[Mr. MacPhisto]

spoke with a VZW tech support agent today and he did inform me that they will have several windows phones by the end of the year. he said that certain phones are in testing right now, referring to the htc 8x, but nothing is confirmed as he couldnt state the obvious. he seemed excited for the new phones, and also said that although the 822 is getting mediocre attention, he loved it. said it felt solid, and that it was a great device. there is no doubt in my mind VZW will have more windows phones coming here real soon.

They're still going full bore with it. They do not have everything they want to carry, but are getting more phones coming their way. As I said earlier, still hearing they will get the Nokia Quad-core exclusively and they are trying for it sooner rather than later. No idea on timeline, but I expect them to have four phones in their lineup by mid-September. It might just be the 822, 8S, 8X, and ATIV S, but I have heard there may be a surprise coming after the official WP8 launch.

Hints that there is something only VZW will be getting and it's hush-hush in the company. Could it be the Nokia Quad? Or the HTC Quad?

Been told that we should expect the pricing we've seen from AT&T and lower, so 8X @ $99 and 822 probably at $79. 8S would probably slot at $49.

But Verizon wants a premium handset. The ATIV S has been delayed, but not sure to when. So I'm guessing the surprise is a premium handset yet to be announced that is exclusive to Verizon. No idea on the maker or the specs, but that is the talk from what I've heard.

Verizon is a lot calmer right now after initially being very upset with Nokia and MS. Things have smoothed over and they got something that made them very happy. So expect the big Verizon WP8 push to be apparent November and December.

[malachijd]

I hate you Mr. MacPhisto everytime I settle on something you screw up all my plans.

[malachijd]

But still thanks for all your info that you give us

[andrelamont]

The ATIV S has been delayed, but not sure to when. So I'm guessing the surprise is a premium handset yet to be announced that is exclusive to Verizon. No idea on the maker or the specs, but that is the talk from what I've heard

Wait what...when did this happen? Sort of ignored this thread as an AT&T user but I am bummed as amazon has 64gb cards on sale for $43.99!

[lancguy]

They're still going full bore with it. They do not have everything they want to carry, but are getting more phones coming their way. As I said earlier, still hearing they will get the Nokia Quad-core exclusively and they are trying for it sooner rather than later. No idea on timeline, but I expect them to have four phones in their lineup by mid-September. It might just be the 822, 8S, 8X, and ATIV S, but I have heard there may be a surprise coming after the official WP8 launch.

Hints that there is something only VZW will be getting and it's hush-hush in the company. Could it be the Nokia Quad? Or the HTC Quad?

Been told that we should expect the pricing we've seen from AT&T and lower, so 8X @ $99 and 822 probably at $79. 8S would probably slot at $49.

But Verizon wants a premium handset. The ATIV S has been delayed, but not sure to when. So I'm guessing the surprise is a premium handset yet to be announced that is exclusive to Verizon. No idea on the maker or the specs, but that is the talk from what I've heard.

Verizon is a lot calmer right now after initially being very upset with Nokia and MS. Things have smoothed over and they got something that made them very happy. So expect the big Verizon WP8 push to be apparent November and December.

Well, I was really hoping for a 920ish device from Nokia. I guess I'll have to see all the options and decide from there. My main push for the end of the year is the 100$ gift card I'd get with switching to Verizon. However, because of a personal tragedy, I might not be able to afford the phone now until after the new year. If that's the case, I can wait for a flagship phone from Verizon. $100 gift card is nice, but I could live without it.

[cooperma]

@Mr. MacPhisto

My brother works at best buy and he said that one of the VZW reps came in and mentioned what they are going to do with unlimited data:

He said in Feb or Mar they were going to let people know that it is disappearing for good. People in a current contract can keep their phone and go month to month, essentially breaking the contract and losing the unlimited data. Phone would be free at that point. He also said that you could also sign back up with them for a 2 year contract and get subsidized pricing again.

Have you heard about this? Cause if this is true, I will keep my unlimited data when I get the 8x...and then in Feb or Mar see if there is a 920 variant or better out...


Not sure if this is true though, although I could see VZW wanting unlimited gone.

[brmiller1976]

@Mr. MacPhisto

My brother works at best buy and he said that one of the VZW reps came in and mentioned what they are going to do with unlimited data:

He said in Feb or Mar they were going to let people know that it is disappearing for good. People in a current contract can keep their phone and go month to month, essentially breaking the contract and losing the unlimited data. Phone would be free at that point. He also said that you could also sign back up with them for a 2 year contract and get subsidized pricing again.

