Let’s be clear right off the bat: this is no rumor. The Motorola DROID is steaming towards a release on O2 Germany under the name MILESTONE. The news of this came from a German blog which leaked a photo of a business guide (pic after the jump) as well as an official O2 device price list which shows the MILESTONE coming in at 404.20€ or $594.93 USD before taxes (and subsidies). If that isn’t proof enough, we pulled the image above from from O2’s site after a simple Google query. No doubt there will be some people Stateside that refuse to go over to Verizon to get the DROID (we get a huge kick out of network fanboyism), so how many of you would be willing to import one of these Android 2.0 behemoths even if it lacks US 3G?

Thanks, Schreifels!

Read – Business Guide

Read – O2 Price List [PDF link]

Read – MILESTONE on O2’s website

With the BlackBerry Storm2 getting nice and official over night, we here at BGR thought that it would be nice for us to take a moment and focus on just what its launch means for our loyal readers that aren’t living in The New World. Earlier this week, UK-based The Guardian proclaimed that the Storm2 would be announced by both RIM and Vodafone this week. Clearly this was the case as we now know it will be arriving on or around the 26th of October, but its report missed out on one huge revelation — Vodafone’s exclusivity on the device will only last “a few weeks”. This of course paves the way for other carriers such as O2, Orange and T-Mobile to get in on the Storm action. While all of the aforementioned Storm2 candidate carriers have remained mom mum on the matter, The Guardian is hedging its bets on Orange carrying the Storm2 in time for Christmas. What does this all mean for the UK? Well, when one considers that every major carrier is going to be offering the iPhone 3GS and has the option of picking up the Storm2, it looks as if a major price war is about to erupt in time for the holidays.

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After its early debut on LG’s developer website last week, the New Chocolate BL20 has been officially announced by LG. A full product page, flickr slideset and an official press release all serve to confirm the existence of this handset, though we pretty much already knew all there was to know about this little guy. For those on the other side of the Atlantic, the sexy slider with a distinctive red keypad is expected to land at O2 UK in Q4 for €269 ($394USD). As for the rest of us, it’s still a waiting game we’re afraid. Hit the jump for the press release.

LG’s newest Chocolate flavour slides to market

Berkshire, September 28, 2009 – LG Electronics a global leader and technology innovator in mobile communications, today announces its second New Chocolate phone, BL20, featuring a sliding keypad. The newest addition to the Chocolate series follows the launch of the stylish New LG Chocolate phone (BL40) at the start of September.

Available in the UK in Q4 at O2, the BL20 features a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus and flash in a slim casing measuring just 12.3mm in depth.

The handset also features touch-sensitive controls which are discretely concealed on the sides of the phone. Users can instinctively feel their way around functions such as volume control and camera zoom for quick adjustments.

Widget Hotkeys enable users to personalise the phone to directly access favourite features for weather, news or personal updates. A new feature includes Clear Memo Capture which captures text, handwritten notes and drawings with maximum clarity, offering a different way to record information.

Jeremy Newing, head of marketing, LG Mobile UK and Ireland says, “Boasting advanced new features such as Widget Hotkeys and Clear Memo Capture, the BL20 offers consumers a design alternative to the already successful BL40 with its widescreen display.”

The New LG Chocolate BL20 is referencing the original Chocolate’s design characteristics such as glossy black surface accentuated with red highlights but reinterpreted them in a sliding keypad handset. Notably, the handset has refined its red navigation keys – part of LG’s overall design language – which are revealed when the phone slides open. It has evolved from the iconic design of its predecessors combining enhanced interactive features with a sleek minimalist look aimed at style-conscientious consumers.

“Standing proudly alongside the BL40, the BL20 expands the Chocolate series with a beautiful but practical slider option reflecting our leadership in design,” said Dr. Skott Ahn, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “The New LG Chocolate BL20 offers consumers another way to experience the luxurious style and high performance that is symbolic of the LG Chocolate series but at a more affordable price.”

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As if Vodafone’s 360 H1 and 360 M1 announcement (which we’ve now dubbed the H1M1 LiMo flu) wasn’t enough smartphone excitement for a nation in a single day, Palm and O2 UK have finally gotten around to revealing that the Palm Pre will launch next month in three markets — specifically, on October 13th in Germany and October 16th in the UK and Ireland. Of course we have been expecting the Pre to drop on O2 for a very long time and for the wait, neither company seems apologetic. Perhaps the pricing structure will be enough to smooth things over: The Pre from O2 UK starts at £0 with a 24-month contract or an 18-month contract with tariffs starting at £44.05 ($71.45 USD). As happy as we are to see that our friends across the pond will be finally be able to get the Pre, we can’t help but feel frustrated that there’s been nary a peep from Palm about a North American UMTS/HSPA webOS handset. Alas — importers, start your engines.

