Sprint launches Touch Pro at "select national retailers" this week

by Chris Ziegler, posted Oct 24th 2008 at 11:03AM

Locked in a footrace with AT&T's Fuze to become the first US national carrier to launch a variant of the HTC Touch Pro, Sprint has announced that folks can start ordering the QWERTY smartphone this week from "select national retailers," making good on a promise made at CTIA last month. That's not quite as cool as a full-scale launch, but at least we'll start to get 'em in the wild in the next few days -- meanwhile, a more full-scale, fanfare-filled launch is planned for November 2 when the Touch Pro is made available online, via phone, and in all Sprint stores. Any Touch Diamond buyers feeling lingering regrets right about now?

Filed under: Handsets, HTC, Sprint, Windows Mobile, EV-DO, CDMA

Tags: breaking news, BreakingNews, sprint, touch pro, TouchPro, windows mobile, windows mobile 6.1, WindowsMobile, WindowsMobile6.1, winmo, wm6.1

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Eron @ Oct 24th 2008 11:25AM

AT&T, get your act together.

Thanx

Neutral

Nal @ Oct 24th 2008 12:18PM

AT&T has AT&T-fied the TouchFlo3D interace, and I'm curious to see how that looks in real life. I mean, I'm sticking with Sprint but I just thought the AT&T themed TouchFlo3D can be a bonus as far as aesthetics?

Neutral

Eron @ Oct 24th 2008 12:22PM

I heard that you can change themes so even if you feel the need, you should be able to make your Sprint version look like AT&T's. Also heard that AT&T's theme is more white while the regular PRO is black. Check out the AT&T wireless forums for more info.

Highly Ranked

rkmoray @ Oct 24th 2008 11:26AM

That's the phone I have been waiting for. Now I just need a Canadian crook(carrier) to pick up the phone

Neutral

t3yf5g @ Oct 24th 2008 11:37AM

TELUS will be selling the phone pretty soon. They had the Diamond before anyone, but that was a deal with HTC. Now they are gonna get the same as everyone else.

Neutral

Martin @ Oct 24th 2008 11:36AM

Actually, I prefer my small slim Touch Diamond. I am doing just fine with the touch screen keyboard and 4gb is plenty of space.

Neutral

CD @ Oct 24th 2008 11:46AM

Now maybe Verizon will get it sooner! I wonder who the select national retailer.

Neutral

RaFy186 @ Oct 24th 2008 12:16PM

Verizon??? Ha wait until next year. Didn't they just released that white Touch about 6 months ago? Plus Verizon is removing everything from the phone but the battery and LCD. LOL

Neutral

Nal @ Oct 24th 2008 12:19PM

I wonder what the TouchFlo3D interface for Verizon is going to look like. I assume red and black, so I can't wait to see it.

Neutral

Nal @ Oct 24th 2008 12:15PM

I'll be getting this phone. While I did like the Touch Diamond, I can't live without a QWERTY keyboard. When that Swype technology or something better gets implemented in touch screen keyboards, maybe I'll think about going back to them, but right now, even the iPhone's keyboard is quite annoying for me to use. I'm quite saddened by the fact that I'm choosing this over Android, but after comparing the hardware of the G1 to the Touch Pro, it's like comparing gold to copper. The Touch Pro's design is better in a sense that it looks more refined, whereas the G1 looks more like an alternative Sidekick. Well, maybe the white G1 won't look that bad? Decisions!

Neutral

Jim @ Oct 24th 2008 12:29PM

Does anyone know which "select national retailers" will be carrying this phone?

Neutral

Brian @ Oct 24th 2008 2:36PM

Bestbuy is one of the retailers.

Neutral

t3yf5g @ Oct 24th 2008 4:05PM

They are selling now actually. call you local store to see if they are in.

Neutral

LordDavon @ Oct 24th 2008 12:58PM

Anyone know what "this week" means? Where I am sitting, it's Friday.

Dav

Neutral

BarneyBU @ Oct 24th 2008 1:42PM

Sprint has always had a good relationship with Best Buy. I believe they got the Mogul in stock a good couple of weeks before everyone else.

Neutral

JSS @ Oct 24th 2008 2:41PM

they're kidding, i agree.

humm.... "select national retailers".... that's confusing. Here in L.A there's a sprint store each corner, so how do i know wich one is a "select retailer"?. lol.

Neutral

Erick @ Oct 24th 2008 1:30PM

I still don't know why AT&T changed the keyboard on the Fuze. The whole benefit of the 5th row was for numbers and instead they used it for symbols?

As for the G1... I played with it and it's really nice mainly because of the size. The Diamond seemed pretty small so I'm wondering how the Touch Pro would be in comparison.

Neutral

Who? @ Oct 24th 2008 1:40PM

November 2 is a Sunday. There's no way anyone is launching a phone on a Sunday.

Neutral

Brian @ Oct 24th 2008 1:53PM

I'm pretty sure it's November 2nd.

I went to my local sprint store, got a bunch of Touch Pro promotional material, and got told to return November 2nd for the release of the device.

Neutral

EMan @ Oct 24th 2008 2:12PM

Sprint has launched phones in the past on Sunday.

Neutral

Dead_Rebel @ Oct 24th 2008 3:45PM

ALL of Sprint's releases are on Sunday. Don't ask me why, but they are.

Neutral

nxp3 @ Oct 24th 2008 4:02PM

Perhaps sprint is anti church...and if you skip it to go...I'm not sure you'd be allowed into heaven.

