Verizon today began shipping the LG Dare, and has finally revealed the price of the new device. The handset should be available for purchase online by Thursday, and will hit retail stores on July 3rd.
The phone will retail for $250. You then get a $50 mail-in-rebate…which will bring the cost down to $200 when you eventually get your rebate check in the mail.
The Dare is smaller than the iPhone (and is missing the iPhone’s built in storage), but it does have some features that the iPhone itself lacks. For example, it has a 3.2-megapixel camera with flash. It also has a 120 frames per second video capture mode, and a microSD slot which allows for memory expansion.
It does feature a “full HTML browser”, 3G (through EVDO Revision A) and GPS through Verizon’s Navigator.
None of that, however, changes the fact that if you buy one of these you’ll be walking around with a device that looks like a knock-off of the iPhone.
Obviously there is plenty that the LG DOESN’T have that the iPhone will – including the App Store, and multi-touch – but honestly, why would anyone want to run around with something that looks like this?
I mean, seriously, if you don’t want an iPhone why on earth would you want a phone that LOOKS like an iPhone? If you do want an iPhone, and you’re waiting for your contract to come up – why would you want this knock-off looking phone when you can just wait out your contract?
These kinds of phones are SAD as far as I’m concerned. I am not near fanboy enough to suggest that Apple is the only one that knows how to make a good phone. The lack of original thinking on the part of these other phone designers is just appalling, though.
You can make a touch screen phone that doesn’t look completely like a knock off of the iPhone. I know its possible…someone please at least TRY.
Update: Since this article is getting so much traffic let me clarify a few things.
The LG Dare is a reworked LG Prada, which is a touch screen phone that came out shortly before the iPhone. If you look at the original Prada, its design is quite different from the Dare. For one, it has original and unique icons, that don’t look like they are copied from Mac OS X. The design of the Prada doesn’t look quite as influenced by the iPhone either (which should be obvious, since it would have been impossible for the Prada to have been influenced by the iPhone…because the Prada came first).
This is my entire point. The LG Dare has been made to look like the iPhone. They already had a great looking, original, phone in the Prada, and LG decided it was a better idea to make the Dare look like a cheap iPhone knock-off..when it ISN’T an iPhone knock-off.
It is sad and depressing to me to think that the cellphone industry is just going to tuck tail and start making their phones look and feel like the more popular iPhone. It would be better for everyone involved, including Apple, if they would try to do their own thing, instead of going to such great lengths to imitate the iPhone.
Michael Murphey is primary blogger on Apple Gazette.com, Travelbrook.com and a contributor to TVJab.com for Bloggy Network. He also hosts a daily audio podcast, and weekly video podcast for Apple Gazette. When he’s not blogging you can find him on Twitter.
120 thoughts on “LG’s Dare would really like to be an iPhone”
But Michael…look at how those icons are spread around disheveledly. We are not a generation who cares about order. Look at how orderly that iPhone screen is. BLAH…that’s so BORING. The Dare just screams, “I’m rebellious!”
@Drew
I hadn’t caught that part. I see now that it’s “hipper” and more “in your face” than the iPhone.
Long Live the DARE!!! 😛
It’s a iPhone for people who want to use Verizon I guess. Why stick with Verizon if you want an iPhone? Well, some people hate att with a passion. Or maybe their family/friends mostly use Verizon. Or the coverage in their area could be better than att. I don’t think it’s a bad idea to have iPhone imitators on other networks.
well i have to admit, I WILL NOT GO AT&T and because of that .. i have sprint.. and now.. i own the samsung instinct.
im horrible i know. but i love the phone. i wish i had an iphone but i just hate that they are only available through att.
and i do think the instinct looks like a decent rip off of the iphone . it does work rather nice to
@A
I don’t think its a bad idea to have similar phones, or phones that have similar features so that other people have options beyond At&t and Apple – I just think the phone companies could do a little original thinking and not completely rip off the design and interface of the iPhone.
Companies did the sam thing with the iPod and made it the standard – if these phone companies continue to knock off the iPhone they’ll just do the same thing all over again.
Michael,
They’re not just ripping off the iPhone’s interface; the icon for Settings and Tools looks very suspiciously like the System Preferences icon in OS X.
