While the Google Pixel 2 is set to be announced on October 4, HTC is celebrating its other creations with a customer appreciation week starting Monday, October 2 and lasting until Sunday, October 8.

These are the deals you’ve been waiting for if you’ve been itching to get your hands on three of the manufacturer’s big 2017 releases: 

• HTC U11 ($100 off at $549, plus free HTC gift pack)

This phone packs in the innovative and squeeze-friendly Edge Sense tech, the amazing BoomSound USB-C earbuds, super-fast Snapdragon 835 and a stellar camera.

• HTC U Ultra ($300 off at $449)

A premium mid-range device inspired by the LG V20’s dual-display combo. Its biggest flaw was its high price tag, so now that’s it lower, this is one that’s worth looking at.

• HTC Bolt ($200 off at $400)

This Sprint exclusive looks startlingly like the Google Pixel and is quite durable if you’re someone who’s likely to put your smartphones through a world of hurt. It’s not the best value out there, but if you’re strapped for options on Sprint’s network, you could do far worse.

• Accessories (50% off w/ purchase)

If you purchase a smartphone during the week-long sale, HTC offering any and all accessories for that device at a steep discount. Heck, even if you don’t spend big money, you can likely pick up a case of your choosing for just $10.

You don’t commonly see a manufacturer slash prices, so this is nice to see. We also enjoy how self-aware HTC is by holding the event until October 8, also written as 10/08, the time stamped onto each and every HTC smartphone in promotions. 

On top of the deals, HTC is hosting giveaways during the Green is Good week-long event. If you want to be eligible to receive a free HTC U11, HTC U Ultra, HTC Vive and more for free, just sign up through this link.

• You likely won’t see deals this good again until Black Friday or Cyber Monday 2017

It was widely believed that the plus-sized LG V30 Plus would make an appearance at IFA 2017, but alas, that didn't happen.

Interestingly enough, that model has popped up today, but as a Sprint exclusive in the United States. The language used in the carrier’s press release states that it will be the sole provider of the phone “at launch”, which like the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active, means it will likely make its way to more carriers (and more regions) eventually.

Carrier exclusivity deals aside, this is a heck of a bargain for what is building up to be one of 2017's best flagships. Sprint is taking full advantage of the spotlight by offering a buy-one-get-one for the V30 Plus, with both phones costing just $38 per month combined. That works out to roughly $900 for two phones, which is a staggeringly good deal considering that other carriers, like T-Mobile, are offering a single V30 (non-Plus) for $30 per month, or about $800 total after a two-year contract.

Not just that, Sprint is also offering a free Google Daydream View headset and a content starter pack along with purchase. The deal just gets better and better.

Great deal, confusing phone

Digging into what makes the V30 Plus unique, it isn’t a “plus” in the same sense as, say, the iPhone 8 Plus. It’s actually no bigger than the standard LG V30, which also features a six-inch AMOLED display. 

What is different is the internal storage, which is doubled to 128GB, as well as the fact that LG is tossing in a set of its LG Quad Play wired headphones that are supposedly suited to take advantage of the Quad DAC built into the phone.

As the release of the LG V30 has crept closer with few details shared until recently, the announcement of an entirely separate model is somewhat confusing. This is compounded further by the fact that the Plus is not only the exact same size as the core V30, but also that the doubled storage doesn’t carry much weight as a selling point since both versions have a microSD slot.

I suppose the Plus-specific earbuds are a solid toss-in, assuming these are as good as the Bang & Olufsen earbuds that LG included with last year’s LG V20. But what does this mean for what’s inside of the standard V30’s box? We haven't received a final unit yet, so we're unsure of what buyers are in for when they buy in.

The LG V30 Plus comes after Sprint nabbed exclusive rights to sell the Essential Phone in its stores. Given that Sprint is the underdog of US wireless carriers, it’s definitely an impressive feat to nab not one, but two big hardware exclusives. 

Via Engadget

At an event held in Mumbai today, Jio in partnership with Apple unveiled the newly launched Apple iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus in India. The phones were launched by Akash M Ambani, Director, Jio. Tim Cook and Mukesh Ambani also expressed their delight and addressed the audience through a special video message. 

We witnessed the launch of both the phones on Sep 12 at the Steve Jobs Theatre along with iPhone X, Apple Watch Series 3 and Apple TV 4K. Since then, speculations were made about the availability of the products in India as well.

Jio is offering the phones with some offers and exclusive tariff plans. One such offer is 70% buyback scheme under which the user will can claim 70% of the MRP of the iPhone 8 as the buy back amount on returning the phone after one year. 

In his speech at the launch event, Akash M Ambani said that such buyback offers are available in US and Europe. This is the first time that any such offer is introduced in the country. Users can avail this offer from My Jio App, Jio store, Reliance Digital store, Amazon India and enterprise partners of Jio. Apart from this, an additional cashback is also provided to Citi Credit Card and World Debit Card users.

Jio has also announced special tariff plans for both the phones. Priced at Rs 799, the plan will provide 90GB of data per month to the users, meaning they will get 3GB of high speed data per day along with free voice calls, SMS and subscribed Jio apps. The offer is applicable for a month to postpaid users and prepaid users.

Apart from launching these phones in the Indian market, both the brands will work together to bring Mac Labs and iPhone X in the country within next few months.

Price and availability

Both the iPhones will be available in 64GB and 256GB variants on Reliance Digital outlets located in 900 cities across the country. The iPhone 8 64GB variant and 256GB variant are priced at Rs 64,000 and Rs 77,000 respectively. Buyers have to shed an additional amount of Rs 9,000 for 64GB and 256GB variants of iPhone 8 Plus.