One of the great joys of unboxings is being able to appreciate a product from afar that -- let's be honest -- you have no business buying yourself. Take, for example, LG's tantalizing Secret slider, a phone that would definitely get the job done in many parts of the world -- but if you find yourself trapped in North America, the lack of HSDPA and GSM 850 make it a tough sell, despite the mere 11.8mm of depth and 5 megapixel autofocus cam with face detection. Fortunately, we've got enough photography over on Engadget Spanish to get the Secret mostly out of our system, so go on, have a look!

phoneArena is reporting that the latest incarnation of Verizon's Chocolate series, the clamshell Chocolate 3, will be available on July 14. It's said that the phone will run $129 on a two-year contract after the redemption of a $50 rebate -- not exactly cheap, but where else are you going to find a Verizon phone with an FM transmitter in baby blue? That's what we thought.

It's easy for some of the mid-range riff raff to get buried by the headliners at trade shows, and that's exactly what happened with a pair of LG sliders at CommunicAsia this year that still deserve just a little bit of attention. The KT520 is arguably the more attractive of the two, featuring HSDPA, QVGA display, and a 3 megapixel autofocus cam. The KF390, meanwhile, doesn't put a heck of a lot of effort into being pretty or powerful -- but the basic model does feature a handful of disappearing touch-sensitive buttons (a little tribute to the Chocolate, we guess) and a 2 megapixel cam.

[Thanks, Craig]

We're hearing that Telus will be ushering in a whole new age of Texter's Thumb before too long with the launch of the curiously-named "KEYBO," a rebrand of the enV2 found on Verizon in the States. EV-DO data, a media player, and a 2 megapixel camera make this a solid choice for SMS maniacs who want something just a little sexier and fancier than the Rumour (itself a rebrand of Sprint's Rumor). We understand where the name comes from -- sort of -- but that doesn't mean it's right.

After weeks of hand-wringing, we've finally settled on a winner of our contest for LG's uber-limited $1,500 Iron Man edition Shine! We asked you to send in pictures of the busted-up pieces of garbage you call "phones," and holy cow, did we get some doozies.

Without further adieu, our winner, Mark H., comes to us from Novato, California. Here's his story:

"I need a new phone as you can see. I have had this Nokia phone since 2001. I'm in the military service and my friends make fun of my old phone and now they're really on me since my phone was run over by a car and I use electrical tape to keep the faceplate together. I don't get paid enough by the service to buy a nice new phone."

Congratulations, Mark! Even if this relic were in perfect condition, it'd still be time for an upgrade. Let's try to keep this one a little less scuffed, because that solid gold battery cover definitely does not live up to the "Iron Man" name. Follow the break for some honorable mentions -- you guys made it really hard to choose!

While you're waiting for LG's very latest Chocolate to show up in Verizon stores next month, have a gander at some high-quality shots of the clamshell -- which we understand is not actually edible, by the by. The Chocolate 3 will be available in both black and blue (to start, anyway, though we wouldn't be surprised to see a few more over the course of the phone's lifespan) and features a full gigabyte of internal storage for the tunes in addition to the standard microSD slot. That's one heck of a secondary display there, isn't it?

We spent some touching (get it?) minutes with the new LG Dare that's hitting Verizon Wireless today, and while we didn't come away from the experience a changed human being, we've gotta congratulate LG and Verizon for the obvious effort they've put into this unit. Particularly with the hardware the phone seems determined to differentiate itself from its iPhone competition, with helpful tactile feedback while typing, (almost helpful) handwriting recognition, video recording (in slow-mo, if you'd like) and even editing, and the beefed-up photo taking capabilities that a 3.2 megapixel sensor and built-in flash provide. The basics aren't too bad either, with a sturdy and bright screen, peppy EV-DO Rev A., expandable memory and a flush 3.5mm headphone jack.

