By 
We’ve just gotten word (and the above image) from one of our tipsters that accessories for the HTC Thunderbolt are beginning to roll into Best Buy despite a supposed delay in the original release schedule of Verizon’s first 4G LTE handset. What we are looking at here is two cases for the device, one being the Platinum case with belt clip retailing for $34.99 and the other being a gel case by Rocketfish that will go for $24.99.
Best Buy typically gets product cases and accessories a week or so before launch, so maybe there is still hope the rumored February 14th release date for the Thunderbolt will stick. A last minute delay by Verizon, however, wouldn’t have much bearing on ship dates for third-part accessories. We still await official word from Big Red.
[Thanks, Jay!]
Nice
Nice
Sweet
I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!! GIVE ME MY THUNDERBOLT!!! I AM SO FREAKING TIRED OF WAITING FOR VERIZON TO ANNOUNCE THE RELEASE DATE!!!! JUST GIVE ME A DAMN DATE SO I CAN BREATH AND LOWER MY HEART RATE & BLOOD PRESSURE!!!!!
Bring it on. HTC T-bolt FTW!!!
Palm pre 2 for pre-order tomorrow at VZ. Perhaps another reason for the tbolt launch delay?
more to come tonight.
this is like bringing out the au jus but having to wait another hour for the french dip
I too, can no longer take this. Ive been waiting months for this damn phone. My AT&T contract expired several months ago for my iphone 3g. I need to finally replace this brick of a phone. Most importantly, I need to get the hell away from AT&T.
Well lets all hope its the 14th. Its so much this & that. I am ready for my T-bolt.
I’m running around with a broken screen on my iPhone 3G, so, yeah.
Jay Im right there with you, on my LG Env Touch… I preordered my Bolt from Best Buy already ^.^
No way VZ will announce the thunderbolt release date until after the iPhone launch. They’re not going to want to still their own thunder (pun intended).
I preordered the thunderbolt yesterday at best buy and i asked them if it’s gonna be for sale on the 14th and they said yes. There’s your answer.
Yeah, all of this waiting is a little strange. I am out of contract, need a new phone, and so I decided to be an early adopter but about had a fit when Best Buy confirmed I could pre-order on February 6th, but wouldn’t tell me anything but how much the device would cost. This is borderline consumer bullying.
This BB Storm is rocking my nerves. I want the T-Bolt now. why is VZ playing these games? This is not exciting me, this is angering me.
@Jay, when you say more to come tonight, does this mean you have info we’ll be happy to see maybe?
Well, apparently one FCC report had to be finalized last night, which may have caused the delay. Chances are we may very well be seeing the T-Bolt sometime between Tuesday and Thursday next week.
Anyone know if the HTC Thunderbolt has a HDMI output. Also, the TB appears to be the same phone as the Sprint HTC EVO 4G. The Sprint HTC EVO has a HDMI output and I have not seen HDMI output capabilty in the specs with the TB. In addition,the daily battery life on the EVO is below average. Also, should I not hold out for the tb speculated release date and just go with the iphone 4. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. I am currently on Sprints network can not wait to switch over to Verizon. Sprints network is horrible. I had the evo 4g for a day. Poor service in my area for data. Great phone. However, phone was useless w/broadban for data. Your phone is only as good as the network your on. Sprint will be out of business within 10 years. I hope Verizon expands with its 4g capabilty. Should I be patient and go with the Android?
@dcgore: Palm Pre 2? Why in Hell would VZW delay the Thunderbolt for a Palm device? They’re most likely delaying to avoid conflict with the release of the iPhone 4 because they know the TBOLT will kick Apple’s ass.
@dubzsquared with the verizon 14 day return policy; iphone coming out on the 10th; i figure with the 14 and 28th dates that have been going around, the 28th would be more likely to prevent people with buyers remorse on the iphone from jumping to a better device so as not to have a low sales / high return on the iphone (to agree with your point). the 14th however would be the better option for verizon customers in this boat since it is within the 14 day return policy. i’m hoping it is out before the 24th for this reason.
the 28th is confirmed that skype mobile will have the video support added though, so maybe that was the reason for the “delay”.
also best buy pre-order and exclusivity, i’m hoping is not delayed and verizon is putting that delayed info out to get it closer to the skype video support for corporate store launch day. all i know is, i’m ready to drop my 600$ on my phone already.
I was informed by 3 representatives at 3 different sites, confirming that the TBolt will be released on Feb 14th! Unlimited 4G plans will also be available for $30/mo.
BTW, the delay is due to the iphone 4, not palm pre 2…
@Prest44
The ThunderBolt does not have an HDMI port but it does have DLNA which is just as good. The T-bolt can act as a remote to play content wirelessly to any DLNA compatible TV or device, or from a PC to the ThunderBolt as a playback device. Such as streaming from TVersity to your ThunderBolt from the PC. This feature is baked into Sense 2.0, along with remote website access to htcsense.com to download more content, wallpapers, ringtones, sound themes, skins for Sense and more for free. HTC mentioned in November they plan to expand that offering to include Music and Video content along with gaming apparently since they just invested 40 million dollars into OnLIVE a game streaming company along with the purchase of Saffron media which provides video / music content.
