Essential Phone Gets Permanent Price Drop To $499, Previous Buyers Get $200 "Friends And Family" Code

Essential Phone was first announced and went on sale in May. The high end Android phone later started shipping to customers in late August. At the time the price of the phone was $699, but a few days ago some retailers started discounting the device by $100. This evening Essential announced that the phone was getting a permanent $200 price drop to $499 on its web store.

Niccolo de Masi the president of Essential, stated that anyone who bought the Essential Phone before October 22 will be able to get a $200 “friends and family” code for use on its store. The code can be used to reduce the price of a new Essential Phone purchase, which means if you have one of these codes the price of the phone will go down to $299. The code can also be applied to the purchase of the company’s Essential 360 Camera add-on for the phone, which basically makes that accessory free. Those folks will have to submit their details to claim the $200 store code at the source link below by November 15.


Source: Essential, $200 "friends and family" code

Essential Phone Is Now Available For Purchase

Andy Rubin’s startup, Essential is finally opening up orders for its first phone... the Essential Phone. The unlocked bezel less device is now available from Essential and multiple retailers for $699.

In the United States you’ll have three primary options for picking up an Essential Phone. First, through Essential’s own online store. If you’re at all interested in checking out the company’s modular 360-degree camera, this is the portal to buy through since you’ll be able to get it for $50 on top of your order rather than paying the standard $199 price. You can also add a protection plan that lasts two years for an additional $99.

In the United States, you’ll have four options for picking up an Essential Phone. First, through Essential’s own online store. If you’re interested in checking out the company’s modular 360 degree camera this is the portal to buy through since you’ll be able to get it for $50 in addition to your order rather than paying the standard $199 price. You can also add a protection plan that lasts two years for an additional $99. 

If you’d prefer to buy elsewhere Essential Phone is available through Sprint, Best Buy, or Amazon as well. Best Buy lists the phone as a Sprint model but the bands listed on the product page still support all major US carriers. Sprint is offering a deal that cuts the price of the phone in half for early buyers taking the monthly payment price to just $14.58 per month for 18 months. Essential is offering pre orders of the unlocked model through Amazon with a September 1st release date.

The Essential Phone is available to Canadian buyers through TELUS.

Essential also confirms a few more details about the phone, Essential says "Technology moves so quickly that companies rush to release a new phone each year, but most times even that isn’t fast enough. This deluge of devices isn’t good for your wallet or for the planet. Essential Phone will get guaranteed Android OS updates for 2 years and will get monthly security updates for 3 years, so your phone will always be secure and have the latest features."

Andy Rubin's Essential Secures Funding From Amazon, Promises Phone Release Date Next Week

Essential, Android creator Andy Rubin's smartphone startup announced its phone earlier this year but has yet to say when it will actually become available. 

In the time since, the company has announced retail partners and exclusive carriers for each region including Sprint in the U.S. and TELUS in Canada. Now the company announced it secured investment funding from a few investment giants including Amazon and Tencent Holdings.

The $300 million infusion was confirmed by Essential to the Wall Street Journal. Essential also announced that Amazon and Best Buy will be launch partners in addition to Sprint being the exclusive carrier for the Essential Phone in the US, though all versions will be unlocked and usable on all U.S. networks.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 Hits The US This Week For $399

Last month Samsung unveiled the new Galaxy Note 8.0 at Mobile World Congress, and today they revealed pricing and availability for the US. The Galaxy Note 8.0 Wi-Fi will hit retail stores on April 11 and sell for a suggested price of $399. Customers who wish to pick up the device can find it at Amazon, Best Buy/Best Buy Mobile, H.H. Gregg, Newegg, P.C. Richard & Son, Staples and TigerDirect.com.

Highlights of the device include an 8.0 inch HD display (1280 x 800, 189ppi), 1.6GHz Quad Core processor and 2GB of RAM, 5-megapixel camera on the back can shoot 1080p video, 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera can handle video chats at 720p resolution, 16 GB internal storage with a microSD slot for expansion, built-in IR blaster, and a large 4,600 mAh battery.

“The Galaxy Note defined an entirely new smartphone category and the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet redefined the tablet experience for consumers,” said Travis Merrill, vice president of Samsung Electronics America, Inc. “With the Galaxy Note 8.0, we fully expect to ignite the mid-size tablet market Samsung pioneered with the first Galaxy Tab. The Galaxy Note 8.0 is small enough to fit in your pocket or purse and packs the power needed for full mobile entertainment and productivity.”

We just received a demo unit to check out, but we felt that the unique device deserved some more attention and not a rushed 48-hour review. Be on the lookout for our full impressions and check out Samsung’s presentation below from MWC to get an idea of what to expect from the Note 8.0.

Source: Samsung

Best Buy Offering Verizon Palm Pre 2 For 44.99

If you're looking to cut costs on your cell phone contract and maybe upgrade from a beaten old Pre or Pre Plus, you might want to turn some attention to Best Buy and Verizon, as they have a Verizon Palm Pre 2 available contract-free for Verizon's prepaid system for the low low price of just $51.99. That sort of rock-bottom pricing doesn't come around often, even for two-year-old long-canceled smartphones like the Pre 2.

There's no immediate indication that this Pre 2 is locked into only Verizon's prepaid service. Verizon actually allows you to bring any Verizon device onto prepaid, and there's nothing about this phone that says it wouldn't work the other way around too, there likely hasn't been any reprogramming to lock them onto prepaid either.

