Imagination Entertainment Selling Verizon's XV660 Early

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.imaginationent.com/edvo/' target='_blank'>http://www.imaginationent.com/edvo/</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Be one of the first in the country to own the Nation's FIRST 3G mobile phone. The Verizon Wireless XV660 will be available next year by Verizon and is available now in limited quantities by Imagination Entertainment. The Pocket PC Phone is a full Windows Mobile device that utilizes Verizon's new high speed wireless broadband ED-VO network for incredibly fast internet and email access (300-500 kpbs average)."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/parekh-20041130-VerizonXV660.jpg" /><br /><br />Looks like Verizon's really close to selling their version of the HTC Harrier, and if you can't wait for it to appear in stores, here's your chance to get it right away. There are two caveats: I have no idea who Imagination Entertainment is, and you'll have to pay a premium - $950 <b>with</b> a new contract. 8O Since even Verizon's never charged that kind of money for a phone, I suspect there'll be a price drop when they retail it directly. But if you need it right away, there's now a choice.<br /><br /><b>Update:</b> Engadget is <a href="http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000463022017/">skeptical</a> on this order opportunity.<br /><br /><b>Second update:</b> The selling party made a post explaining the full situation <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=306010#306010">here</a>; apparently his company bought more of the phones than they needed, so they're extending a courtesy to readers before putting the devices on eBay. If you need more information, feel free to contact the guy at the address in that post. :)

[yslee]

Pardon me, but isn't that the Blue Angel, not the Harrier?

[rbrome]

Pardon me, but isn't that the Blue Angel, not the Harrier?

No. The Blue Angel is GSM. The Harrier is CDMA. The Blue Angel would be 100% incompatible with Verizon's CDMA network.

This is the Harrier, AKA the i-mate PDA2k EVDO, AKA the Audiovox PPC-6600, AKA the Audiovox XV-6600.

[rbrome]

Engadget is pretty skeptical about this:

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000463022017/

...and I have to say they raise some pretty good points. Buyer beware!

[Skitals]

Why does the CDMA version of this phone not have WiFi or a camera? I mean, HTC designed them that way... why would sprint and verizon remove them? Its not even like they are going to pass that price cut on to the consumer. It makes me really wish I had a GSM provider.

( /me looks at my "joined date"... dang ive been here a long time )

[maximum360]

The first incarnations from Sprint and Verizon are specifically for business customers, so the camera gets nixed. Soon after though, Sprint will be releasing a camera version (sometime this month or next), and hopefully Verizon will follow suit as well.

[q-live]

god i hope they change their minds and put the wi fi in it..... i am sick of all these new pda phones coming out and not having everything in it that suppose to be for fffff 600 dollars...... for that price wi fi the " n " version should be in it

[freddiemac]

Verizon is also a little quick on the draw here....

Go to wirelesssync.vzw.com and on the front page, look at what is listed on the far right (right next to the i700) as the newest phone to be supported by wireless sync....that's right....Verizon's new flagship Pocket PC Phone, the xv6600!

[Janak Parekh]

Why does the CDMA version of this phone not have WiFi or a camera? I mean, HTC designed them that way...
Actually, the HTC Harrier was designed without Wi-Fi. I believe it has an SDIO slot if you need it, although 1xEV-DO speeds do mitigate it for general webbrowsing.

--janak

[Janak Parekh]

Engadget is pretty skeptical about this
Thanks, I posted an update. Interestingly, the guy selling the phones posted a response on Engadget.

--janak

[rbrome]

Thanks, I posted an update. Interestingly, the guy selling the phones posted a response on Engadget.

Hmm... and then Peter (the Engadget Editor) posted:

Nice try, but I just got off the phone with Verizon corporate communications and they didn't sound very pleased at all. Right now the phones are restricted to authorized resellers and corporate sales channels.

I don't know why he said "nice try". If Verizon said it's "restricted to authorized resellers and corporate sales channels" then they basically confirmed that they are selling it to corporate customers already, which backs up Sam 100%. That makes it sound like this is legit.

[Janak Parekh]

Yeah, saw that too, and went through the same thought process as you did. ;) My hypothesis is that Verizon told Peter that resale of these devices is prohibited? I guess I'll leave the frontpage post for now. :P

--janak

[sdppc]

Today I picked up an XV 6600 from these guys:
http://www.imaginationent.com/edvo/

I actually went to their office in san diego to pick it up and make sure they were for real. They had about 50 of them new in the box there and even got me discounted service on their corporate rate.

Note that it is the version without camera.