Have you heard about this? Cause if this is true, I will keep my unlimited data when I get the 8x...and then in Feb or Mar see if there is a 920 variant or better out...


Not sure if this is true though, although I could see VZW wanting unlimited gone.

You could switch to T-Mobile, keep your unlimited data, and cut your bill by over half. Just sayin'... :D

[cooperma]

Haha...in Indiana where I live...I cant :-) And the hospital I work at pushes VZW LTE through it...and nothing else...so...nah.

Not the first that told me that though :)

[trivor]

@Mr. MacPhisto

My brother works at best buy and he said that one of the VZW reps came in and mentioned what they are going to do with unlimited data:

He said in Feb or Mar they were going to let people know that it is disappearing for good. People in a current contract can keep their phone and go month to month, essentially breaking the contract and losing the unlimited data. Phone would be free at that point. He also said that you could also sign back up with them for a 2 year contract and get subsidized pricing again.

Have you heard about this? Cause if this is true, I will keep my unlimited data when I get the 8x...and then in Feb or Mar see if there is a 920 variant or better out...


Not sure if this is true though, although I could see VZW wanting unlimited gone.

It's hard for me to believe that Verizon is going to eat that much subsidy just to get people off of unlimited data (especially on LTE I don't think it costs them that much (unlimited data has been gone for over 18 months - they started tiered data in July 2011)). If they did that to me I would pick get my GS3 (32 GB model for $250 on contract last July) for no buy out. By the way, I rarely go over 2 GB and I would happily switch to a 2 GB tiered plan - Shared Data plans for 2 people are exorbitantly expensive (I currently pay $80/month for 700 minutes/month, no texting plan, 1 smartphone, 1 Dumb phone) - never go over the anytime minutes, and the cheapest shared plan would be $120 ($40 smartphone, $30 dumb phone and $50 for 1 GB data). I could switch to a $30 2 GB plan if I had to go to tiered - would just have to watch my data use (do get near the cap occassionally). I think the number of abusers on VZW (say 10 GB+/month) are pretty few and they're not going to break millions of contracts just to get rid of a few abusers.

[cooperma]

Ya I am with you. It could go either way. You wouldn't think they would want to eat the subsidy...but depends on how much killing unlimited data is worth. He told me about it but I have no idea if it is true.

[ironsoulreaver]

It's hard for me to believe that Verizon is going to eat that much subsidy just to get people off of unlimited data (especially on LTE I don't think it costs them that much (unlimited data has been gone for over 18 months - they started tiered data in July 2011)). If they did that to me I would pick get my GS3 (32 GB model for $250 on contract last July) for no buy out. By the way, I rarely go over 2 GB and I would happily switch to a 2 GB tiered plan - Shared Data plans for 2 people are exorbitantly expensive (I currently pay $80/month for 700 minutes/month, no texting plan, 1 smartphone, 1 Dumb phone) - never go over the anytime minutes, and the cheapest shared plan would be $120 ($40 smartphone, $30 dumb phone and $50 for 1 GB data). I could switch to a $30 2 GB plan if I had to go to tiered - would just have to watch my data use (do get near the cap occassionally). I think the number of abusers on VZW (say 10 GB+/month) are pretty few and they're not going to break millions of contracts just to get rid of a few abusers.

On the good side, exsisting Verizon customers can stick with their current plan instead of switching to this new shared plan with the exception of the unlimited data.

[theeboredone]

I really dislike Verizon and AT&T's everything share plans, simply due to the fact basic phones are charged at 30 dollars per month access. It might be, because they are aware some can take advantage of the unlimited messages and text, but come on...I bet 90% of basic phone users are now grandma and grandpa. It's a rip off to charge 30 dollars for a monthly line access for them.

Were they to lower it to 20, those plans would look so much better.

[Mr. MacPhisto]

From what I understand, unlimited data will not go away but they are sticking to their guns that people must not take a subsidized phone in order to keep it. There has been some talk that Verizon will also limit it to phones bought from them directly only, so they can charge a higher off contract price.

They've felt for a while that most of the unlimited data plans will fade through attrition. They've already seen quite a few leave.

