For over 15 months we (Macromedia/Adobe) have been talking and showing examples of phones that use Flash Lite for the UI. Today there are quite a few Samsung and LG handsets in Korea that already are using Flash Lite to improve the user experience and they're great examples of how creativity and functionality can come together.

Now those of you living in the US can see and own this technology thanks to the new Verizon Wireless LG VX8500 phone, or otherwise known as the "Chocolate". This phone was originally released by LG in Korea last year and 2 weeks ago it was released here for Verizon Wireless. The phone itself is a great form factor- it's thinner and lighter than my Nokia N80, nice glossy black finish and the heat-sensitive controls on the face of the phone are cool.


Here's a quick video clip I shot demonstrating the various ways that Flash Lite is being used as UI elements of the chocolate phone: wallpaper and levels 1-3 of the phone menus.

In addition to using Flash Lite for these UI elements, this phone will also support the Flash Lite for BREW extension - we're currently testing this handset and will release more details in the future. So when I'm able to get Flash Lite 2.1 applications running on this phone I'll let everyone know.