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An in-store display stand for the HTC Thunderbolt has been spotted at a Verizon retail store in New Jersey. It might not exactly speak volumes about when we could see the first 4G LTE handset for Big Red on shelves, but it does give us hope that it might be this month after all. Maybe even next week, as rumored.
Also, you may have seen this ad running during commercial breaks, but in case you missed it here is a look at the Thunderbolt ad HTC whipped up without any help from Verizon. Now let’s just release the phone already.
[Thanks, Giuseppe!]
finally!! And first
Praise jesus! But I got Sprint :(
I’m not going to hold my breath
They will announce it today or tomorrow, allow on-line preorders on Monday (3/7) at 3:01am EST. and then sell it in stores on 3/10. If you order it online, you MIGHT get it in the mail on 3/9. I can’t reveal my source, but unless there is another unexpected delay, this phone will be out next week.
props to C MAC! ^^
Finally!! I hope this one is true! I’ve been waiting for this phone for a while now! I just hope Verizon can work something out with the data plan. The economy is not good right now for people to be paying all these ridiculous cash that we don’t have. Verizon is doing really good right now with the $30.00 Unlimited data plan. I hope they can keep this plan or at least something similiar.
So Long EVO!
Meh, between no announcement on a date from Verizon and the price I got tired of waiting. Ordered a Droid X for $20 from Amazon last night
HTC aired this Thunderbolt-specific commercial last week; I saw it on Comedy Central. The fact that they are re-airing gives me hope for a release on March 10th or earlier.
That’s a pretty awesome spot for it.
I saw this in a store in North Carolina about a week and a half ago. They only had this stand, nothing else. I think this means nothing in regards to it being released soon or not.
I want it…but wait, I also want a Tegra 2, and Xpiera Play controls, and a bigger battery like the Atrix, and reasonable plan pricing. Too many good options…I can’t decide. Gonna wait to see what the Pyramid has to offer.
I was in a Verizon store yesterday in the Chicago area and they let me handle a non-working Thunderbolt model they had.
C Mac is a liar. Battery life not fixed and will never be fixed.
RELEASE THE PHOOOOOOOOONNNNNEEEEE
sold my droid x last week and been waiting for this for what feels like forever… just hope its not 300 on 2 years. instore displays is always a god sign. wouldn’t put out unless it was being shipped and sold within the next week. Thank god it wasn”t pushed to april.
i cancelled my preorder and got an Iphone. I am going to see if the Thunderbolt is worth it. I have been waiting a long time and got really tired and frustrated but if its not all that great then i will just keep the iPhone and wait for the next best thing. I can still return it.:)
Stopped caring about the ThunderD’oh! when the Droid Bionic was announced.
OMG thank you for a different posting, and not something that has been recycled throughout the months. But I am really getting tired of waiting. i have att and I own both the lg quantum and iphone 4. Both suck phones I don’t like the software for either. I am the android queen I love android. Plus I am tired of att horrible service I have been having so many problems with them. But when I was with verizon not one problem. Please hurry and release this phone, and let it be great. Also give everyone free cases for the delay that you made us indure.
When they announced the thunderbolt and bionic the
thunderbolt was faster even with the tegra 2 in the bionic.
Hey, i was a loyal Verizon customer & have 14 active lines with them,currently. I give up on the Thunderbolt after 3 false release dates & went with the AT&T Inspire. $99 for initial purchase & only $25 per/month data package. Cheaper all the way around! Same exact phone! As a matter of fact, surprisingly to me, better reception also. Verizon brought this loss on theirselves. I never considered changing carriers until now, over this bad marketing ploy and now couldn’t be happier that i did. I recommend others to look into this, its worth your time.
It was supposed to be released in Q1? The Bionic is due shortly … so why not wait a few more weeks for Dual Core and HDMI Out?
@rip….Battery life will never be good on this phone, but the “fix” has already taken place. All they did was update the firmware.
It’s just an Evo.2, Minor upgrades and on Verizon LTE. I’ll wait for the official EVO 2 (Liberty) when it comes out. :)
Alex, you act like the Thunderbolt is a necessity. A proble lots of folks have. If you can’t afford it, don’t get it. I’m sure your phone is capable of doing anything necessary for you to continue your life.
