verizon

The Lumia 822 - Spare a dollar for me?

It being a holiday and all, we're sure many of you are looking for good Windows Phones deals when you're not stuffing your face with turkey. Luckily we have a nice one for you, an offer even we're considering. Wirefly has the Nokia Lumia 822, exclusive to Verizon and in three colors (white, grey and black) for just  $0.99 on contract. 

Nokia is not the only game in town when it comes to Windows Phone 8 as HTC is doing an admirable job with their Windows Phone 8X offering. And although Verizon began selling both the Lumia 822 and 8X this week, it appears that these phones are in tight supply. 

With the same phone launching on many carriers, we sometimes get an illustration of how carriers configure things differently. Sometimes they do it for financial reasons, other times because of network compatibility. We're not sure which 'Group Messaging' falls under but evidently if you're on Verizon, you are surrendering that feature as compared to your AT&T, T-Mobile or unlocked brethren. 

Best Buy is offering the Verizon Lumia 822 (a version of the Lumia 820) to new customers at just $49.99 when taken out with a 2 year plan. The price undercuts Verizon's own pricing at $150 with a $50 MIR (mail-in rebate). The retailer currently has the same handset priced at $99 online, but in-store (as can be seen above) the Windows Phone can be picked up for $50 off.

Verizon has just posted what was tacitly known already: Tomorrow, new Windows Phone 8 devices will finally go on sale in stores and online. 

We reported last night how pre-order shipments had already left their facilities, heading to people's homes for delivery tomorrow. Now, Verizon Wireless has posted that the HTC 8X and Nokia Lumia 822 will both be available in stores tomorrow for immediate purchase. Of course like all releases, they are caveats: the grey Lumia 822 and red 8X will only be available online...

If you pre-ordered a Nokia Lumia 822 from Verizon Wireless, rejoice! According to screenshots from Verizon's website, your phone will be shipping out tomorrow ... that is, unless you ordered a red HTC 8X. In that case, you can expect it in another week or so, on November 21. None of this is set in stone, however, so don't go blaming us if it takes a little longer. I went through the steps of choosing a HTC 8X in my region, Massachusetts, and got shipping dates ranging from November 15 to November 21. All of the Nokia Lumia 822s showed up as immediately available.

We have been tipped off that Lumia 822 orders have been pegged as being shipped today. One of our readers tried to pre-order with no luck, but then logged into their account and upgraded through available channels. A confirmation email was sent stating that the order would ship today.

This could be very good news for Verizon customers indeed, we have yet to hear from anyone that has received a Lumia 822 so we’re not going to get too excited right now. We’d certainly like to hear from any of you if you’re seeing similar order confirmations. If you have one already be sure to let us know too.

It looks like Verizon is not yet ready to let AT&T have all the fun tomorrow with the launch of those Windows Phone 8 devices. Tonight at 1AM ET (10PM PT), the big wireless carrier will begin preorders for the Nokia Lumia 822 (press) and HTC 8X (press).

No firm release date was given though both phones are expected "before Thanksgiving" meaning we're looking at the 3rd week of November for release. The HTC 8X will uniquely feature wireless charging, competing with AT&T and their Lumia 920 for new features. In addition, the Lumia 822 will also feature the wireless charging technology built in, allowing customers of both devices to enjoy the hassle free power refills.

The Nokia Lumia 822 will go for $99 on contract (after $50 MIR) while the HTC 8X will fetch for $199--on par with AT&T--but will come only in 16GB sizes with California Blue, Graphite Black and Flame Red colors. The Lumia 822 will be available in white, black and grey.

Source: Verizon

While we wait for more concrete details from Verizon we can at least see that Nokia’s next generation Windows Phone 8 handset has been priced up on the Best Buy’s website going for a neat $99.99 on contract.

The Nokia Lumia 822 which is a variant of the Lumia 820 is seen here in its rather fetching white attire along with the option to buy “unactivated” for $549.99 if that’s how you want to play it. Otherwise you can opt for a two year contract and stump up just $99.99.