Thanks NCX. Would you purchase the tb over the iphone 4?
@Prest44… Thunderbolt looks great hopefully it will come out the box and be able to be used as the manufacturer INTENDED for it to be… VERIZON IS FAMOUS FOR THE DATA CAPS AND OVER CHARGES… YOUR BILL WILL BE 120.00 MONTHLY… THEY LOVE TO NICKEL AND DIME YOU
@Prest44, Hell yes, the iPhone is so dull and outdated and locked down. Apple products are basically a status symbol anymore. The people at starbucks that bring there Apple macbook or there iphones are just trying to look important and blend in with the higher crowd. To me thats sad, if its just to gain status.
but anywho, I’m a huge fan of HTC and there Sense UI, I started out with the Touch Pro 2 with Windows 6.5, then I got the Droid Incredible, i did not like the android version that was ported to my TP2, but i was willing to give Android a chance, so i bought the Incredible and I absolutely love it, it has been the best phone i’ve ever purchased. Then the Droid X was announced and I got excited for it mainly because of the larger screen, but i was extremely disappointed with it when i got it so i traded my Droid X back for the Incredible i gave to my friend since he could not upgrade and wanted to get rid of his Omnia. It only took 3 days to figure out i wanted my Incredible back and to this day i dont regret giving up the Droid X at all. I was buggy, had volume issues, horrible voice quality, massive wifi issues, the screen wasn’t as vibrant as my Incredible, and it has a horrible UI called Blur. HTC has done an excellent job at making a nice UI that appeals to everyone both in ease of use and pleasant to the eye. I’m looking forward to the ThunderBolt and the Incredible 2 which i will get both, i’ve become an HTC Android fanatic it seems. but HTC does the best at making nice hardware and its not cheap junk like Motorola phones are, even if the specs are higher on devices like the upcoming Bionic and Atrix, you can bet there going to be garbage like all the past Motorola phones. I don’t want to be flamed for my Motorola hate but its only my opinion of how i think of there devices not a fact so think of that as you will.
ThunderBolt has the newest version of Sense, that links up to Htcsense.com for more features and remote capabilities such as remote tracking, phone lock/wipe and even call/message forwarding for free. along with the new services that HTC will likely announce next week at MWC. This is NO EVO, it is a unique HTC phone, it might have the same form factor, but the design and specs are different. the device is mostly screen with less space wasted like was done on the EVO, space below the buttons and above the screen for example. on the ThunderBolt its both purely cosmetic and for the use of the phones features (ie handset earpiece and capacitive buttons)
Ok, everyone please calm down. if they have a pre-order, it means it coming soon..all we need is patience. Another thing, as per most of the blogs I have read, it seems that Verizon will keep the same price “as for now” We don’t really know what’s going to happend. I do know one thing, I don’t care how much I love the HTC Thunderbolt, I am not paying more than $29.99. My plan “B” is if that happens, I will go to Straight Talk. They too have great service because they operate out of Verizon’s Tower!!!
I went to pre order the thunderbolt today at best buy and the representative told me that it will be released on the 14th :)
I pre-ordered the Thunderbolt yesterday at Best Buy and I was told by the manager of the mobile department that the release date will, in fact, be the 24th.
RICHARD, come on, lets get things straight, and not say things as fact when they are speculation, or in this case, complete lies. verizon said they are keeping unlimited data for now, and looking at their 4g upgrade, seems like they run their finances very well. 3g laptop cards used to/still do – cost $60 for 5gb,with per mb overage charges. then, they rolled out 4g on laptop cards, and you probably guessed wrong on this one, it’s $50 for 5gb, with $10/gb overages. (which is the same $/gb rate as the price plan). hmmm, so verizon actually dropped both monthly rate and overage rate for 4g upgrade, completely opposite of what you would’ve predicted on your trolling. so please, if you can name just one service that ONLY verizon nickels and dimes you for, and ONLY verizon. theirs 3 other pretty big compainies that “nickel and dime you”. go ahead, do some actual RESEARCH on their plans. yeah verizon is expensive, but it comes with a much better network. seriously, are you calling over 100 million customers brainless for paying more for verizon? switch to cricket and get that sand out of your va jay jay, and STOP TROLLING!
oh yeah, i had sprint a few years ago, and i wasn’t happy with some dropped calls, no service in my house, crappy customer service, so i switched to big red. never dropped a call, never saw “no signal” on my phone. EVER. so that’s why i value verizon, and think the extra 10 or 20 bucks is worth it.
to each his own, so if you can get good service with those guys, GOOD FOR YOU
I’ve also spoken to Verizon reps and they too confirm no extra charge for the data plan. There are several reasons for this, one being that 4G isn’t yet available in most markets, another being that there is already a $15 premium charged for enterprise data plans (through an employer). All indications are that the phone will be out on Feb 14th via BestBuy. The Verizon stores may not be ready for launch until later.
