LG Chocolate finally launched

Finally, after all those months of speculation, the LG Chocolate (also known as the VX8500). It's worth noting that you can't actually get your hands on it now. Verizon is only taking online orders for it today, though it'll be available in stores on August 7 (and not August 8 as we mentioned earlier).

As a reminder, the LG Chocolate is a sexy slider phone that's a redesigned version of a Korea-only model. Features include a 262,000-color display, touch-pad buttons, a 1.3-megapixel camera, high-speed EV-DO, Bluetooth, a Micro SD card slot, a music player, stereo speakers, and V Cast Music store support. The phone is available for $149.99 after a $50 discount and a two-year service agreement.

In conjunction with the Chocolate release, Verizon is even waiving the $15 monthly V Cast Music fee. Song downloads will still cost 99 cents if purchased via PC, or $1.99 for a dual-download to both the phone and the PC.