As if the original Shine wasn't hot enough, LG is bringing a Titanium Black edition to those across the pond in hopes of wrangling a few more customers who have an eye for anything covered in metallic grey. A member of the coveted Black Label series, this handset won't deviate feature-wise one iota from the original, but the classy all-metal exterior should catch quite a few eyes regardless. You'll still find the two-megapixel camera, scroll wheel control scheme, media player, Bluetooth, and compatibility with GPRS and EDGE networks, and while pricing details on this sexy handset are currently unavailable, those dwelling in the UK can expect it to land late this year, while those in France, Netherlands, and Austria should receive it sometime thereafter.

[Via UnwiredView]

Ever since the RAZR popularized the concept of thinness as a selling point for mobile phones, the industry has been flooded with dozens of copy-cat devices attempting to cash in on the trend for anorexic handsets. Until now, Windows Mobile devices have largely skipped past this fad, with the majority of said phones either being chunky candybars or wide QWERTY phones. The first of no doubt many WinMob phones to take a good stab at combining RAZR thin beauty with Windows Mobile's business practicality is the HTC Star Trek (or Cingular's 3125 if you prefer the numerical name). As well as looking substantially more attractive than most of its peers, the 3125 does the most important core features of a cellphone very well: for example, the 3125's long lasting battery life will go down well with potential buyers, though Cingular may have gone slightly overboard with their higher capacity cell that add a lot of junk to the phone's trunk. The relatively low price ($149.99), vibrant internal and external displays, and great reception combined with the unparalleled design for a device of its type all point to the 3125 being a good phone. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, a number of niggles mean that the Star Trek isn't quite a great phone. An array of outdated features like Bluetooth 1.1, USB 1.1, an average camera, and the lack of Wi-Fi, 3G UMTS, and an IR port will disappoint certain buyers. There are also a couple of notable, but relatively minor design no-nos, like the microSD slot being located underneath the SIM card, and a single proprietary data, power, and audio port awkwardly located on the side of the phone. PC Magazine said that if you "think of the handset as a cutting-edge smartphone ... you'll probably be disappointed", with The Unwired saying that the 3125 is "a lifestyle and fashion-device which can also attract regular mobile phone users" and Laptop Magazine calling it "just smart enough": what we think they're trying to say is that the 3125 is a phone that will satisfy business types with an eye for design, but has a far too limited feature set to keep power users happy.

Read - Laptop Magazine
Read - PC Magazine
Read - The Unwired
Read - Mobility Site

LG just unveiled the next generation of its popular "Chocolate" phone at the recent Expo Comm Wireless Korea 2006, and it seems to maintain the same features and minimalist elegance as its predecessor in a slightly thicker package (16.5-millimeters versus the original's 15.3). Also called the "Black Label II" or by its model number, KV6000, this handset is primarily targeted at the fashion-conscious crowd who also want to snap a pic or rock out to tunes once in awhile, letting them load the 512MB of memory with up to 120 MP3 tracks. Starting price for this newest bit of Chocolate is around $530, but it will probably only be seen on the streets of Seoul for the time being.

Update: You guys are the best. Reader Jay saw this post and directed to us a slew of great BLII pics at Korean site Cetizen, including one which shows that the camera is a very respectable 1.3 megapixels. Keep reading for a few more shots...

Besides the "white silver" outfit we saw it displaying for a "review" a few months back, Samsung's SGH-E870 tri-band GSM/EDGE fashionphone will also be available in five other exciting shades, which for simplicity's sake, we'll call silver, blue, pink, gold, and red. As you may or may not recall (because, well, this phone isn't all that memorable), the E870 is multimedia-centric clamshell featuring a 1.3 megapixel cam, 80MB of storage plus microSD to store tunes and vids, and Bluetooth for handsfree action (although there's no mention of A2DP). Even better, this new set of pics answers our previous question about whether the outside of the flip sports those handy dedicated music controls -- it doesn't.