You probably already saw the official press release LG made a few weeks ago regarding their newest black line phone, the Chocolate Touch.  Well it looks like some lucky cell phone enthusiast in the UK got his hands on one, so here’s a closer view into how the phone actually looks and works.

(Credit: mobiles.co.uk)

Unfortunately it’s pretty much guaranteed the American version will not have WiFi (why Verizon, why?!), but hopefully they’ll still keep the overall design the same, because that is one hot piece of hardware.

There were also some rumors flying around that the Chocolate Touch was coming to Best Buy from Verizon on August 23rd.  Well, that’s today and um, doesn’t look like there’s anything new.  Myth busted!  I actually talked to a Best Buy representative yesterday and she told me that it wasn’t even in their system yet, but it is coming…eventually.  Well ok, whatever that’s supposed to mean.  I’m still speculating that a September/October release is the most feasible, but then again…that’s just speculation.

Question: Do you think this phone is worth upgrading to even if your contract isn’t up?  Or is it just a bunch of hype?  Sound off below!

If you’re like me, one of your biggest complaints with Verizon is probably their locked up phones.  The last thing I want to do after paying my monthly bill is pay even more money for thirty poorly chosen and low quality seconds of a song i don’t even like (I have a…shall we say, different taste in music).  Well luckily if you have the Env Touch there is an easier and much cheaper solution.  All you need is your favorite unprotected MP3 and an audio editing program (I use Audacity, a free, open source program).

First, just open Audacity, drag the MP3 in there and chop off the parts you don’t want leaving a short clip (if you’re really thorough, use the fade in/out effects).  Since the phone only rings for 21 seconds, try to keep it around that time frame (due to the structural arrangement of the music i use, I usually cut the song to a 25 second clip and start to fade it out around 18 seconds).  Then just save it at the bitrate you want (at 128kbps, 1 min equals almost 1mb), and you’re already mostly done!

(ringtone at 80kbps)

Now all you have to do is plug in your Env Touch to your computer, choose data when it prompts you, go to your applications and choose USB mass storage, and then on your computer drag your custom made MP3 ringtones to your “mysounds” folder.  Disconnect your phone, go to media center>music and tones>my sounds (or just create a shortcut that leads straight to “my sounds”), click on the MP3 you just uploaded, choose “set as”, then “ringtone” for the default ringtone or “contact ID” for a specific contact ringtone, and you’re now free to actually enjoy hearing your phone ring!

Unfortunately you can’t use these sounds as alarms, but hopefully bitpim will be coming out with a release soon that will let you do that.  Check out some of the ringtones I made (right click>download track)if want some good tunes that will make you want to dance rather than pick up your phone!

(ringtone at 320kbps)

Got a better method of making ringtones and putting them on your phone?  Or have any ringtones of your own you’d like to share?  Post away in the comments!

So the extended battery I ordered from verizon arrived this past tuesday, while I was at work, and apparently this thing is so important they require a signature, because the Fedex guy left a note saying he’d come back Wednesday.  >_<  So make sure you’re actually home or else you wont get it!

So far I’m pretty pleased with it, I’ll have to hand it to LG for trying to make an extended battery look sleek and streamlined.  The phone obviously doesn’t look as good as it does with a standard battery, but for an extended battery i think they pulled it off pretty well.  The phone is *surprise!* heavier and bulkier, which may be a turnoff for some.  Check out my flickr page with all the compare/contrast pics you’ll need.

I’ve conducted some basic battery tests and so far here are the results:

Talk times:

• Standard – A little more than 5 hours
• Extended – About 9 hours

(funny story: after spending 4 hours trying to get my friends to talk to me, I resorted to just calling my landline and having it sit there while I slept.  Woke up at 4am when my battery died, haha!)

Charge times:

• Standard (wall charger) – 2 hours 20 min
• Standard (USB port) – 4 hours
• Extended (wall charger) – 4 hours
• Extended (USB port) – 6 hours

Unfortunately, my house is pretty much the only area in southern California that has horrible coverage, I only get one to two bars usually.  So I’m thinking you should be able to get a little more juice out of these batteries if you have full bars in your area.

I’ll be conducting additional tests for internet browsing this coming week, let me know if you have questions and I’ll get back to you!  But for now, do you think the extra usage time is worth the bulk?  Or is it just an eyesore/portable dumbbell?  Blast off in the comments!

And let me tell you, it’s about time!  I’ve been waiting a month for this and finally the extended battery is back.  Finally, all us who are about fed up with the horrid battery life can now boost our cell phone usage by a lot!  By how much exactly?  Well, we’ll have to do some extensive tests when it finally arrives, but from what I’ve heard from others it’s worth it.

Credit: Verizon Wireless

And what’s more?  We got coupon codes!  Type in “bat30” to get an automatic $15 off your battery (I’m pretty sure this also works for every other battery on the Verizon Wireless website).  That, coupled with free overnight shipping, makes for a pretty compulsive deal.  So stop suffering from that wretched battery life and get the usage time your enV Touch deserves, buy the battery here (and make sure to browse by phone so you get the right battery!) Credit: Verizon Wireless

Are you going to get one? Have some first-hand experience with this battery? Tell us!

