LG VX9700 Dare in the wild -- if you can call Verizon "wild"

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jun 6th 2008 at 3:20AM

Sit back, relax, grab the popcorn, and check this out, because there's this really awesome battle going on between LG and Samsung for the hearts and minds of the touchscreen-loving public on Sprint and Verizon right now (and AT&T, too, if you count the LG Vu). The Glyde and Voyager are fighting the good fight as we speak, while the Instinct will be tagging in shortly -- and right behind it will be this puppy, the VX9700 Dare from LG, which is just now getting some of its first shots out in the environs. Like Sprint's Instinct, the Dare goes QWERTY keyboard-free in favor of a virtual pad; specs include a 3.2 megapixel camera, 3.5mm headphone jack, microSDHC support, and a wide QVGA display. Rumors have it landing in July, at which point we can drop the chain-link octagon cage and let it go toe-to-toe with the Instinct for dominance. Remember, guys, no biting or hair pulling, and may the best fashionable Korean touchphone win.

[Via phoneArena]

Filed under: Handsets, LG, Verizon Wireless, EV-DO, CDMA

Tags: dare, lg, verizon, verizon wireless, VerizonWireless, vx9700, vzw

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Zach @ Jun 6th 2008 7:02AM

"Rumors have it landing in July, at which point we can drop the chain-link octagon cage and let it go toe-to-toe with the Instinct for dominance."

Competing with the Instinct on the same network? Or competing with the Instinct, Sprint vs. Verizon?

Neutral

Frankie @ Jun 6th 2008 9:32AM

that must be that takiest lookin touch UI I've seen, "all cartoony looking", and the cheap looking status bars at the top. I don't own an iPhone, and don't think I ever will, but these guys can really take some serious graphic design tips from Apple.

Neutral

JunkJugget @ Jun 6th 2008 12:19PM

Frankie, I really want to see the "takiest lookin touch UI" that you've seen. Problem is, I can't seem to find any pics or video that show the UI. So . . . where did you see it? I see pics of a nice looking QWERTY and a pretty cool looking handset. Besides, I'm sure you don't "own an iPhone" but then say LG should take some "serious graphic design tips from Apple." You sound like a fan boy to me.

Neutral

Streetboarder609 @ Jul 10th 2008 6:17PM

please note that this is not a final UI in fact the UI is going to have 3 interchangable interfaces located in the "settings" menu. This is just one of the 3 and this isnt the actual UI yet! So stop fighting you morons cause if you look at only pictures the user interface is COMPLETELY different...and having a cousin the works with testing LG products helps to i can tell you now this is not the only nor final UI.

Neutral

Rachel @ Jul 11th 2008 2:24PM

Funny thing is, my best friend happens to have an iPhone with a qwerty keyboard almost exactly identical to that of the Dare. The "cartoony" letters are the same. The only thing I truly wish the Dare had was combining all the txts from one person into one conversation. I really like that about the iphone, but it is, unfortunately, not worth having AT&T's service. I'll stick with Verizon.

Neutral

Frankie @ Jun 6th 2008 2:06PM

@Junk Jugget
Nope not an Apple Fanboy at all, if anything I will admit that I am a WM fanboy though. I really do not even like the iPhone as a device, mainly because of it's hardware limitations and the "closed" characteristics of the UI whic will be partially alleviated by the SDKs.

Neutral

Frankie @ Jun 6th 2008 2:07PM

@Junk Jugget
But anyway to answer your question:
The status bars at teh top look look sloppy, plain, and asthetically lacking. It saddens me to say that the keyboard look like a failed attempt to mimick the iphones keyboard (color scheme, button sizes etc.) 3 years ago I would have been stunned by the design, but (it hurts me to say) that apple as raised the bar for UI design and from the little that I've seen this device looks like it will fall short.
Proud owner of:
XDA IIs
XDA Flame (WM 6.1 with Opera webrowser riped of from HTC diamond)
HTC Universal
XDA atom life
XDA exec
I-Mate Jasjar
All windows mobile

Neutral

JunkJugget @ Jun 6th 2008 2:31PM

Frankie, so you're judging a handset on the way it displays the signal strength? Am I seeing that? I'm happy that you're a WM Fan Boy and all, but you're judging a handset on one screen shot, and haven't even had a chance to play with the phone. I, myself, will actually play with the phone before I make my decision. Besides, in your situation, it may look better in person then in a photo. Also, with the QWERTY, how would you change it? How could you make the buttons bigger if they already fill the display? If it's a 3 inch display, then those buttons would be plenty big. Would you change the color? How about Black with a White font? Yeah! Then it'll be less iPhone like! Just so you know, all QWERTY keypads looks alike, even on WM devices. Also, don't forget that LG has been making Touch Screen Handsets years before Apple even thought about them.

