HTC Flyer missing from Best Buy online

Could the Flyer be discontinued? It is no longer available for purchase on Best Buy’s website, and the trend may follow with other retailers soon. It has been discounted many times over the past couple months, and may be nearing the end of its shelf-life. Of course, after using the tablet myself – it functions better than many of the current tabs out there.

In one sale the Flyer dipped down to $240 for a brief moment, and that was quite the deal. It may not have appeared for $99.99 like the famed HP TouchPad, but still 50% off. If Best Buy is pulling its inventory, another “Firesale” could be underway soon.
When a tablet is discontinued, the developmental community is bound to worry. The HTC Flyer has many unofficial developers on its side producing some excellent ROMs and kernels. Knowing the Flyer may never see Android 4.0 could be quite the disappointment, but at least developers won’t be waiting on it. It may even give a few the spark to start a something from scratch.
[via Phandroid]

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Best Buy offers free HTC phones with Modern Warfare 3 purchase

Oh, Best Buy, you’re always reliable for a retail publicity stunt. Less than a week after tying some of the last retail HP TouchPads in the world to full computer purchases, the big box  retailer is offering free HTC smartphones to gamers who purchase the upcoming mega-release Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Naturally, you’ll have so sign up for a new two-year wireless contract to qualify.

Android models on offer include the EVO 4G, the DROID Incredible 2 and the Inspire 4G. Naturally these aren’t late-breaking smartphones – don’t expect to go into Best Buy on November 11th and walk out with MW3 and a new DROID RAZR, unless you’ve got an extra three c-notes in your pocket. That being said, this could certainly be a fortuitous opportunity for a select subset of gamers who also want a mid-range phone, and happen to be contract-free at the moment.
Once you get your new HTC phone and your hands stop shaking from the PTSD brought on by the game, you can install the official MW3 Android app. It’s not a mobile game in and of itself, but it allows you to modify your soldier’s weapons and equipment loadout, and it will be compatible with all major versions of Modern Warfare 3. If you’re still itching for some pint-sized world conflict, try the totally-not-Call-of-Duty-inspired Modern Combat 3.

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XOOM Family Edition is a Best Buy exclusive for $379

We saw some leaked retail shots of the kid-friendly XOOM Family Edition just last week, and it won’t be long before you and yours can get your hands on it.According to a press release today, Motorola and Best Buy are partnering to bring the customized XOOM to market starting this Sunday, October 16th. The Family Edition will cost $379, a significant savings on the current $499 WiFi model.

Of course, there are a few sacrifices for the discount. The Family Edition has only 16GB of storage, half that of the original XOOM, and it’s running the slightly outdated Honeycomb 3.1. There isn’t a version with a cellular connection and there probably won’t be. Other than that, it’s the XOOM you know and at least some of you love: the same 1GHz Tegra processor, 1GB of memory, and 10-inch form factor, making the Family Edition a pretty good deal – though the press release mentions that the $379 price is a limited time offer.
So what makes the Family Edition so special? Pretty much exactly what you’d expect – Motorola is including a decent bit of software designed for tiny fingers. The company says it’s included “over $40 worth of applications,” including Kid Zone by Zoodles and a selection of apps from the Motorola MotoPack, as well as the ever-popular QuickOffice HD. An important part of the puzzle is a special lmode that locks the home button, allowing parents to pass the XOOM to their kids without worrying about them accessing the Internet or email.
So, what do you think, Honeycomb users? Is the included software or discounted price enough to drive a few more XOOM purchases before the upgraded versions arrive?
[via Android Police]

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Confirmed: Best Buy Offering HTC Flyer for $300

Late last week, a rumor emerged suggesting Best Buy would discount the HTC Flyer to $300. We believed this was due to the low-priced Kindle Fire tablet that has already gotten over 100,000 preorders a month and a half from release.
It turns out that rumor was true, though, as the device has been spotted on Best Buy’s website for $300. It’s a 7 inch Android device with a 1.5GHz single-core processor, Android 2.3 and HTC Sense for tablets with Scribe support. HTC’s said to be working on a Honeycomb upgrade for the device though they didn’t give a time frame as to when we would see it. Check it out at Best Buy if it’s ever interested. [Thanks Matt!]

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Cricket expands retail presence to national retailers, starting with Best Buy

Cricket, a regional carrier owned by Leap Wireless, is expanding its retail presence to a nationwide level. Starting on Sunday, September 25 with Best Buy stores, retailers across the country will begin selling Cricket phones and service.
Cricket currently provides service to 5.7 million users in 35 states. The carrier intends to roll out services to new markets in the 35 states it currently services as well as those states that Cricket has no current presence. Cricket will have its products and services in 11,500 stores by the time its retail expansion is complete.
The first major national retailer to carry Cricket phones will be Best Buy, and it will outfit more than 1,300 Best Buy stores with Cricket phones, including the Samsung Vitality and ZTE Score smartphones with Muve Music. In the future, retail locations will include Walmart, Dollar General, and the HSN TV shopping channel.