(AKA Settings on the iPhone. So I guess it’s still ripping off the iPhone…)
People will buy this and declare it “the same as the iPhone”; much as Vista is “the same as the Mac”, and DishPVR is “the same as TiVo”.
I’ve been thinking the same thing. Why does everyone have to have an iPhone Killer.
Isn’t the mobile market large enough that all of these manufacturers that have been in this game so much longer than Apple, can do something more original? I mean, they’ve been at it for so friggin long.
Isn’t that what all of the technology writers and mobile phone manufacturing companies’ CEO were saying before the iPhone came out?
Weren’t they all saying that the mobile market is such a cut throat business that Apple wouldn’t be able to just waltz in and succeed?
Don’t they have any corporate pride? How can they allow a newbie in their market place dictate the direction they’ve all decided to go?
What the hell were they doing before the iPhone came along? Didn’t they have their on plans for the future of the industry?
You are right……It’s sad…and I feel sorry for them all. How embarrassing!!!
@Gerald
I actually like my DishDVR quite a bit better than Tivo. I’ve had both, but I prefer my DishDVR any day of the week. It’s why I have Dish Network.
😀
and another thing! i justt tried installing the cd on my MAC. and what did the cd say.
NOT FOR MAC
friggen haters man..
i still love the phone (instinct) but…… who does that anymore
The web browser looks an awful like .Mac but I guess since Mobile me is on the horizon it’s ok.
The “contacts” icon looks almost the same as the iPhone’s “Phone” button – green, with an old-fashioned handset going from NW to SE.
The VZ Navigator icon is a compass… just like Safari. Props though, the pointer is to the NW instead of the NE. :rolleyes:
And the “Settings and Tools”, as already mentioned, is a blatant ripoff.
Truly sad and pathetic.
Now that Apple has shown people will buy phones without buttons, we’ll see a lot more phones with big glass screens. Get over it. The Contacts and Settings icons definitely cross the line.
Would like to see how legible those jaunty icons are in person. Suspect they are actually not scrambled on the real phone.
Appauling? Appalling?
You know you’re winning when your competition reacts to your every move. 🙂 Apple under Jobs is very disciplined and more or less reacts to nobody (if for nothing else to merely appear as if they don’t need to worry about what their competition is doing).
I especially like the lovely OS X 10.1 striped Aqua look on the Dare.
“Why on earth would you want a phone that LOOKS like an iphone?”
How else are they going to design it smartguy?
Also, has it ever occured to you that someone might buy another phone that looks like an iphone because they don’t have AT&T? Theres a shocker!
Finally, having used both the iphone and the dare i would say the iphone would really like to be a Dare.
The LG Dare is far better than the iphone, IMO
has anybody forgotten that the LG dare is just a more updated version of the LG Prada
a phone that came out way before the iphone did in europe
is just that LG finally realeses it here in the states under a new name
and of course way better features
The reason all these other companies are coming out with the iphone lookalikes is to cause confusion in the marketplace, and trick consumers into equating their ripoff phones with the iphone. The very definition of trademark infringement.
@Tim
“How else are they going to design it smartguy?”
The first thing I would do is NOT make it black and silver. Obviously there will be some similarities to phones that are primarily a screen – but you can make a phone that isn’t a black and silver design with Mac OS X knock off icons. The Settings and Tools, VZ Navigator and Web Browser icons are direct rip offs of icons found on every Mac.
“Borrowing” so heavily from Apple’s designs makes this phone look like a cheap imitation. If you think its a better phone, that’s great. I hope you enjoy it…seriously. I do not think Apple is the only company capable of making a good phone. I’m sure there is plenty to like about the LG Dare – but there is no valid way to argue that this phone isn’t meant to resemble an iPhone..and because of that fact it will always be a cheap imitation “wannabe” phone.
Looking at the icon layout on that LG phone gives me the image of designers and/or marketing folks thinking, “How can we differentiate ourselves from the iPhone? I GOT IT! Scatter the icons!”
My contract is about to end with verizon and right now I am trying to decide between the iphone and the dare. Other than multi touch, the app store(both of which you mentioned), and a better web browsing experience(although can you really count that because it is available on the dare) it is hard for me to think of something else that the iphone does that the dare doesn’t. On the other hand the dare has a better camera takes better video, has a replaceable battery, removable storage, better network and mms.
