As promised last week, Verizon Wireless has now started selling its first two Windows Phone 8 devices in its stores. The nation"s biggest wireless carrier, and the one with the biggest LTE network, now has the HTC Windows Phone 8X (in black and the exclusive red color) for $199.99 with a new two year contract. It also has the exclusive on the Nokia Lumia 822, which it sells for $99 with a two year contract and a $50 rebate. It comes in black, white and grey colors.
This is a big move for Verizon, which launched Windows Phone 7 devices in 2010 but bypassed selling any of the Windows Phone 7.5 products from HTC, Samsung and Nokia in 2011 and later in 2012. It"s also big for Microsoft, who have wanted more visibility for Windows Phone 8 products.
As always, if you want to go to an official Verizon Wireless store to purchase these new devices, it might be a good idea to call ahead to see if they are actually in stock. Calls to three Verizon stores in the Greenville, SC area showed that they had the Nokia Lumia 822 in stock but the HTC Windows Phone 8X was just on display at those stores with none actually available for sale yet.
Verizon will also have an exclusive on the Windows Phone 8-based Samsung ATIV Odyssey device, but there"s no word on when it will be launched.
Image via Verizon