HTC Surround Windows Phone 7 device and others exclusive to Best Buy

By on Oct 14, 2010 at 11:31 AM
Retail October 14, 2010

Remember that Best Buy flier featuring the white Samsung Fascinate, white Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, Dell Streak, and HTC Surround we showed you yesterday? Well, according to a press release, those four devices will all be exclusive offerings from Best Buy. The white Fascinate and X10 are interesting, but not overly shocking; Best Buy getting exclusivity on the Streak and recently announce Surround, however, is quite interesting. As reported, the X10, Fascinate, and X10 will all be available on October 24 for $99, $149 and $299 respectively with 2-year agreements. The HTC Surround will be available on November 8 and will retail for $199 with a 2-year agreement. Hit the jump for the full press release.

It’s an Exclusive Holiday at Best Buy Mobile® With Launch of Four New Smart Phones

Pre Sale Begins Today on All Four Exclusive Devices: Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X10 in White with The Essential Taylor Swift Experience, Dell Streak™, HTC Surround™ Based on Windows Phone 7 and White Samsung Fascinate™

MINNEAPOLIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Best Buy Mobile has the most smart phones under one roof and, this holiday, it is adding to that selection with several exclusive smart phones as well. Best Buy Mobile, the mobile specialty retail unit of Best Buy Co. Inc (NYSE:BBY), today proudly announced the exclusive launch and pre sale of four dynamic new smart phones. The lineup includes:
“There are thousands of places to buy mobile phones in America, but there is only one place where customers can buy one of these great smart phones. And that place is Best Buy Mobile”

  • Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 in White on AT&T with the Essential Taylor Swift Experience
  • Dell Streak™ on AT&T featuring a 5” screen
  • HTC Surround on AT&T featuring the new Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system (National Retail Exclusive)
  • White Samsung Fascinate on Verizon

All four devices are exclusive to Best Buy Mobile and go on pre sale today at all Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile specialty stores nationwide, as well as online at BestBuy.com/Mobile.

“There are thousands of places to buy mobile phones in America, but there is only one place where customers can buy one of these great smart phones. And that place is Best Buy Mobile,” said Scott Anderson, head of merchandising for Best Buy Mobile. “Each one of these devices offers something new and unique to the market and we are excited and honored to bring them to our customers. Best Buy knows consumers expect the hottest products, but also great prices along with a level of service and support that simply makes life easier – that’s what we’re delivering.”

White Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X10 with The Essential Taylor Swift Experience
Customers can only get this experience here – with the exclusive white version of the X10 plus music and media from one of this Holiday’s hottest artists. The phone retails for $99 with a new two-year activation and will be in stores on Oct. 24.
The ultimate media pack of Taylor Swift content includes:

  • Taylor Swift’s self titled and ‘Fearless’ albums
  • Her new single ‘Mine’ along with the Ringtone and Music video
  • Plus, get access to all of the music from the new “Speak Now” CD on the Oct. 25 release day.
  • Additionally, there is an exclusive accessory pack for the White X10 that includes a Skin for the phone and matching headphones – the fan’s essential!

The X10 runs on the Android operating system and features:

  • 8.1 MP camera
  • Large 4” WVGA capacitive touch display
  • 1 GHz Snapdragon processor
  • Timescape™ – Easily manage Facebook™, Twitter™, Email & more in an animated deck-of-cards format
  • Mediascape – Photos, online photos, videos and music all in one place, plus music links to YouTube™.

5” Android-based Tablet: Dell Streak on AT&T
The Dell Streak has found a way to fit your whole world in a 5-inch screen, and in your pocket. The 5-inch Android-based tablet is designed to provide people the best on-the-go entertainment, social connection and navigation experience.
Dell Streak features:

  • Only 5” Tablet optimized to be pocket friendly for easy portability
  • 5” Gorilla glass display creates a high quality damage resistant display
  • Fast processing power with 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon™ processor
  • Two cameras allow users the flexibility to capture the moment by photo or video chat
  • Integrated A-GPS and e-compass enables Location-Based Services (LBS) applications for personal navigation w/ real time maps.

The Streak retails for $299.99 with a new 2 year activation and launches in stores on Oct. 24.

Windows Phone 7 arrives: HTC Surround on AT&T
The HTC Surround is the first smart phone at Best Buy to feature Windows Phone 7. It retails for $199 with new two-year activation and will be in stores on Nov. 8.

With Windows Phone 7, the things that matter most to people, such as games, music and video, photos and office productivity are organized through integrated experiences known as Hubs and fueled by the rich experiences of Xbox LIVE, Zune, Bing, and Office.
The HTC Surround includes integrated Dolby Mobile and SRS surround sound speakers. The speakers slide-out and reveal a kickstand for watching video beneath its 3.8-inch touch screen.

White hot: White Samsung Fascinate on Verizon
One of Verizon Wireless’ best selling phones now comes in white and is only at Best Buy Mobile. The phone is $149.99 with new two-year activation and launches on Oct. 24. It features:

  • Brilliant 4” Super AMOLED screen
  • 1GHz processor
  • 5MP Camera
  • 720 DH Video Recording
  • 16GB pre-installed SD Card

Best Buy Mobile rapidly has become a leading destination for smart phone purchases, in part because of the promises the store offers its customers: better choice of phones and networks; impartial, informed advice; straightforward pricing; and someone to be there for the life of the phone.

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17 Comments

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  • MacMan

    Best buy trying to step it up.

  • Perspective

    Surround on a phone? Great. Can’t wait to sit next to the WP7 users watching “Joe Dirt” and “Laptop Hunters” ads in surround on a 4-inch screen. Good times.

