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Verizon HTC One Release Getting Closer

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The highly anticipated Verizon HTC One release appears to be getting closer as new evidence has surfaced suggesting that stores have attached “Close Out” labels to both the Droid Incredible 4G LTE and the Droid DNA in anticipation of the HTC One launch.

Earlier this year, Verizon announced the HTC One for arrival after a lengthy period of rumor and speculation. The carrier though was mum on many of the pertinent details including the make up of the device, its pricing and its release date. The companies continue to remain silent about the details though it would appear that announcement is inching closer to reality.

Read: Verizon HTC One Release: What to Expect.

The Verizon HTC One should be coming soon.

The Verizon HTC One should be coming soon.

Thanks to some evidence procured by Droid-Life, we now know that Verizon is pushing toward an HTC One release date. It appears that stores are starting to close out inventory of two of their Verizon smartphones, the Droid Incredible 4G LTE and the Droid DNA, meaning they will be trying to offload stock in anticipation of the HTC One’s arrival.

The Droid DNA and Droid Incredible 4G LTE will be retired once stock hits nil which means that a Verizon HTC One release should be just around the corner. Remember, we’ve heard that Verizon was planning on putting the phone out before the end of June and it’s possible that it could be sticking to that rumored timeline.

There is some speculation that the HTC One could arrive with Droid branding, thanks to the @DroidLanding Twitter account springing to life yesterday after being dormant since 2011, but at this point, there is no evidence that links to two. In fact, the Twitter account appears to be promoting a Droid-branded game for Android instead.

The Droid DNA and Droid Incredible 4G LTE are heading towards retirement.

The Droid DNA and Droid Incredible 4G LTE are heading towards retirement.

Verizon also announced the phone as the HTC One and not as a Droid device though it’s entirely possible that the secrecy surrounding the phone is thanks to re-branding.

Whatever the case may be, it appears that Verizon and third-party retailers are making the final preparations for an HTC One arrival and it could be that we hear more about the device sometime soon.

The device is expected to retain the same hardware and price tag as the other HTC One models meaning it should cost $199.99 and come with a 4.7-inch 1080p display, quad-core processor, Ultrapixel camera, full metal design, 4G LTE data speeds and the new Sense 5 from HTC.

28 Comments

28 Comments

  1. anonymous

    06/19/2013 at 11:05 am

    As a verizon rep, the HTC One “Will in fact” be available for Verizon Wireless and the release will be closer to labor then you think. Talk is being made among Verizon about the HTC One coming in different colors then what the current carriers have.

    • Ray

      06/19/2013 at 12:47 pm

      As others have stated, Verizon might as well keep it if they wait until Labor Day….! If Verizon customer focus and satisfaction was on par with their network, they’d be unbeatable. Unfortunately, they choose instead to rest on their laurels of coverage and signal strength, knowing that this gives them a virtual monopoly with many customers.

      Terrible business strategy!

      If and when the other carriers can get competitive with signal strength and coverage nationally, customers may excite EN MASSE. I know that if there was another carrier with adequate signal strength and coverage for my needs, I WOULD BE GONE!

      • Ray

        06/19/2013 at 12:48 pm

        excite should read EXIT

    • John

      06/19/2013 at 2:57 pm

      If this phone is released “closer to labor [Day]”… LOL. Verizon will have screwed HTC and itself of One sales. This will go down as one of the worst sales disasters of all time (compared to the number that could have been sold) next to the Microsoft Kin & Kin 2 blunder.

    • Andrea Reese

      08/05/2013 at 4:21 pm

      Since you’re anonymous, why not get more specific? All the blogs are predicting August 15th for the HTC One release, and many are predicting it will be in black, white and blue. As a Verizon rep, can you tell us more please. Thanks.

  2. Tony

    06/19/2013 at 11:21 am

    One has to speculate on the impact of the recently announced HTC Butterfly s on people’s desire for the HTC One. While the Butterfly s did not have an LTE radio, that doesn’t mean a US version wouldn’t have one. And the fact that it will have a larger battery, 5″ screen, and SD card, along with all the HTC One features, people might just decide to wait it out instead of opting for the HTC One at this late date.

  3. Also Anonymous

    06/19/2013 at 11:21 am

    By “closer to Labor” do you mean “Close to *Labor Day*”? Cause if that’s true then the phone will be DOA.

    It’s pretty well-known that HTC is planning to roll out Red and Blue. I just hope they keep the silver available as well, as the painted or anodized finishes will show scratches much worse.

