verizon

More Verizon news. Relax, this isn't another wild Verizon Trophy rumour, well... not so much. Costco is apparently stocking the device with the above capture from the warehouse stock system. The device will plan to be sold at the price tag of $149.99 (contract), while Best Buy will sell it without contract for $599.

Today's the 19th everyone, one of the rumoured dates, just to further hype the wait. Still excited, or have you become extremely frustrated?

Source: PocketNow

The Verizon Trophy release is rumored to be just around the corner. While at times the Verizon Windows Phone has felt more like a unicorn than reality, we've learned of another sighting.

A Central New Jersey Ebay Classified ad is listing the Verizon Trophy for $395 or best offer (cash only). The Trophy is advertised as having a clean ESN, ready to be activated on any Verizon line.

There is no mention as to where or how the seller (an unregistered user) acquired the phone but there are a few pictures of the Trophy that lends a little credence to the add. Still, as with other ads of this nature, caveat emptor (buyer beware) is a good philosophy to follow.

Nonetheless, hopefully this is a good sign that the Verizon Trophy will become reality soon.

Thanks goes out to Byron for the tip!

So obviously the 12th has come and gone and there's still a ton of signs that the Verizon Trophy is afoot. We know Best Buy's were getting them, employees trained...heck, you know the history and still a no-go. Still, once Microsoft/Verizon pulled those Xbox gamer pics & themes, we knew it didn't look too good.

But with May 24th looming, our bet is Verizon would like to have the phone out before that event (though, missing CTIA in March and MIX11 in April didn't stop them either). WPCentral forum member Aog, who has multiple accounts with Verizon, received a call back today from a Verizon rep--so right there your warning lights should go off--and they claim 19th is the new target date:

"VZW rep called back today. Said trophy was releasing May 19th with a voucher for a free xbox game that can be played on xbox and phone."

Yeah, we hate playing this game too, but we know you Verizon folk want anything to hang on to, even if they are unicorn dreams and fairy musings. Still, like the other release targets, this is very plausible as we know big Red has all their pins lined up here.

Oh and that free Xbox game for the 360/phone--Full House Poker or Ilomilo? We're leaning towards the former. And we're putting that under "plausible" since Verizon does have an Xbox theme/gamer pic tie-in. Anyways, join us in the forums and vent or conspiracy-theorize away.

Source: WPCentral forums (Aog); Thanks, peinao, for the heads up

We're just days from Verizon finally getting their first Windows Phone, the HTC Trophy, and it looks like some early versions are showing up on Cragislist. One seller (unverified) reportedly wants a fair $160 for the phone, which sounds like one hell of a deal.

But we must caution that this is a CDMA phone, meaning it's ESN could be blocked if the phone is stolen or inappropriately authorized. So you may get the phone but you may find out that Verizon won't activate it. We suggest you just wait the extra few days and know what you're getting ;-)

Source: Craigslist. Thanks, Raul H., for the tip

Although we've seen actual pics of the Verizon Trophy in use, including screen shots of the OS, these leaked but "official" press shots of the upcoming Verizon HTC Trophy just back up the idea that this baby is close to launch. What with the Best Buy mention, reorganizing of their forums, employee training and then it finally popping up online, you know it's just around the corner.

In fact we're still hearing May 12th as the date for either the launch or shipping, something PocketNow has evidently corroborated. Of course, like all things, it can slip a bit, but we've never seen this phone come so close before.  Few more days. folks, just a few more days.

Source: Pocketnow. Thanks, Maxwell, for the heads up

File this all under unconfirmed/you've heard this all before/we like to torture thee:

From the above Tweet, word has it Verizon employees are starting to receive training on Windows Phone 7--which makes sense as their next step with their forums being cleaned out and the Best Buy listing. So we wouldn't be surprised if we start hearing a bit more about such events over the next few days...

The other thing is we're hearing about a May 12th date. Once again, we've had many, many dates in the past and we really have nothing to show you that this is real this time, but if you believe the stars are aligning for a launch, Thursday May 12th may be your day. Or it might not.

You may now all remount your tin-foil hats. Thanks, @ThePhilFletcher and anonymous, for the info

Pocketnow is reporting that the long awaited Verizon HTC Trophy has showed up on Best Buy's website, though not available/in stock. Usually this would be an indication of a near-launch. When we looked though, we were unable to find the device on the site, meaning the URL may still be hidden (or we're consistently spelling 'Trophy' wrong).

The price, out of contract, is listed as $600, but that's probably just a placeholder figure and nothing official. In addition, the model number MWP6985 is also confirmed for Verizon's first Windows Phone, which is as mythical as the unicorn at this point.

So, does this mean Verizon folk will be able to pick up their phone shortly? With this device's track record, we're going with 'no'. Still, hope spring eternal that Verizon will someday launch this device and complete the Windows Phone presence in the U.S. Seriously Verizon, this looks just sad now.

Source: Best Buy; via Pocketnow

We can't be too hard on Verizon here, since they never officially announced the HTC Trophy. But c'mon, we're not dumb either and we know the device exists, have seen pics (more pics), knew it was in final testing stages and that that they were offering Microsoft employees discounts to get it.

That latter part is what this is about as evidently they keep pushing back that "offer" from December, then till April 1st, then April 7th and now...May 5th. That goal line keeps getting pushed back for a reason and we bet Verizon fans are not too happy at all.

We'll keep following till we hear more. Sorry folks.

Source: Verizon Store; Thanks, Jesse and Brian, for the tips!

It was earlier thought that the Verizon HTC Trophy would hit the market on March 24th but that date has long since come and gone.  We've also seen rumors that the release date would be some time in June.

Now, through a leaked Verizon Spring road map, it looks like the Windows Phone 7 device will should hit stores on April 15.  It joins a handful of Android devices being released by Verizon during April and, as previously reported, will be featuring the NoDo update.

No details on pricing have surfaced but we're thinking $199 with contractual discounts might be in the ball park.  We'll have our fingers crossed (again) that the April 15th date holds true.

Source: phandroid via: AndroidCentral  Thanks goes out to D.J. Richard for the tip!