Hands-on with LG's Touch-Screen Voyager

Wed Oct 3, 2007 3:10AM EDT

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Remember those spy shots of the TV-ready LG enV-like clamshell from a few weeks back? Well, now it's official, and I got a hands-on look in New York yesterday. Set for Verizon Wireless, the upcoming LG Voyager will indeed have a jumbo touch screen, along with the enV's QWERTY keypad hidden beneath the flip. Also included: Verizon's V Cast Mobile TV and a two-megapixel camera.

Slated to arrive in November (no pricing details yet, although I'm guessing it'll be in the $200-$250 range, with service), the Voyager comes with a slick, Flash-powered touch screen, complete with a quartet of icons along the bottom of the display, kind of like...oh right, the iPhone. The icons and menu screens morph, shrink, and slide as you tap the screen, a nice change from the dull, static menus you'll typically find on Verizon phones, and you can compose text messages on the touch display—although you'll have to use a 12-button virtual keypad to do so.

Opening the Voyager reveals its full QWERTY keypad, along with an internal LCD (non-touch) that looks a bit larger than the enV's main display. From here, you can access your e-mail accounts (I'm guessing there's support for major consumer e-mail services, but not Exchange e-mail), plus instant messaging, V Cast music (a microSD expansion port allows for up to 8GB of storage), and about eight streaming channels of V Cast Mobile TV. There's also support for stereo Bluetooth headsets, plus a two-megapixel camera for on-the-go snapshots.

Verizon also had a few other phones to show off yesterday:

  • LG Venus: A nifty slider with dual external displays—the bottom one has touch-sensitive navigation controls, while the top has Flash-based animated menus. Available in November (no pricing yet, but should be a bit cheaper than the Voyager), the Venus also comes with V Cast Music/Video access (although just streaming video clips rather than full-on V Cast Mobile TV), up to 8GB of expandable memory, stereo Bluetooth, and a two-megapixel camera.
  • BlackBerry Pearl: Basically a CDMA version of the old Pearl, except this time with EV-DO support, making it the first 3G version of the popular handset.
  • Samsung Juke: Here's a strange one—a long, narrow phone that swivels open like a jackknife, revealing a small screen and a glossy keypad. The budget music phone doesn't support 3G, so no full-track music downloads; instead, you side-load your tunes using Windows Media Player. Also on board: a VGA camera, 2GB of internal memory (no memory expansion), and support for stereo Bluetooth. Look for the Juke to arrive this month for about $100.


Update: So the big media outlets are picking up on the LG Voyager story and calling it an "iPhone rival"—a thought that honestly never occurred to me, mainly because there's little comparison beyond the external touch-screen display. Frankly, the Voyager strikes me as a warmed over enV, and its interface, while snazzier than the standard Verizon menus, can't hold a candle to the iPhone's truly ground-breaking UI. And yes, the Voyager has EV-DO access, but lacks the iPhone's Wi-Fi abilities. All the "iPhone killer" talk sounds pretty empty to me.

Comments on Hands-on with LG's Touch-Screen Voyager

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  • 1 Posted by kjmehling on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:52PM EDT Report Abuse

    Why on earth would a manufacturer in this day and age not make a "smart phone" capable of supporting Exchange or BlackBerry?! Rumor is even Apple, the queen of odd-ball, will soon be offering ActiveSync support. ARGH! I should've known not to get my hopes up over this device!

  • 2 Posted by fliedmatboy on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:00PM EDT Report Abuse

    What do you mean not support exchange or blackberry? And what's activesync support?

  • 3 Posted by adambergstein on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:45PM EDT Report Abuse

    How could this possibly be a copy of the iPhone? It looks completely different! Does Apple have "dibs" on everything long and flat? Anyway, this is going to be a stellar device for Verizon, who hasn't had the best choices for phones in the past. Great service, not so flashy phones. I'm excited!

  • 4 Posted by leftygirl_75 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:48PM EDT Report Abuse

    well I for one can't wait to get my hands on it. I'm excited about trading in my Env for this one when it is available

  • 5 Posted by angelicricky on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:54PM EDT Report Abuse

    i currently am with tmobile um,i was gonna get the iphone but this looks much better and also is on 3g plus its cheaper i mean iphone is cool but too darn expensive.I love the touch interface on the envy and then the inner keyboard plus with a 2 mp camera and a memory slot wat else can i ask for

  • 6 Posted by rycramer on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:57PM EDT Report Abuse

    Unreal..Do these manufacturers realize the amount of revenue they are losing from not being MS Exchange compatible? I'd love to ditch my blackberry for this device but I won't be able to get work email if I did.

  • 7 Posted by dannyjs25 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:35PM EDT Report Abuse

    The iPhone is too flat! It looks and feels like you could cru----- with two fingers. I have used the voyager and it works great! This phone makes me want to get it before the price even goes down! LG once again hits what consumers want just perfect. Thanks for the products, LG.

  • 8 Posted by callycounts on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:16PM EDT Report Abuse

    I have verizon service as do three different family members and six friends - we are ALL disapointed by the number of dropped calls. it happends at least three times a day.

  • 9 Posted by jeffrandall3 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:32PM EDT Report Abuse

    Not a fan of the iPhone, but I do know that LG makes junk I have had 3 LG's with 2 different carriers and all 3 phones were terrible, will never buy LG again.

  • 10 Posted by josephcecil777 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:41PM EDT Report Abuse

    iphone is a nice device, but has severe limitations, especially the lockdown state where you can't use it as a storage device, can't sync without that ghastly ITUNES account - as if anyone really loves buying stuff at itunes inflated prices! It's such a proprietary system, the iphone will be easy to beat by any company that makes a hybrid phone/16gb+ flash/mp3 player/touchscreen/computer device. MAKE IT OPEN so we can put apps on it, make it windows compatible, or similarly functional within pc environs, give it louder speakers, and you're almost able to kill the iphone. Price it under $250, make it truly sleek, make a super cheap and expensive model, and you've probably captured the market. iphone is super beatable - amazing it's not been challenged yet, but just watch what happens this year! I like apple, but I don't love the proprietary lockdown, that's awful, and I've owned and used the iphone extensively. The worst thing about iphone is the itunes lockdown, lack of gps, lack of video, lack of ways to get pics/mp3s/content off/on the phone without the limited-functionality of itunes. Who really wants to 'sync' their itunes? nobody, it's better just to COPY your mp3's down. Who wants a locked device? only, ONLY apple! Google has much, much better plans and partners.. apple's ahead, but they better be working feverishly.. blessings to all!

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