Best Buy Mobile verifies smartphone exclusives

Best Buy Mobile announced this week it will be the exclusive retailer of four smartphones this holiday season, confirming an earlier leak. They include a white Xperia X10, Dell Streak, HTC Surround and white Samsung Fascinate. The four are now available for pre-order in stores and online, though the Fascinate is now a store-only offering.

The white Fascinate is also being sold without a contract and therefore carrier subsidy, so it costs $600. It will arrive in stores on October 20, and sport the same features as other Fascinates. This includes Android 2.1, a 5-megapixel camera with 720p video recording and a 4-inch, 800x480 touchscreen.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 comes in white at Best Buy and includes The Essential Taylor Swift Experience. The deal gives buyers two of Swift's albums, a new single, ringtone and video content, and access to a new album that launches at the same time as the phone. The smartphone arrives on October 25, priced at $100 on a two-year contract.

The HTC Surround sports a 3.8-inch touchscreen and includes integrated Dolby Mobile and SRS surround sound speakers that slide out. It will be Best Buy's first Windows Phone 7-powered smartphone when it arrives on November 8 for $200 when paired with a two-year AT&T contract; the figure puts its launch early, as only the Samsung Focus was slated to arrive on the first day.

Finally, the 5-inch Streak tablet that doubles as a smartphone will be sold in Best Buy retail stores first when it arrives October 24. It will cost $300 on a two-year contract with AT&T. Specs include a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon, Android 1.6, dual cameras, integrated A-GPS and 2GB of storage.

By Electronista Staff