We'd recently mentioned that LG was about take it to the limit with AT&T by pushing out two of its halo devices -- the Shine slider and Prada luxury touchphone -- over the course of the next few months. We'd also mentioned that AT&T would debut the "Vu" branding for the devices, and while we still haven't figured out whether that's pronounced "voo" or "view," we can provide a bit of an update on how that branding's gonna go down. It turns out that the Shine will hang on to the Shine name, probably a good idea considering the global appeal the name has garnered (Chocolate, anyone?), while the Prada will be christened the Vu. Thing is, we're hearing it'll come in two versions: the Vu with MediaFLO mobile TV (we're still reeling from the fact that AT&T actually made that move) and the Vu2 without. So yeah, if you only wanted AT&T to carry this thing so that you could get the Prada branding slapped on a carrier-subsidized handset, you're probably out of luck for the time being -- but regardless of what it's called, it should be an exceptionally hot device and a helluva competitor for that Voyager over there on Verizon, a phone that just happens to hail from the same manufacturer. What tangled webs we weave!

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

Yep, we kinda knew about all these, but it's good to get a little more confirmation that they're still all on track. The LG Prada (alias "Vu2," alias CU920) has shown up for inventory tracking alongside the Motorola Z9 slider and the Samsung BlackJack II. The Vu2 could end up being one of AT&T's first MediaFLO-compliant handset for mobile TV on the network, and we don't really expect it until early '08 at this point; the BlackJack II looks ready to launch from the press shots we've seen, though, and we wouldn't be surprised if it hit before the year's out. The Z9 could be the hot slider we mentioned earlier today, suggesting a launch some time in the first quarter.

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

If the iPhone is AT&T's cake, its own version of the LG Prada may very well be the icing. Gizmodo has scored shots of what appears to be LG's high-end, touchable superphone running AT&T firmware that's clearly been tweaked for the better from the original KE850 (better web browser, please!). Don't expect to stuff stockings with this one, though -- despite earlier rumors that it might squeeze in by December, we're hearing that AT&T and LG are targeting a Q1 '08 release for the device, apparently called the "Vu2." If there's a Vu2, there's gotta be a Vu, right? Indeed, it turns out that AT&T's Shine will bear the moniker when it gets released. The carrier had originally targeted September for the Vu, but that obviously didn't happen; word on the street is that they're back in the labs tweaking the user interface as we speak and we haven't heard when a launch might actually go down. Both phones offer 3G, of course -- so between the Vu's nav stick and the Vu2's expansive touchscreen, we've got a couple of unique offerings on our hands here. Strong work picking these up, AT&T!

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

Read - LG Shine for AT&T (Vu)
Read - LG Prada for AT&T (Vu2)