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UK posts

Nokia's X6 to ship next week, maybe sooner if you're lucky

by Darren Murph posted Nov 9th 2009 @ 11:41AM

It's been a few months since Nokia's X6 hit the scene, but the touchscreen-based, S60-lovin' smartphone is just about ready to ship out to those who've managed to avoid all of the other stellar options that have launched since early September. It seems as if Nokia is gearing up to ship the phone in at least some parts of the world exactly a week from today in concert with a Rihanna release party. And if Expansys is correct, folks in the UK will see their orders ship out on November 12th. Too bad that £529.99 ($891) price tag is darn near debilitating, but hey, awesomeness has its price.

[Via Brighthand]

Read - Rihanna / Nokia shindig
Read - Expansys order page

iPhone 3GS coming to Orange UK on November 10

by Vladislav Savov posted Oct 26th 2009 @ 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 GD910 Watch Phone review

by Vladislav Savov posted Oct 16th 2009 @ 12:24PM

You're not how much money you have in the bank, you're not the car you drive, you're not the contents of your wallet, you are not your freaking khakis – oh, who are we kidding, if you're reading a site such as this, you're all about your khakis. To sate that "look good, feel good" need in all of us, LG has brought out the ultimate in techie chic: a watchphone. This is not just any watchphone though, this is a £500 ($808) droplet of Orange-tinted exclusivity that straddles your wrist and demands onlookers' attention. Do the consumer in you a favor and come along to Engadget Classic where we have the full scoop on the GD910.

BlackBerrys for coppers: UK law enforcement to smarten up in 2010

by Vladislav Savov posted Oct 16th 2009 @ 9:01AM

Police men and women of Blighty are about to step into the 21st century, albeit a decade late, with a new weapon in the fight against boredom on the beat. The BBC reports that smartphones will become standard issue throughout the Queen's realm by March 2010, as a result of successful trials carried out in 30 constabularies through this year. Improved "operational efficiency" and reduced bureaucracy are argued as the key benefits, with a solid 30 minutes less time being spent in police stations each day. And we're absolutely positive that extra half hour will go toward increased "visibility in the community" and not checking out friends' Facebook status updates. No, really!

Read -- BBC report
Read -- Bedfordshire case study

Palm Pre now available on O2 UK

by Vladislav Savov posted Oct 16th 2009 @ 3:43AM

And the Telefonica rollout of the GSM Pre continues. Starting today, those gorgeous people populating the sinking, but still glorious, isle of the United Kingdom can get their hands on a Palm Pre by hitting up their nearest O2 store. And by hitting up we mean becoming customers, not robbing the place. Anyway, the cheapest (or least expensive) 18-month tariff on which the Pre can be had for free is £44.05 ($71) per month, which throws in 1,200 free minutes and "unlimited" data and WiFi. That monthly price drops to £34.26 ($55) if you go for a two-year contract, but the bundled minutes are also fewer at 600. There's also an option to pay £96.89 ($157) for the handset upfront, which cuts the cost of the subsequent price plans, full details of which can be found at the read link.

[Thanks, Cuan B.]

Vodafone puts BlackBerry Storm2 up for 26 October preorder

by Thomas Ricker posted Oct 15th 2009 @ 4:34AM

And it's out. The BlackBerry Storm2 just made its first official carrier appearance with Vodafone. The promising followup to the much maligned BlackBerry Storm will be free on pay-monthly contracts from £35 on up. Specs include a 3.25-inch 360 x 480 pixel capacitive SurePress (new and improved) touchscreen display, 802.11b/g WiFi and 2100MHz UMTS/HSPA data, 256MB of flash memory (double that of the original Storm), 2GB of onboard memory with microSDHC expansion, 3.5-mm standard headset jack, 3.2 megapixel camera with video recording, built-in GPS, Bluetooth 2.1, and 1400mAh battery giving about 6 hours of 3G talk. BlackBerry OS 5 too, of course, when it lands on October 15th in the UK, Ireland, Germany, The Netherlands, and Spain -- France, Italy, and South Africa in time for Christmas.

Update: Now on official RIM page too with a detailed comparison against the original Storm.

Gallery: Vodafone and RIM introduce the BlackBerry Storm2 Smartphone

[Thanks, James]

Read -- Press Release
Read -- Pre-order

Sony Ericsson Satio, HTC Tattoo, and LG GM750 now on offer at Vodafone

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 13th 2009 @ 10:19AM

Hey, Britons: about a nice three-pack of "wow!" to start your week off right? We'd like to direct your attention over to Vodafone, where three particularly notable handsets that we've been following in recent months are now in stock and ready for delivery. The HTC Tattoo represents the new low end in Android fare, bringing a resistive QVGA display and a 3.2 megapixel cam to the table -- it'll go out the door for free on a £25 monthly plan. Heading over to the Windows Mobile side of the trailer park, the GM750 is a Voda exclusive loaded to the hilt with that newfangled WinMo 6.5 everyone's been talking about these days; it comes loaded up with a 5 megapixel camera and, like the Tattoo, can be yours for nary a penny on a £25 plan. Finally -- get ready -- the Symbian-powered Satio from Sony Ericsson is ready for your consumption, all 12.1 megapixels of it, for just another 10 quid a month. We'll take all three, thanks.

