LG Chocolate 3 (also known as LG VX8560), the newest handset from the popular Chocolate series, will apparently be released by Verizon Wireless in the US on July 14. This info does not come from the second largest North American carrier, as it appeared only on PhoneArena, but since Verizon said from the beginning that the new Chocolate was planed for a July release, users should hope that July 14 is indeed the day when the handset will be available.

LG Chocolate 3 is the latest to come from the three new LGs announced by Verizon at the beginning of June. The other two phones are LG Decoy, the slider released on the 16th of June, and LG Dare, the high-end touchscreen handset released on June 26th.

The first noticeable aspect about the Chocolate 3 is that, unlike the other LG Chocolate handsets which are sliders, it comes in a clamshell form factor. While this might turn away some customers who might be used to the Chocolate sliders, we must mention that the new LG brings several important improvements. For example, there's 1GB of internal memory, which can be expanded with a microSD card. Also, the camera packed in Chocolate 3 is a 2 Megapixel one with video and the phone's headset jack is a 3.5mm one (on the older models it was a 2.5mm one).

The other features of LG Chocolate 3 include: a 2.2 inch TFT display with 240 x 320 pixels, a 1.8 inch external display with 176 x 220 pixels, FM Transmitter, V CAST Music with Rhapsody, Bluetooth, Web/email capabilities and USB.

The prices of LG Chocolate are said to be as follows: $129 with a Verizon contract agreement for two years (and after a $50 mail-in rebate), $199 with a contract for one year, and $300 minus one buck for those who want to get the handset free of contract. The clamshell will be available in two colors, black and blue.

In case you find the prices of Chocolate 3 unreasonable but want an LG from the sweet-named series, Verizon is still offering the LG Chocolate 2, which is priced at only $29.99 with a 2-year contract agreement.