UPDATE: It looks like the GSM Pre will support UMTS/HSDPA 850/1900/2100 MHz. Pending a more local announcement, Pre hopefuls will indeed be able to rock the handset on AT&T or Rogers 3G should they choose to pay big bucks for an imported, unlocked version. Begin the celebration… Now.

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If a report from the hit or miss Register Hardware blog pan out, Samsung’s highly anticipated freshman Android offering could make its debut as soon as next week. According to the post, various O2 retail staff have confirmed that the Galaxy i7500 is now listed in their inventory system and shipments will arrive next week. That’s not to say the phone will launch next week but if retail locations actually do receive these alleged shipments, we can certainly expect a launch shortly thereafter. O2 would not confirm the Register’s report, saying only that the handset would launch “in the next few weeks”. We’ve been waiting for the i7500 ever since we first confirmed it to be Samsung’s virgin venture into Android back in April so we’re definitely excited by the possibility of seeing it finally launch — albeit outside the US. 528MHz processor, 3.2-inch capacitive OLED display, 5 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS, 8GB of internal memory… Importers, start your engines.

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What. The. Hell. Apparently T-Mobile UK has gotten into the liquor cabinet and is feeling plenty brave. Word has spread that Tmo has been selling unlocked iPhone 3G handsets to high-spending customers despite the fact that O2 has the exclusive rights to the iPhone in the UK. It appears that the only criteria one has to meet to be offered an unlocked iPhone 3G is to have a monthly bill of £75 and up, threaten to walk and catch the right rep on a good day. To be clear, it doesn’t appear that what T-Mobile is doing is illegal (the devices are likely coming from Germany where T-Mobile is the exclusive carrier of the iPhone), although we should point out that it does know what it is doing is sketchy as it is cautious to limit sales of the iPhone to around 150 units per week so as not to raise the ire of Apple (you know, lest Steve Jobs fly over to London and pour castor oil down the throat of T-Mobile UK’s CEO). Smart thinking.

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It wasn’t exactly a surprise but it looks like there’s finally some good news to report for Pre hopefuls across the pond. That news: O2 and Movistar have been announced as the exclusive European carriers for the Palm Pre. To be available in the UK, Ireland, Germany and Spain before the year is through, pretty much no other specific information was given as to when or for how much the device would retail for in each market. Those of you who might be interested in importing a GSM Pre take note — the specific UMTS/HSDPA bands that it will be packing have not yet been listed so keep those fingers crossed.

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Sure, we might be a bit more anxious for the Hero, G1 v2 or the Morrison at this point, but let’s not forget Samsung’s first Android-powered handset — the Galaxy i7500 — has yet to see the light of day. Though it might not be the most exciting handset in the world, the i7500 certainly will be the best-spec’d Android handset when it launches. While we know it will be hitting T-Mobile at some point here in the US, it looks like our friends across the pond will be first to enjoy this sweet smartphone with an O2 release coming some time this month. Big bright touchscreen, 8GB of internal storage, 5 megapixel camera with flash, 3.5mm audio jack and Android 1.5 all wrapped in a 12mm-thin case… Fair enough. So what say you — disappointed that our Euro pals get first crack at another sweet phone or did you start day dreaming as soon as we mentioned the Hero?

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Samsung’s first Android-powered offering just got some pretty thorough hands on treatment in Singapore. The folks at Tech65 give us a nice 7 minute look at the design of the i7500 in all of its Android-powered glory. With its bezel and brushed metal buttons, the i7500 has a design that seems to to appear on most Samsung touchscreen phones since the Omnia. The i7500 makes up for its predictable looks however, with its fast and responsive performance. With the exception of a possibly overly-sensitive accelerometer, the Android 1.5 OS on the i7500 looks pretty slick. HTC better watch out for this offering as it will likely give the Magic a run for its money when it launches next month on O2 Germany and possibly T-Mobile US later this year. Hit the jump for the video.

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Nokia’s 5800 XpressMusic might have first appeared in The Dark Knight but as much as our Finnish friends love product placement, it looks like its first S60 5th Edition phone might be making another cameo on the big screen. Nokia has just revealed it will be releasing a special Star Trek edition of the popular touchscreen phone — which will be free on contract with Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile and O2 — featuring special Star Trek animated screen savers, three Star Trek wallpapers and eight exclusive Trek-themed ringtones. It also packs an exclusive phaser application but sadly, no teleporting capabilities. The 5800 Star Trek edition might not be able to beam you anywhere but all your Trekkie pals will surely be envious when you brandish it at the next Star Trek convention. Just make sure you sneak away to a corner when you use it to call your mom for a ride home.

