This info came to me - TOTALLY unsolicited- from one of the newer members of this forum. At this time, he has opted to remain anonymous, as he has undoubtedly seen people in here get shredded for less! What makes the information that you are about to read so significant, is that it was given to me nearly 2 weeks ago - back on 3/25, with recent updates in the conversation. Since then, I have shared this with a very select few of you in here to get some opinions on it and those I have spoken to seem to be very excited by the following conversation. And now, more stories are coming forth regarding the end of this month as a likely release date, so this news that I received some two weeks ago is looking to be EXTREMELY relevant now!
Thursday, March 25th:
SOURCE: Hey, I was wondering if I can give you some information to post in the forum. I work for Best Buy and received some information today that is pertinent to the Incredible. If you want, I can explain to you... Let me know.
ME: Sure, I'd appreciate that a lot! But why did you select me, may I ask?
SOURCE: I selected you, because throughout the past few weeks of me lurking here, and putting a few posts in, you seem to have had the most information. Not that the others don't have information, but you seem to genuinely care about finding out about this phone. I guess I feel I can relate to you more than some of the others on the forum. Anyhow, to the story. So, I work at BB, and I have been hounding my Verizon rep for weeks about this phone and the N1. Every time I spoke to her, nothing, except for today. When I got to work, she was there. I went over to her and gave her a play by play of my two days off this week (day 1 and 2 of CTIA). I explained how I was glued to the computer and my overall infatuation like the rest of this forum. We are very close... it isn't like other business partnerships. So, I tell her about my disappointments, and she blurts out, "you guys are getting it on the 25th." I say April? She says, "yes". I went on to ask about our buyers guides and if the phone would be in there. She said it will be like when the Droid came out, it won't show up in the buyers guide till the following month. She said she was told that we can start preselling them in early April. She didn't have an exact date on when presell starts. The 25th makes sense to me, since it is a Sunday, and our Ads start every Sunday. This gives our Company time to put it in the Ad and have it ready for print. She also told me her boss got to play with one, and he mentioned that he hadn't seen a phone this cool ever. A lot of times, I worry about reps and sales associates having information, but for her to be on the up and up for presales and all the other information, I am buying into the 25th of April theory. hope this helps. For all of our sakes, and sanity, I also hope what I have heard to be true. Like I said, I have no reason to not believe my rep. Also, I will be able to see inventory for our store and information around presales of the Incredible. As soon as I get information, I will hand it over to you.
ME: Thanks again!!!
Monday, April 5th:
SOURCE: Looks like someone posted a sku from internal best buy. people are speculating that it is a computer or something from verizon. Just to be clear, and computers with mobile broadband still have model numbers and skus from the manufacturer (gateway, hp, etc.) so this sku will not be a computer. The MSRP is $599 because that will be the retail price with no contract. I will check this particular sku tomorrow at work to see what I can find...but I wanted you to have this info on what the people are saying in the forum. Talk to you soon.
ME: Okay, sounds great! Thanks!!
Tuesday, April 6th:
SOURCE: I checked the sku today at work and it is an active sku in our system. That just means our store will carry it. It goes live on the 25th of April definitely. This ties into the same time my verizon rep said we were getting it. I also checked planograms and they change on the 25th of April and this sku will be on the new one. I don't know if it will be like the devour where we carry it first and then Verizon launches it later. I cannot confirm that. If it is like the Droid, we should see shipments about 5 days before the launch day.
ME: Amazing stuff! Well, I am prepared to take your information to the thread if you permit.
SOURCE: No problem, if the people of this forum are half as excited as I am for this phone, it will be fun. It is sad, but I work at the biggest electronics store in the world, and still act like a kid at Christmas with all these cool new gadgets. If you need anything else from me, let me know, and if I gather any new information, I will be sure to let you know. From what I am seeing on my end, it is all coming together for the 25th. I didn't want to wait that long, but I feel confident that the date is right and it gives me peace knowing when I can start playing with this great new toy.
ME: I cannot thank you enough! I'd be more than happy to give credit to you for all that you have divulged upon posting your information to the thread - just let me know!!
SOURCE: I prefer to remain back at this point, if you don't mind.
So there you have it. Believe what you will - at this point in my time here on this thread, I don't care who believes what I have to say and who doesn't. It doesn't matter to me anymore if some 3-post noob decides to attack my credibility. It just doesn't. I am extremely grateful to my source, whom I will be MORE than happy to give public credit to, should he desire. I have really enjoyed all of the excitement that this story has generated among those that I have shared this with over the past couple of weeks as well. I truly hope that we really do see this phone in OUR HANDS by the end of THIS month!! It definitely looks very promising now!
I've seen some incredible (R rated) outtakes from that show online.
