Verizon, LG Launch Touch-Screen LG Versa
On Thursday, Verizon and LG unveiled the LG Versa, a handheld that packs in an "animated" 3-inch LCD TFT 480 x 240 touch screen with tactile feedback and an attachable QWERTY keypad.
The candy-bar form-factor Versa, which takes cues from the rival Apple iPhone, will hit stores March 1. Device makers have been rolling out a host of touch-screen mobile phones and smartphones over the past several months, looking to grab a piece of Apple's iPhone pie. The Versa will shoulder up against not only the iPhone, but Research In Motion's first-ever touch-screen, the BlackBerry Storm; the Google Android-based T-Mobile G1; the Toshiba TG01; and a string of hopeful iPhone killers and iPhone clones from the likes of HTC, Nokia, Samsung and others.
According to Verizon, the device can be personalized for messaging, allowing users to attach the QWERTY keypad to the phone or leave the keypad at home. The home screen, the company said "is transformed into a sizzling, animated 3-D interface and customers can quickly customize three different home screens with their favorite shortcuts."
The Versa features a built-in accelerometer that rotates the screen automatically from portrait to landscape mode, which lets customers use rotation movements to steer games. The device also ties in an HTML browser that features Flash and RSS feed support, while also allowing up to three windows to stay open at once, letting users jockey from window to window.
On the multimedia side, the LG Versa packs in Verizon Wireless' V Cast Music with Rhapsody and V CAST Video services, for music and video.
For productivity tools, the Versa supports Visual Voice Mail and VZ Navigator for GPS. The device also can be used as a modem, as the Versa is compatible with Mobile Broadband Connect.
In addition, the Versa ties in a 2.0-megapixel camera with two-times zoom, camcorder, autofocus, flash and image editor; a microSD memory port with up to 16 GB of support; Bluetooth 2.1; and access to MSN Hotmail, AOL/AIM and Yahoo e-mail and instant messaging accounts.
The LG Versa clocks in at 3.81 ounces and measures 4.16 x 2.07 x 0.54 inches. And the device offers up to 290 minutes of usage time with up to 430 hours of standby time.
According to Verizon, the LG Versa, which will be available online and in Verizon Wireless stores, will cost $199.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a two-year contract.