HTC 8S not coming to US, Verizon's 8X ships unlocked

HTC officially confirmed the Windows Phone 8S won’t be coming to the United States. HTC says its focus will go entirely on the 8X. Here comes the official statement:
"The Windows Phone 8X by HTC is our signature Windows Phone available at AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless in the U.S. With our focus on the Windows Phone 8X by HTC, the Windows Phone 8S is not currently planned for distribution in the U.S. market."
The device will probably still find its way to the US shores through various retailers and it will be available free of contract. However, with no official import its pricing might turn out to be pretty steep so there will be little point in getting it.
In other news, the Verizon's HTC Windows Phone 8X sells unlocked and it's compatible with whatever microSIM you may have from carriers around the globe. It seems this might be a new Verizon policy since other top-notch phones from their catalog also come unlocked - notably the iPhone 5 and DROID DNA.

Samsung Galaxy Note II for Verizon goes on sale tomorrow

Verizon raised a few eyebrows when it put its logo on the Home button of the Samsung Galaxy Note II, but if you can live with that, you should know that the phablet goes on sale tomorrow, November 29.
The price is the same as it was during pre-orders - $300 if you sign a 2-year contract, or $700 if you prefer to go off-contract. The Note II for Verizon is available in Marble White and Titanium Gray.

By the way, if you've already pre-ordered Samsung's fast-selling phablet, you should have a shipping confirmation email in your inbox.
Verizon's Samsung Galaxy Note II is the same 5.5" Super AMOLED-packing, Jelly Bean-running, Exynos-powered device as the international version, but also gets support for Verizon's CDMA and 4G LTE networks.