In addition to its multimedia capabilities and styling, Verizon Wireless has included the features customers have come to expect including VCAST Video and 3D Games, a 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth capabilities, a microSD memory expansion slot that supports the newest SanDisk 2 GB cards and access to VZ Navigator and turn-by-turn navigation with audible voice directions to most addresses in the U.S.
Chocolate is taking the global handset market by storm, selling more than 1 million units since its international launch outside Korea and has won two global design awards (the 2006 iF Design Award and Reddot Design Award for its unique styling and user interface).
Chocolate as offered by Verizon Wireless offers the following additional features:
- Music player with customizable audio effects and UI player themes (supports MP3 and WMA formats)
- Speaker for music
- Dedicated music key for easy access to playlists
- Multitask while playing music - send messages, browse the Web, change your phone settings and more
- My Music - All songs, manage playlists; songs are auto organized by artist, genre, album; manage your music settings
- Music only mode (RF off, except Bluetooth)
- Standalone mode (RF off, for use with wired headsets for listening to music) Set alarm using music
- microSD memory port - store music, customer generated pictures, video and sounds
- 1.3-megapixel camera and camcorder
- Resolution: 1280 x 960 px, 640 x 480 px, 320 x 240 px, 176 x 144 px, 160 x 120 px
- Record up to one hour of video
- Digital zoom: up to 2x
- Self-timer: three, five or ten seconds
- Customizable brightness, white balance, shutter sound, color effects, night mode
- Mirror for self-portrait capability
- Video player
- Get It Now-capable - download games, ringtones, wallpapers and more
- Mobile Web 2.0-capable - customizable, enhanced wireless access to the latest in news, sports, weather and more
- Bluetooth Capable (v1.1) - compatible with devices that support the headset, hands-free, Serial Port (SPP), Dial Up - Networking (DUN), and Object Push (OPP) profile for vCard exchange
- Advanced audio Distribution Profile (for Bluetooth stereo headset support for listening to music)
- Save up to 20 Bluetooth pairings
- Speaker-independent voice recognition: call, send message to, go to, check, lookup, My Account
- TTY/TDD support
- Voice memo recording
- MP3 ringtone support
- 12 ringtones and vibrate and silent modes
- Ultra-thin, stylish slider design with unobtrusive internal antenna
- Red touch navigation keys (protected when inactive)
- Flash user interface themes for personalization
- Flash wallpapers with fun animations
- TXT, PIX and FLIX Messaging-enabled - send and receive messages with text, sounds and customer generated photos and videos
- Web-Based e-mail and instant messaging
- My Account - access balance, minutes, usage and payment info
- Personal Tools - calendar with scheduler, alarm clock, notepad, plus world clock, calculator and Ez tip calculator tools
- Speed dial with 98 entries and one voice mail default
- 500 contacts address book with five numbers, two e-mail addresses and a picture ID for each entry
- Technology: CDMA
- Frequency: 1.9 GHz CDMA PCS, 800 MHz CDMA (digital dual-band)
- Data transmission: high-speed EV-DO
- Dimensions: 3.80" h x 1.88" w x 0.69" d
- Weight: 3.53 oz.
- Displays: 262K-color TFT, 240 x 320 px, 11 lines
- Standard battery: 800 mAh Li-Ion polymer
- Usage time up to 3 hours 30 minutes, or standby time up to 16 days
VCAST Music customers can browse, preview, download and play high-quality digital music from their phones over Verizon Wireless' broadband network or in the Verizon Wireless VCAST Music online store. With more than 1.3 million songs to choose from, Verizon Wireless customers can download the songs they love most, accessing their music collection anywhere they go.
Chocolate by LG is available for $149.99 after a $50 instant online discount and new two-year customer agreement. It will also be available in more than 2,100 Verizon Wireless Communications Stores including those in Circuit City on August 7 for $149.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and new two-year customer agreement.
This phone is going to be a huge hit. I saw the Korean version awhile back and it took Asia by storm. Only a matter of time before the RAZR gets dethroned.
2. Posted by Chocolate
Mon Jul 31, 2006 2:08 pm
WHat are themes?
3. Posted by booboy
Mon Jul 31, 2006 6:35 pm
allows you to change the menu design. the chocolate has verizon's new flash-based ui that was introduced in the vx8300.
4. Posted by Texan
Tue Aug 01, 2006 12:23 am
I love slider phones much better than flip... Pretty exicted about this one, just wish it was Tri-Mode as sometimes need service in rural areas that have analog! Might have to get one anyway, cant wait to see it "up close"...
5. Posted by cbonn1
Thu Aug 03, 2006 12:48 pm
Bad review today in wall street journal on the Chocolate.
One thing I didn't realize before reading the article... the music player doesn't read the artist/title from a MP3 file, but rather only displays the file name. How annoying! Seems so simple, how could they possibly make such a major oversight.
