Verizon's Would-Be iPhone Killer: LG Voyager

The Voyager is probably the best illustration yet of Verizon's fundamentally flawed wireless strategy. Put it this way: If Verizon's V-Cast lives up to your dream of what mobile broadband is all about, then the Voyager is your vessel.

Alternatively, if you want a true Internet device with a real browser and fast Net access anywhere, keep up the good search.

Playing with the Voyager for the past week has provided a nice mixture of fun with a familiar dash of frustration.

Once you accept that the Voyager is intended to be more of a media player and less of a Research in Motion (RIMM Quote) BlackBerry -- in other words, all fun and no business -- then you can appreciate some of the phone's capabilities. For example, as a video game player, the Voyager is a couple notches above the pack.

The phone has "stereo" speakers and a vibration shock similar to game controllers, making the "action" a little more engaging. Games have to be purchased of course, and prices are around $5.

One big problem with the game controller is that it's positioned too close to the "end" key. So if you miss the up button by a couple millimeters, the game is over. And that applies to other programs like the browser and messages.