Verizon may delay HTC Incredible, drop rebates on Palm
updated 06:15 pm EST, Thu March 4, 2010
Verizon having troubles with Android, webOS phones
Verizon may be encountering a pair of setbacks for some of its higher-profile smartphones. The HTC Incredible has been seen again in photos but is now rumored to be pushed back from availability around the March 23rd start of the CTIA phone expo to May. It would allegedly give the company time to fix an apparent bug in the multi-touch accuracy on the 3.7-inch AMOLED screen, a problem that Phandroid notes affects the Nexus One and possibly the Desire as well.
The photos don't provide many new details of the Incredible, but the red buttons on the side corroborate earlier photos of the Android 2.1 device that showed a red back. It implies that Verizon may consider the Incredible a flagship that carries the cellular provider's signature color. A Snapdragon processor, an optical trackpad and 256MB are known to be part of what make the phone relatively unique in Verizon's lineup.
At the same time, another rumor from within Verizon claims that the carrier is switching from mail-in rebates to instant for the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus. The gesture would make the respective $150 and $80 prices the actual in-store price. Such a move is likely a sign of poor sales, the BGR tipster claims, as Verizon can usually count on customers being willing to pay the full price even if they forget to mail in the discount.
Palm is known to be extremely worried about slow phone sales at Verizon and in a CEO memo talked about Palm ambassadors and heavier advertising as part of a strategy to meet its phone sales targets. At Verizon, Palm has had to compete against multiple more heavily marketed Android phones as well as usual popular fare like BlackBerries.