[Samtrego]

Engadget is pretty skeptical about this:

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000463022017/

...and I have to say they raise some pretty good points. Buyer beware!

Engadet has gone off the deep end and they obviously have some hidden agenda. They have upset many, many loyal readers of their site. If they had done any homework before publicly slandering me, they would have found out the truth that we are a legitimate company with a legitimate product that happened to be in the right place at the right time and could now extend this opportunity to a few (and I mean a few) lucky readers of their magazine. The fact is that we are a corporate account of Verizon's. I bit off more than I could chew and have more of these amazing phones than I need. Instead of sending them straight to Ebay, I thought I'd extend an opportunity for readers of Engadget and Pocket PC Thoughts to get this phone before anyone else gets it with the few I have left that are unused by our company. I have full right to sell these the same way that anybody on Ebay sells their phones. While he attempts to publicly slander me, those who bought the phones are now enjoying EV-DO Broadband speeds anywhere they go - not just in WiFi hotspots. Those users have the last laugh, as the editors of Engadget have made fools of themselves. A referral list of satisfied purchasers is available to anyone who has questions. By the way, I've been the victim of online scams before, so I don't have anything against anyone who is suspicious and wants to do more investigating. The problem with Peter Rojas at Engadget is that he jumped to conclusions, made up his own story, and then posted that damaging story about my company online. He is loosing credibility of his online site in the process. He may loose more than just his credibility when my attorney gets ahold of him.

I still have a couple extra, so if you are interested in this device, you can email me at [email protected]. I wouldn't dare put my "legitimate" email address on a public site, as I am really not interested in receiving 500 emails a day about Russian Wifes for sale and Viagra junk mail. Those can go to this temporary email address I've created until these few phones are sold. Had I known that Engadget had such a low standard of business ethics, I would have never given them this information and simply put the phones on Ebay.

[q-live]

got to be a scam.... there is no way that verizon would charge near that much for that phone. ESPECIALLY SINCE IT DONT HAVE WI FI

[Samtrego]

got to be a scam.... there is no way that verizon would charge near that much for that phone. ESPECIALLY SINCE IT DONT HAVE WI FI

Have you seen the price of the NON-EVDO, WiFi XDA III on Expansys.com? It's about the same. It's been a top seller for months. No scam, just the most amazing phone, at the fastest wireless broadband WAN speed on the planet.

[ADBrown]

got to be a scam.... there is no way that verizon would charge near that much for that phone. ESPECIALLY SINCE IT DONT HAVE WI FI

Have you ever actually seen Verizon in action? They list a $300+ retail price on their one partially crippled and otherwise unremarkable Bluetooth phone. I'm not saying anything one way or another about the sellers, but I could definitely see Verizon charging that much.

[Janak Parekh]

got to be a scam.... there is no way that verizon would charge near that much for that phone. ESPECIALLY SINCE IT DONT HAVE WI FI
Not only does Verizon charge a lot for phones, this is a "early purchase" opportunity, which generally carries a premium.

Anyway, I've updated the frontpage post again to take into account Sam's post.

--janak

[jeffb]

Perhaps Sam could tell us the price he paid to Verizon for these units. If Verizon is selling them for $850, I might just decide to be an early adopter. If their price is $500, I'll wait a week or two, thank you very much.

[Pony99CA]

How does Verizon know if I bought one of these with or without a service plan? Does Imagination Entertainment actually have to sign the buyer up before they can sell the phone? How does Verizon enforce that?

If Verizon can enforce that, it seems odd that they wouldn't do something to prevent somebody other than authorized resellers and corporate channels from selling the phones early. You'd think Verizon would make those early adopters sign a do-not-sell-until agreement, wouldn't you?

Steve

[Pony99CA]

Engadget was worried about the typos describing the phone. I think this proves that was just a red herring.

He is loosing credibility of his online site in the process. He may loose more than just his credibility when my attorney gets ahold of him.

If the CEO of the company doesn't know the difference between "lose" and "loose", I wouldn't expect him to get EV-DO or XV6600 right without a typo. :lol:

Steve

[mjaffe]

I placed my order for the Verizon version today, Dec 1st..It will be delivered Thursday Dec 2nd....$459. It is available thru direct fufillment..I went to a B to B store in Norwalk CT.
Marc

[projas]

I stand behind my story, which I think displayed a healthy skepticism about what could have very easily been a scam, and all follow-up info was based on information gleaned directly from Verizon Wireless. As far as Sam Trego, he has yet to sue me for slander, and I highly doubt that he will follow up on his "threats". He has no legal basis to take action of any kind.

Peter Rojas
Engadget.com