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It’s kind of funny how a phone can phone can appear out of nowhere as a solid rumor and then become official within 24 hours, but that’s exactly what has happened with Samsung’s first Android-powered smartphone, the I7500. Samsung and O2 Germany have both officially announced the device slated for a June release. The specs were also spot on:

• Android 1.5 OS
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, tri-band UMTS/HSPA
• 528 MHz Qualcomm MSM7200A CPU
• 3.2-inch HVGA capacitive OLED touchscreen display
• 5 megapixel camera with LED flash
• Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth
• GPS
• 8GB internal flash memory
• microSD slot
• 3.5 mm stereo jack
• Metal case, 11.9 mm thick

Official pricing was not made public, but we have no reason to doubt yesterday’s rumored price of €300 ($397 US) considering that the rumor was bang on about everything else. Anyone else dying for the I7500 to make an appearance Stateside?

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According to a new report, Samsung’s first Android handset will not be the S8000 as had been rumored. Instead, word on the street now suggests Sammy is prepping yet another full touchscreen handset dubbed I7500 for a June release. The Android-powered I7500 most definitely touts the best spec sheet of any Android handset we’ve seen thus far — released or upcoming — so we must admit we’re a bit excited. Here’s how it’s shaping up:

• Android 1.5 OS
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, dual-band UMTS/HSPA
• 528 MHz Qualcomm MSM7200A CPU
• 3.2-inch HVGA capacitive OLED touchscreen display
• 5 megapixel camera with LED flash
• Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth
• GPS
• 8GB internal flash memory
• microSD slot
• 3.5 mm stereo jack
• Metal case, 11.9 mm thick

Assuming the blurry mock up and the 3.2-inch display are both accurate, the I7500 is going to be a pretty sizable handset. With specs like that however, we’re sure we can look past the moderate bulk and give it a go. According to the source, O2 Germany will be releasing the I7500 in June for about €300 ($397 US), which hopefully means we can expect it elsewhere in June as well.

Thanks, Fab!

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Starting on February 27th, UK carrier O2 is going to be launching three Samsung laptops in a joint venture with its Mobile Broadband and Home Broadband division. Dubbed the O2 Mini-Laptop, O2 Performance Laptop and the O2 Multi-Media Laptop, they are for all intents and purposes the Samsung NC10, R510 with Celeron Dual Core processor, and R510 with Pentium Dual Core processor respectively. All of the laptops come free on contract save for the Performance Laptop which requires a one-time payment of £78.29 ($116.18). All that is required is a contract and monthly tariff which starts off at £29.38 ($43.60) and ranges to £44.04 ($65.05) . All in all it seems like a pretty neat deal for both consumers and business users who have a need to take a computer on the road and who’d rather not get bogged down by the high, one-time purchase price of a new laptop. Plus when the contract is up you can get a shiny new laptop at no cost other than the tariffs. That is if one can stand the thought of being locked into a specific computer for mobile broadband. Hit the jump for the full computer specs and rate plans.

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Announced back in December, the O2 XDA Guide finally got up close personal in photographs. The Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional handset will replace Germany’s current O2 XDA Orbit 2. Based upon the HTC Iolite, the XDA Guide has the following features:

• 528MHz Qualcomm MSM 7225 CPU
• 256 MB RAM/512 MB ROM
• 2.8″ QVGA touchscreen
• 3.2 megapixel fixed focus camera
• microSD expansion
• Quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE
• Dualband UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA
• Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
• WiFi b/g
• aGPS

The XDA Guide will run the plain Jane TouchFLO 2D instead of the fancier TouchFLO 3D interface. Part of this UI is a new feature called Footprints that launches via a dedicated button and brings geo-tagging support to the phone’s camera. O2 Germany will ship the XDA Guide with Tom Tom Navigator 7 which will launch via the dedicated front facing compass button. The O2 XDA Guide is planned for a mid-February release. Hit the jump for a few more snapshots.

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Theunwired.net posted some beautiful photos of the Touch HD on their website Sunday. Some more eye candy for those of us who just cant get enough of this sleek and sexy phone. They casually mentioned in their post that the HTC Touch HD used in the photo shoot was a marketing sample provided by O2 Germany which will exclusively launch the Touch HD in Germany. Wow, that is some news you just dropped in our laps there fellas. O2 Germany is now the first carrier mentioned for the HTC Touch HD and yes, O2 Germany customers you can now jump for joy. Hit the jump for tons of photos of the Touch HD and side-by-sides with the Touch Diamond and the Touch Pro.

[Via wmpoweruser]

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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.