SlashGear

Verizon made the LG Ally official earlier this week, and now the QWERTY-equipped Android 2.1 smartphone is officially on the premises over at our sibling site Android Community.  Awaiting you are more unboxing photos than you could shake a stick at, together with some first impressions.

The Ally’s strengths?  Well, that $99.99 price tag – presuming you’re happy signing two years of your life away in a Verizon agreement – doesn’t hurt, and the QWERTY keyboard reportedly has decent key-feel.  On the flip side, the actual keyboard layout isn’t quite right, and the general shortage of UI tweaks makes for a less impressive out-of-box experience.

Still, as AC rightly points out, that means there’s probably less delay somewhere down the line when a new version of Android gets rolled out; topical, given Android 2.2 Froyo is tipped for release around Google I/O next week.  AC promise a full review in the next few days, but until then head over a check out the live photos.