So much for fairness, huh? It looks like O2 is joining the ranks of Optimus in Portugal (and perhaps Orange in other parts of Europe), planning to offer their version of the iPhone 3G on both post-paid and pay-as-you-go accounts. No details have been given in regards to pricing or feature options, but the sheer presence of a pre-paid option means that the iPhone itself will be available for purchase without a lengthy contractual agreement, setting the stage for rampant unlocking, modifications, and general lawlessness. Will AT&T be the only company to offer the iPhone without a pre-paid option? Seems unlikely, but with both O2 and Optimus/Orange jumping on the pre-paid wagon, it certainly makes you wonder.

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There’s been a flood of news over the past couple weeks regarding the iPhone and carrier partnerships. Almost every single major carrier across the globe has chimed in, telling us what markets they’re going to bring the iPhone to. It’s actually gotten to the point we’re we feel we should list the announced markets up to today. Remember asking your best friend to pickup 10 iPhones during his trip to the U.S.? No more, people. No more. Here’s the complete list as of 05/16/08:

• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• Canada
• Czech Republic
• Dominican Republic
• Egypt
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Ireland
• India
• Italy
• Jordan
• Mexico
• New Zealand
• Philippines
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Singapore
• Slovakia
• South Africa
• Switzerland
• Turkey
• United Kingdom
• United States of America
• Various countries in Latin America

Who’s planning to buy an iPhone when it’s finally released in your country?

The iPhone has recently seen price drops in a variety of countries including the UK. Apparently, said price adjustments caused a bit more of a rush amongst O2 customers than had been expected. As a matter of fact, O2 has run out of iPhones a good month and a half or so before the 3G iPhone is expected to drop. 8GB iPhones, done. 16GB iPhones, done. Apparently 02 is wiping its hands of the iPhone until the new model is issued, likely next month. Seems like quite the peculiar move, losing a month of iPhone sales that is. The iPhone is, after all, one of the most exclusive and fastest selling phones in the UK. Could this mean that the 3G iPhone may be released in the UK ahead of the US? Yeah, we doubt it too.

[Via Slippery Brick]

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The BlackBerry Pearl 2 onslaught has begun, and we couldn’t be happier. Earlier today, European carrier O2 announced that the BlackBerry Pearl 2 / BlackBerry 8120 would be available on their network beginning immediately. The new Pearl, for those that don’t know, sports a number of worthy upgrades from its predecessor. Some of these includes a 3.5 mm headphone jack, externally accessible microSD card slot, Wi-Fi, and an improved 2 megapixel camera. We’re still waiting on an American GSM network to pick this bad boy up, but given the increasing global presence, we expect that it won’t be too long before T-Mobile or AT&T take the plunge.

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…at least during November and December, that is. The U.K. cell phone carrier has announced that it will not be charging customers for any data usage expended on MySpace Mobile. As O2’s UK CEO said, "We want to be one of the first mobile operators to fully exploit the new phenomenon that is social networking." Social faux pas aside, this is great for anyone across the pond looking to get their mobile fix on. The company made no mention of a relationship between O2 and MySpace, but we wouldn’t be shocked if this was subsidized or sponsored by News Corp. and Co.

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Image courtesy of Gizmodo

We hoped, we wished, we prayed, we even sacrificed small animals, yet Apple has silently told us to get lost, and crushed our dreams of a 3G iPhone. For the moment, at least. Just announced moments ago, Apple has officially layed out the launch details for the United Kingdom’s iPhone. As rumored and reported, it was O2 who clinched the deal at the last moment. The European iPhone does not differ at all from the U.S. version, and will go on sale starting November, 9th. We still love you, Apple. Just give us the little software updates we ask for.

