LG VX8500 Chocolate gets speakerphone

PhoneArena's In-Depth Review of the LG VX-8500 Chocolate

Even though the Chocolate has only been out for a few weeks, one major complaints from users, and PhoneArena, is lack of a Speakerphone. Verizon listened and is in the process of sending all their retail locations Software Update T85VZV04 for the LG Chocolate. We were able to obtain a copy of the new software and updated our phone with it. The process took 30 minutes.
 
Unlike other phones where the Speakerphone can be activated and will stay on for all calls, the Speakerphone on the Chocolate must be activated for each call that you want to use it for. When the call is finished, the Speakerphone is deactivated. In order to use the Speakerphone, you must first dial a phone number and be connected. Then you press the Camera button on the right side of the phone which activates the speakerphone. Volume can be set between Level 1 and 8. We found that a setting of 7 and 8 were too loud for the tiny speaker and caused distortion, so a setting of 5 or less sounds best.

Another complaint from users was that when the phone was closed, you'd have to press a side button twice to unlock the phone. This was so that when the phone was in your pocket, the touch-sensitive buttons would not be activated accidentally. With the update, you can now choose to unlock the phone with only one press of the side button. The update also improved the response time of the two FlashUI themes (Rock n Roll, and Jazz).

 
These updates are a welcome addition, but the phone should of shipped with the speakerphone feature. Since Verizon has yet to implement an Over-the-Air software update system, users are now forced to go to a Verizon store and wait 30 minutes to have their phone updated.
 
Since stores are in the process of receiving the update, it would be best to check with them first. Eventually, new Chocolate buyers will be able to purchase the phone with version 04 installed.