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Sony Tablet S on display at Best Buy, available for pre-order

Want to get your hands on Sony’s upcoming Honeycomb tablet, the Tablet S? If you can’t wait until pre-orders start shipping from the Sony Online Store (September 16), and if you don’t want to buy it right now for $100 more at HSN.com, you might want to check out your local Best Buy.
It appears as if Best Buys have started to put the Sony Tablet S on display at some locations. At the moment, it doesn’t look like the new Honeycomb tablets could be purchased. The person who noticed the new tablet on display, Twitter user @DaHarder wasn’t able to purchase it; when he went to the register to attempt to purchase the tablet, Best Buy was unable to locate the tablet in their system.
So, it looks like it’s only available for display at the moment. If you want to get your hands on the display unit of the Tablet S, head over to your local Best Buy. Unfortunately, it looks like you’ll have to wait a few more days to own this tablet, unless you don’t mind paying an extra $100 from HSN.
Source: @DaHarder (Twitter), via Engadget

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Motorola DROID Bionic appears in a few more Best Buy Ads

Anyone heard of this phone? It’s called the DROID Bionic and I don’t think I’ve seen much about this phone lately. Almost daily now we have seen a leak or a photo of some sort and it’s to the point of almost irritation. Can Verizon just release this bad boy already? Today new pictures are popping up from multiple sources showing the Droid Bionic as “coming soon” in Best Buy ad magazines and more.


The Motorola Droid Bionic is only what like 4 months late to the market, unless we are counting when we saw it at CES but that wouldn’t really be fair. Just to help you readers out here are a few of the recent leaks. We saw some impressive speedtest results a few days ago, leaked photos of it and the Droid HD, and more recently a tips and guide manual. Latest reports are still suggesting a September launch date although we did hear some rumors of it coming late August but that is doubtful.
So what does everything think about all these leaks so far? Are there so many that you don’t really care to see a flyer or Best Buy ad, or are all these leaks that are happening almost daily a good sign that it may be coming sooner than we think? I’m not trying to rain on the Bionic and its parade but I’m already switching my focus to the Droid HD and the Samsung Nexus Prime, but that’s just me.
Either way this phone should and better launch soon, if for some odd reason they delay it again I don’t think it would end well for Motorola or Verizon.
[via TechnoBuffalo]

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HTC Incredible 2 Coming in White Exclusively to Best Buy

We have heard rumors of a white and silver Droid Incredible 2 headed to the market but now we are seeing a Best Buy ad that confirms the white flavor is at least heading to the shelves. This might not be all that fancy to some but I know a few friends love the idea of rocking a white smartphone. I thought the white EVO 4G looked a little goofy personally.

The Incredible 2 has been around a little while, its already rooted and I’m sure you can get CM7 for it somewhere so it’s still a great buy and Best Buy is offering it at a pretty decent price too. The Incredible 2 was also recently updated to 2.3 Gingerbread so buyers wont need to worry about updates for a while.
Sources are claiming the White version of the DROID Incredible 2 will be on store shelves at Best Buy starting August 21st, that is this Sunday. We are also hearing that it will be competitively priced at just $149 after a new contract so it’s a good deal and will be a fashion statement. Whether the new color scheme makes this a phone worth purchasing is up to you guys, I think I’ll hold out for the Bionic myself.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : Incredible S

Manufactuer : HTC

Carrier : AT&T

Announced Date : February 15, 2011

Release Date : January 01, 1970

Also Known As :

Display

• Screen Size : 4.00 Inch


• Resolution : 480x800


• Screen Type : S-LCD

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 4.72 Inch


• Width : 2.52 Inch


• Depth : 0.46 Inch


• Weight : 162 Grams

Battery & Power

• Battery Type:


• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 1450 mAh


• Talk Time : NA


• Stand By Time : 290 hours

Software

• Android OS:


• 2.3.x

• Audio Playback:


• AAC


• AMR


• MID


• MP3


• WAV


• WMA

• Video Playback:


• 3GP


• MPEG-4 (MP4)


• WMV

• Messaging:


• SMS


• MMS

Hardware

CPU : Snapdragon MSM8255

CPU Clock Speed : 1000 Mhz

Core : 1

Ram : 768 MB

Internal Storage : 1.124 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution :8 MP

• External Storage:


• MicroSD


• MicroSDHC

• Camera Features:


• Auto focus


• Flash


• 720p Video Recording

• Sensors:


• Accelerometer


• Ambient light


• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

• Network Technology:


• GSM

• GSM Band:


• 850


• 900


• 1800


• 1900

Device Connectivity

• Wi-Fi:


• 802.11b


• 802.11g


• 802.11n

• Bluetooth:


• Bluetooth 2.0

• Location Features:


• Compass


• GPS


• Cellular location


• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

[via Android Central]

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