Engadget Mobile Gallery

Orange UK's iPhone contract & pay as you go pricing plans detailed

by Tim Stevens posted Nov 2nd 2009 at 8:29AM

We're just about a week away from the Orange iPhone launch, and if you folks across the pond were wondering what the deal was going to cost you, you now have your answer thanks to a dizzying but thoroughly helpful series of tables that lay out the costs of the phones, plans, and the various accoutrement to be included. Those willing to sign up for 24 months can get an 8GB iPhone 3G for free for a minimum of £29.36 ($48) per month, but step up to the £122.34 ($200) monthly plan with unlimited everything and you'll get a 32GB 3GS gratis. Meanwhile, on a pay as you go plan that same 8GB 3G will cost you £343 ($561), while the 32GB 3GS is a rather more painful £539 ($881 -- haven't you figured out the conversion rate yet?). You know what that means: contract ahoy.

iPhone 3GS coming to Orange UK on November 10

by Vladislav Savov posted Oct 26th 2009 at 8:43AM

So you've been lusting after that spit-shined touchy-swipey device from Apple, huh? If you're in the UK, come November 10 you'll finally have a choice of iPhone provider (both for 3G and 3GS flavors), with The Guardian confirming the date as Orange's launch of the coveted handset. O2's exclusivity runs out on the ninth of that month, but we shouldn't be too quick to rejoice, as Orange will seek to "add value" rather than undercut O2's pricing. Independent retailers Carphone Warehouse and Phones4U are also expected to stock the iPhone on behalf of Orange, and lest we forget Vodafone will be joining in with its own offering in early 2010. The CEO of 3 has also indicated a strong desire to bring Cupertino's baby onboard, though that's unlikely to happen before the midpoint of next year. So it'll get cheaper, just very... very slowly.

LG BL40 New Chocolate review

by Vladislav Savov posted Oct 19th 2009 at 11:44AM

You know the deal by now: we grab a slab of fresh new hardware, fiddle, play, and tinker with it until exhaustion or boredom is reached, then wax poetic about the whole experience, with a side serving of pictures and videos thrown in. Today's candidate for a grilling is LG's BL40, which is now available in Europe. You'll be familiar with it already from our hands-on look last month, but do join us past the break where we explore what's under the glossy hood in more detail, and give you a definitive answer on just how useful that elongated screen really is.

Gallery: LG BL40 New Chocolate review

Continue reading LG BL40 New Chocolate review

Motorola DEXT goes on sale in the UK tomorrow, maybe sneaking out today

by Nilay Patel posted Oct 6th 2009 at 11:57AM

Statesiders will have to wait another month before getting their hands on the Motorola CLIQ, but the party's getting started early in the UK: the DEXT, as it's called across the pond, goes on sale at Orange shops tomorrow and Phones4U stores the day after. Still not soon enough for you? We're also told that the Orange store in Milton Keynes will be having early sales today -- do let us know if you snag one, won't you?

[Via Boy Genius Report]

O2 issues brief, cold press release on Orange's iPhone win

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 29th 2009 at 7:56AM

Think of it from the perspective of the media relations team: after a two-year run dating back to the original iPhone, your network has just lost its exclusivity with Apple -- perhaps the highest-profile company to do so. Do you pretend it didn't happen? And if you do decide to address it, how do you spin it? Well, sit back, ladies and gentlemen, and observe O2's PR gurus at work -- because they've just spit out a terse two-paragraph release on the matter that makes no mention of Orange whatsoever, and only a veiled reference to the exclusivity loss at all. Instead, they're boasting that they "always knew that iPhone exclusivity was for a limited period of time" and even throw in a mention of the Pre, another high-profile model that's about to become an O2 exclusive, closing on a high note: "We also offer award-winning customer service and benefits, which is why more people choose O2 than any other network in the UK." You just had to play the subscriber count card, didn't you, guys?

iPhone 3G and 3GS to be offered by Orange UK -- official

by Vladislav Savov posted Sep 28th 2009 at 4:07AM

Well well, turns out rumors sometimes do come true. The widely speculated end to O2's exclusivity of the iPhone is now upon us and Orange is the first competitor to throw its hat into the ring. The company has not yet released tariff pricing, but there's a tantalizingly small release window, as availability is promised "later this year." At least there's finally some competition when it comes to the iPhone in the UK, and we can also probably look forward to T-Mobile joining in on the fun. Let the price war begin!

[Via iPhone Bang; Thanks, Gears]

LG BL40 Chocolate now shipping in the UK

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 20th 2009 at 11:35PM

LG's making good on its promise to ship the stunning BL40 in Europe this month, pairing up with Carphone Warehouse and its mobiles.co.uk division to offer the latest Chocolate through your choice of O2 or Orange. Pricing ranges from £19.99 all the way up to £129.99 ($33 to $211) depending on carrier and plan, but any way you roll, you're guaranteed to end with with one of the longest phones -- it's got a 21:9 display, after all -- that money can buy.

[Via Cell Phone Reviews, thanks poison_ivy]

ITG's Windows XP-loving xpPhone now accepting pre-orders worldwide

by Tim Stevens posted Sep 17th 2009 at 7:21AM

It's been awhile since we last saw the xpPhone, a quick, quiet demonstration at Computex that left us doubting whether the thing would ever see the light of day outside a packed showroom floor. It seems our doubts are about to be put to rest as ITG, creator of the thing, has thrown up a pre-order page on the phone's website. There's no mention of a price, and indeed you won't be asked to plunk down any cash right now (it's not much of a pre-order), but what's interesting is that it asks you to choose between 3G modules for Vodafone, Orange, or AT&T. That means ITG seemingly has aspirations of a global release for this thing, and while we're not sure how many people are going to want to lug around a MID-sized monster celly with a "super big" 4.8-inch LCD and a weight of nearly a pound, surely some nation in the world has pockets big enough for this.