    • TB

      06/19/2013 at 11:37 am

      LOL, how about red, white, and blue by July 4. That sounds like something feasible.

  4. MJ

    06/19/2013 at 11:24 am

    do you me labor dayand what colors

    • Ray

      06/19/2013 at 12:41 pm

      yes you me you and red white and blue

      grammar challenge, much?

  5. Jon Feldman

    06/19/2013 at 12:24 pm

    As a Verizon customer looking to get a new phone, I am getting fed up with their slowness in keeping up with other carriers. The HTC one is nowhere to be found, and the Galaxy S4 is only at 16Gb. The only reason I am still with Verizon is that AT&T coverage is spotty in my neck of the woods. But I will switch to AT&T if Verizon keeps holding off on new phones much longer.

  6. Ray

    06/19/2013 at 12:39 pm

    Verizon really has blown a fantastic opportunity by dropping the ball on the HTC One. Like me, I’m sure many people were excited about the HTC One, but with every month, then week, and now DAY that goes by…. excitement has turned to disappointment and its taken so long that maybe we’ll just wait for something else.

    It’s really SAD that Verizon has by far the best network coverage! We need alternative carriers that can actually COMPETE on signal strength and coverage! Yes there are some that have great signal and coverage in certain locales, but nobody can compete with Verizon on a national coverage basis and that is a darn shame!

    • Jbf

      06/19/2013 at 2:16 pm

      AT&T is catching up fast and Verizon is getting complacent. My family has 5 “off contract “devices and we are sick of Verizon’s bad attitude. I’ve had cell phones since 1990, and have seen many companies come and go.

    • JBF

      06/19/2013 at 6:18 pm

      I highly doubt it is HTC that is causing the problem. They have bet the farm on the HTC one. I am sure they would do things like “Verizon engraved” models if it sold phones.

      Verizon is dropping the ball because of something they are not telling us about.

  7. Raymond B.

    06/19/2013 at 1:22 pm

    With the HTC Butterfly the HTC One is a waste. Verizon will be in prefect position to be the first carrier with this beast of a phone that is the Butterfly.

  8. Internet Hipter

    06/19/2013 at 1:34 pm

    The Butterfly looks too big. Even the One is a little bigger than I really want to carry. If I wanted a phone that big I would’ve picked up a Droid DNA awhile ago.

  9. John

    06/19/2013 at 2:24 pm

    Just looking for a silver lining – maybe the price of the one will quickly drop to 150 or so because of the delay and impending butterfly. Perhaps just a week or two after launch. Then again they still charge 99 for a 4s

    • JBF

      06/19/2013 at 2:33 pm

      There is no silver lining. These devices cost a lot of money. A few dollars here and there do not make it reasonable to buy old technology. Personally, I am getting fed up with contracts. The companies are slowly getting to the point where they are not as good as their contracts. You sign up with Verizon in 2011 and in 2013, Verizon starts to get senile.

      Don’t let these companies lead you around with a few dollars of subsidies. They get far more than that from you in the end. Look at the long(er) term, not short term. Right now, Verizon is starting to look like they are in deep trouble and just hasn’t shown it yet.

      • Internet Hipster

        06/19/2013 at 3:02 pm

        I suspect nearly everyone is getting sick of contracts. I (along with everyone) use many fewer voice minutes and more texting and data these days than I did even two years ago yet the contracts being offered are still about “voice minutes” and “texting plans” as features (texting being something that costs providers almost literally zero to carry).

        If I bring my own device to AT&T or VZW I don’t get any kind of discount, so buying an unsubsidized phone is just giving money to the carrier for nothing. If I hang onto the device after the contract ends again I get no discount on the bill to reflect the fact that the device is paid for so again I’m just shoveling money into the carrier for nothing.

        In the particular case of *Verizon* their delay shenanigans and new device games just force me to keep paying while I wait to see if they ever will get a device that I like, and if I do eventually buy a new device for their network I won’t ever be able to use it on another. What the US needs is one or more providers that offer a few GB of data/texting only for say, 30 bucks a month per line with decent speeds and coverage. May as well throw in voice since the amount of bandwidth used by voice is small and continues to shrink.

        The monopolistic “capture” that wireless providers and cable providers have going right now is really starting to get old and if Verizon ever hits the skids I will be cheering for their destruction :)

        • JBF

          06/19/2013 at 6:08 pm

          Only because VZW is CDMA do people have trouble switching. If it were mostly GSM competition (like Europe), people switch often. We are the ones with two major systems (GSM and CDMA). The Europeans buy phones first, then decide who they want to have service with. Rates are way lower than what we pay – because everyone competes. True, lots of phone are not subsidized – but that is a short-lived game of capturing customers. So they pay more for phones but much less for service. Even their Pay as you Go plans are really inexpensive. All the carriers fight for that market too.