Prepaid service for a smartphone like the Pre 2 through Verizon will run you $60 a month for unlimited talk and text with 500MB of data, while another $10 will net you a 2GB data allotment. Not only is the $51.99 Pre 2 through Best Buy the cheapest smartphone offered for Verizon prepaid, it's a damn good price if you were looking to pick up a spare device or two should things go south with your current webOS smartphone.

We'd actually say, if not for the fact that it comes with minimal support from HP and app developers, it would qualify by far as the best smartphone offered on Verizon prepaid, either directly from the carrier or Best Buy.

It looks as if this offer didn't last long, a quick check of the Best Buy website shows the device being sold out. Hit the link below.

Source: Best Buy

Best Buy CEO Admits Serious Flaws

After the resignation of its CEO and later its founder in the wake a personal conduct probe, numerous store shutdowns, and a $1.7 billion quarterly loss, Best Buy is trying to draw people back to its stores. On an earnings call today, interim CEO Mike Mikan gave a candid assessment of what he saw as the flaws that have left Best Buy struggling against online retailers like Amazon. "Not that long ago," he said, "Best Buy was the authority in this market. Our stores wowed consumers... Best Buy provided a unique customer experience that gave us a clear edge over competitors. Not anymore." The company, he said, was unprepared for a market where information and products were easily available online, and now "Best Buy is not performing up to its past standards."

One of the biggest changes, Mikan says, will be with its employees. "We need to raise the bar for everyone, from the Blue Shirts to Geek Squad to those at the very top of the company, including myself." That means "better trained, better equipped team members" who can lure customers off the web. They'll also need to be able to speak knowledgeably about the tech that they're selling. 

"We expect the Blue Shirts and Geek Squad agents who will staff those stores will speak with authority about technology. Their mandate will be to shift the customer expectation from repair, our traditional Geek Squad offering, to one of relationship." It's a common sense idea, but it's also probably easier said than done on a large scale. More immediately, he also said Best Buy could use analytics to figure out what customers want to buy and maintain a stronger relationship.

Best Buy has already closed down fifty storefronts, but Mikan noticeably did not mention any more shutdowns, focusing instead on plans to make stores smaller and more targeted. All these plans, however, seem very much in the air right now. "We do not have all the answers today," he said, noting that Best Buy would be drawing up a multi-year blueprint later. "Make no mistake: we will reclaim that place of authority."

Best Buy Connect To Disconnect On June 1st

It is just short of two years since Best Buy launched its mobile broadband service, Best Buy Connect. Apparently, Best Buy has decided to abruptly pull the plug on the service completely.

New activations will cease effective immediately and the service will be shut down completely on June 1st.  Obviously, all early terminations fees will be waived. WiMAX 4G customers will have the option to transition their service to CLEAR.

Existing customers whose accounts are in good standing will receive a $125 or $150 gift card, depending on their service, by email on April 27th to help offset the cost of finding a new provider. Those with overdue accounts that address the balance will receive their gift cards on June 20th.

Best Buy simply states that it feels it “can achieve greater growth by delivering mobile broadband support in ways other than an exclusive Best Buy-branded service.”

Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn Resigns

Brian Dunn has announced that he is resigning from the position of CEO of Best Buy and is also stepping down from the board of directors. “I have enjoyed every one of my 28 years with this company, and I leave it today in position for a strong future. I am proud of my fellow employees and I wish them the best,” said Dunn in a statement. Mike Mikan has been named as the interim CEO. He has been a Best Buy director since April 2008. A search committee has been formed to find the next permanent CEO.

Best Buy To Cut 400 Jobs, Close 50 Stores Nationwide

The move to cut 400 jobs and close 50 stores nationwide was announced alongside Best Buy's Q4 earnings report, which includes action items aimed to trim $800 million in costs by 2015. The closings will no-doubt come along with staffer reductions, some of whom could be transferred to one of 100 Best Buy Mobile "small format stand-alone stores" set to launch next year. While an unfortunate move for some customers and employees, it does show some foresight on behalf of BBY management, who likely recognize a continuing shift to online purchasing, and a greater emphasis on mobile devices, which require significantly smaller showrooms, cost less to ship and could offer greater margins to boot.

Sprint iPad Shows Up At Best Buy

If you were keeping score during Apple's iPad keynote on Wednesday, you noticed AT&T and Verizon listed amongst the carriers that will get the new iPad, but what about Sprint? It's going to be rockin' LTE in the not-too-distant future, after all. Well, if our eyes dost not deceive us, what we're seeing above (and below) may help put friends of the Now Network at ease: the new iPad for Sprint has arrived in Best Buy's internal inventory system. Does this mean we're going to see the devices magically show up next week at the electronic megastore?

US HTC Flyer officially discontinued, will the HTC EVO View 4G?

It's official: The US WiFi-only version of the HTC Flyer is no longer being sold by Best Buy, which was the only official retailer of the 7-inch tablet stateside. Since the HTC EVO View 4G is basically just a WiMAX variant of the Flyer - identical to the Flyer in almost every other way - the question remains: what are Sprint's ultimate plans for the EVO View? Leave your comments.

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Nexus Prime product page at Best Buy $299

Once again we see Best Buy using the name Nexus Prime, this time it's on the new product page live on their website as of tonight.  Even more interesting is the fact that the $299 price point is good starting today (Nov. 27), with a 2-year agreement of course.  While we don't know if this name is going to stick, and no date is official until we hear it from Verizon, any news that shows this phone is close to a release is good news.  Another best buy snafu, or something nobody expects?