdom that wireless carriers see no point in offering cellphones that just function as a phone, since there's no way to charge customers outrageous amounts of money for ring tones, cool wallpaper images and the like. Instead, they tack on features that many people would otherwise not use to shore up their bottom line.

The piece looks at Motorola C139 and Sony Ericsson Z300a from Cingular; the Motorola V195 from T-Mobile; the LG VX3400 from Verizon; the Samsung A420 from Sprint; and the Jitterbug (the what?). The Times liked the LG VX3400 the most, since its software was well thought out (no pressing down eight times just to text someone here) and the ringer is plenty loud. It looks like the Motorola C139 is the worst of the bunch, combining lame software (how many times do I have to hit down to see what time it is? kind of thing) and silly button placement. The middle button—"enter" or "select" on every other cellphone on Earth—is not what you expect it to be.

The surprise entry is the Jitterbug. It's an old folks' phone that, among other things, produces a dial tone when opened and has an intuitive voice-based menu system. Saying "Help, I've fallen and I can't get up" into a cellphone has never been easier!

See, simple cellphones do exist. It's just a matter of finding them and learning to live without EV-DO and wireless music stores. – Nicholas Deleon

Some Phones Are Just, Well, Phones [New York Times]

The Sarotech player can play DivX, Xvid, MP3s and JPEGs—if you're about to die, why not have a slideshow of your family with you—and works with Windows, Mac and Linux. Since there's no screen on this thing, we're assuming this is wirelessly broadcasting video to whatever screen you've got in your car. The unit has English, Japanese and Chinese, so if you're really interested in DivX watching in your vehicle, feel free to import this whenever it's released. Just please drive somewhere far away from us. – Jason Chen

Sarotech to launch in-car wireless DivX player 'AviX DVP-370Vx' [AVING]

All that, and still no word on price or availability. – Nicholas Deleon

LG Reveals VX-8600 [Phone Scoop via New Launches]

Looking at these first pictures, which are only just slightly less blurry than the Zapruder film, you can immediately tell that LG is doing away with the whole "red=sexy" motif found in the currently available domestic slider Chocolate. Also of note is the move from a circular, iPod-wannabe directional pad to a rectangular pad, found in overseas versions of the Chocolate.

The clamshell Chocolate by LG is expected to launch later this year on Verizon Wireless. – Nicholas Deleon

LG VX-8600 Chocolate live photos [phoneArena]

Buy it online now or wait until August 7 where it will be available in retail stores. Oh yeah, and if you're only willing to commit yourself for one year with Verizon, the coveted LG Chocolate phone will cost you $100 more, at $249.99. Either way, that's just one purdy phone, what with it being all black and chocolate-y and all. – Charlie White

LG Chocolate Product Page [Verizon]

Thinly-supported rumors say it will to be shipping on October 7th of this year, but we're thinking that the evidence supporting this consists of the time-of-day and date on the front of the phone in this picture, so that sounds a little shaky to us. Whenever it ships, we're digging the flat front of this phone and its elegant European chocolate design. It's thin-and-small slider form factor is more than likely to be a hit stateside. – Charlie White

Got my hands on an 8500 [Howard Forums, via PhoneArena]