Verizon Wireless has just launch debuted 2 more colors of the so very popular LG Chocolate VX8500 cool phone. The new colors are officially named cherry and mint, but most people have been referring to these new skin mods as red and green Chocolate (rojo y verde chocolatte). These handsets join the previously available black and white variants of Verizon's snazzy line of LG Chocolate phones. All of the colors retain the same featureset.

The red and green models go on sale Friday, November 24th 2006 -- also known as Black Friday in the marketing world. All four of the Chocolate phone colors will be repriced @ $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and new Verizon service contract.

Posted by mobilemodo at 01:30 PM | Permalink Posted to LG | News | Verizon

The LG Chocolate is a spectacular new phone from Verizon Wireless. The handset has officially launched, and the advertising machine has already hit the streets in full swing. The Chocolate is for the musically savvy handset connoisseur. It has an iconic design with easy function that some are now evening calling it a "fashion phone".

LG Chocolate Features:
QVGA screen
Verizon EV-DO high-speed
Stereo Bluetooth (audio over bluetooth)
microSD card slot
1.3 megapixel camera.

Verizon Wireless will be selling the LG Chocolate for $149 if you sign a 2-year service agreement contract -- or $249.99 with a 1-year contract. Retail launch should start August 7th, in the meantime you can order exclusively online from Verizon Wireless Store/Chocolate.

Posted by mobilemodo at 09:57 AM | Permalink Posted to LG | News | Verizon

The sales of mobile phone handsets around the world have grown 26% during the first quarter of 2006 when compared to 1Q 2005. An estimated 226.7 million mobile phones were sold during the 1st quarter according to the industry research firm IDC. Despite the big increase, Q1 2006 sales are slightly off 7% when compared to the 4th quarter of 2005.

Mobile market share figures and rankings for Q1, 2006:
1 - Nokia 33.1%
2 - Motorola 20.3%
3 - Samsung 12.8%
4 - LG 6.9%
5 - Sony Ericsson 5.9%

Motorola's new line of phones continue to put up strong numbers, and with the FCC approval of the Moto Q smartphone -- which provides some nice competition for the Treo 700 line, we expect to see gains in handset marketshare by Motorola over the coming quarters.

Posted by mobilemodo at 11:41 PM | Permalink Posted to LG | Motorola | News | Nokia | Samsung | Sony Ericsson

While this thin supermodel in not headed to the U.S, the KTFT EV-K100 has to be about the thinnest mobile phone we have ever seen -- at a paltry 7.9mm thick close to half the thickness of the Motorola RAZR. This phone is so thin you could call it a nano phone because it is only 1mm thicker than Apples' popular iPod nano. LG's Mobile division will benefit greatly by the unique styling and innovative nature of this phone.

KTFT-RV-K100 features:
EVDO 3G
1.3 megapixel camera
MP3 player
1.8" color display
165MB memory built-in
Weighs approx. 60g (about 2 oz.)

LG Electronics recently announced they are planning to acquire KTFT, so we may see a ripple effect from the clever engineering that was done to make this phone possible. KTFT has made handsets for a mainstream manufacturer UTStarcom that has supply channels into the U.S. The KTFT EV K100 will cost a little over $300 (US prices) in South Korea - the only place it will currently be available.

[via Mobileburn]

Posted by mobilemodo at 10:41 AM | Permalink Posted to LG | News

Cingular Wireless has just announced the launch of the LG CG300. Unlike the previously announced CU320 slider the CG300 is a mid-range priced flip phone.

LG CG300 feature set:
Quadband GSM
VGA camera
Bluetooth Wireless
Speakerphone
65K color display

Cingular is now selling the newly released CG300 for $49.99, with a $50 mail-in rebate and 2-year service contract.

Posted by mobilemodo at 11:02 PM | Permalink Posted to Cingular | LG | News

LG Electronics recently announced a deal to acquire KTFT of South Korea. KTFT is the 5th largest mobile phone producer in South Korea, and they also make some models for the U.S. partnership with UTStarcom (formerly Audiovox). KTFT's specialty is to develop mobile handsets and outsource the manufacturing to cheaper suppliers.

No specific details surrounding the deal have been announced. When this deal closes, it will still leave Samsung, Pantech, LG Mobile, and Motorola as the big 4 market leaders for South Korea.

[via Phonescoop]

Posted by mobilemodo at 11:20 AM | Permalink Posted to LG | News | UTStarcom(Audiovox)

Cingular has announced the release of the new LG CU320, one of the first 3G phones to launch on Cingular UMTS network.

The 3G service rollout is now available in select cities throughout the U.S. including, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Portland, SLC, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Tacoma, and DC.

Cingular's 3G UTMS network is comparable to Sprint and Verizon'a Ev-DO network, which is estimated to blast wireless data transmission at the rate of 400-700 Kbps.

LG CU320 handset features:
Tri-band world phone ( 850/900/1900) + UMTS (850-1900)
1.3 Mega-pixels swivel camera
Bluetooth Wireless Support
Music Player - MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA
Speakerphone
Cingular TV & videos
Instant Messaging with ICQ, AIM and Yahoo

The Cingular Wireless LG CU320 will debut with a release price of $99.99 with a $50 mail-in rebate and 2 year service plan.

Posted by mobilemodo at 09:51 PM | Permalink Posted to Cingular | LG | News

The LG F9200 QWERTY keyboard mobile phone was just launched by Cingular Wireless along with the Motorola SLVR L7. Rumors of this phones release by LG on Cingular's network started last July and we are now happy to say that it has arrived. The 9200 is an update to the popular 9100 which lacked a digital camera and email support.

LG 9200 features include:
Full sliding QWERTY Keyboard
Email client that works with MSN, Yahoo! and Hotmail
Dual band GSM, 850/1900 MHz
Color display with a full 65K colors
Camera and Video with 4x zoom
Speakerphone

Cingular Wireless is now selling the LG F9200 for $149 with a $50 mail-in rebate with a new 2-year subscription.

Posted by mobilemodo at 10:44 AM | Permalink Posted to Cingular | LG | News