Verizon Wireless issues holiday handset blitz: LG touchscreen phone could be VZW answer to iPhone

Verizon Wireless is covering its bases.
The nation’s second-largest carrier unveiled four new phones today, including a touchscreen-with-QWERTY keypad model from LG Electronics Co. Ltd., without mentioning prices. You’ll have to wait for prices until the phones launch sometime before Thanksgiving.
The LG touchscreen phone screams “iPhone competitor.” And Verizon Wireless may well have chosen to unveil the handsets so long before launch to provide its subscribers with plenty of temptation to stick around and hang back on their holiday purchases until the carrier can deliver something sexy.
The premier handset of the four likely is LG’s Voyager, which a Verizon Wireless spokesperson said last week would probably be priced “under $500.” The Voyager has a 2.8-inch touchscreen and opens laterally to provide a QWERTY keyboard as well. (The touchscreen-only input aspect of the iPhone has been widely discussed as a possible barrier to uptake.) Although Verizon Wireless did not say today how much memory is onboard, it made a point to mention the expandable memory: up to 8 GB. Apple Inc.’s iPhone offers 8 GB of embedded flash memory.
The Voyager’s touted features include multimedia, HTML browser and access to all Verizon Wireless services.
Next up: a silver BlackBerry Pearl 8130 with CDMA2000 1x EV-DO connectivity and GPS capability with access to the carrier’s VZ Navigator service.
The Venus, by LG, is a slider handset (choices: black and pink) with two displays on its face, one for media that’s playing and one a touch-sensitive screen for selecting the phone’s applications. A keypad slides out for traditional input. Again, no memory capacity was given, but expandable memory available up to that magic 8 GB level is supported. The handset offers Verizon Wireless’ Vcast video and music and Get It Now applications, a 2-megapixel camera and camcorder. A Verizon Wireless spokesperson said last week that the handset would be priced above $130.
The Juke, by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., swivels open to create a device twice as long as the closed handset and offers 2 GB of onboard memory, a cable for sideloading and headphones. It will probably be priced under $100, according to Verizon Wireless.
The carrier also will be offering its LG Chocolate with support for 6 GB and 8 GB expandable memory at about $130, according to the carrier.
Separately, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P. said today that its W580i Walkman phone would be heading to AT&T Mobility stores, regional operators and national retailers including Best Buy, RadioShack and Amazon.com. The quad-band, “slim-slider” handset sells for $100 with a two-year contract. The music-centric device packs in “Shake Control,” which allows a user to change songs with wrist shake, a 2-megapixel camera, while also providing fitness-related functions such as a pedometer, stopwatch and calorie counter.