The Thunderbolt looks to be the real deal. I hope the battery life is better than the Evo, but I think it will be due to differences in network and hardware technology. I can’t wait to rid myself of the techno-facisim that comes ingrained in every Apple product. My 3GS is the most boring phone… I would have jumped to Android long ago if they had just put some security measures into their phones so that businesses could use them. That problem was solved with Android 2.2. FREEDOM!
HTC Sense 2.0 UI is a major selling point over the motorola phones. It just adds a level of polish that I enjoy. Anyway – can’t wait until next week!
Figure everyone snapping up already obsolete Verizon iPhone4 3G phones will clear the way for those of us smarter enough to wait for enhanced technology with the HTC. Still, I’m excited!
I am getting this phone, but it p#sses me off when i see phones in Japan, (who’s 3G service by the way, for those who don’t know, gives 10mbps download speed, and 6mbps upload speed) like the Fujitsu Regza IS04 out on the market already with a 12.2 megapixel AF camera, and waterproof on top of that, and we are here fumbling with 17mbps so called “4G” speeds, and 5 or 8 megapixel AF cameras. Big boo to all the hypers.
Equipped with Mobile REGZA Engine 3.0—a processing engine optimized for smartphones that is based on the super-resolution technology employed in Toshiba’s REGZA LCD TVs, the IS04 enables users to enjoy watching one-segment TV, YouTube™, and other videos in beautiful image quality. The handset’s 12.2 megapixel autofocus-enabled camera ranks among the industry’s highest performance cameras for a smartphone, and it is also capable of recording hi-definition video footage.
The mobile phone is compatible with au’s new WIN HIGH SPEED service and can be used to quickly download applications, as well as send and receive movies at downlink speeds of up to 9.2Mbps and uplink speeds of up to 5.5Mbps. Furthermore, the mobile phone’s 1GHz CPU chipset makes it possible for users to enjoy browsing the web and playing YouTube™ videos with comfort.
no bs best buy called me to set up a appointment for the 14 to pick up the thunderbolt at 199 hope u preorderd
I just got off the phone with my girl at Verizon. The Thunderbolt is being released FROM VERIZON 2/17/11. She obviously doesn’t know anything about Best Buy or Amazon. Mark it on your calendars.
Just heard retail is $749.99!?!? Please tell me this isn’t true!!
When I preordered my TB at Best Buy last Sunday, the form in which the preorder was filled out, read release February 16th and the Best buy rep showed me this like I wasn’t suppossed to see it. Weird thing is, I haven’t seen the 16th posted anywhere among all of the buzz with this phone.
@ncx. Thanks for the feedback and info. You have convinced me me that the better choice is the tb. Also, you are dead on w/the mac users at Starbucks trying to look important (ha ha). Also, I agree with you on Motorola phones being garbage. Motorola tends to cut corners with cheap plastics parts. The phones do not last more then the 2 year contract. Thanks again. I am looking forward to getting the tb.
Anyone have any details about pricing structure for data plan?
Nice post on HTC Thunderbolt Accessories Arriving at Best Buy
HTC Thunderbolt release date. WTF………. Feb 24th..
This just in: I just had a chat with a BB mobile rep online and he told me the following:
“Verizon’s first 4G LTE Phone the HTC Thunderbolt should have been released Monday Valentines Day, and we will be carrying it. The release date has been officially postponed to a date unannounced. Due to the high demand we are now offering a pre-sale in store only. To pre-order the phone please go to your local Best Buy. There you will sign up for the pre-sale, and would need to buy a $50 gift card at the same time. This gift card can be used on any Best Buy purchase including the phone.”
Looks like BB may be shooting for Feb 24 to release the TBolt like Verizon.
OK, I just went to the best buy store(2/13/2011) and the lady at the Mobile station told me that the phone will hit the ground on February 17, 2011. She did give me a card in case I want to call to check for any updates. Maybe it will arrive on different days on different stores. The Bestbuy I went is in Fredericksburg, VA. Located at : 9745 Jefferson Davis HWY….Phone 540-710-0595 ext# 2271. If anyone lives close by, please feel free to call or stop by. Good luck to everyone and hope you can enjoy that phone like I will when I get my hands on IT!!!!
Yep, that’s what I was told yesterday, by a mobile manager. That I should expect to get a call today (the 15th) or tomorrow (the 16th) to make an appointment to pick up my pre-order on the 17th. This was in a city near New Orleans, LA. Has anyone heard anything different???
I got an email from BB Feb 17th around 1700, thanking me for signing up for BB Mobile notifications, and that my phone is ready for pick up on the 26th. Also be noted that when I pre-reg, they said I was the first on that stores list. So I’m expecting a 26th due date.
I would not hold your breath for the Feb. 28th release date. I have been dead on thus far with my info and predictions. Verizon just keeps dropping the ball. The Thunderbolt is going to be a big disappointment. I can not believe Verizon has added insult to injury by asking $299.00 for this phone. This phone will be marked down to $150.00 before the summer starts and everyone will have forgotten all about the Thunderbolt. The Thunderbolt is alot of rumbling and no big thunder bang or lightning to follow. What a joke.