Smartphone Thoughts: Shots of the Verizon Wireless Branded XV5800

"We've been patiently waiting for a national US carrier to launch a version of HTC's Libra for nearly a year, and by golly, it looks like it might finally happen (and not in the hideous green Verizon was showing back in the day, either). The UTStarcom-sourced XV5800 lies somewhere between the Vox and the S730; although it shares 3G functionality with the S730, it's from the same vintage as the Vox (its GSM cousin) and has launched on a number of carriers. No word on a price or release date just yet, but it'd be a nice Festivus gift if we got 'er before the end of the year, yeah?"

One thing that is legendary about Verizon Wireless is the amount of time it takes them to launch a phone; the FCC cleared this HTC Vox / HTC S730 look alike quite a while ago. Come on Verizon, please get this on the store shelves by Christmas. And I am sure if Verizon launches it with the same enthusiastic advertising like the recent LG Voyager then this will be a surefire hit.