I was waiting for the choco to come out at VzW stores near me, but now I don't know. That article was pretty harsh on the phone as a music device.
6. Posted by johndorf85
Thu Aug 03, 2006 3:41 pm
does anyone know the internal memory on the phone?
7. Posted by niwtsol
Thu Aug 03, 2006 6:18 pm
its got like 30mb internal but microsd can be up to 2gigs.
problem is verizon made deal with sandisk (only company making 2gig) to just sell the 2gig through verizon for 60 days.. so if you want more than just a 1 gig. u have to pay 100 to get it from verizon... good move for them. bad news for us
8. Posted by kelsobox
Fri Aug 04, 2006 6:44 pm
Bad review today in wall street journal on the Chocolate.
One thing I didn't realize before reading the article... the music player doesn't read the artist/title from a MP3 file, but rather only displays the file name. How annoying! Seems so simple, how could they possibly make such a major oversight.
I was waiting for the choco to come out at VzW stores near me, but now I don't know. That article was pretty harsh on the phone as a music device.
After reading your post, I had to find the article bashing the Chocolate. Here is the excerpt:
And the Chocolate doesn't handle your MP3 files properly. I loaded the card with 208 very standard, unprotected MP3 files -- files that are perfectly recognized on all computers, phones and portable devices I've tested. But the Chocolate failed to read the song information -- artist, title, album -- on all but a handful of them. So I could select them only by file name.
He says all but a "handful of them". Here is a theory. But since this guy works for the Wall Street Journal, maybe he does know more about mp3s than I do. Like I said, just a theory.
If anyone has noticed, if you get an mp3 from any of the sharing programs, including napster, the tag info isn't always accurate (I am not promoting downloading illegally, I'm using it to make a statement. There, I covered myself.). I see a lot of mp3s that don't have any info at all. Simply a file name in the title. That could explain why only a "handful" of them had their tags. I recently went through and put all the album info on all my music, finding 75% of them incorrect and inaccurate. Just a theory though.
9. Posted by Chuck H
Sun Aug 06, 2006 11:00 pm
The LG VX8500 (Chocolate) has 62.88mb of on-board memory dedicated to the storage of music files (.mp3 and .wmv). It also has 68.10mb that is dedicated for V Cast Video, FLIX, PIX, My Ringtones, My Sounds, and Applications.
The music player does recognize the song information. In fact I am looking at it right now and it shows the following:
Title Crazy
Artist Gnarls Barkley
Album St. Elsewhere
Genre Alternative
File Size 4291 KB
You can access your music either by:
All Songs
Playlist
Artist
Genres
Albums
You can sort your music by
Date
Size
Alphabetic
So I am not sure what the reviewer for the Wall Street Journal was looking at but I am sure that I am looking at the VZW release of the VX8500 (AKA Chocolate) and it does have these functions.
-later
10. Posted by booboy
Mon Aug 07, 2006 6:35 pm
teh wall street journal review wasnt so flattering. im wondering if they were seeing the same phone i was. the touchpad, screen, and design are unbelievable.
11. Posted by cbonn1
Mon Aug 07, 2006 6:57 pm
I'm not sure. I think the author's focus was on comparing it the iPOD and other DMPs. And, I think people are so into the iPod, that anything that isn't just as good, is going to get bad reviews by such people.
So, people are confirming that the Choco will play the ID tag info, and not just the file name?
12. Posted by Chuck H
Mon Aug 07, 2006 11:15 pm
Right you are. If you look at his column's archive you will see that he bashes anything that is not Apple.
I have the LG VX8500 and I have to tell you that it performs exactly as advertised. Battery life is good, signal reception is good, sound quailty is good, user interface is good, camera quality is good. This is a good compromise between a phone, camera, and music device. No its not a Sony Cypershot and no its not an ipod Nano. This phone will not replace those, but what it really is is a device that you will take with you everywhere you go because its your cell phone.
BTW here is the information that the phone reads from the music files that you upload. This allows the phone to sort the songs of your libarary by artist, song title, genre, album, or size
This is what the player looks like. This the blue "Jazz" skin there is also the red "Rock" skin for the music player. As you can see the song title, artist, and even album are displayed.
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k240/Chuck_H/Music.jpg
14. Posted by steve02a
Tue Aug 08, 2006 12:32 am
Looks like a really nice phone, but it's not all that different from my LG VX8100. My 8100 takes the same pictures, plays MP3's, does video, the UI looks the same - just the chocolate is cooler looking. I think I'll keep my 8100 for the time being.
Now my question - what is the name of that song they use in the commerical (and the verizon wireless website)??? I've heard it before somewhere, never could find the name. I know it's a real song...who knows what it is???
15. Posted by Chuck H
Tue Aug 08, 2006 9:21 am
The music that is used in the Verizon's Chocolate commerical is Strict Machine by Goldfrapp. The album is Black Cherry.
