Earth-friendly initiatives are picking up steam in the mobile world just as they are with virtually every other industry, and the redesign of the wall warts we all use to recharge our phones seems to be one of the lowest-hanging fruits. The problem stems from the fact that the chargers continue to draw prodigious power even after the phones to which they're attached are fully charged, leading to millions of wasted watt-hours year in and year out. The problem's so fricking big that the top five handset manufacturers put aside their differences long enough to agree on a standard for rating how "green" chargers are, and O2's British outpost wasted no time in jumping on the bandwagon with a universal charger said to be some 70 percent more efficient than your average brick. We imagine most other carriers are going to follow suit on this -- at least, they should -- and at £14.99 (about $22), it looks like there ain't much of a premium for saving the planet. Cheers to that, we say.

We're not quite sure what Samsung's trying to pull here, but it's apparently using some BizBee moniker to revamp a few dusty smartphones with Windows Mobile 6.1. So far as we can tell, the BizBee family will house a "new range of designer business mobiles," though Samsung's starting off rather poorly by reintroducing the i780 with WinMo 6.1. Said handset will be re-launched initially in the UK, Nordics, Spain and Netherlands this month, though we're not sure if the marketing blitz will escape the clutches of Europe in order to serve as entertainment elsewhere. For Sammy's sake, we hope not.

We figured Apple would've learned its lesson after the UK's Advertising Standards Authority banned those "the real internet" iPhone commercials, but it looks like Steve's back in detention -- the ASA just ruled that another ad claiming that the iPhone is "really fast" is also misleading enough to be pulled. You've probably seen the similar US version of the ad, which shows the iPhone 3G loading a web page, switching to Maps to locate itself, downloading an attachment, and then finally taking a call, all in 30 seconds -- yeah, that doesn't happen. Apple claimed that its "Network performance may vary by location" disclaimer was enough to keep it safe, but the ASA wasn't having that: it said that the ad was likely to lead viewers to believe the iPhone was really that speedy. Of course, we're pretty certain most people understand that reality and advertising don't really have anything do with each other, but we're not the ones in charge -- just wait till the ASA finds out that drinking gallons of beer doesn't actually make you more attractive. Check the ad in question after the break.

[Thanks, David]

Think you need to go all-in on a postpaid contract to get the best crap a carrier has to offer? Well, quite often you do -- but not on Vodafone in the UK, where its recently-announced Christmas lineup contains perfectly decent fare like the Samsung Steel and Omnia for £80 and £400, respectively. Granted, that's a little (okay, a lot) more than you'll pay on contract, but at least the options are there, right? Those two comprise part of a monstrous 16-phone lineup announced to lead Vodafone through the holiday sales rush, which includes the high-horsepower Sony Ericsson C905 and X1, the Nokia N96 16GB, and the BlackBerry Storm on contract, among a host of others. Voda sweetens the pot for buyers of the Samsung G600, Nokia 6500 Classic, and Sony Ericsson K770i by throwing in a digital photo frame, which particularly comes in handy with the G600's respectable 5-megapixel resolution. All told, the lineup's a little overwhelming, but if we had to choose between an overwhelming lineup and an anemic (read: American) one, you know which one we're picking ten times out of ten.

After a flurry of leaks and announcements caught our attention last year, we've heard nary a peep from Toshiba about its multi-faceted device since. Suffice to say that's it's out in parts of Europe and countries with a penchant for the backward "R" and "N." Great, but what is it and how well does it do what it does; that's the convoluted question. Fortunately, IntoMobile went hands on with the USB memory stick / alarm clock with snooze / MP3 player / 7.2Mbps HSDPA USB modem / tri-band GSM cellphone and came away with the opinion that "the device is excellent." It pulled a respectable 2.7Mbps off O2's UK network and performed reasonably well as a "backup phone." The 160MB of storage for MP3 / AAC music playback was disappointing but it served its purpose in a pinch. Still, that's a lot of device for £140.

[Via IntoMobile]

While Americans have been enjoying the spoils of the RC29 and RC30 updates for a matter of hours now, folks in the UK have finally been treated to an update of their own. The RC8 update, which was recently delivered to Brits over the air, looks to be a single update that mashes together the fixes found in both the RC29 and RC30 updates available in the US. Initial reports suggest that the phone now runs a touch cooler, though it's being debated whether or not battery life has improved or worsened. Have any of you across the pond been able to test it out and see what's new?

