I may have just found an alternative to the Priv for those of you whose main interest is the physical keyboard. Samsung will be offering a keyboard cover for their new Galaxy S7 for a rumored $60. The actual keyboard cover may currently be viewed on the Samsung website. And as an added incentive (which I don't care about), they are adding free Virtual Reality glasses for all pre-orders which is valued at $150 according to Samsung. For those of you who would like to point out that this is nothing new as Samsung offered a similar keyboard case for the S6, while that is true, the S6 was such a crappy phone that it wasn't even worthy of consideration (at least I thought so). The S7 is actually looking pretty good with its expandable memory slot, water resistance, and longer battery life. While keyboard covers tend to not be the best, I hear that the Priv's keyboard isn't that great either. And since this one is made by Samsung, I suspect it may be better than the average keyboard cover made by a little-known third party manufacturer...Then again, the two phones will likely release around the same time, so if you are really adamant about the Priv, you may as well wait the extra week or so. The S7 does seem like a better phone specs-wise, however I would prefer a physical keyboard so I don't know about you guys, but I'm still undecided.

I hear you jasken. T heir vague "soon" has become more than a little irritating. I guess that given enough time, their "soon" will actually begin to mean soon. I have been out of contract for YEARS and have remained loyal, but the exit door has begun to look more and more tempting with each passing day. If you did leave, I wouldn't blame you. Good luck to you!

Welcome back Tidbits! It is possible that it is due to an exclusive deal. There are also rumors that they are waiting to have the bugs fixed (there have been bugs reported) and to release the device with Marshmallow. Either way, this is all just speculation for now. We'll have to wait and see.

Not sure what the "truth" is according to you. If it's that they will not announce until they are ready, I have agreed with that many times so I'm assuming you are speaking about another "truth". Since you have appeared to be highly confused throughout our discussion, I am going to wager that whatever this "truth" is, it is actually wrong. You keep bringing up the same moot points over and over again. Sounds like you are either having difficulty with reading comprehension (which is okay, some people do), or you are commending just to comment. Either way, its been interesting to say the least. ~Chrono2050

1) Yes, there is a big difference between a manufacturer and a retailer. My keynote example was just that, an example. I deliberately stated that it is not always that formal because it would definitely NOT be for a retailer. An announcement is really just communication whether formal or informal. You do not have to be a manufacturer to communicate. 2) No one is still interested in knowing whether Verizon will be carrying the device because they announced that they would months ago. The question on people's mind is, "When will the device be released?". Ideally, yes, that would be nice to know, but I am definitely not expecting to hear this information from them through this forum, or prior to them being ready to make the announcement. 3) I do not understand why you keep mentioning that they will NOT announce anything until they are ready. I have agreed with that point from the beginning so I am obviously NOT expecting them to do just that.

Are you on the right track? Yes. Are you spot on? Not at all. I know how businesses work, in fact I have a degree in Business and years of experience. And I have stated that you are right that Verizon, nor any other company, will disseminate information prior to being ready, so what is it I want then? If you can answer that question correctly, perhaps you'll understand why you are not "spot on". That is all I will say. And as far as "an announcement when they will make an announcement" being humorous, I am not sure why you would find it as such. This is done all the time. Sometimes companies have a date set that that they allow to be public knowledge for when they will elaborate more about a product such as in specs, features, release date, etc. For example, during a keynote but it is not always that formal.

Tidbits: That part is true for not just Verizon, but for all companies. However, you are completely missing the point. ...anyway, doesn't matter because it is apparent that this forum is a complete waste of time. ~Chrono2050

Again, unwarranted assumptions being made, not sure why...no one is asking employees to go rogue and leak information. Looking for Verizon to be good to its loyal customers and provide something, anything, even if it is NOT the actual release date...just toss us a bone...

No one is asking Verizon to allocate funds to advertise the Priv. Just to at least provide an estimation to when an announcement will be made if they cannot provide an actual release date. There are many people waiting for the Priv compared to the low cost of writing a simple message, "We expect to have information on the Priv's release date in approximately..." The cost of writing that 30 second message? Just the few cents in wages to whomever posts it. Therefore, the rate of return?...High

"They don't normally announce when an announcement is going to happen."...but perhaps they should make an exception this time. 68 pages in the "Verizon Priv waiting room" on Crackberry.com and counting plus this thread among many others. And considering that the phone has been out for months on AT&T, when it does appear on Verizon, it will be old tech, I think it would be more than fair to at least provide an estimate as to when to expect an announcement. It almost appears as if Verizon wants this phone to fail. It will be released either near or after the release of the new Samsung Galaxy phone, and rumors are at a price on par with the Galaxy which will have superior specs such as a faster processor, longer battery life, more notoriety, etc...