LG Chocolate (VX8500)

LG Chocolate (VX8500)
Availability by region	2006
Compatible networks	CDMA / GSM
Dimensions	1.9 X 0.7 X 3.8 in
Weight	3.5 oz
Memory	128 MB (Internal)
Display	LCD 320 x 240 pixels (262000 colors)
Connectivity	Bluetooth / USB Cable

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The LG VX8500 (or "Chocolate") is a slider cellphone-MP3 player hybrid that was sold as a feature phone. In the U.S. it was released by Verizon Wireless in July 2006 and made available online, and later released in Verizon stores in the U.S. on August 7, 2006. In addition to the original black model (dubbed "Dark Chocolate"), the LG Chocolate VX8500 is also available in the U.S. in a light green, white, pink, and red (called "Mint Chocolate," "White Chocolate," "Strawberry Chocolate," and "Cherry Chocolate," respectively).

The LG Chocolate has another successor called the LG Chocolate (VX8550) which has: touch buttons with improved accuracy, a scroll wheel, support for 4 GB microSD cards, and tactile send and end keys.

Origin

The original LG Chocolate(KV5900) was released in Korea long before the UK or U.S. version. In England, it was available in three colors which were black, Blue and Yellow. After becoming an extremely popular item in South England mobile phone market, it saw its GSM release into the USA, and a modified version was released in Canada.

The US Chocolate is a different phone (VX8500), with a QVGA (320x240) LCD over the KG800's 176x220 LCD. The touch panel on the VX8500 has a slightly different design, with a circular button arrangement bordered with glossy metal, versus the KG800's square arrangement featuring simple arrow designs (a defining part of the ads for the original LG Chocolate ), and a rounded silver rectangle bordering the "OK" button in the center. The A2DP and AVRCP Bluetooth profiles are available on the VX8500, but not on the KG800. The KG800's number pad also features a matte grey and glossy black checkerboard pattern, and the camera has a white LED flash, both of which the VX8500 does not have.

Ad campaign

The in-store release of the VX8500/Chocolate followed six television commercials created by future-UK Marketer of the Year John Bernard, four of which featured music playing while the device was displayed from various camera angles, often with the glow from the touch-panel leaving a trail. The device was shown closed, making it look like an MP3 player, and the commercials ended with the music pausing, the phone opening, and a phone call or message being played. In one campaign is featured the song "Candyman" by Christina Aguilera. Another featured "Love Me or Hate Me" by Lady Sovereign. The fifth commercial simply played Goldfrapp's "Strict Machine" while the phone emerged from liquid chocolate. The sixth commercial showed cherries being squished into a paste to make a reddish phone, a chocolate dipped into a pool of white chocolate, and mint being chopped to make a green phone, also to the song Candyman. Verizon also scented select units to tie the phone into the ad campaign.

Features

Specifications

Type	Specification
Modes	CDMA 800 / CDMA 1900 / GSM
Weight	3.53 oz (100 g)
Dimensions	3.80" x 1.88" x 0.69" (97 x 48 x 16 mm)
Form Factor	Slide Internal Antenna
Battery Life	Talk: 3.50 hours (210 minutes) Standby: 384 hours (16 days) batteries were known to have a defect as they were released in December 2006. They did not hold a full charge.
Battery Type	LiPolymer 800 mAh
Display	Type: LCD (Color TFT/TFD) Colors: 262,144 (18-bit) Size: 240 x 320 pixels
Platform / OS	(N/A)
Memory	Phone:61800 KB Music:62881 KB (micro SD memory cards are available in 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, 6 GB, and 8 GB.
Phone Book Capacity	500
FCC ID	BEJVX8500 (Approved May 12, 2006)
GPS / Location	Type: A-GPS
Digital TTY/TDD	Yes and EV compatible
Hearing Aid Compatible	Rating: M3 (mostly compatible)
Multiple Languages	Yes
Polyphonic Ringtones	Yes
Vibrate	Yes
Bluetooth	Supported Profiles: HSP, HFP, DUN, A2DP, AVRC, OPP version 1.1 / OPP for vCard only
Multiple Numbers per Name	Numbers per entry: 5 plus 2 email addresses
Picture ID	Yes
Ringer ID	Yes
Voice Dialing	speaker-independent with voice commands
Custom Graphics	Yes
Custom Ringtones	Yes
Data-Capable	Yes
Flight Mode	Yes
Packet Data	Technology: 1xEV-DO r0
WAP / Web Browser	Yes
Predictive Text Entry	Technology: T9
Side Keys	volume, voice keys on left / music, camera, 'end' keys on right
Memory Card Slot	Card Type: microSD / TransFlash up to 2 GB
MMS	Yes
Text Messaging	2-Way: Yes up to 1064 characters
Text Messaging Templates	Yes
Music Player	Supported Formats: MP3, WMA works in background / equalizer
Camera	Resolution: 1+ megapixel self-timer, night mode functions / brightness, white balance controls
Streaming Video	Yes
Video Capture	Max. Length: 1 hour QCIF resolution / 3GPP2 format
Alarm	can set music as alarm
Calculator	plus tip calculator
Calendar	Yes
Voice Memo	can record calls / memos up to 1 minute / up to 5 minutes during call
BREW	Yes
Games	Yes

Touch panel

The face of the Chocolate has no tactile buttons, but rather touch-sensitive panels with red-orange illuminating symbols to designate the touch-sensitive areas.

The buttons include four corner buttons (Left option, right option, Call, and Return), and a wheel. The four sides of the wheel behave like a direction pad in most applications. In the music player, they work as scroll up/down, and next/previous track. The OK button in the center of the wheel doubles as Pause/Play in the music player.

External links

Chocolate review - PCWorld.ca
V Cast Music Essentials Manager - Official music sync software from Verizon.

Sources