Verizon Wireless isn't kidding around with this new Dare phone from LG: it'll hit Verizon's online shop tomorrow (the 26th) for $200 with a $50 rebate, and then land in retail on July 3rd. We've had little time to get accustomed to its touchscreen mug, unlike Sprint's long run-up to the Instinct, but Verizon and LG have certainly done their homework. There's a whole lot to chew on here, so we're going to drop it on you bullet point style:

Hardware:

• Dimensions: 103.9 x 55.6 x 13.8 mm (that's 0.54-inches thick for us yanks)
• 3-inch, 240 x 400 touchscreen LCD with "Vibe-Touch" tactile feedback
• Rev A EV-DO
• 3.2 megapixel camera with LED flash, autofocus and exposure control
• 120 fps slow-motion movie record mode
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• microSD up to 8GB
• Proximity sensor for switching off the LCD when against your face
• Light sensor to adjust LCD brightness automatically
• Accelerometer
• 3D graphics acceleration, supports app transitions and rotations

Software:

• "Full HTML" browser (barely) with page overview and zoom functions
• V Cast store and VZ Navigator
• Cover Flow-alike music app
• 51 possible apps, 11 app "drag & drop" shortcut menu
• Shortcuts draggable to home screen
• Graphical favorites menu, drag icons to pertinent task like message, call or edit
• Contact list includes search ribbon and filtering
• Text input via QWERTY, predictive keypad or handwriting recognition
• Drawing pad includes colors, pen widths, eraser for scribbling and picture "editing"
• Background music listening
• Video editing, picture editing, panoramic stitching

Phew, these guys really packed it in. Stand by for our hands-on impressions.

Inventory paperwork coming out of Sprint suggests that the launch date for the Treo 800w has actually moved up about a week from the last rumor, pegging general availability of the latest Palm kit for July 13. That will likely beat Verizon's launch -- just as Sprint did with the Centro -- and position it for the rather unenviable task of trying to score some modicum of fanfare in the midst of Apple's July 11 iPhone 3G onslaught. It's hard to argue that these two are competing for the same target audience, but even so, it seems like there's a healthy buffer around the 11th that most carriers are going to want to avoid for launching important devices (as any Treo inevitably is, no matter how lukewarm the styling may be).

Also notable on the inventory sheet is a mention of a red BlackBerry Curve launching on the same day, giving chronic emailers an option that's just a little more playful than the titanium trim currently available. Two devices from legendary lineages renowned for the quality of their keyboards launching on the same carrier on the same day? Yeah, no complaints here.

[Via WMExperts]

If there's one way to ruin an otherwise perfectly good handset, it's by equipping it with a disgustingly triband GSM / EDGE chipset. Fortunately, though, this isn't one of those otherwise perfectly good handsets, so we're not going to sweat it too hard. The KS360 from LG made its loud entrance at CommunicAsia this week, featuring a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 2 megapixel cam, stereo Bluetooth, FM radio, and a 2.4-inch QVGA display, all wrapped in a rather freakish red and black shell with globule-like controls. Asia's the target market for the device, destined for a wallet-friendly price tag where features like 3G and inoffensive industrial design are apparently optional. Yeah, QWERTY's always nice, but not when we find it physically difficult to look at the keyboard.

[Via Unwired View]

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, as they say -- and along those same lines, we've found that a phone in the hand is worth two in the press release. We're sure impatient Dare hopefuls would agree with that sentiment; it's all well and good that Verizon has gone official with the thing, but when can we plunk down cash? The carrier's initial statement of "later this month" was a little vague, and fortunately, the interwebs are starting to come to the rescue with rumors that online availability will kick off on June 26 with in-store and telesales following on come July 3. That gives Instinct owners at least a few days to gloat, so enjoy it while you can, boys and girls.

[Via phoneArena]

LG's stylish Secret has been out of the closest for a good while now, but there's just nothing like a flurry of high-resolution shots straight from the show floor to drum up interest. The admittedly elegant slider is strutting its stuff over in Singapore, and we must say, that carbon fiber bod and 5-megapixel camera sure look delicious here on the other side of the world. Check the read link for a few more photos, and head on past the break for a hands-on video.

The Decoy, that glossy gray slider from LG that looks totally normal until you flip it on its front and realize there's a full-fledged Bluetooth headset hitching a ride on back, is now available for purchase from Verizon. The $179.99 you're shelling out on contract after rebates might seem a little pricey, but when you consider that you don't have to spend any extra for a handsfree, that takes a bit of the edge off.

[Thanks, lucas]