    • GN

      3.8″ big difference, if your phone tard like me:p

    • ?

      hahaha…your the first comment that has me laugh while reading…

      • GN

        well..I figure…its like me putting my GN on the track…busting out 10.80 in the quarter…then making a second run, and running a 10.99….thats almost 2 TENTHS OF A SEC…in track terms I guess…almost a car length…lol…dont seem like much in terms of time, but its all about squeezing those extra tenths in there..same way I feel about the freaking screen size on the devices…that much less screen for viewing my recorded video run on..food for thought:p

    • What?

      Just wait for when the iPad gets surround speakers, and the guy next to you on the plane has one. And no headphones.

  • Nathan

    That’s “National Retail” exclusive on the Surround. That means AT&T stores will carry them, and probably even authorized local dealers, but not Walmart, Radio Shack, etc.

    • What?

      Nice catch. They should hire you. It also wouldn’t make any sense for de la Vega to announce the Surround at the WP7 launch and then have it be a BB exclusive.

  • Drelewis

    This my friends is the reason why circuit city is out of business

    • nyc

      circuit city never had anything in stock, thats why they are out of business…

  • What?

    “HTC Surround™ Based on Windows Phone 7″

    They’ve really got to name these things better.

  • GeneralZod

    I’m really getting sick of all this exclusive crap. The consumer has no power even though we are what drive’s the economy. No one is looking out for the best interest of the consumer anymore. Stop limiting the choice of the consumer already. WTF!!!! If I want an iPhone or any other phone I should be able to use it on any carrier. If I want to buy electronics I shouldn’t have to be limited to Best Buy because of retail exclusive. What about Walmart, Fry’s, The Shack, etc… I F’in hate overpriced Best Buy.

    • What?

      But the phones at Best Buy aren’t overpriced. The HTC Surround was announced for $199 and it’s being offered at BB for $199, and it will be at AT&T stores for $199 also.

      You realize that stores and carriers pay manufacturers to have exclusives, right? And you realize this allows them to build more and more advanced and expensive phones, right?

      You realize you have plenty of power, right?. Your wallet doesn’t spring open involuntarily spouting out cash, manufacturers don’t surround you with magnetic wands to charge your credit card when you’ve said no. The power we have as consumers is saying yes and saying no. So say no to Best Buy exclusives and don’t buy one. And if you don’t want to be locked into a contract, whereby you agree to certain terms and conditions in exchange for a cheaper phone, don’t sign a contract; buy the phone at full price.

      Yes, exclusives are annoying. But that’s life. Why does Apple have an exclusive on the iPod? Shouldn’t every manufacturer be able to build one? Why does GlaxoSmithKline have an exclusive on the newest pharmaceutical drug that does X? We allow people who make valuable things to get compensated for them, and to allow control of their distribution. You take that away, and production will go down, leaving the consumer with fewer choices.

      You want to limit the choice of the manufacturer by unlimiting the choice of the consumer. Manufacturers are consumers. It’s a zero sum game. Get over it.

      • Steve Jabroni

        Ehhhhhhh… you’re partly right. I get what you’re saying, but the iPod and GlaxoKline examples are extremely bad examples. In both cases, they are properties, i.e. created or built, by their respective companies.

        At&t did not create or build an iPhone. They simply negotiated a contract w/ Apple.

        But as far as whining about exclusives, I agree… its just silly. Here’s a life tip: if something in life is made ‘exclusive’, it pretty much means you don’t really need it. Now, if a supermarket chain gets exclusivity on loaves of bread? Thats something to bitch about.

        2ndly, its arguable that exclusivity hurts the manufacturer anyway. Imagine the potential dollars Apple could have made by NOT being exclusive. Simply put, while its super-successful now, even Apple wasn’t 100% sure if the iPhone would take off from the get go. If they had that much confidence, they would never had made a 5 year exclusivity deal. Now look at the gaming world… the only exclusives you have anymore are by developers owned by the respective console makers… in other words, games Sony makes are exclusive to PS3, MS games on Xbox, etc. 3rd party companies know they’ve been seriously losing out on sales by making games for one console.

        The consumer is NOT suffering because they can’t get an iPhone on T-mobile or Sprint… Apple is suffering for that.

  • Don’t Buy WP7 Yet

    Hold off on Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.

    Remember the KIN phones? When they were released, the early buyers had to pay a high price. Then, after a few weeks, the KINs ended up in the discount bin at Best Buy.

    So, it’s better to wait a bit and see if the same thing happens with Windows Phone 7. It could be much cheaper in a few weeks.

    Also, it’s a generation one Microsoft device. It’s better to wait until Generation 2 (or 3) with Microsoft.

    • Steve Jabroni

      A. The words “buyers” and “Kin” do not compute. Whats a kin early adopter? A group of people I can count on one hand
      B. The Kin had negative press from way before it ever launched. Even without the negative press, it looked like phones for teens… even Sidekick owners laughed at the Kin. With little to no marketing, the Kin was destined for the trash bin.
      C. WP7 is far from the Kin. Those who’ve had hands on have said nothing but positive things about it. Its getting a monster push from MS…. You didn’t see Ballmer on the Today Show for a bunch of lousy Kins, did we? ITs is the successor to WinMo, which even though is outdated, was never a failure like the Kin and had a pretty good following before getting stomped over by Apple and Android. Or to put that another way: Convincing anyone that the Kin was good, even a WinMo6 user, is damn near impossible
      D. Those who compare ANYTHING to the Kin are fanboy trolls who are scraping the bottom for something to hate.

  • WingMan

    The HTC Surround is a good addition to BestBuy’s network, the phone has lots of features that can meet most demands and many users may find it intriguing, I’m one of them. I’ve added a link to the phone’s specs and I’m pretty sure that once you take a look at them you’ll become one of the people looking for the phone in the shop :)

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