Think there aren’t any interesting phones coming up?  Think again! I won’t lie, this is probably my most anticipated phone of the year.  Why do I say this?  Let’s check the specs:

• super slim, sexy design
• 4 in. scratch resistant touch screen with multi touch (zooming in and out by pinching your fingers)
• fun and imaginative user interface
• full HTML browsing with WIFI!
• 5mp camera with flash

Check out the official teaser video here!

So the million dollar question is, when is this eye-catcher coming out?  Well according to the trailer, it’s “coming soon, 2009.” So that narrows our scope down a little bit. I’d estimate around September or October of this year, but of course I have absolutely nothing to back that.  It’s simply an estimated guess based on previous release dates and what’s coming up.

And of course an even bigger question is what network it will be on.  Verizon has been the flagship carrier of the LG Chocolate line of phones, so it only makes sense it would continue the tradition. The only unsettling thing about this is LG’s claim of the new Chocolate having WIFI, since Verizon is notorious for not allowing any of its non-smartphones have WIFI capabilities.

There are also some pretty solid rumors of the new Chocolate coming to Telus in Canada, so who knows?  Perhaps it will be like the first chocolate, which was released as both a CDMA and a GSM phone in North America and Europe.

Aaah, the suspense!

As of right now, the Verizon Wireless website has dropped the price on the LG enV Touch (our review), its number one phone that doesn’t require a data plan.

The 2 year agreement price is $169.99, and after that there is a $70 online discount, bring it to $99.99.  But wait! If you qualify for your new every two (or rather, new every 1.75) now, slash another $50 off of that for a grand total of only $49.99. (and depending on where you live, around $36 worth of taxes. Screw you, fascist government!)

Honestly, for what you’re getting, paying $99.99 for the enV Touch is a good deal, but paying $49.99?  That’s legalized theft, there’s no way LG is making money off that. 

It’s even cheaper than Samsung’s Alias 2, which, while I won’t deny has a excellent design and innovative keypad, it just doesn’t deliver as well in the way of features and multimedia as the enV Touch does.

Now this isn’t the first time this sale has been around, I got my Touch for the same price a month ago, but the price went up and now it’s back down, so get online for free overnight shipping or get over to your nearest Verizon Wireless store and have them match the price.

Let me know how you like it! Sound off in the comments!

With over fifty different phones to choose from, your average Verizon wireless customer looking for a new phone might think they have a lot of hard decisions to make.  But lucky for you, Verizon has a contract with LG which has produced one of the best non-smart phones on the cell phone market, the LG Env Touch.  So what makes this such a good phone?  Let’s take a look:

• touchscreen, and not only that, but a responsive touchscreen.  Sure, it’s no iPhone, its not even capacitive, but for resistive touchscreens it’s extremely responsive.  If you’re used to an iPhone/iPod touch, it might take some getting used to, but for beginners to touchscreens the learning curve is very quick.
• with full html browsing and a pdf/microsoft office viewer, you wont even need your computer!  ok not really, but with things like a tabbed browser, flash support, and of course Verizon’s ever present 3g network, you’re really starting to straddle the middle line between smart and dumb phone.
• a customizable homepage, which lets you put all your favorite apps and shortcuts right where you want them.  It’s also app friendly, but whether or not it will be able to compete on the level of the iPhone and G-1 is yet to be seen.
• 3.2 mp camera that is unrivaled by other phones.  Really the only comparable phone is the LG Dare which actually has the exact same lens. The other competition comes from the Casio Exilim’s 5 mp camera, which ironically takes worse photos.
• a 3.5 mm headset jack and intuitive music software can make this your personal portable music device.  Those of you with iPods may not find this too exhilarating, but it’s a big step up from the normal 2.5mm with a boring and hard to work Verizon music player.
• full qwerty keyboard, while the concept may not be so unique as it was with the first enV, this one is definitely one of the most comfortable and spacious ones on the market.  so whether you text, email, or just write a lot of notes, the enV Touch offers an experience like no other.

This short list only scratches the surface, there’s a whole ‘nother slew of characteristics that sets this phone apart from the rest, like two 3in/480×800pixel/16,777,216 color displays (one of the best on the market), up to 16gb external memory, stereo speakers, a charger that doubles as your USB cable, excellent call quality/reception, stereo Bluetooth, and the list goes on.

And just to prove I’m not a completely biased reviewer, there a quite a few complaints I’d like to point out:

• horrible battery life. if you thought the battery life on your two year old phone was bad, wait till you use the brand new battery on this phone.  If you actually use your phone, you’ll get about 2 days before you have to charge it again, if you’re lucky.  If you’re a poweruser, you may be charging it everyday.  Simple solution?  extended battery.
• it’s big, and as my mom said when she picked it up, “it’s heavy.” of course its still smaller and lighter than its predecessors and quite a few competitors, but if you’re looking for the sleekest, slimmest, lightest phone on the market: you may want to look elsewhere.
• slight echo on the call quality, but it’s not that big of  a deal… unless it’s really windy.
• its no iPhone, iPod, or standalone camera, but you have to admit it does a pretty good job of combining all three at an affordable price, both for the phone itself and for the monthly service plan (data plan not necessary!)

Right now the env Touch is priced at $100 with a 2 year contract (that’s after a $70 rebate and a $50 new every two discount).  And for what you’re getting, that’s a very good deal.  So if you like the pros and could care less about the cons, why not give it a shot?  Play before you buy, and if you’re really studious you can even see some more in depth reviews here, here, and here.

Got questions for me?  Ask away!  Already own the enV Touch?  Post your thoughts!