Activate Virgin Mobile's Optimus Elite and receive a $25 Google Wallet credit

After three short days on the shelf, Virgin Mobile's LG Optimus Elite is already up for a promotion: Google will credit your Google Wallet account with $25 when you activate the NFC-service within 7 days of activating your Elite. LG's Gingerbread-powered Optimus Elite is the prepaid carrier's first NFC-capable device, and Virgin isn't wasting any time putting the service to good use. The offer is good on any of Virgin's Beyond Talk plans, and will run from now through July 18, though there is a bit of fine print: your account will be credited with $10 within the first three days, with the remaining $15 eventually added within the following three weeks. Regardless, for $150 without a contract, the Elite is already a pretty sweet deal, and with another $25 thrown in for good measure, we're tempted to say adios to contracts forever.

Anndrew Vacca