Neutral

Raheel Gauba @ Jun 12th 2008 4:13PM

JunkJugget, i think you are jumping to conclusions.

Frankie's post: "that must be that takiest lookin touch UI I've seen, "all cartoony looking", and the cheap looking status bars at the top. I don't own an iPhone, and don't think I ever will, but these guys can really take some serious graphic design tips from Apple."

Where in this post do you see Frankie judging the entire phone? He/She simply stated his/her opinion about UI. And to be honest this seems like a valid observation and a very neutral feedback. But at the end of the day Frankie is entitled to have an opinion, which is why this entire comment thing exists.

After reading your feedback, it is YOU who are coming off as a WM fanboy and an iphone hater - hence your comments seem very biased and not related to reality.

Neutral

Frankie @ Jun 6th 2008 3:03PM

@JunkJugget
The status bar, albeit a small aspect, adds to the total user experience, and if they, in my opinion, overlooked that detail I wonder what else over looked. I have to give it to Apple for having an amazing first generations device, a device that blows away most companies' (like LG) 3rd and 4th generation devices.
And there are plenty of different keyboard choices out there that happen to be nothing like the iPhone or other SIPs like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PwSC8rlvEo&eurl=http://mobilitytoday.com/news/008089/TouchPal_Virtual_Keyboard
which I have on a couple of my devices, to name one.
I do respect LG as an organization but the Input method is an extremely important aspect ot a communication device, so I simply thought they would focus their attention to be particularly innovative in that area (which they chose to neglect)

Like you stated, LG is a veteran to these types of devices, so naturally I would expect them to be setting the trends, not the rookie Apple company. However and unfortunately LG is obviously following who they believe to be the leader right now. If they were smart; they'd trash their outdated UI, focus on hardware, use The Android OS and focus on enhancing either the already innovative Google Android OS or (like HTC) the always versatile Windows Mobile OS.
Capeche?

Neutral

JunkJugget @ Jun 8th 2008 5:39PM

Frankie, LG has the innovation that you're looking for. If you do your research, you'll see that LG was the first to put an external display on a flip phone. LG currently has handsets running Win Mo and are also working on an Android handset. Also, LG released a handset WAY before the iPhone, call the Prada phone. LG has even openly expressed how upset they were at Apple for releasing a handset which looks WAY to familiar to the Prada. To judge a phone on the way the Status Bar looks and the colors used on a QWERTY touch screen is just stupid. If it is functional and does what it is supposed to do, then I'm happy. Remember: The Dare is NOT a Windows device. So to compare it to one is not fair for the device and makes you look stupid.

But one thing I just don't get: People who LOVE Window devices HATE Apple with a passion. And Vice Versa! For a Win Mo fan, you tend to praise the iPhone a heck of a lot. But that's just MY 2 cents.

Highly Ranked

Sean @ Jun 6th 2008 7:24PM

Okay Frankie, I just figured out what the problem is here. You are comparing the Dare, which is NOT and was never meant to be a smartphone, to Windows Mobile phones, all of which are smartphones. Naturally you would discriminate against the Dare if you used that criteria. And who cares if the onscreen keyboard is similar to the iPhone (I don't think it is, but that's your opinion)? It's a keyboard that functions the way it's meant to function. Finally, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the status bar and in my vast experience with cell phones, status bars don't affect the user experience very much at all. The Dare status bar is functional, and that's all it needs to be. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing your opinion, I just feel as though you are making extremely unfair comparisons and nitpicking about things that really aren't problems. Well, that's just my 2 cents.

Neutral

Frankie @ Jun 9th 2008 11:47AM

@Sean
I like you post, you make an extremly valid argument!

My mistake:
I did, without doing my research, assume that the above mentioned device was intended to me a spart phone. If it was not then you can disregard all my postings.

In my defense:
I simply feel as though, from the little that I've seen (the image above) there is nothing in terms of innovation, but then again, maybe it was not intended to be an innovative device.

One can argue that the status bar dows not play a big role in the user experince, but where do we draw the line. Truthfully, I used to be only about functionality, but if that was the case then I would have stuck with my first windows mobile device. But I do like things to be asthetically pleasing, and the millions of iPhone sales will back up opinion that presenation is a major factor especially when dealing with a devcie that you will be using several times a day.

@JunkJugget
Why would me being a Windos Mobile fanboy reqire that I despise the iPhone? I appreciate the iPhones role as in industry disrupter, and prompted a steady stream of innovative devices (like the HTC Touch Diamond, and the Samsung i900) who clearly have their eyes set on competing witht the iPhone.

In conlusion
My opnion is simply that this phone does not appeal to me (asthetically) and does not seem up to par with the industry standard of innovation at the moment, but then again, they might not be competing in the same clsass.

