According to the folks at LG, what we Canadians want to do most of all is touch things. Pretty, fancy, expensive things. Such is their unshakeable faith in our basic desire to fondle all that is beautiful, they have based the entire ad campaign for their new mobile phone series on that idea. Fortunately for them, they happen to be right.

With much fanfare, including scantily-dressed dancers and a live python, LG Canada presented the three phones in the new Touch lineup to the crowd at its launch event, held at a plush downtown Toronto Moroccan lounge. As some of the first touchscreen-capable phones to hit our shores, the Venus, Vantage and VU make for a very tempting trio indeed. 

While the Venus and Vantage, with numeric keypads sliding from underneath their screens, are hardly full-on touch-phones, they are certainly slick-looking and decently capable. All three new phones feature 2-megapixel still and video cameras, but the Venus is the most specifically media-oriented, with video and picture messaging, as well as 8 gigabytes of music storage. The Vantage is quite similar, with the notable addition of a full-html web browser and slightly bigger screen.

As impressive as they are, though, one can’t talk touchscreen wireless without taking note of the iPhone-shaped 900-pound gorilla lurking in the room. While the Venus and Vantage will have the benefit of costing considerably less, they will still be no match for Apple’s shiny, uber-hyped superphone. LG’s VU, however, the top of the Touch line, stands a fighting chance.

With its slim 13mm profile, three small buttons at its base, and big, bright LED, the VU is a handsome phone, to be sure. It has a touchable QWERTY keypad, all the media features you’d expect, and is USB-compatible. Whatever the result of the upcoming showdown, the VU has one definite advantage: You can touch it just about now.