The better half of LG's one-two combo of new QWERTY devices for AT&T has launched this week, bringing HSDPA, a 2.8-inch (sadly non-OLED) touchscreen, and 2 megapixel cam for under a hundie on contract. Sure, the even lower-cost Neon might look a little cooler than the Xenon, but if you're looking for high-speed data street cred and you bleed Lucky Goldstar, the Xenon's pretty much your only choice of the two. Grab it now in your choice of blue, blue, or blue for $99.99 after rebate.

We suspect both of these devices are going to sell at a brisk clip for AT&T, but interestingly, it was the much lower-end of the two -- the Neon -- that ended up leaving the bigger impression on us. The phone's solid (but light) to the touch, the keyboard is expansive and easy to use (thanks in no small part to its three-row layout as opposed to the Xenon's four), and you get a touchscreen for typing digits so you don't need to do any craziness to dial with the slide closed. Don't get us wrong -- there's nothing wrong with the Xenon, and the bright blue shell ends up being really attractive in the flesh -- but the Neon feels more unique, especially considering its expected ultra-low price tag. Follow the break for video!

Gallery: LG Neon and Xenon hands-on

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Outside of the smartphone realm, AT&T's really stepping up its game in the feature phone game, too -- so let's take this clockwise from the top left, shall we? First up, we have the brightly-colored Samsung Magnet, targeted squarely at the teen audience looking for serious texting power in a cheap package. Pricing hasn't been announced, but it should be easy on the wallet; it'll be available in the next few weeks. Next is the Impression -- also from Samsung -- which we'd previously known as the a877, the very first handset to officially launch on a US carrier with a full AMOLED up front. The screen's 3.2 inches of organic touchscreen awesomeness, accompanied by a 3 megapixel cam and a full HTML browser, all launching on April 7 for $199.99 on contract after rebate. Down below, we have the LG Neon -- a phone that's already launched up north on Rogers -- offering a full landscape QWERTY keyboard in addition to a touchscreen display for a low price, thanks in no small part to its lack of 3G data. The launch day hasn't been set for this one, but it'll come shortly. Finally, we have the long-rumored Xenon, featuring 3G, a 2 megapixel cam, QWERTY slide, GPS, and your choice of colors -- black, blue, or red -- all for $99.99 when it launches on April 8.

We were warned that Best Buy has a nasty habit of spelling phone names incorrectly on its internal documents, and sure enough, someone out there isn't too familiar with element 54. Turns out AT&T's QWERTY slider from LG will in fact be the Xenon, not "Zenon" as we'd seen on the inventory sheets a while back, so apparently the whole trademark thing wasn't a concern as we'd theorized -- it just might get a little confusing for customers trying to learn about phones versus camera flashes when they come into the store, no?

We've just been graced with a new trunkload of tentative -- very tentative -- release dates on AT&T, and while most of the devices were already rumored for launch, one is definitely sticking out here: the Nokia Piranha. We're assuming that's a codename, but the device is described as a "thin" smartphone with a touchscreen -- which can only mean S60 5th Edition -- and what's more, it's currently slated for a March 24 release. (Updated: see note below.) Speaking of touchscreens, a Samsung Impression touch slider with a 3 megapixel camera is due on March 26, the Propel Pro should hit a bit earlier on March 19, and the LG Xenon -- which is once again being spelled "Xenon" instead of "Zenon," so who knows -- is expected on April 9 with a 3 megapixel cam in tow. Speaking of LG, that Neon we've been hearing about (notice a noble gas theme here?) apparently won't be dropping by until May 9, and it'll only be EDGE, just like its Rogers-based cousin. On Samsung, we've got a device here that's being called the "BJ 2" with a 3 megapixel camera also launching on May 9, which we're assuming is actually the BlackJack 3 or something to that effect seeing how there's been a BlackJack II on the market for a hot minute now. Finally -- drum roll, please -- that AT&T-branded Sony Ericsson C905 we saw a ways back is currently slated to come around on June 9. Let's hope this one doesn't get canceled, eh?

[Thanks, Kal]

Update: Sadly, AT&T almost certainly screwed up the description of the Piranha -- it's likely just the E71x. We're weeping quietly to ourselves over here. Not to say the E71x won't be a fine phone, but it would've been awfully nice to randomly see a crazy touchphone from Nokia on AT&T out of the blue, wouldn't it?

Yep, we think we're starting to see what's going on here. AT&T realized somewhere along the line that its two hottest product trends were full touchscreens and texting-centric devices, and now, we're going to start to see combo units come out in full force. We know we're going to be treated to the a877 from Samsung any day now, and LG's definitely ready to hit back with the Zenon (or Xenon, however those guys decide to spell it) -- thing is, the a877's supposed OLED means the LG entry already has one strike against it by our count. Anyhow, we have another scrap of confirmation in the form of this thumbnail image from YourWirelessSource, which appears to be an unbranded version of the Zenon called out by its model number of GR500. Keep it thin, LG, and we might be able to forgive a non-OLED screen. Maybe.

[Thanks, Alex]

That Knick isn't even out yet, and it looks like AT&T might already be gearing up to stuff a competitor right alongside it in the lineup. Boy Genius Report is showing a picture (possibly a rendering -- hard to tell) of a reasonably-spec'd QWERTY slider dumbphone from LG dubbed "Xenon" that is claimed to be wrapping up testing as we speak in preparation for a holiday launch. Rumored goodies include dualband HSDPA, a 2.8-inch QVGA display, 3-megapixel cam with VGA video recording, microSD expansion, and WiFi -- so needless to say, we're not really seeing a free-on-contract future for 'er.

It wasn't that long ago when the Samsung G800 came into our sights and with features like a 5 megapixel camera, 2.4 inch QVGA display, Bluetooth, Xenon flash, expandable memory via microSDHC, and Triband GSM with HSDPA -- who could forget such a device? Well lucky for us, some colleagues had the chance to play with the device pre-production. Be sure to check out the preview and additional pics in the read link.

[Thanks, David]