Look, Verizon. I know that we’ve given the BL40 a lot of crap since it first leaked out. It was a pretty grand departure from Chocolates past and, well, it looked big enough to churn butter with. That said, we liked it.

Apparently we were the only ones – either that, or the people in Verizon’s “Focus group” were just jerks. They got handed two prototypes: one resembling the BL40, the other (pictured at right) looking just like every other touchscreen handset released since 1981. Why, Verizon, Why?! How am I supposed to fight off assailants or measure football fields with this nubby little thing?

Good job to PhoneArena for scoopin’ the shots.