If anything I think the dare makes the iphone look obsolete.
Or perhaps those are just IconFactory icons, like many that Apple uses, and both companies bought them from the same place?
i just want to state for the record that the prada, which is the original version of the dare has been out for more than a year and wasn’t considered an *iphone knockoff* I personally wouldn’t consider buying an iphone even if was available on a superior network to att (which is blah) the Dare is definitly a better product.
I love how almost everyone of you guys who come in and talk up the Dare never leave a real email address and have names like “ur mom” and “blah”.
I can see the people reading this now saying, “well, honey, I was going to buy the iPhone, but I’ve been convinced by ‘blah and ‘ur mom’ that I should get the Dare?”
“My mom? When did you talk to my mom about cellphones?”
“What? No, it’s on the website. Ur Mom is on the website?”
“She is?”
“Shut up.”
@ur mom
And just for the record, I wouldn’t consider the Prada a knock-off either. The Prada does still have the black and silver design, but it is very different from the Dare, and much less iPhone like. Also the Prada UI is nothing like the Dare UI. The Dare UI is clearly emulating the iPhone – which is exactly what I’m talking about.
The Prada was a cool looking phone that doesn’t look like a complete iPhone rip-off. It’s a shame that LG isn’t marketing it as it was. The original design and layout would have stood out as an alternative to the iPhone without looking like a total rip-off.
My gut reaction is that most of those icons (ESPECIALLY Contacts and Navigator) look particularly infringey from a copyright and trademark standpoint.
Actuallt, I owned the iphone for 3 months before selling it to buy the Voyager. After 40 days, I have no regrets. The last firmware upgrade has greatly improved the browser to where I consider it a close second to iphone . Certainly when it comes to rendering sites, Iphone and Voyager get the full nytimes.com while the Vu and Instinct load only the wap version.
Dare has no tv (gasp*neither does the iphone) and the Dare does not have the real non-virtual qwerty keyboard like the Voyager (gasp*again…none on the iphone)…the Dare cannot be close to the iphone until the browser improves…AND the Lg Voyager remains 1sweet multi-media device that is the best handset non-smartphone out there.
None of the new smart phones (iphone clones) will ever compete with iphone on its sex appeal and glamour. iphone could not have been a success if APPLE had just copied some random phone. RIM came up with an original idea and left a mark. It’s a shame all other big phone makers quickly come up with clones to make some quick bucks, rather then coming up with their new ideas. Given a choice between iphone and other new smart phones the reason people will buy these clones is they have no other option: just recently renewed a contract with some promotion; better coverage; and peer pressure. Cell phones usually do not have much shelf life because their predecessors ridicule the older models. Newer iphone 3G so far has avoided lampooning its ancestor.
I just ordered in my Dare, I would much rather have an iPhone to tell you the truth, but I will NEVER switch back to AT&T. Their reception is horrible where I live and I have yet to be disconnected or interrupted with Verizon. Not to mention, $15 for unlimited internet vs $30 with AT&T.
wow i love how the only bad thing you can say about the DARE is that it looks like the iPhone
The iphone has the best user interface of any phone or device I’ve ever used. The fact that other phone manufacturerss are emulating their success is a testament to apple’s ability to create something that is consumer friendly and easy to use. Having so-called “iphone knock-offs” only gives Apple much needed competition to continually improve their products and bring the industry to the next level.
That being said, it’s hard to call the LG Dare or any other touchscreen a knock-off of the Iphone when, as Ben Li said, the Iphone itself was introduced months AFTER the LG Prada came out in Europe. Apple was however innovative in making the touchscreen an asset rather than a liability and actually creating the market for touchscreen phones in the U.S. and the world.
As for me I finally decided to get the LG Dare after having tested the Iphone and Dare extensively. The Iphone is a spectacular device and has the bigger screen, better user interface, better web browser, better music player, and of course has wifi. Unfortunately, the Iphone had it’s drawbacks such as no MMS, a sub-par camera, no video capture, no removable battery, and the the call quality was something to be desired. For my needs the LG Dare fit the bill as I believe a phone’s first priority is being a good phone, everything else is an added bonus. The bonuses included many of the features the iphone was lacking including the a better camera (where you can almost leave your digital at home), MMS, video capture, and a removable battery.
