Potential Release Date: September 25th.

[Wookiee]

I stopped by one of the local Best Buy stores today and talked with their Mobile manager (someone I have known and worked with since 2003) to see if they had a Sprint Epic 4G Touch on display so that I could play around with it (they didn't receive any, sadly). While researching the Galaxy S II for me, he pointed out that they are scheduled to do a "reset" on the phone displays on the 25th, and there was one spot in the AT&T section for a smartphone model that wasn't yet listed in their computer.

He said that the Sprint section had a similar open spot, and he was able to cross-reference the information from the "planogram" (ie. a map of the new display layout) to determine that Sprint's open spot was definitely for the Epic 4G Touch display model.

He couldn't confirm that the spot in AT&T's section was for the Galaxy S II since it's not yet in their inventory system, but logic dictates that it could be. Obviously, it could be something entirely different, such as a Windows Phone. We'll see.

If I learn anything more, I'll be sure to report back!

(EDIT: One last note: Not every Best Buy has the same layout, so the "planogram" that your local store uses might be different than the one that I visited. Take that into consideration if you choose to investigate this yourself!)

 

[Statusnone]

Seems logical. I highly doubt the phone will be coming out on Sunday the 18th. Considering Best Buy starts their weekly sales on Sunday as well, and having worked as one of their reset team members a while back for over a year, I can definitely say this seems plausible.

I hope it's sooner than later. Seems like a forever wait.

 

[kevinchaos]

I looked further into this, and I can confirm that the spot he's talking about is for model "i777", which is the model number of the gs2! don't take this as a confirmation of a 25th release date though. All it means is that the 25th is the latest date possible for the phone to be released. It could still come out on the 18th, and the 25th is just when they're officially resetting the space to accommodate it. The epic 4g touch is also on the Planogram listed as "New to Planogram", for the 25th, even though it came out today.

Fingers crossed!

 

[bake]

Maybe the carriers are getting them about a week ahead of time, which would mean Sunday! lol

 

[Statusnone]

I looked further into this, and I can confirm that the spot he's talking about is for model "i777", which is the model number of the gs2! don't take this as a confirmation of a 25th release date though. All it means is that the 25th is the latest date possible for the phone to be released. It could still come out on the 18th, and the 25th is just when they're officially resetting the space to accommodate it. The epic 4g touch is also on the Planogram listed as "New to Planogram", for the 25th, even though it came out today.

Fingers crossed!

We can only hope! Thanks for the info.

 

[Wookiee]

Thanks for following up, kevinchaos!

 

[zmagrini]

Well guys I think it is safe to say that if no word today, looks like at least a week away..

 

[SonicTheKevin]

I just got off the phone with the AT&T store in my area and he said that the next wave of phones AT&T is coming out with is October 2nd, and he expects for the phone to be out at that time....

So we might be looking at about 2 more weeks of waiting... :'(

 

[Broheemster]

Ok. I just got off the phone with a rep from AT&T in Peoria, AZ and one from Mesa, AZ. Not good news at all. The first guy says they were supposed to go up for sale tomorrow originally but will be delayed until next month sometime. The second rep said he just heard today that there will be a delay of 2 weeks to a month !!! That's two different stores telling the same story. All I asked was if they knew when the release date for "a phone " called Galaxy s2.... no mention to the second rep about the previous conversation. I now, wouldn't be suprised if this phone stays locked away until the release date of the iPhone is revealed. Definitely not good news.

 

[evident]

what a bunch of BS. they make us wait MONTHS for them to make an acknowledgement of this stupid phone on aug. 30, postpone it another day, then announce it but then keep us on edge for another month afterwards. at this rate i wont be surprised if it came out in november

 

[BuddhaMunx]

I just spoke to an AT&T store here in San Antonio, and was told there was no stock in store. The representative also said the release date was still Fall 2011 in their systems. I also got a quote on pricing which ofc can change, but he said he feels like it should be $199.99 just like the infuse, even though it is a better phone, it should be around there. So still no huge news.....I will be headed to AT&T tomm morn to return my Atrix since I was hoping to return that and use my upgrade for the GS2, so maybe it is tomm and they were told to keep their lips sealed, only time will tell.

 

[planoman]

Ok. I just got off the phone with a rep from AT&T in Peoria, AZ and one from Mesa, AZ. Not good news at all. The first guy says they were supposed to go up for sale tomorrow originally but will be delayed until next month sometime. The second rep said he just heard today that there will be a delay of 2 weeks to a month !!! That's two different stores telling the same story. All I asked was if they knew when the release date for "a phone " called Galaxy s2.... no mention to the second rep about the previous conversation. I now, wouldn't be suprised if this phone stays locked away until the release date of the iPhone is revealed. Definitely not good news.

It would be a mistake to launch this phone within 30 days of the iphone coming out. Regardless of the facts, the hype and frenzy of an iphone launch will kill this phone except with hard core android fans.

Not sure why they are not trying to get this phone out ASAP.

 

[Broheemster]

It would be a mistake to launch this phone within 30 days of the iphone coming out. Regardless of the facts, the hype and frenzy of an iphone launch will kill this phone except with hard core android fans.

Not sure why they are not trying to get this phone out ASAP.

Completely agree. Especially with the rumors of it coming to more carriers. Sorry to bring up the i-gadget, im just pessimistic now and it's just weird to me how this phone has been pushed back and pushed back into their head competitors launch window, coincidentally.

 

[Statusnone]

Completely agree. Especially with the rumors of it coming to more carriers. Sorry to bring up the i-gadget, im just pessimistic now and it's just weird to me how this phone has been pushed back and pushed back into their head competitors launch window, coincidentally.

I highly doubt this is Samsung's doing, unless they are completely stupid. If it was up to them, I'm sure this phone would be in the US for months. Someone in another post said it perfectly. I think Sprint might have won the rights to exclusivity as the first carrier or something. Verizon doesn't have this phone at all, and T-mobile won't have it for another month+. My guess is these carriers (including AT&T) must not think this phone will be that great, or don't want to piss off Apple, or SOMETHING.

What really matters is the fact that we, the consumers, the people who keep these idiots in BUSINESS, are kept in the dark about every single move they make like we don't deserve to know. That's more frustrating than anything.

Let's all pray to the cellphone God's that they're treating this like the Infuse launch and not wasting time announcing it. I'll be at my local AT&T store bright and early tomorrow to see what they have.

 

[Broheemster]

You're prob right, I'm speaking from frustration [sets t.v. set back down] lol.

I'll be at my local AT&T store bright and early tomorrow to see what they have.

Well the rest of us will be right here on the edge of our seats. I wonder if it truely gets postponed, if it will slip through to any stores out there in the country. Congrats if someone does get their hands on one

 

[zmagrini]

So how about the "confirmation" of the 25th? Not looking too likely anymore.. :-\

 

[bake]

Hopefully. We'll see what the rest of the week entails. Its a long way from Sunday lol

 

[Wookiee]

So how about the "confirmation" of the 25th? Not looking too likely anymore.. :-\

To be fair, it wasn't a "confirmation", more of a "hey, look what I found... maybe it means something!"

But yeah, we'll see.

 

[boondoc]

if sprint had an exclusive with the GSII, even if it was for a limited time believe me they'd be shouting it from the mountain tops

 

[bake]

There's a lot of stuff flying, and from what I can tell, none of it is sticking. I'm putting a little trust in the OP of this thread, and hopefully we'll get some info this week.