Drugs beneath the keypad?

GASP! Could it be that said phones are Verizon software free!?

They probably mistakenly shipped a prototype model,the prototype models are generally completely unlocked with all of the features of the phone enabled. Keep in mind that the company hates for that to get out because that can cause them to loose probably like 3 generations of the phones features in 1 model

Phone companies generally remove some of the features in order to release them in a later model.

If you beta test a phone, you would not believe some of he features in some of them, especially wh

@remington870_20ga: LG Phones. Not wallets.

@MostlyHarmless: Gah, wrong thread.

Hitting #*9382089 on these phones will launch a nuclear weapon at an enemy of South Korea.

Hmmm, I will have to check the serial number of my old chocolate phone when I get home.

Very odd.

@Razor512: Especially White House?

sry, annoying touch pad mistakenly clicked submit too soon

(contd)

especially when you see a feature in a old cellphone protype phone slowly come out over the course of like 6 years

@MostlyHarmless: I wish thy could at least give us like a 5 minute edit time like on digg.com

Is it a golden ticket to tour the LG headquarters and see the oompa loompas make the phones near the chocolate river?

I don't know if I'd be inclined to turn the phone over, even for $10K without knowing what's on it. What if what it has is worth way more than that? I wonder if they'd negotiate.

@Razor512: Jezebel offers it now...too bad Consumerist couldn't offer it since they are still using the Gawker networks commenting.

Love the mangled grammar of #3 in the list ("and a new LG Chocolate phone will be give")....makes me wonder if I should be sending the phone to a Nigerian prince.

Also like the wonderful browser window title of "New Document"

@tbax929 is back from the beach: The phones contain the secret Super Soldier serum formula, obviously.

@TCama: Unless you get it to play Tic-Tac-Toe with itself.

@tbax929 is back from the beach: No. They'll just shut down your phone account and take the phone away.

Possible scenarios that I can think of that would call for such a high reward.

1) They can be used to access the cellular network in a way that would be "bad" (tm) including, but not limited to, eavesdropping, stealing TXTs, or interfering with normal operation of the network. Criminals in Europe countries were snapping up an older model of phone because it could be used to steal TXT's with a special firmware which were then used to break into bank accounts using the password reset function.

2) They have LG or carrier encryption keys/signing tools in the firmware that could lead to 3rd party or hackers access to the firmware and the ability to impersonate official firmware or software.

@iambeaker: Naw, these are just good for a free tour of the Slurm factory.

@snowmoon: Well, today's the deadline, so apparently they're not too worried if they don't get it back.

@GitEmSteveDave_JustAddHotWater: "A strange game. The only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess?"

@snowmoon: Or 3, it's a publicity stunt. I've seen this story in countless of places. That's a lot of eyeballs for $50k

@Razor512: In that case, shouldn't an unlocking group be offering more for it? For example, the Sharp 903 had a firmware floating around that left just about everything open and the option to pick multiple regions (usually there's only one available and the Japanese/Hong Kong/Taiwan regions have DRM restrictions on ringtones, and the Japanese version had line in recording among other things but had DRM restrictions on music loaded via other means)

@legwork: Just skip the end of that tour.. You don't want to know.

This story is so strange to me. Like Twilight Zone strange.

I just got an LG phone for the first time and I can only hope that somewhere down the road that they will try to bribe me for it back.

Chocolate rain?

@nuton2wheels: Only if they give you the $10K in ones.

@snowmoon: If there were really a problem with these phones, they would have the carrier identify them and turn them off so the user would return it to the carrier. This is just a publicity stunt in my opinion.

if there's some super secret software or magic chip in it, why put a cut off date on the buy back? sounds more like random lottery.

@chrisexv6: It does seem rather shady. Spelling errors, slapdash page construction, etc.

I also don't like how they keep saying alleged. Makes it sound like the people in possession of the phones did something wrong and that instead of getting $10k as a reward they're going to send Tiny the Mobile Network Operator to give your face a nice concave dish shape.

Why would I return the phone? I don't want to lose my contacts. I don't want to be without a phone.

@EdnaLegume: The cutoff date is to make it sound more like a random lottery.

@Skaperen: You would return the phone for 10,000 dollars. Did you not read? :p

@Skaperen: For 10K I think I could back up my contacts and buy a new phone.

But I'm curious why they're having a contest. It seems like this isn't public enough for some reason.

@Skaperen: ahhh... conspiracy theory. I like it.

@Skaperen: for 10K you could get a new chocolate and someone to program your contacts in the new phone for you.

@Kimaroo - 20% More Kitty Added!: Hey, what's the big deal with Slurm? Honey comes from a bee's behind. Milk comes from a cow's behind.

@meske: If there were really spooky things on the phone which someone could use to do something crazy with would it matter that they were shut down from service. One could still sell the phone to someone who could use it. For instance, if the phones were configured so one could see the underlying code or something and LG did not want that released it would not matter whether the user had cell phone service - they would have access to the code which is what LG may be trying to protect.

(I am not a computer guy so sorry if I am screwing parts of the analysis up - I am just saying all the carrier can do is shut down service which may not be what LG is trying to protect against.)

It's a Trap, they just want to find out who has those phones because they've found out how to accually use the phone for more then calls on the verizon network(or they just learned how to not have to pay a ton for ringtones).

@Chris Walters: Someone needs a refresher in milk production

I'm thinking it's just publicity.

It sounds like a scam. I would contact LG or your cell phone carrier immediately to see if this is really on the up and up. As for me I have an Iphone and I know that nothing is ever wrong with it.

@yentaleh:

Hmmm somehow my sarcastic "covers EYES, MOUTH, and EARS" didn't quite make it into my last post.

Come on guys, they need the phones back becuase they have the special prototype carburetor that allows the phone to get 125 MPG, and the gas companies won't let it see the market.

@Dondegroovily:

Somebody needs to buy the Futurama DVDs.

@Chris Walters: Taking your quote a little too seriously: I wouldn't say that is the cow's behind exactly.. The poop comes out much higher up than the milk does. As for bees, the nectar they use to make honey comes out of their mouths like throw-up. But that image of a giant sluglike alien spewing green crud out of it's litteral behind.. well.. it's a bit much. lol.

Toothpaste? Whose behind does that come from?

Wait you mean more than 5 people actually purchased this phone? I thought we all learned our lesson from the first piece of crap chocolate.

Yea, it definitely sounds like a scam. I'm sure they know who they sold these phones to. But, if I one, I'll contact their competitors and see if they'd pay more for it.

@TCama: Nuclear launch detected.