LG

LG and Sprint announced the LG LX400 Hero today, and it's a rarity amongst LG phones--it supports Nextel's Direct Connect push-to-talk network, meaning the phone is almost entirely targeted to the business and enterprise market. It supports mobile business application suites, as well as data services like mobile e-mail and GPS navigation. Other features include Bluetooth, a 1.3-megapixel camera, and picture messaging. It's otherwise not much of a looker, but that's what you get for a midrange phone like this.

A day ahead of its scheduled announcement, Verizon decided to spill the beans and put out a press release announcing the LG EnV2, which is the genuine successor to the LG EnV of years past. As we mentioned awhile ago, we originally thought the Voyager was the EnV successor, but as it turns out, the Voyager is in a completely separate class. Which is fine, since the LG EnV2--yes, we find the parentheses a little odd as well--is a pretty good-looking phone in its own right. Smooth and slim, it mimics the original EnV design with a clamshell look when … Read more

Have trouble finding an extra or replacement battery for your laptop? Both Dell and HP say they are experiencing a laptop battery shortage after a March 3 fire knocked out a major supplier of the batteries.

Besides Dell and HP, the fire that gutted a plant owned by South Korea's second-largest battery maker, LG Chem, is also affecting Asus, maker of the popular Eee PC laptop.

"We sell battery packs. The prices of those battery packs for people ordering extra batteries have gone up," Dell spokesman Jess Blackburn told Reuters. "The industry is experiencing battery supply … Read more

Phone Arena managed to get a picture of what looks like the LG VX9700 slated to come out for Verizon this spring. It's a touch-screen phone in the vein of the LG Prada, and reportedly features a 3.2-megapixel camera, EV-DO support, an MP3 player, and a microSD card slot. It'll be interesting if this comes out at the same time as AT&T's own Prada clone, the LG Vu, since the Vu is also slated to be AT&T's MediaFLO launch device. Looks like we'll have to wait a month or two … Read more

In its tradition of affordable prepaid phones, Virgin Mobile has just launched the Flare (otherwise known as the LG LX175), a simple flip phone without a lot of bells and whistles. Features are predictably bare bones, like a speakerphone, mobile web browser, and Bluetooth -- there isn't even a camera on this thing. But for something as low as $29.99 without a contract, it's not too shabby. You can pick it up now via Virgin's website or any of their retail partners.

Other than to call for a cab, something tells us that new phones won't be on too many people's minds this St. Patrick's Day. But if you adhere to some strange custom by which gifts are exchanged every March 17, LG has a handset that's made to order.

The "Rumor" has been around for awhile, but SlashPhone says a special green version has been made available to Sprint customers just in time for the occasion. Other than the color, the handset seems to have the same features as earlier models, including a built-in GPS … Read more

We once thought the LG Voyager (which won an Editors' Choice, by the way) was the successor to the much-beloved LG enV, since both of them sported a flip-out QWERTY keyboard. But it seems like we may be wrong--the LG VX9100, which may be dubbed the LG enV2, looks to be the true successor to the LG enV. Indeed, the VX9100 (or enV2) has that same candy bar look when the phone is closed and doesn't have the fancy touch-screen display like the Voyager. Engadget Mobile shows off a few pics of a black and maroon version, and we … Read more

While a press launch in Singapore this week was for the KS20 smartphone pictured here, an LG representative told us that the Korean company will be rolling out a new smartphone with an updated operating system expected at the end of this year or early 2009. Our best bet is that it will be running on the upcoming Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system, though Windows Mobile 7 might be possible by then as well.

Meanwhile, the KS20--LG's first GSM-based Windows Mobile 6 smartphone--is one of the most compact and slimmest in its category. Bearing an uncanny resemblance to … Read more

There were hints that Alltel would soon launch a new LG slider handset called the Glimmer, and it turns out that it's true. Indeed, the latest shiny phone from LG will be an Alltel exclusive, available only via Alltel retail outlets and its online store beginning March 13. Dubbed the AX830 in addition to its more glamorous moniker, the Glimmer has a 2.8-inch touch screen, a slider keypad, a 2-megapixel camera, an MP3 player, a microSD card slot, EV-DO, and has built-in GPS support. It will cost $249.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and a two-year service … Read more