@King….yeah it’s an EVO with WAY more RAM, WAY more Storeage memory (40G), Better processor (2nd Gen Snapdragon), Much better 4g (LTE), updated sense UI 2.0, MUCH better speaker & kickstand….but yeah, just another EVO.
they improved the kickstand?
@King
Google “wirefly evo vs thunderbolt.” Something that is two times faster and is more functional physically (better kickstand and speakers) and virtually (better Sense software and services) isn’t just “minorly upgraded.”
@ari-free, Yeah, the kickstand is like twice as thick, much more sturdy. The Evo kickstand can’t support the phone staning upright (portrait), but the Thunderbolt kickstand will work standing portrait or landscape.
I already bought a case and screen protectors for the T-Bolt. Right after I ordered them, I began to realize that I’m the idiot.
I’m going to give it two weeks after release to see what the customer feedback is. This thing has been delayed way too many times. The “iPhone release date conflict” is a non-issue at this point. All these delays and still no solid release date and no one seems to have a solid answer. Lots of red flags have been raised for me. I hope it turns out that they were just waiting for sufficient stock and it isn’t a problem with the device because I’m up for an upgrade at discount and I want to get in before the tiered data starts. I could care less about the bionic; if it has a locked bootloader, it isn’t the phone for me even if it has 8 cores.
@Jimmy.. Yes you are right. But I would rather a phone with better technology and I’m sure you do too. I won’t get it if the data package seems too unreasonable. I can get any phone I want, the problem is keeping up with unreasonable data package. Obviously, I won’t get if it’s going to be too much of a problem when it comes to data. But since my two year agreement with Verizon has elapsed, I’m looking forward to something more advanced.
Saw the display at Best Buy yesterday and it was priced at $249.99 with a two year contract.
just spoke with best buy and had a really long talk with them about this phone (thats an hour of my life ill never get back) in the end they still have no word on tbolt and tere guessing the 15th. any way instead i just got atrix its nice but 4g wont be able till may or june. and uses hspa+ not lte im still deciding whether to keep it or go with tbolt any one have any sugestions please tell.
if there is no unlimited plan or if there is and its $1 more than the $30 it is now I will not get it. Id rather go to sprint or tmobile then.
Is it possible to float phones? I mean what if I buy one and turn it back at 13 days then get another and return it in 13 days. Can I keep doing it? How long before they start to ban me from the store? Could I get a Droid x now and wait till the ‘Bolt comes then Bionic?
Just wondering. :P
@clanmech..When you done, Please let me know how it went so I can do the same!lol
At Verizon you have one return/exchange within a 14 day period on any given line.
Do you really think a big company like VZW doesn’t think of idiots like you?
Do not try to buy one phone and take back in 13 days and get another, Verizon has limited customers to only one exchange, do what I did, bout a Droid X, used it for 13 days and 20 hours and then took it back after no release on the TB. I had to attache my line to an old phone and have to wait until it comes out. Gosh Im using my grandma’s old flip phone with double tap, triple tap texting, heaven help me, I’m dying. Love my Droids, you really dont know how good they are until your using a phone from early 2000s.
First of all as far as returns go Verizon lets you only return one time and also charges a $35.00 restocking fee.
Clanmech … you have 14 days to return a phone. I did this with the iPhone 4, having decided that I preferred the Droid and would rather keep my old Droid until the Bionic and Thunderbolt come out. Then, I’ll make my decision.
The reset my upgrade as well, but I don’t know if this is because I returned the iPhone 4 or if it’s because I went back to my old phone for now. I don’t know if they’ll do this for you under any condition. However, keep in mind that there will be a $35 restock fee each and every time you return the phone even within the 14 day return period.
If you don’t care about the restock fee, and they will indeed reset your upgrade each time, it seems like a neat trick so you can experience the phones before making a decision. I wish they allowed trial periods anyway … I mean, it’s hard to ever know what you like until you’ve tried it for a period yourself.
Cheers
they charge either a $35 or $55 restocking fee
bb has a 30 day with no restocking fee. they just take the used one and sell it back to motorola or apple. they just put a new screen on it, then it’s sold to verizon for their re-man replacement phones. no phone is worth the stress of waiting thru this bs. it’s not worth 300.00 either.