There had been rumblings about the Renown and Saga hitting up Verizon this month, and now we’re getting some confirmed dates: the Samsung Saga (I770, GSM users might recognize it as the Epix) should land on November 14th for $199 on a two-year contract; the Samsung Renown (SCH-U810) will be available November 19th. for $179 (also on two years); finally, Verizon’s HTC Touch Pro will be following hot on the heels of Sprint’s offering and the AT&T Fuze with a release date on Nov 24th. for $349 on contract.
Samsung added some CDMA internals alongside the Samsung Epix’s GSM guts, making the Samsung Saga a seriously capable Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional smartphone. The dual-band CDMA radio allows the Samsung Saga to surf Verizon’s EVDO Rev. A (3G) network, while the quad-band GSM radio ensures that the Saga can lock onto wireless networks in almost any part of the world. The Samsung Saga’s touchscreen is complemented by an optical navigation pad, making for a wholly unique Windows Mobile experience. With WiFi under the hood, the Samsung Saga should make quick work of mobile web browsing – especially once Internet Explorer Mobile 6 comes online. Look for the Samsung Saga to launch through tele-sales on November 14 and in-store sales on December 1 – with the aforementioned $199 on-contract price-tag.
For those with lesser needs, the Samsung Renown U810 will offer globe-trotters a classic clamshell design. With the same dual-band CDMA and quad-band GSM radios, the Samsung Renown boasts the same world-phone capabilities of the Samsung Saga, but pares down the feature-set for non-smartphone needs. Still, with a 2 megapixel camera, EVDO Rev. A data connectivity, and Bluetooth, the Renown is sure to please.
And, finally, we have the venerable HTC Touch Pro finally making its way to Verizon on November 24 at a $349 price-point that assumes you’ll sign up for a two-year contract. With AT&T and Sprint both offering their own-branded variants of the HTC Touch Pro, it’s good to see Verizon finally making the Verizon Touch Pro available. A quick glance at the spec-sheet confirms that the Verizon Touch Pro will sport the glorious full-VGA touchscreen display, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, and microSD card slot that has made the HTC Touch Pro a class-leading Windows Mobile smartphone.
Verizon’s Q4 sure is shaping up nicely!
[phoneArena via WinMo Cool]