16. Posted by sweetlust
Thu Aug 17, 2006 4:34 am
hmm i have the LG KG90 chocolate which looks slightly different from the verizion one
although the phone does look very attractive, but it also has a lot of problems. Like short-lasting batteries, after u use it for awhile the touch-pad becomes slower, and it freezes often ... >< yeah... i love it nevertheless =) heheh
17. Posted by Tainted
Thu Aug 17, 2006 10:51 am
You say it has good reception, I have to ask what state do you live in? See I live in Borth Carolina and my current cell phone picks up very bad Signal, But it's allso a old Lg Im not even sure the modle number on it.I just need to find a god phone with great reception.
18. Posted by salehound
Thu Aug 17, 2006 11:51 am
I just need to find a god phone with great reception.
Oh, that's easy...bow your head...close your eyes...
{Crickets chirping...Dog barks in distant background}
I was taking advantage of your typo, there.
Seriously, I think the opinions of the design of the chocolate is going to depend on the individual's taste and expectation of the device. If they're looking for a music player with phone capabilities, they're more likely to appreciate the Chocolate design than those looking for a phone with musical capabilities.
The phone was designed to look like an mp3 player, which is why they hide the keypad.
Personally, I don't like it. I like the 8300, and would have probably been much happier if the player wasn't integrated into the design. I am disappointed with the quality of the music and much prefer my own Sony player. It's nice to have music when I'm out alone and stuck with waiting somewhere unprepared, but I've given up trying to use it as a primary musical device. The web takes too long to view pages, takes up battery like crazy, and is limited on where I can go (especially since they charge even MORE to view certain sites on TOP of the $5 internet fees). The camera and video are ok, but the quality of the pics is still low as far as pictures go. But, it's also nice to have at the right place and right time without a real camera/video camera. Simply put, it's a phone, and a good one at that. It has good reception and I haven't had one dropped call with this one. If I'm using it primarily for any other reason, I'm going to be disappointed.
I don't like the slide-out design of the chocolate. I prefer the flip-open style. But that's just my opinion.
19. Posted by salehound
Thu Aug 17, 2006 11:57 am
By the way, I've always thought the chocolate should have been called the "Licorice" because of its colors, red and black. Chocolate is creamy brown colored. But then I found out that the chocolate was named after the look of the keypad when holding it at an angle. It looks like a Hershey's bar...with divided squares.
20. Posted by cbonn1
Thu Aug 17, 2006 12:11 pm
Anyone else confirm or comment on how good of reception they are getting with Chocolates, and when you comment can you say if your VzW service is good in your area? Thx.
I just saw a report this morning from a 3rd party testing firm, and the chocolate had terrible radio reception compared to a Samsung (think this was t809) and a Motorola (think this was razr).
Btw, the thing is very sharp. Picked one up last week. And, if nothing else, those commercials are seriously cool!!!
21. Posted by steve0092
Sat Aug 19, 2006 5:21 am
lol yea they should have advertize the same with the t-809 mab they would sell more.
22. Posted by titans4ever
Sat Aug 19, 2006 11:09 pm
I live in North Dakota where the reception is hit or miss everywhere and I am doing just fine with my chocolate. I have the same reception that my friend gets on his razr through verizon. I even get reception where my old tri mode wouldn't get anything.
23. Posted by steve0092
Sat Aug 19, 2006 11:16 pm
how you know they did not put new tower there
24. Posted by Chocolate7
Sun Aug 20, 2006 11:15 pm
Hi im thinking about getting this phone for my b-day in october and i jus want to kno is it worth it
25. Posted by tamara8264
Wed Aug 23, 2006 1:14 pm
deleted.
26. Posted by wells05
Wed Aug 23, 2006 6:59 pm
I've only had the chocolate for a few days, but I'm happy with it. Reception is great, though I haven't been in the stix yet. I already had a micro SD card, and I finally found a 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter, and am able to use my regular headphones with it - didn't want to buy the music essentials kit. Sound quality is good (not exceptional, but very acceptable), I do wish I had direct access to an equalizer rather than presets though (maybe I missed?). My only complaint is that I keep hitting the send button accidently, and end up re-calling the last person dialed. This is a problem most people will not have, but I handle my phone consistantly.
27. Posted by yahknoe
Sun Sep 17, 2006 8:42 pm
Does anyone know when the white or pink chocolate will come out?
28. Posted by doctadre183
Mon Oct 09, 2006 8:54 pm
this phone sounds like a kool phone maybe ill get it
29. Posted by Panda - Martin
Tue Oct 10, 2006 5:33 am
It is IPod and not mobile phone. In spite of the fact the "phone" is nice and I think that it will be successful.
My blog: http://www.twopandas.com
Post a comment and discuss this story with other readers.
In spite of the fact the "phone" is nice and I think that it will be successful.