[Via Electronista]

Read - Sony Ericsson Satio
Read - HTC Tattoo
Read - LG GM750

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

by Nilay Patel posted Oct 6th 2009 @ 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]

HTC HD2 makes first official appearance in O2 UK catalog

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 30th 2009 @ 8:42AM

We've been furnished with the above page from an O2 in-store catalog detailing the HTC HD2 (aka Leo), which was set for a UK release on October 12 (though we're hearing that may have slipped to the 26th). Interesting that it's pictured with a stock Windows Mobile 6.5 UI instead of TouchFLO 3D. Is O2 rushing HTC's new hotness out the door in response to losing its iPhone supremacy? Or did an absent-minded employee just slip out the catalogs ahead of time? We're getting in touch with O2 to find out and will update with more details as we get them. For now, check out the full catalog page after the break.

[Thanks, Peter W.]

Update: After O2 stonewalled our phone enquiries, we decided to drop by our nearest (which was still annoyingly far away) store to have a look for ourselves. Alas, we only found September issues of the catalog, and the above snapshot is from the October iteration, which sports a big fat Pre promo on the front. So, anyone else seen an advance copy yet?

Continue reading HTC HD2 makes first official appearance in O2 UK catalog

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

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 29th 2009 @ 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?

Vodafone nabs iPhone in prelude to UK price war

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 29th 2009 @ 4:22AM

Now that O2 has lost exclusivity, everyone's getting in on the iPhone action in the UK. First it was Orange, now Vodafone has inked a deal said to have been signed only last night as a defensive move to stave subscriber defections. The new agreement sees Vodafone selling the iPhone 3G and 3GS to the UK and Ireland in early 2010, a bit later than the Orange Apple expected before Christmas.

Update: Official Vodafone UK statement now live.

[Via Randomly Accessed and The Telegraph]

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

by Vladislav Savov posted Sep 28th 2009 @ 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]

HTC Leo looking confirmed for O2 UK debut, will be free on the right plan

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 25th 2009 @ 3:59PM

If you needed another reason to frown upon the state of the North American wireless industry, allow us to go ahead and turn your attention to Exhibit A here. What you're looking at is some promotional material backing up earlier rumors that the HD2 / Leo is en route to O2 in the UK, but what's especially upsetting (though not terribly surprising) is the knowledge that customers will be able to scoop up HTC's new ultra-high-end WinMo beast for zilch on an O2 1200 tariff -- a plan that runs something like £45 (about $72) a month. Oh, and that's on an 18-month contract, not 24. Meanwhile, we'll be lucky to ever see the Leo land in its natural, original, HTC-approved state on a carrier at any price in the US, but hey, at least we've still got some more Touch Pro2 launches to look forward to, right?

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

TomTom clears up iPhone car kit slip: £99.99 for the hardware alone, app sold separately

by Darren Murph posted Sep 24th 2009 @ 12:27PM

Oh, brother. TomTom just hit us up with the real details on its iPhone car kit slip this morning, and we've got a feeling you won't like what it has to say. It confessed that the posting was indeed a mistake, and thus, the pricing was also incorrect. If you'll recall (c'mon, it wasn't that long ago), the Apple store listing explained that the £99.99 car kit included the iPhone app, when in reality, that price definitely does not include the app. Jump on past the break for TomTom's official statement, which now curiously states that the "iPhone 2G" will be compatible with the car kit, yet doesn't mention the iPod touch at all.

Continue reading TomTom clears up iPhone car kit slip: £99.99 for the hardware alone, app sold separately

HTC HD2 (aka, Leo) launching on O2 UK October 12th?

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 24th 2009 @ 6:41AM

A trusted tipster with a proven past just gave us the launch day scoop on the hotly anticipated HTC Leo. A Windows Mobile 6.5 handset we recently spied with HD2 branding and a 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen display with 800x480 resolution -- a pixel density that should give plenty of room for finger-friendly TouchFlo 3D navigation. According to said source, the O2 intranet site lists the "HTC HD2" on its future products list with an October 12th launch date. O2 peeps will immediately recognize the lack of XDA branding which makes the claim a bit suspicious. Then again, HTC has been trying to break the shackles of pointless carrier rebranding for years. Truth be told in the days ahead.