There's also talk of moving to metered billing with tiered packages. You pay $X per megabyte used for the first 4GB, more for the next data amount, etc. They don't like this concept much because they prefer the locked in monthly revenue, but the feeling is that one of the other carriers will move to metered billing and force everyone to. They're talking about $.01 per megabyte, so essentially $10 per GB but eliminating a smartphone fee. Basically $40 a month for unlimited talk/text and metered billing. So if you use 4GB, you'd pay $80. They don't like the concept because the bill fluctuates, but the feeling is that this is where it's heading.

[ironsoulreaver]

From what I understand, unlimited data will not go away but they are sticking to their guns that people must not take a subsidized phone in order to keep it. There has been some talk that Verizon will also limit it to phones bought from them directly only, so they can charge a higher off contract price.

They've felt for a while that most of the unlimited data plans will fade through attrition. They've already seen quite a few leave.

There's also talk of moving to metered billing with tiered packages. You pay $X per megabyte used for the first 4GB, more for the next data amount, etc. They don't like this concept much because they prefer the locked in monthly revenue, but the feeling is that one of the other carriers will move to metered billing and force everyone to. They're talking about $.01 per megabyte, so essentially $10 per GB but eliminating a smartphone fee. Basically $40 a month for unlimited talk/text and metered billing. So if you use 4GB, you'd pay $80. They don't like the concept because the bill fluctuates, but the feeling is that this is where it's heading.

They need to charge a more attractive price for their data. Their data plans on the share everything system is outrageous if you have only one phone and ok if you have two phones. The system makes no sense. There is just too much emphesis on the value of data. It should be 40$ a line flat out and 10$ GB.

Pay as you use could save alot of people money in the long run and its 1024MB per GB so they would actually make a little more.

[Joelist]

The interesting thing about their current data rates on Shared Everything is that there actually is a tipping point on the data/number of phones where it does start to save money. Basically you need to have more than 3 smartphones and if you average between them less than 6BG per month you start saving a bit of money.

Of course the fact that a lot of Verizon customers get big discounts through their employers (typically 20%) affects the picture too.

[ironsoulreaver]

The interesting thing about their current data rates on Shared Everything is that there actually is a tipping point on the data/number of phones where it does start to save money. Basically you need to have more than 3 smartphones and if you average between them less than 6BG per month you start saving a bit of money.

Of course the fact that a lot of Verizon customers get big discounts through their employers (typically 20%) affects the picture too.

Actually I have a 15% discount and I currently save 15$ a month. With the new plan I will save 12$ a month.

[paulsnyder90]

Does anyone have any idea what colors of the 8x Verizon is getting?

I want the neon green/yellowish one but I've only seen the blue one out and about lately.

[jaethos]

A red one with Verizon branding can be seen in the HTC design video.

So. tomorrow we should hopefully get more info from this training. I'm eagerly waiting.

[independentvolume]

Next Monday is my buddies training. He's not very happy about it. Lol

[Honestabebread]

Blue, red, black for the HTCs
Black and white for 822.

The yellow models will come if the sales are there/might be online exclusive

[PuckCowboy]

Just spoke with a buddy of mine who manages a Verizon store out near where I live. He is going in for training tomorrow for WP8, but for "HTC only" (his words). No Nokia... yet.

However he did say a Nokia rep came in today to speak with them and that they were going to carry a Nokia model, but he made it sound like it wasn't going to be right at launch.

He said as far as he knows right now, only HTC 8X at launch in multiple colors.

He promised to update me with more details & additional info after training tomorrow...

As always, take it for what it's worth... your mileage may very...

[cooperma]

Sucks about the yellow. Hoping for a online only offer...hopefully vzw markets thw crap out of wp8...i would love it to be a real competitor of market share

[db4williams]

Blue, red, black for the HTCs
Black and white for 822.

The yellow models will come if the sales are there/might be online exclusive

Decisions, decisions!

[Honestabebread]

Just spoke with a buddy of mine who manages a Verizon store out near where I live. He is going in for training tomorrow for WP8, but for "HTC only" (his words). No Nokia... yet.

However he did say a Nokia rep came in today to speak with them and that they were going to carry a Nokia model, but he made it sound like it wasn't going to be right at launch.

He said as far as he knows right now, only HTC 8X at launch in multiple colors.

He promised to update me with more details & additional info after training tomorrow...

As always, take it for what it's worth... your mileage may very...

Nokia model will be at my training

[independentvolume]

Not a big Nokia fan but that white 822 render is sharp.