Isaiah's Tech

Well, how fair is this? The LG BL40 is launching in Korea as the LG KU6300 / LU6300 / SU630 (varies in internal memory). It'll have the exact same specs and looks as the original BL40, but it'll sport a heftier 8MP camera on the back. Thanks a lot, LG.

Right now we don't know if it'll sport WiFi / GPS or a T-DMB tuner.

[GSM Arena Blog]

Yup, that's right! Bell launched theirs yesterday and Telus has launched theirs today! All the pricing plans are below, courtesy of Mobile Syrup. I've noticed just one mistake in the pricing details below though. The LG BL40 aka New Chocolate is actually available for $99.99 CAD on a 3-year contract and not $79.99 like it states below. The Bold 9700 is $249.99 on a 3-year contract, which is slightly more expensive than what Bell offers ($229.99) but cheaper than what Rogers is asking for ($299.99). I also think it's great that they decided to launch the HTC Hero for just $99.99! Yup, don't forget the iPhone 3G and 3GS.

Check out Telus' website here.

[Mobile Syrup]

Canada's Telus has just announced that their new HSPA network will be launching next week, on Thursday, November 5th. They have also confirmed [again] that they'll have the 8GB iPhone 3G, 16GB iPhone 3GS, and 32GB iPhone 3GS at launch. They'll be available for $99.99, $199.99, and $299.99 on a 3-year contract, respectively, and $599.99, $699.99, and $799.99 contract-free, respectively. Check out what Telus had to say here.

Just in case you were still having doubts on Canada's Telus launching the LG BL40 (I know I was) it looks like they've just announced it. At LG's Fashion Week event last night, this ad was spotted there and they officially announced that they would be launching the "New Chocolate" aka the LG BL40. They'll have exclusivity rights on this handset - similar to Bell and the N97. It's definitely a beauty.

[Mobile Syrup]

Like we heard in September, Telus' initial HSPA smartphone line-up could be very impressive. According to Boy Genius, this has been 100% confirmed. Telus will be launching the iPhone 3G and 3GS (we know that), the BlackBerry Bold 9700 (likely named the Bold 2), the LG BL40, the Nokia E71, and the Android-packing HTC Hero. If this is 100% true like they're saying, Telus is going to have a field day running around Rogers with their HSPA 21Mbps network, but will the consumers hop on-board: that's the question.

Update: According to Electronista, Telus will be launching their HSPA network on November 3rd. Let's hope all of these handsets will be available at launch.

[Boy Genius]

Below is a pretty awesome and pretty well thought out ad for the upcoming LG BL40. There's not much left to say here, so just check it out below. It's so easy, a caveman can use it.



[Mobile Crunch]

If you live in the UK, you can actually get your hands on the LG BL40 now for as low as £19.99 ($33 USD) to £129.99 ($211 USD). Now, do you want to get your hands on this 4-inch 21:9 multi-touchscreen display? Alright, check out this link then.

[Engadget]

At IFA, LG finally came clean about the LG BL20. The LG BL20 has actually been seen before as the LG BL42, so it should look quite familiar. The BL20 is a slider handset that has: a 2.4-inch QVGA non-touchscreen display, 130MB of internal memory, a microSD card slot, a 5MP AF camera, quad-band GSM / HSDPA connectivity, Stereo Bluetooth, an FM radio, and 3G support.

LG also announced something about their better handset, the BL40. This handset will be available in Europe starting in the middle of this month; the rest of the world will get their hands on this device next month (October) so we won't have to wait that long. In case you forgot, this handset has: a 4-inch touchscreen display with an 800 x 345 resolution, a 5MP camera with an LED flash that can record video, 1.1GB of internal memory, a microSDHC card slot, and WiFi / aGPS support.

Since it's coming to the rest of the world this October, Mobile Syrup is hoping that it will be hitting Telus as well - y'know since they'll have their HSPA network by then. For the full spec sheet of the LG BL40, take a look at this Tech Tree link.

LG BL20: Engadget, Gizmodo, GSM Arena
LG BL40: Boy Genius, Engadget, Tech Tree
Telus Getting BL40?: Mobile Syrup

According to this so-called internal Verizon document, Verizon is readying up a few launches in October. October marks the month where we'll see the Android-based Motorola Sholes and the LG Chocolate Touch VX8575. The dates we heard yesterday about the BlackBerry Storm 2 are also confirmed on this document, so it could really be the real deal. I'm more excited about the Sholes. By the way, we still don't know exactly what the Chocolate Touch VX8575 is, but I know a lot of people out there are hoping it's the LG BL40.