          By splitting up market share between GSM and CDMA, we lose competitiveness. Even the 3G over there is faster than ours. But also they don’t whine every time some company wants to put up a cell tower. You see them everywhere there – and it is not so bad. Here (especially in California) we fight them – and they make us pay the price. Kind of paradoxical!

  10. Joe

    06/19/2013 at 2:57 pm

    Everyone’s bitching about Verizon just because they decided to release a popular phone a couple of months after release. While people on other carriers have greater issues with call quality dropped calls horrible customer service etc. as a Verizon customer i consider myself lucky to be on contract with the best cellular provider offered in my area, and literally the only flaw I could come up from Verizon is the late HTC one release, what does that tell you?

    • JF

      06/19/2013 at 3:50 pm

      Joe speaks the truth. While I’m a bit frazzled about them taking their sweet time getting the One on shelves, I’m sticking with Verizon because their service really is the best.

      Contrary to what above folks are saying, the One will still sell great when it’s finally released. Us folks who scan the tech blogs daily, or those of us who search “Verizon HTC One” multiple times a day – yeah we’re sorta pissed. But the majority of regular people walking into the Verizon store or Best Buy are going to look at the One, which is extremely aesthetically pleasing, and buy it regardless of whether or not the tech is 6 months old. So it’s hardly “the worst phone launch of all time.”

      That would sadly go (at least in my opinion) to the Verizon Pre3… I still miss what WebOS could have become…

      • TB

        06/19/2013 at 4:09 pm

        As much as I like the HTC One, I’m not sure I agree with your comment that the majority of people walking into a store would come out with the HTC One. Seen several folks upgrade their phones the past month and not a single one has selected the HTC One, each and everyone selected the Samsung Galaxy S4. But then, all of them had service with either AT&T or TMO. As for Verizon having the best service, maybe, depends on where you live and travel. I have had both Verizon and AT&T and found them both to be excellent. In fact, I had fewer issues with AT&T than with Verizon despite what some people say about AT&T. I have also had more outage areas with Verizon than with AT&T which really surprised me. Of course, it all depends where you live and where you travel.

        • JBF

          06/19/2013 at 6:14 pm

          Why does Verizon still sell only 16 GB S4’s? Even the patch they came out with allows only apps to use the SD card, not expand data. The HTC one and the S$ are so close that it is a hard choice. You put a plastic cover on an iPhone and it still is a plastic phone. But Verizon seems to want to keep their whole inventory small. I hear people speculate they have some slick move up their sleeves – but I highly doubt there is one.

          It isn’t coincidence that AT&T is making a huge effort to expand their 4G network right now. If they succeed, Verizon will be history – broke with an excessive inventory of outdated phones.

    • JBF

      06/19/2013 at 6:21 pm

      They aren’t doing well with the Samsung G S4’s either. 16GB???? Who even allowed that to be sold? That amount of memory is from the iPhone 3GS days!

  11. jeff

    06/19/2013 at 7:36 pm

    i work at At&t store in New York and we see many people picking up the HTC one and many returns of the Samsung s4 because people say it has a lag of over heating problems. so i see the HTC one doling amazing like it is doing now on at&t

  12. John

    06/20/2013 at 5:55 am

    I have a legacy family plan with vzw with 1 smartphone with unlimited data and 4 dumb phones. It is less than 200 which I think is reasonable for the benefits it brings. We dabbled with a windows phone on t mobile for my wife but horrible reception. Will be getting wife a free iPhone 4 and I will go from the 4 to the HTC one later. We get two nice upgrades and vzw gets an extra 920 bucks over two years. Yes expensive but a lot of factories to consider. Vzw network has been reliable for me for years and that goes a long way.

    • jon

      06/20/2013 at 5:49 pm

      Unless you are getting a lot of use out of the smartphone, the $200 a month is excessive – especially if you are bound to contracts. The “free” iPhone 4 and HTC one will cost you a lot in reality. The iPhone 4 is at least 2 years old, and has very little net worth. It is all mark-up (and ignore places like Bay where people exploit others who think these products are worth a lot of money). The HTC will keep you a slave for at least 2 years.

      The 4 “dumb phones” is a real rip off, because that kind of thing is really cheap to provide these days. The equipment (even marked up) is cheap, and service is even cheaper. Providers love this stuff as it is high revenue considering their expenditures.

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