Following up on the Sprint announcement, Verizon is not far behind with its variant of the HTC Touch Pro 2 scheduled for release next Friday September 11th according to leaked internal employee information.
Like the Sprint version, the Verizon Touch Pro 2 features the dual-mode quadband GSM/CDMA radio for international roaming with included SIM card, 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, accelerometer 3.6 inch WVGA display with tilt mechanism, microSDHC expansion slot, TV output, and Straight Talk dual-microphone speakerphone with mute button.
Verizon will be offering a deeper subsidy for the Touch Pro 2 than Sprint and T-Mobile at $299.99 after new 2 year agreement and data plan before an additional $100 mail-in rebate, bringing the total to $199.99 as well as $269.99 on a 1 year agreement and $489.99 retail.
To own a phone like this you would need to pay at least $30/mo. for data w/no messaging. Buying it with either of the other two may cost more up front but would be saving in the long run, you would have the extra money you paid in pocket
I think everyone requires a data plan these days.
T-Mobile still doesn’t, they just are testing blocking T-Zones, so it’s either $30 data or no data.
This phone would be useless without the data plan, so your statement is pointless. Don’t buy the phone if you don’t want to pay for a data plan. BTW, T-Mobile sucks! lol
Michael, countless people disagree with you. Have you ever heard of Wi-Fi. For many, Wi-Fi is ubiquitous in the areas that they visit. Even if you go on a trip, you can prorate a data plan for those short periods.
The carriers want you to pay for data which (for these customers) they genuinely don’t need for 95% of the year. Sorry you aren’t savvy enough to use Wi-Fi, or maybe Wi-Fi isn’t available in the areas that you frequent. For many, it’s a perfectly viable option that the carriers want to eliminate.
And, we think that’s wrong.
Well, all the carriers need to do is lock wi-fi access to a data plan code in the registry so if you don’t have a data plan, you can’t use wi-fi either.
Not sure how they might implement this on Android, but of course like anything else, configuration files and registry entries can be hacked.
I say, just suck it up and roll with it. Data is part of the network eco-system.
I agree. Most people need the data plan when they buy a phone like this but for some it is not neccessary. Some people can use wifi hotspots and not use the data most of the time, not to mention most wifi connections are faster than the network data. But in the end all companies are going to force you to get data, no matter how much people complain.
Jim, maybe you have a spare $360/year. We represent a lot of people, some of whom can’t “suck it up.”
They are now stuck buying old, outdated smartphones for typically the same price. That would be fine if the carriers did the right thing, and required manufacturers to issue generational firmware updates… but that’s for another day (actually, we’ve beaten it to death in the past, but we’ll keep hammering it home until Palm/Symbian/Windows match Apple/Android).
[…] expected, Verizon has launched the Touch Pro 2 from […]