Dare

On Monday, Verizon Wireless announced that it has partnered with Rhapsody to offer a DRM-free option for downloading music. The new alliance will allow users with the LG Voyager, Dare, and other handsets, to download a track on their phone, and another DRM-free track on their computer using Rhapsody’s software.

Once you’ve purchased a track on your phone, you can open up Rhapsody and download another copy.

Here’s how:

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Verizon Wireless has had a pretty spotty track record with touchscreen phones. The LG Voyager is a solid messaging and multimedia device, but it’s pretty bulky. And the Samsung Glyde is just a mess, with a touchscreen that often requires multiple presses to get anything done. Enter LG’s Dare ($199), which is basically the LG Vu for Verizon customers. But instead of focusing on mobile TV like the Vu, the Dare goes its own way with a sharper 3-MP camera, funky menus with drag-and-drop customizability, and GPS via VZ Navigator (a feature the Vu lacks). You also get fast EV-DO Rev. A data, a first for Verizon’s touch lineup.

I had the pleasure of going hands-on with this slim (0.5 inches thick) and relatively light (3.8 ounces vs. the Vu’s 3.2 ounces) touchscreen phone, and was pleasantly surprised by the fluid and speedy interface. While a few touches didn’t respond on the large 3-inch 400 x 240-pixel haptic display, I really liked using the Dare’s UI. In other words, it’s not Verizon’s.

Read on for the rest of my first impressions and our full video if you… dare.  Sorry. I had to.

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