Beyond the DROID and DROID Eris, Verizon’s LG Chocolate Touch, BlackBerry Curve 8530 and Samsung Convoy have also become bona fide. The carrier announced official launch dates for these additions to the lineup, including:
LG Chocolate Touch (November 5, $79.99 after $50 MIR)
This music-oriented phone offers Dolby Mobile, so users can customize audio prefs to crank the bass or clarity, in addition to a slew of audio-related features.
- FM radio with 12 presets
- Integrated Song ID
- Dedicated side key (to access favorite songs)
- Bluetooth with support for headset, hands-free, dial-up networking, stereo, phonebook access, basic printing, object push for vCard and vCalendar, file transfer, basic imaging and human interface device
- “Join the Band” lets users play along with built-in instruments, including: a full drum kit (snare drum, kick drum, floor tom, hi-hat cymbal, ride cymbal, crash cymbal, and even a cowbell) with finger tap input, and a piano function (with a full scrolling 88-key keyboard)
- Dolby Mobile equalizer, with customizable prefs for headphones, plus Natural Bass, High-Frequency Enhancer, and Sound Level Controller
- Social networking (including Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace) with a dedicated key that lets users upload pics and vids
- 3.2 MP camera and camcorder with 5 different resolutions, zoom, panoramic shooting feature, integrated image editor and manual controls for white balance, color effects, brightness and self-timer.
Samsung Convoy (November 15, $49.99 after $50 MIR)
This beast of a feature phone was built to military specifications to endure the toughest of elements. It’s a Push to Talk device that comes with a stereo speaker, extended battery life and multiple messaging options.
- Rugged, durable design
- Meets military specifications 810F standards for shock and dust resistance, vibration, salt fog, humidity, solar radiation, altitude and low and high temperature storage
- Push to Talk over Verizon Wireless’ EV-DO, Rev. A network, for fast two-way communications
- High-quality stereo speaker
- 1300 mAh for long battery life
- 2.0 megapixel camera with Night Shot, panorama, color effects and more
- Bluetooth (v2.1): supports headset (mono/stereo), hands-free, dial-up networking, serial port, object push (vCard and vCalendar only), basic image, basic printing and phonebook access
- Personal organizer with calendar, tip calculator, currency converter, notepad, alarm clock, world clock and stop watch
- Has VZ Navigator, which allows audible turn-by-turn directions for more than 15 million points of interest and lets users share directions with others
BlackBerry Curve 8530 (November 20, $99.99 after $100 MIR)
The slim BlackBerry Curve 8530 — with 3G, built-in Wifi and GPS — seems like quite a nice update to the Curve 8330. It also features a 2 MP camera with zoom and vid recording, expandable memory via hot swappable microSD/SDHC memory card slot (up to 16 GB, possibly up to 32 GB, when next-gen cards are available), 256 MB flash memory, 528 MHz next generation processor, plus all the stand-out email and messaging features that BlackBerries are famous for. (For more on this, hope over here to Aaron’s post on the Curve 8530’s launch.)
In all cases, the mail-in rebates come in the form of a debit card, and the list price requires a 2-year contract. For more info, you can check out Verizon Wireless online or grill the sales clerks at your local retail store.