SAN DIEGO-Verizon Wireless said it will sell the new VX5200 clamshell-style phone from LG Electronics Co. Ltd. for $50 with a two-year service agreement. The phone features an integrated camera, speakerphone and voice-recognition capabilities.
Interestingly, Verizon Wireless also said the phone features its new user interface. Until now, the carrier has remained quiet about its new UI, which it is requiring all of its handset suppliers to install in phones for the carrier. Verizon Wireless said its new UI “enables customers to use their device intuitively to extend the wireless experience beyond voice calling, by allowing one-click access to Messaging, Mobile Web, Get It Now and phone features on the device itself. Even novice users can navigate their way to most functions without training.”
This is the third phone to feature Verizon’s UI. The first was LG’s VX8000 EV-DO device, and the second was LG’s 8100 phone. Other carriers planning to build their own UIs include Amp’d Mobile and Alltel Corp. Such moves rankle most mobile-phone vendors because they no longer can differentiate themselves through the phone’s user interface.
“Historically, the UI has always been a successful way for LG, and all handset manufacturers, to differentiate themselves from other manufacturers and `brand’ their phone’s user experience,” LG recently wrote in a statement to RCR Wireless News. “With the specific carrier’s UI requirements, that method of branding is gone, but we’ve come so far in terms of design and technology that there are a multitude of other ways to differentiate an LG phone that will more than compensate for the UI. LG is completely behind each of our carriers’ UI requirements. Our mutual goal is always to provide the most seamless experience for the customer, and this proprietary UI will do that. Advanced features and innovative but practical design have always been hallmarks of LG phones, and in the absence of a branded user interface, those qualities will continue to differentiate LG handsets from our competitors.”
RCR Wireless News first reported on Verizon’s new UI in June.