The Iphone and the Dare are both great phones with their own unique shortcomings. To me, the fact that the Dare is so similar to the Iphone is not a bad thing. Instead, it gives me hope that Apple will correct the shortcomings of the Iphone with the next generation. When they do I’ll definitely be getting one. Until then I’m sticking with the dare as my phone and the ipod nano as my primary music player.
I am with Verizon, contract is up at the end of September. I like the iphone, I like the fact I can link my itunes and my apple computer to the phone. I like that if I want to go to the gym I wouldn’t have to carry two things, its all in one. But I don’t now if I want to go back to AT&T (which I had in the past). Since being with Verizon I have NEVER (read that again, NEVER) had another dropped call like I had with SPRINT and AT&T. The coverage I get with Verizon is superior to the coverage I had with those other two providers. I was in a ski cabin in the woods of western N.C., the AT&T phone couldn’t get a signal but the Verizon phone had a perfect signal.
Then on the flip side, I like Verizon, but I can’t link my itunes and I hate the VZ Navigator thing, so I don’t use it that often. I also have to carry my ipod seperate from my phone.
So what do I do? Do I stay with a service provider that is great overall, but doesn’t have the exact phone I want (iphone). Or go to AT&T and take the risk that I will have dropped calls, less coverage and so not be able to get a signal. I am starting to lean towards, the service provider is more important than the phone. So the Dare may be a good choice for me?????
I wonder how many people will ask you: “Is that an iPhone?”
my opinion is that its a good phone, and that if the service is better (which it is!) go ahead and get Verizon and the Dare!!!
Look, I’m considering getting the LG Dare. Yes, the iPhone completely revolutionized how cell phones look and operate and set a completely new standard. I will also admit that the iPhone is very sleek and user-friendly to say the least. Unfortunately, you can only get the darn thing through AT&T, which, in my humble opinion, doesn’t have the greatest coverage! If the iPhone were available through VerizonWireless, then, yes, I would definitely buy it. Coverage, for me, is far more important than the phone itself. As for the Dare, well, I need to play with it some more before I make a decision. Granted, it’s no iPhone, but at least it’s a step in the right direction!
I have a question. Can Verizon’s version of the Dare sync directly with Windows Calendar, Outlook, iCal, or Entourage? Verizon and Sprint are notorious for clamping down on network phone functionality in order to force users to use their intermediate network services. Verizon syncing requires the use of their web-services. What Sprint and Verizon don’t get is that their network services suck. This makes their phones suck no matter how nice they could be if left to the original manufacturer’s specifications.
Let’s nip this in the bud… the prada came out before the iphone period. The iphone is actually a rip off of that phone…. hate to break it to you. The iphone has a music store? ummm, so does the dare. In fact they have rapsody which correct me if I’m wrong… allows you to have more music from outside sources as well. The web browser on the iphone is nicer, but still, the dare’s browser has 3 different settings and one allows you to see the webpage as if you were looking at on your pc. Not to mention the data network and the network period is SOOO much better than att’s.
The price for the internet on the 2 phones are also different. 30 bucks for internet with the iphone, 15 bucks with the dare. And the dare is a newer model of the prada, ofcourse the ui’s are different, they’re on completely different networks and companies einstein.
So recap…
dare-better camera, better network, cheaper monthly fee, can actually do more with the phone with more options with music downloads. New version of the prada.
Iphone- better browser, ummmmm, rip off of the prada.
AND THE WINNER IS………………….. well if you can’t figure that out…
nevermind…just answered my own question by looking at Verizon’s website. The answer is no…no mention of syncing…at all… They don’t reveal the brand of web-browser either. Sorry.
The Prada may have been released before the iPhone, but they were unveiled at almost exactly the same time (Jan. 18 for the Prada and Jan. 9 for the iPhone). Both had been in development for a very long time, so it’s probably pretty safe to say that neither product could be considered a knock-off of the other.
That being said, these companies are being entrepeneurs, or trying to, anyway. That simply means that they take a good idea that’s already been established, and try to make it better. Every company in the world does it…even Apple. MP3 players existed before the iPod, multimedia-capable phones existed before the iPhone or the Prada. It’s all about standing on the shoulders of geniuses and pushing the industry forward.