[Via TalkAndroid]

Just how badly do you want a Storm? Badly enough to pull up your long-established roots, fly for half a day, and take residence in a foreign land thousands of miles from home? For Americans who absolutely cannot wait another week for RIM's first touchscreen device to launch on domestic soil, that's the only option; for Brits on Vodafone, though, heaven is but a single shop trip away. The BlackBerry Storm has now officially launched in the Old Country and can be had for as little as zilch on a Voda plan, so do let us know how your experiences go, yeah? Your yankee friends thank you in advance.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

We couldn't deny that the ASUS-built O2 Xda Zest was a real, live, breathing mobile, but at long last the carrier has made the phone available for purchase. Hailed as the first O2 Xda to be offered on a Pay&Go prepaid plan (as well as a traditional postpaid plan), the Windows Mobile 6.1-based unit can be acquired on November 17th for £249.99 ($392) with the Pay&Go option or as low as free on certain Pay Monthly contracts. As a refresher, this one brings a 2.8-inch display, a free fortnight of the CoPilot Sat Nav software, a 3-megapixel camera, multimedia player, WiFi and HSDPA.

It's not apt to ever go on sale in America (okay, so maybe there's a sliver of a sliver of a chance), but HTC's Touch HD is now on sale for fortunate Britons with a fair amount of poundage to spare. The drop-dead gorgeous WinMo 6.1 handset can be procured right now for £514.99 ($821) sans contract, but if you're a North American mulling an import, you should obviously tack on a few more bills to that. You're still mulling, aren't you?

[Via MoDaCo]

Looking for another way to get your laptop on Vodafone's mobile broadband highway, are you? Splendid news -- the aforesaid carrier has just introduced an all new USB model, the easy-to-remember USB Stick Pro. Boasting a simple black design, retractable USB connector and an inbuilt 4GB micro SD card, this here stick is capable of sucking down bits and bytes at up to 7.2Mbps (theoretical) with upload speeds at up to 2Mbps. Better still, the modem will be gratis on select price plans. Tough to beat free, huh?

Remember when Vodafone told us to hold our horses a bit on the pricing details when the BlackBerry Storm was made official this month? Believe it or not, the holding period is over, and now we're staring some actual price tags in the face. Reportedly, Voda will make the touchscreen BlackBerry available with four different pricing plans, so we'll get right to it. The Perfect Choice Access 100 plan will get you a Storm for €109.99 ($141), while the per-month rate (€49.99; $64) will include 100 minutes (yes, seriously), 100 texts (still for real here, people), 1GB of BlackBerry e-mail, mobile TV and ten music downloads. The Perfect Choice Access 200 / 400 / 600 plans bump up the minutes and texts just as you'd expect for €64.99 / €84.99 / €99.99 per month while netting you the phone for €64.99 / €69.99 / €49.99, respectively. For the full spill, head on down to the read link -- meanwhile, here in America, we all sit waiting for Verizon to follow suit...

[Via CrackBerry]

For UK citizens willing to have their privacy infringed upon in the name of peace and quiet, C2C is the train company for you. The outfit has introduced a special "quiet" carriage in its trains in order to nix conversations and unexpected cellphone noises for those who would prefer. The cabin in question sports a special coating on the windows that allows light in but rejects WiFi and cellular signals. In order to keep the lawyers at bay, folks who sit in this jammed-up area are asked to agree to those terms beforehand, and just in case you sign while inebriated, there are a number of signs and announcements (um, defeating the purpose much?) informing them that no calls will be allowed. Happy trails!

[Image courtesy of quetzy, thanks ugotamesij]

There are exclusives, and then there are exclusives -- and a Touch HD exclusive definitely falls into the latter category. HTC's undisputed WinMo heavyweight of the moment will be found only on Orange (well, as a locked device, anyway) in the UK through the end of the year for £79.99 (about $127) on a standard 18-month contract, launching delightfully soon in early November. Follow-on launches on Orange's French and Romanian networks are expected soon thereafter.

The G1 launches on T-Mobile UK in just three short (yet excruciating) days, and in an effort to work the hype into a fine, creamy lather, the carrier has drafted a press release talking about all the exciting apps that'll be available from the Market on day one. T-Mobile says that some 50 apps will be ready and waiting to download from the moment customers pick up their phones and tear open the packaging, but here's our question: how are they coordinating this? The Market isn't a T-Mobile effort, but a Google one -- so we're not too sure how (or even if) the magenta-clad company has any actual control over what's going on. More likely, they're just trying to ride on the coattails of the developers who've busted their rumps to get some free apps posted in these first few weeks of the G1's commercial availability -- not to say there's anything wrong with that. Speaking of free, the G1 will go for free in the British Isles on a £40 (about $63) plan. Don't suppose the division over in the colonies would care to follow suit on that?