Here on the right coast of the US of A, it's not quite October 14th. That factoid aside, someone has still managed to acquire one of Motorola's peculiar (in a good way) Krave ZN4s from Verizon a few days in advance of its official release date. The touchscreen-heavy flip phone looks mighty impressive in the enviable photos waiting in the read link, and early impressions from the lucky owner assert that call quality is "very good," texting on it is a breeze and the touch response in general is quite satisfactory. For those of you passing this off as a gimmick before, see if you're still feeling the same way after having a look at the in the wild shots.

For those of you who firmly believe that Verizon plus Motorola plus touchscreen equals pure, unadulterated bliss, heads up: we have a bit of information that might be of interest to you. phoneArena has scored a screen shot of what appears to be some promotional material for Moto's upcoming MING-esque doohickey, the Krave ZN4 -- and it looks like we'll be shelling out about $150 on a two-year contract for the honor of carrying one in our knockoff Louis Vuitton backpacks. Not a bad price for a phone clearly designed to rest toward the upper end of Verizon's non-smartphone lineup, we suppose, and we'll admit that it's looking better in this dolled-up promo shot than it was last time we saw it. Separately, they've landed pricing for the Moto VU204, a basic flip that's probably not going to turn as many heads as the Krave; that one is going to go out the door for $29, and you'll get three free with the purchase of the first for the ultimate four-pack of mediocrity. We don't have a solid line on when these are coming to market, but the Krave's still a possibility for this month.

We're calling it -- the closest thing we yanks have to a MING is gracing Verizon on October 14 for $149.99 on a two-year contract after $50 rebate. Full retail for the Krave ZN4 will run $349.99, for those so inclined. Entertain yourself with a little press photography in the meantime, won't you?