Neutral

Some Kid @ Jun 7th 2008 10:27AM

i think i would call Verizon the "Wild"
but now i think the Voyager is Daring the Intinct to compete with Vu for the best LG phone
that makes complete sence
:-)
the best part of the drama is that the Glyde is the best phone out of them

Neutral

beelzebubba @ Jun 10th 2008 3:35PM

I just played with the Dare(not too much as it was someone else's phone) but it's very very cool. There's this really interesting desktop like navigation where the icons are all spread out randomly but you can touch them and move them around. Also, the tactile response is an awesome feature.

Just not sure about the price point

Neutral

Scott @ Jun 12th 2008 11:41AM

By "tactile response", do you mean buzzing the vibrate motor every single time you touch the screen? Talk about annoying!

I've used a Voyager and that would be the first feature I'd turn off. Just like I'd turn off the "click" noise on every keyboard press on the iPhone.

Neutral

GadgetGirl @ Jun 11th 2008 11:45AM

Beelzebubba, when you say you're not sure about the price point, do you mean you know the price and aren't sure if it's too expensive, or do you mean you don't know what the price might be?

Cuz if anyone knows what the price of the Dare might be I'd love to know.

Neutral

nick @ Jun 15th 2008 10:24PM

I like the iPhone, but I'm getting a little sick of everything talking about it. Can we just talk about this phone?

The "cartoony" look of the keyboard will be adjustable. I'm sure it will work just like the voyager, meaning that it will have different themes for the text and overall display. I do hope they have more though, because there are only 4 "themes" on the voyager, unless more have been released in a software update i'm not aware of.

The Signal strength bars look like all verizon phones do, so I'm not sure why some commenters seem suprised. The picture overall looks a little fuzzy, so if you're talking about the resolution, then it's probably the camera the photo was taken with.

I'm honestly excited about this phone to come out. I'm a little upset it doesn't have a slide out keyboard, because I don't mind having large phones, and LG hasn't done an incredibly good job with the responsiveness of their phones, at least that I've seen. I work for Verizon, so I deal w/ all the phones, and the Voyager is a little too sensitive, while the Venus is just an unresponsive lump in my opinion. I really hope they have learned from their past endeavors.

I would love to have a better phone than the voyager and not have to use my palm anymore. I hate not having vznavigator :(

Neutral

Rachel @ Jul 11th 2008 2:24PM

They only have two on the Dare, black and white. I wish they had more, but I do like the white a lot. It's a very nice looking layout. Hopefully they will have more in the future. I messed around with one at the store the day after it came out.

Neutral

Leandro Ardissone @ Jun 18th 2008 12:23PM

ugly interface..

Neutral

bg @ Jun 26th 2008 1:04AM

FYI, release date is now through online channels, retail will launch in a couple days through special order or buy it at a store starting Jul 3. Price point will be $199.99 after MIR of $50..... just a few tid bits...

On the screen you can have it set up where contacts are icons and you can touch and drop it in the phone icon and it will call that contact, or drag it to the message icon and it will open up the txt msg screen... turn the device 45 degrees and the screen shifts as well.... it has a proximity sensor so when you put it up to your face to talk, it automatically locks the screen. They did have to change the UI a bit so it wasn't a copy of the PRADA phone... but basically it is the PRADA but cost less, and a few upgrades.... it has full HTML browser like the voyager so bye bye mobile web..... pretty cool handset but not for everybody...

Hope that answers some of your questions!!!!

Neutral

mc @ Jun 26th 2008 1:59PM

Looks like WiFi is out for the Verizon version at least. Bummer. I think this is the biggest problem with Verizon. They tend to lock too many things down. The other networks are looking much better to me because of this.

The network use to be so much better, but now that is starting to even out. At least around where I live.

Neutral

rhemy @ Aug 11th 2008 6:29PM

It's funny how when someone says the iphone is a better phone, all of a sudden they are an apple fan boy. Why can't the neigh sayers just admit that the iphone is an amazing phone and the UI is hands down the best UI ever placed on a cell phone.

The main reason for that is that the iphone was designed with a longer product life span in mind. The UI and the operating system is something more akin to a desktop environment, as opposed to something which people will throw away next year when the newest glyde or lgkf123 is released. The iphone has been in production for years unlike the current competition, so it will be hard for any company to come up with anything better. And while other companies are trying to catch up to the ui advancements in the iphone, apple will be easily updating its hardware. Indeed, the hardware is the only thing that trails other cell phones.

I can guarantee you that the phone above will suck when compared to the iphone. I honestly think that the only phone that will 'beat' the iphone is one that appears to be very un-iphone like. One reason why blackberry is doing very well for itself, I have a blackberry and i love it!