[Via Pocketables]

Motorola DEXT promised to Orange UK in early October, free on contract

by Ross Miller posted Sep 15th 2009 at 11:01PM

While the US release date is still in question, Motorola CLIQ's brother across the pond DEXT has gotten itself an official an early October window from UK's exclusive carrier Orange. Best of all, it's expected to be free for those who commit to a two-year, £34.26 per month ($56.43) contract. With any luck, Americans with a penchant for Android and physical keyboards will get their own "free on contract and launching in October" deal, but we've still got nothing confirmed.

Orange introduces 'HD Voice' calls -- 3G, Moldovian citizenship required

by Donald Melanson posted Sep 11th 2009 at 6:38PM

You may not have realized it, but all of the cellphone calls you've been making have totally not been HD. While we may still be stuck with our old standard def calls for a while yet over here, it looks like the good citizens of Moldova have now finally vaulted into the future courtesy of Orange, which recently made the very first "HD Voice" call in the country (on 09/09/09, of course). Overused acronyms aside, the calls do indeed appear to be of noticeably better quality (at least if the web demo is any indication), which is mostly due to their use of the new Adaptive Multi Rate - Wide Band (or AMR-WB) codec that takes advantage of the greater bandwidth afforded by 3G. Unfortunately, it looks like the HD Voice-ready handset options are a bit limited to start with (just an Orange Moldova-exclusive version of the Nokia 6720), but it looks like more phones are expected to become available as Orange expands the service throughout Europe over the course of 2010.

[Via GSM Arena, thanks Sathish]

LG's GD910 watchphone cheaper than expected, still worth more than your Dick Tracy collection

by Tim Stevens posted Aug 7th 2009 at 7:44AM

We've been tracking LG's G910 pretty closely since it was announced late last year, because as you can clearly see it's a videophone in a watch and if that concept doesn't get your gadget senses tingling you're probably dead inside. But, we were somewhat afraid when early reports indicated that the couture-phone's exclusive partner in Europe, Orange, was going to be engaging in a bit of price gouging, selling the thing at a whopping £1,000 / €1,144 (about $1,500 at the time -- now well over $1,600 thanks to our flimsy currency). The official price has finally been confirmed, and it's an ever so slightly more palatable figure of €899 ($1,290) when signing up for a 12 or 24 month contract. That's still too rich for our blood, or wrists, but hopefully you fabulously wealthy commenters will give us some real-world impressions free of marketing inanity.

BlackBerry Curve 8520 gets a hands-on, photo shoot

by Laura June posted Jul 27th 2009 at 7:19PM

Hot on the heels of the word that RIM's BlackBerry Curve 8520 would be heading for Vodaphone in the UK, Pocket Lint's gotten a hold of one. The optical trackball-boasting, entry-level, non-3G darling looks pretty brilliant in the photos, despite its stripped down form factor. Pocket Lint is also reporting that it'll be Vodaphone-bound in August, and it'll also be available through Orange for pre-paid deals and from Carphone Warehouse where it'll be offered in violet. Now that, we'll admit, we're kind of interested in. The 8520 (or Gemini, as it's also known) is T-Mobile-bound in the US of A, most likely on August 5th. There's another shot after the break -- hit the read link for the full set.

Continue reading BlackBerry Curve 8520 gets a hands-on, photo shoot

HTC Hero on sale tomorrow at Orange UK

by Darren Murph posted Jul 21st 2009 at 3:02PM

We may have scored HTC's latest Android-infused device for a brief window of time, but if you're hoping to snag one for keeps, you'll need to jet over to the UK and sign away your cellular soul to Orange. Based on a brief but pointed tweet from a carrier representative, the HTC Hero will be "available from Orange UK retail stores [starting] tomorrow." The phone is already up on the operator's website in a delightful graphite hue, and the price of £0.00 on a pay monthly contract sure is luscious. So much for T-Mobile Germany getting a jump on everyone, huh?

[Via Twitter, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Video: Toshiba TG01 gets UK launch, we handle it again

by Vladislav Savov posted Jul 10th 2009 at 8:00AM

It may have already been teased, poked and prodded, but the TG01 from Toshiba still insisted on making a big splash on its arrival to the UK and we were only too happy to oblige and join in on its launch event in London. As you should know by now, this is Toshiba's most significant attempt to date at penetrating the consumer smartphone market, and it's coming equipped with a battering ram named Snapdragon. Keep reading for the juicy details on the UI, construction and general feel, as well as a neat stash of images and videos of the phone in action.

Continue reading Video: Toshiba TG01 gets UK launch, we handle it again

LG GD910 watchphone to go on sale in UK this August

by Laura June posted Jul 6th 2009 at 1:16PM

We don't know about anyone else, but we've been waiting on LG's GD910 ever since we first heard about it way back around CES. We've already heard that the watch / phone-loving combo would hit shelves sometime in July (that's now) in Europe, but it looks like it's going to be more like August -- at least in the UK. T3 says they've confirmed this with Orange (the GD910's exclusive carrier), and though the price remains unspecified, we're expecting it to cost somewhere between $1,000 and way-more-than-you-should-spend. We're not going to bother with the requisite Dick Tracy comments this time (though we'll freely admit we're somehow fond of the Warren Beatty disaster), but hit the read link for fuller details.