LG readying answers to iPhone for Verizon

LG's upcoming VX8800 and VX10000 phones may be Verizon's direct answers to the iPhone, according to leaked photos that confirm many more details of the devices. Although not all details are available, the VX8800 (pictured) will be considered a sequel to the new Chocolate slider with a complete touchscreen interface replacing the wheel and touch-sensitive buttons of the earlier model. In many cases, users would be able to place calls, take messages, and play music without ever using the physical numberpad.

The newly escaped photos also reveal that the VX10000 will be a close cousin of the VX8800, with a similar touchscreen on the outside. Its only major difference should be the clamshell shape taken from the earlier enV (or VX9900), which adds a full-size and now easier to use keyboard for drafting larger text messages and a directional pad for playing games. Specifications are still unknown, though both are expected to run on Verizon's EVDO Internet access and pick up Bluetooth as well as removable storage. A previous FCC leak suggested that Verizon would not launch the phones until a confidentiality request had expired in early spring.

While it would not be possible to determine whether the phones were developed in response to Apple, the devices appear to share technology derived from the Prada phone released this spring and are likely to be marketed as direct competitors in the US after Verizon's repeated claims that it could outperform AT&T in spite of the iPhone. [via BGR]