[Phone Arena]

Mobile-Review already got their first look at the Nokia N97 Mini this morning and they didn't really have anything good to say about it. Now, they have just finished testing out the LG BL40 for the first time. You can check out what they had to say here. The virtual QWERTY keyboard looks pretty easy to use - thanks to its wide display. You're warned, it's quite lengthy.

[Slash Gear, Engadget]

According to this GSMA website, Telus will be launching their new and faster HSPA network next month aka September. This is great news for Canadians. This new HSPA network could be what they're launching on September 15th. Let the rumours run wild now because after this new network is launched there are a lot of phones that could be hitting up North - we already know about the possible BlackBerry Storm 2. This includes: the LG BL40, the HTC Hero, the Nokia E71, some sort of iPhone, the LG GB255, and the LG 9200. Let's see if any of these actually get a launch on Telus.

[Mobile Syrup]

It's been over two weeks without seeing anything from LG's next Black Label handset, the BL40. Well, below is some footage of some hands-on treatment. It's kind of dumb how the video they played on the BL40 wasn't even in a 21:9 aspect ratio, it's just wasted screen. I still dislike the wide 21:9 aspect ratio - let's just keep it 16:9 for now. Just take a look at the video below, I don't want to spoil anything else for you.



[Engadget Mobile]

At this point, we still don't know what the LG Chocolate VX8575 is, but we're hoping it closely resembles - or is - the LG BL40. On the FCC listing, the Chocolate Touch has: a touchscreen display, a camera, Bluetooth, GPS support, and EVDO support. Unfortunately, the FCC filing also says that this device will not have WiFi or an FM transmitter. This could mean that this will hit Verizon, since they are known for pulling stuff off of their handsets - more specifically pulling WiFi on the BlackBerry Storm. We'll just have to wait until more information about this handset pops up because that's all we can do. In the meantime, you can check out this link. It identifies a couple of handsets that are scheduled to be released on August 23 - hint: the LG Chocolate Touch is one of them.

[Phone Arena]

If this is true, August 23rd will be a big day for everyone in the US. It looks like a lot of phones are going to be available on that day, probably one of the biggest days of the year.

Samsung Gravity 2 (berry) — T-Mobile

Samsung Solstice — AT&T

LG Xenon (red) — AT&T

Global AirCard (G2) — Verizon

Samsung Rogue — Verizon

LG Chocolate Touch — Verizon

Samsung u450 Intensity — Verizon

Samsung Omnia 2 — Verizon

BlackBerry Tour — (new shipment, Sprint)

What did I tell you? The LG Chocolate Touch is more than likely the LG BL40; the Samsung Omnia 2 is probably the I8000 Omnia II; the Samsung Rogue is basically what it says it is. What's also fairly interesting is that at the top there's an "M330" listed to be available on September 3rd and we've actually heard nothing about it before. Let's hope this leak stays true to its word!

[Boy Genius]

Well, looky here, the user agent profile for what appears to be the LG BL20. We don't know what this is at the time, but Cell Passion suspects that it could be another LG Black Label handset. There's already the LG BL40 and the less interesting LG BL42, so I guess that this could be a lower-end handset. As of right now, all that's known about this LG BL20 is that it has a 240 x 320 resolution (QVGA) display and GSM/UMTS connectivity.

[Cell Passion]

I won't spoil anything about the video for you, but this video just popped up on YouTube. In this video, the LG BL40 is confirmed to have a 4-inch HD display and you can even use an output cable to project HD video onto a TV. The price and release date still isn't mentioned.



[Engadget, Gizmodo, Phone Arena]

Nope, this is not old news. Unlike when it passed the FCC two weeks ago, the "LG BL40g" has 3G support, which is great news. Unfortunately, "Engadget is reporting that they have been told by LG that there is currently no plan to bring the "New Chocolate" to the U.S., this could be version of the BL40 that will be wearing the Telus brand while trying to dodge that cold, artic (should be arctic) Canadian air." As of right now, we still don't who will carry the "New Chocolate" but we'll just wait and see. 3G is on-board though folks.

[Phone Arena]

Well, look at that! It's the sexy LG Chocolate BL40. The 21:9 display is clearly evident, but it's looking extremely sexy. There's not really anything else to say here, so if you want to check out some more pictures then check out the link below.

[Engadget]

The LG BL40 was just handled by a Sina Corporation reporter. Lucky him. This phone looks good, but wasn't good enough to make my top 10 phone list. The 21:9 aspect ratio display is pretty awkward, but it still looks good, nonetheless.

[Engadget]