I personally think that Apple did that more than LG, and even if the Prada had come out well before the iPhone, I’d still say that. Sure, they both have touchscreen, but with the iPhone’s inclusion of multitouch and the accelerometer, as well as a much slicker UI, it stands way out.
If you want a phone that has a better camera and can shoot video (and in slo-mo, too…I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to shoot a slow motion video with my phone), and you’re willing to trade the higher resolution screen and some great features like the App Store, then go for the Dare. For me, sure, I would love to have a (non-slo-mo) video camera on the iPhone, but I’ll sacrifice that for all that the iPhone offers.
Two words: Verizon Network
That is why I will buy the Dare before I buy the iPhone
do any one know how much this dare would be if you purchase it out right
I have looked up alot of information on both the iPhone and the Dare. The only bad thing I have heard about the Dare itself is possible overlapping of words and/or images because of the “full-page” web view. This issue is easily resolvable.
Also, Verizon is much better in terms of signal and quality. With At&t and the iPhone, there is a difference between one step and another. I went to PF Changs the other night and outside the door the signal was fine (with AT7T). As soon as I stepped inside, the signal was completely lost. The manager we later met actually had an iPhone, so I started discussing it with him. He brought up the lack of signal due to the restaurant. He works there -everyday- and cannot get a signal in the direct middle of Knoxville- quite a large city. That is very annoying and an obvious daily burden.
I went in and asked how much the Dare would be flat-out, because we switched last month to Verizon and obviously do not yet qualify for the “new-every-two” yet. He told me it would be $400 for the phone itself. The same price my brother paid for the Glyde, which dulls in comparison to the new Dare.
Call it whatever you want, but fact of the matter is Verizon is a waaaaay better carrier.
I actually have the Iphone and I will have the DARE on wedensday. There are things about the IPHONE that I love, but I still have to carry a verizon phone too in order to make sure that I will always have a cell phone signal. So, if I have to have both, then I’m going to get the best phone verizon offers.
Oh, and I can’t believe that all you “haters” haven’t mentioned the fact that the DARE doesn’t have WI-FI… That’s a super fast track to “Sucky Town” for me.
It isn’t the Iphone that I do not like but rather ATT. I think Verizon made a big mistake to walk out on the deal, but that is a different topic. I like the Verizon network and I believe it is just a matter of time for other wireless phone to catch up with Iphone. For the mean time, eventhough I really like Iphone, I will not move to ATT but rather try out the new Dare and see if I like it. There is always RIM and I believe there is a new Blackberry phone that is slated for 3Q release.
My question is why is everyone comparing the dare to the iphone????? They are really nothing alike except for the touchscreen and that is becoming popular with other phones as well not just the dare, I mean look at the instinct and prada as well as the vu. I wish everyone would just hush up about every touchscreen phone trying to be an iphone killer. I have seen it on every review site that I have looked on… I just got my dare and love it. I was not trying to get alook a like iphone. I will tell you an iphone killer would be the ATT Tilt!!! that is a good phone.
My contact with verizon is ended in a week. I don’t know if I should renew it or go with the iphone with att. I always liked the iphone and verizon phones pretty much suck. Lg is a good company but as far as making a better phone then Apple, I don’t think so. If you ever called Lg tech support you would know what I am talking about. Apple tech support is great. As far as making my decision I don’t know what to do. Verizon is giving me $100 credit and 200 extra mins a month to stay with them. And Apple told me I had to pay $30 a month for the internet or it just does not pay to get the iphone at all. Can anyone help on what to do.
You said: I mean, seriously, if you don’t want an iPhone why on earth would you want a phone that LOOKS like an iPhone?
Because AT&T service has dead areas around my home in Maryland and my cabin in Pennsylvania while Verizon Wireless provides a clear signal. I’d prefer to have an iPhone but having a pretty iPhone that does not provide service makes no sense.
Does anyone know if discounts on monlthly voice and date be allowed for this new 3g phone. Employee discounts that at&t gives for certain agencies and there own empoyees were not allowed on the iphone before. Will this change or still be the same. This might make be not want to switch to at&t since I am getting 19% from verizon now. Don’t want to lose my discounts.
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