Telus announces LG Venus for Canada

Telus announced on Wednesday that the LG Venus slider is coming to the Canadian provider. The phone features dual screens on its top portion, with the smaller one on the phone's lower half meant as a touch pad only, replacing up to 12 traditional keys, Telus says. The Venus will be able to play Telus' mobile radio and TV, as well as 50 channels of streaming satellite radio programming and offers the provider's audible and visual navigation service. The CDMA phone accesses the Internet via EVDO high-speed mobile broadband. Hailed as LG's first touch-screen phone in Canada, dialing numbers is accomplished via a traditional keypad revealed once the slider is opened.

The Venus' integrated 2-megapixel camera is capable of capturing video and has resolution, zoom, and day and night settings. Video or image playback is on the 320x240-pixel upper screen which also displays animated wallpapers. A microSD slot allows expanding the 64MB of internal memory to 8GB. Bluetooth connectivity is likewise integrated.

In the US, Verizon has been offering the Venus since October, with the same specs and features via its V CAST TV and music service and VZ navigation service.

The phone is in Telus dealers now for nearly $400 contract-free, or $100 with a three-year new activation and includes a headset and 1GB microSD card.