macnn/electronista
06/25/2008, 10:35am, EDT
Wednesday, June 25thLG Dare shipping, matches iPhone 3G price
Verizon today began shipping its LG Dare touchscreen phone and has provided the device with its final launch price. The handset should be available online by Thursday and will be available through retail on July 3rd; the previously withheld pricing is now known to reach $200 after a $50 rebate and signing a two-year plan, matching the same price as the 8GB iPhone 3G that will launch just two weeks later.
The Dare is smaller than the Apple phone and drops significant built-in storage but is billed as making up for this with other features, including a 3.2-megapixel camera with flash, a 120 frames per second video capture mode for slow motion and better editing, and a microSD slot for expansion beyond 8GB when supporting cards become available. LG's device is its similar to its counterpart with a full HTML browser, current-generation 3G (over EVDO Revision A) and supports GPS when using Verizon's VZ Navigator.
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Comparison
While I like that the LG Dare offers a higher resolution camera with flash and A2DP stereo bluetooth it lacks several things such as not being GSM, less storage, shorter battery life, does not have access to features such as the iPhone App Store and it's touch interface GUI is a poor attempt at copying Apple's simplistic and beautiful design. A reminder that CDMA carriers use of EVDO (their version of 3G) is not the same as HSPA networks used by several GSM carriers around the world. The iPhone use of 3G is faster than EVDO as well can support both voice and data streaming at the same time unlike EVDO. Also the iPhone offers true global 3G where the LG Dare does not.
No competitor to iPhone
Had some experience with Dare. The only way to sell it to customer who held iPhone at least once, is to sell it in unopened box. It feels cheaper, its interface is not responsive, its touch input lacking to the point you start dreaming LG engineers would've implemented a keyboard. Who needs camera with flash and video capabilities when controls are clunky. "Yes, my phone can record video. Can't show you, my phone won't allow me to use it."
lawsuit time
check out the settings icon. good lord. they didnt even try to mask the theivery.
Re: no competition
No bias there, "Well, if you held an iPhone, you'd never use this!".
But considering you can't get an iPhone on Verizon's network, then it shouldn't be too hard to sell such a device to verizon customers (you know, some people out there either hate AT&T with a vengeance or just aren't served by them).
Let alone you're probably not locked into an $80 phone plan, like with AT&T.
@testudo
You have to sign 2 year contract to get Dare, and $80 isn't the only option for iPhone either. Even if you iron bound to Verizon will you choose an iPhone rip-off that is bad at copying the original? I doubt it.
Blake-Dare
The dare is a great phone will tons of nice features! u can learn alot about it at http://lg-dare.com