By Stephen Schenck | February 7, 2011 8:21 PM
It’s a rite of smartphone passage: somewhere between the first rumblings of the phone’s existence and when it’s ready for a retail release, we get to see the FCC filings attesting to the device’s conformance with radio emissions requirements. While these documents are often quite dry and unapproachable to anyone without a serious interest in antenna design, they give us a nice status update the phone’s progress to market is moving along smoothly. The latest to show up at the FCC is the HTC Thunderbolt, certifying its compliance with LTE frequencies.
Now that the Thunderbolt is well on its way to being released, Best Buy has announced that it will be the exclusive retail seller of the premiere Verizon LTE smartphone. We know that a February launch is in order, and both February 14 and 24 have been mentioned as possible dates. The company’s already started taking pre-orders for the phone, accepting a $50 deposit towards its final cost. Some internal Best Buy documents point to that price being around $250 with a two-year contract, though that number hasn’t yet shown up in any promotional material.