As Apple’s European iPhone plans get closer to reality, the details of each arrangement are beginning to see the light of day. Britain’s O2 is set to announce the iPhone on their UK network on Tuesday, but the agreement didn’t come easy for the carrier. The Guardian is reporting that O2 will be forced to hand over up to 40% of their iPhone service revenues to the mighty Apple. In addition to the service tariff’s, O2 will be sharing device commission and revenue with Carphone Warehouse, which is a 3rd party handset retailer that has reportedly signed on as the exclusive brick and mortar retailer of the device. We can all agree that the iPhone is a groundbreaking piece of hardware, but is this sort of agreement really going to benefit O2, or any other carrier that sees fit to sign on with similar conditions? Considering the recent availability of the iPhone SIM unlock tool, we’re inclined to think not, but who are we to pass judgement? The bottom line, at least for consumers, is that the iPhone is coming to Europe. Happy?

[Via Engadget]

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It looks as if T-Mobile in Germany, Orange in France, and O2 in the U.K. are going to be future iPhone resellers. The operators are set officially to announce the partnerships at the IFA trade fair in Berlin at the end of August, but not without a caveat: the carriers must hand over 10 percent of the revenues from the voice and data on the devices directly to Apple: a strong switch from the current phone subsidy used by most companies today. Each carrier appears to be signing the exclusivity agreement in hopes of attracting voice and data hungry users to their networks; one can be sure that Apple won’t be complaining, either. Now let’s see if the lucky Europeans get 3G in their iPhones…

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While there’s still no official word on when AT&T or T-Mobile will release their versions of RIM’s new BlackBerry Curve, the device has unceremoniously appeared on the UK carrier O2’s page. Available for immediate purchase, RIM’s new "consumer oriented" BlackBerry can be had for "free" if you sign over a large enough portion of your monthly paycheck. No change in specs, but the BlackBerry Curve is looking as sexy and desirable as ever. Oh if only we were so lucky over here…

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Fueled by the impromptu revelation of the impending release of the BlackBerry Pearl on T-Mobile’s network back in early September 2006, we started to see a a decent appearance of a shift in strategy in that Research In Motion was starting to listen to certain rather outspoken critics and took an interest in spending a buck on advertising their already beyond-popular product. The website for the BlackBerry Pearl, www.blackberrypearl.com, received a rather sleek website design, to go along with the rather sleek device design. Following shortly after, much to the surprise of most, we received a complete redesign of the Research In Motion customer portal website, www.blackberry.com, as well as a Pearl-ish design for the BlackBerry 8800 website. There have also been targeted advertising attempts in printed publications, such as meathead and gearhead magazines, Maxim and Wired. Now we find ourselves in in May of 2007 and Research In Motion has once again surprised the masses with a giant-for-them leap into the murky unchartered waters of hype advertising.

Amid an early mistaken slip-up on a URL redirect, one which would have otherwise caught us completely off-guard but rather resulted in a slightly less than under whelming press release and website launch, the BlackBerry Curve ("The BlackBerry Formerly Known as 8300") may very well mark the beginning of a new era for this traditionally tight-lipped company. With the release of the 8800, we had a 9-day wait period between the official announcement and the official launch of the device (on AT&T), while the Pearl received a luxurious 5-day hype period (released on T-Mobile). With the BlackBerry Curve, the announcement was made a full three weeks ahead of a North American carrier’s planned launch of the device (AT&T is rumored to be in three weeks; Rogers has announced a June launch), although O2 is reportedly set to release the device on May 8, the first day of the Wireless Enterprise Symposium, RIM’s annual event in Orlando, Florida.

Just a few weeks ago, HTC, manufacturer of more than 80% of all Windows Mobile devices, announced their plans to release Windows Mobile 6.0 updates for some of their newer, more popular devices. Apple drummed up a lot of hype a few months back with their presentation of the jaw-dropping iPhone, which has even seen some more headlines in the last couple days hinting and confirming next month’s launch for Apple’s soon-to-be flagship product line. It’s obvious that RIM has been feeling some heat, both from the market critics and their own customers, both large organizations and individual users. Does these changes in their advertising efforts reflect upon RIM’s attempts to remain on top in the wireless messaging industry, or does it truly represent a change in philosophy and strategy from the Waterloo-based company? These next few months won’t decide the fate of Research In Motion by any stretch of the imagination, but it will provide an undertow immensely more forceful than that experienced with the frivolous actions by NTP just one year ago.