Neutral

nreeldeep @ Oct 30th 2008 9:28AM

Sprint has launched phones on Sunday before.

Neutral

AtOurGates @ Oct 24th 2008 2:58PM

I will be disappointed by every "Sprint Announces..." post until the one that ends with "...immediate availability of android phone."

Very disappointed.

Neutral

t3yf5g @ Oct 24th 2008 3:30PM

Random BBYs have them instock! PPCGeeks.com forums are flooded with people that managed to snag one.

Neutral

t3yf5g @ Oct 24th 2008 3:32PM

Forgive me if this is a double post. I didnt see my first one.

Random BBYs have them instock! PPCGeeks forums are flooded with people that managed to snag one.

Highest Ranked

amw1972 @ Oct 24th 2008 3:38PM

I don't understand why everyone is so hung up on the way touchflo "LOOKS." The phone runs on WinMo 6.1. The UI is completely skinnable. If you have a Tilt...you can find the software out there (sometimes for free) to run 3dTouchFlo on your tilt. The Touch Pro is all about the hardware. The keyboard...the expandable microSD (not like the Diamond)...the fact that its NOT an iPhone. People, look pass the eye candy and recognize the real goods.

Neutral

t3yf5g @ Oct 24th 2008 4:06PM

I second that.

Neutral

nxp3 @ Oct 24th 2008 4:07PM

Yeah but no matter what GUI it's still a wimo...Though that is probably the best damn sprint phone/with feature I'd ever seen. I've been looging for something to replace the palm for a while but haven't found anything good. Didn't want to change carrier since my work if paying for the service charges. I mean I can handle an ugly phone if I don't have to pay for it.

Neutral

roncruiser @ Oct 24th 2008 4:28PM

Finally!

Neutral

Brettinsocal @ Oct 24th 2008 5:18PM

As of 2:00 pm BBY Burbank has 6 left in store FCFS. $780 off contract! Yikes.

Neutral

nico4k @ Oct 24th 2008 5:27PM

the official release date is Oct. 26th as it was officially announce by sprint for those "select retail
stores"...see link below
http://newsreleases.sprint.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=127149&p=irol-newsArticle_newsroom&ID=1217060&highlight=

Neutral

nico4k @ Oct 24th 2008 6:14PM

funny..a bunch of people from PPCGEEKS.com already bought theirs in the Best Buy Mobile stores right now....hahaha...
no need to wait for it until Oct. 26th. if best buy mobile is near you..call and check if they have it available...

Neutral

acme @ Oct 24th 2008 6:57PM

its not on bestbuys website, but they have the pro at 700bucks..god damn!

Neutral

PeterF @ Oct 24th 2008 8:25PM

These are already at best buy. I went and played with one for half an hour (my friend works there). REALLY nice! Can't wait for the FUZE so that I can own it!

Neutral

t-pain @ Oct 24th 2008 11:37PM

I almost had one tonight!! But they couldn't port my number and there's no way I can give my number up. So it looks like I'm forced to wait and see what VZW does in the next couple of months. I am so frustrated- I have been waiting for this phone for 6 months and Sprint couldn't port my number for some ridiculous reason. And I know Verizon is going to mess up their version when they release it next month. Damn it.

Neutral

acme @ Oct 25th 2008 12:56AM

would it be possible to get an unlocked sprint one for the vzw network?

Neutral

nick marshall @ Oct 25th 2008 4:38PM

You can check to see if it is available at your local best buy using the online inventory checker

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcat17006&type=page&sourceId=1099395571979&sourceType=product&skuId=9064406&productId=1099395571979&itemId=9064406

There is also a 20% off coupon for best buy reward zone members.

http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.php?cat=image&file=bb_coupon.jpg

Neutral

acme @ Oct 25th 2008 7:05PM

sweet, thanks for the info, ill prob head in there tommorrow

Neutral

sincere @ Oct 25th 2008 9:03PM

Got my touch pro this afternoon at a BestBuy. Switched over from the iPhone 3G and so far happy with my choice. The pricing at BestBuy is crazy, no mail-in rebates because they are instant. So I paid 299.99 and then got an additional 20% off for being a rewardzone member. $279.99 for this phone is a steal. I am a new customer to Sprint, but glad that I went back to them for this phone after being away for 4 years.

Neutral

Jay @ Oct 25th 2008 10:48PM

Just about all Best Buy Mobiles should have them by now and the phone is damn sexy to say the least. You can't beat the instant savings at BBY. Screen is crystal clear, interface is slick and features like the business card scanner work better than expected.

FYI about that BBY coupon - it only applies to new lines of service, not upgrades just so you know!!!

Neutral

cocoviper @ Oct 26th 2008 12:13AM

RE: to Jay

"FYI about that BBY coupon - it only applies to new lines of service, not upgrades just so you know!!!"

Actually the Best Buy ad says: "savings on phones requires activation through best buy of new lines of service with 2-year agreement on each line, or a 2-year agreement for qualified existing customers."

Neutral

Jay @ Oct 26th 2008 10:00PM

Wow I need to get my eyes checked haha...you are correct cocoviper, my bad!!

Neutral

JSS @ Oct 27th 2008 1:07AM

hey, i got mine this evening for $279.99... no reward zone discount. I'd say that buying this phone from best buy is more convenient than going to a sprint store (rebates, delays...)...

btw, the phone is just great!...