Well, looky here -- we've come a long way since CES when we scored those up close and personal shots with LG's VX9400, now haven't we? Luckily for us, our friendly parcel carrier dropped off one of these newly released beauties and we wanted to share the (joyful) unboxing experience with y'all. Just to give a quick refresher of the features, here they are: dual band 1X / EV-DO radio, VCAST TV support, Bluetooth with A2DP, expandable memory via microSD, and a 1.3 megapixel shooter. Finally, lets not forget about the 262,000 color, 320 x 240 swiveling display (which, by the by, is quite purty when opened). Check out the gallery for more pics and be sure to keep a look out for our mobile TV shootout!

It may not be Chocolate -- but in terms of style, the VX9400 isn't very far off. From the pictures, we'd thought that this was going to be one heavy, wide, unusable disaster of a handset, but we were dead wrong on every count. The phone can be used against the ear whether open or closed (obviously crucial for easy access to the keypad and quick taking of a call while watching TV), the pivot is smooth, and the glossy black top contrasts nicely with the silver bottom. The MediaFLO-based VCAST TV service, announced during the press conference today, is fully functional on the phone; we caught wind that Vegas and Seattle are fully live (among other markets) so it seems reasonable for Verizon to meet its goal of launching before the quarter's out. The video was smooth and quick to load, and the interactive guide (which loads via the FLO link) seemed well laid out. Click on for more pictures!

Wait wait wait, LG, let's be sure we have this straight: you've gone ahead and distributed pictures of the rumored 9400 with your CES press kit, but you make positively no mention of it in your press release. Didn't something just like this happen at CTIA with the VX8600? Either you've truly mastered the fine art of brilliant viral marketing, or you've accidentally announced yet another critical phone in Verizon's lineup early. Our money's on the latter. Anyhoo, here's the 9400 finally in all its blur-free glory, finally ushering in the age of mobile TV stateside. Though it's not branded as a Verizon release, we know from our candid shots that it's due up as a launch device for the imminent unveiling of Big Red's MediaFLO network -- possibly as soon as this afternoon at Verizon's press event. As always, we'll keep ya posted; in the mean time, check after the break for some more eye candy.