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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Orange UK customers eager to get their hands on Motorola’s first Android offering can saunter over to the Orange Multimedia Store in Milton Keynes today and walk out with more MOTOBLUR than they can stand. Folks not outside the Milton Keynes will have to wait until tomorrow for the DEXT to land at all Orange retail stores or October 8th at all Phones 4U stores. The DEXT will be free for customers with a 24 month tariff of £34.26 per month which includes 900 any network call minutes, unlimited texts, Orange Maps and inclusive anytime Internet browsing. Any UK readers out there with a DEXT already in hand? Hit us up in the comments with your first impressions.

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It looks like some of the oft talked about and much maligned iPhone exclusivity deals are finally starting to fizzle out — Orange UK has announced that it will be offering both the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS to its customers “later this year.” As it currently stands, O2 has the sole rights to sell the iPhone in the UK. As many of you might recall however, T-Mobile was recently caught selling unlocked iPhones to its highest paying and most disgruntled customers, so perhaps it too will get in on the action in the near future. But back to Orange. The carrier has not yet released much in the way of specifics, having simply stated that “pricing, tariffs and availability dates will be released in due course.” Ordinarily we’d start to think what sort of implications this has for the American marketplace, but alas only one carrier has the appropriate bands and network technology to run the iPhone. *sigh*

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Windows Mobile fans take note — 30 new handsets powered by your mobile OS of choice will supposedly be debuting before you again sing a drunken version of Auld Lang Syne. Benjamin Tan, senior director of the GCR Mobile Team Unit at Microsoft China, let loose the rumor that an avalanche of new Windows Mobile 6.5 handsets from HTC, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, Acer, Toshiba, HP and more will be released in the waning months of 2009. Carriers who have jumped on board this Window Mobile bonanza include AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone, NTT DoCoMO, Softbank Mobile,  SKT, Telstra and Telus. Bottom line: no matter where you are located or what you prefer in a smartphone, there will apparently be a Windows Phone to suit your needs in 2009.

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If you’re a glutton for the punishment that Windows XP on a mobile phone likely is, then ITG has exactly what you need. The “world’s first mobile phone that runs Windows XP” is now available for pre-order from ITG’s English website. Looking rather big and boxy (is this a new trend?), the xpPhone packs some impressive specs inside its brushed aluminum frame:

• AMD Mobile CPU
• 4.8-inch, 800×480 pixel touchscreen display
• QWERTY keyboard
• 512Mb/1GB memory
• Dual hard drives: SSD (8/16/32/64GB) and HDD (30/60/80/120GB)
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
• Bluetooth
• GPS
• WiMAX (optional)
• GSM/GPRS/EDGE/WCDMA (HSDPA/HSUPA), CDMA/CDMA2000, CMDA 1X/EV-DO, TD-SCDMA, TD-HSDPA
• 7 hours of continuous use with standard battery, 12 hours with extended battery
• Windows XP OS

The substantially-sized slider supports nearly all major 3G networks and can be configured from the ordering page to be compatible with AT&T, Vodafone or Orange. No word on pricing details or launch date for the time being, but is anyone out there thinking about taking the plunge?

[Via Pocketables]

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In a move that doesn’t exactly come as a surprise, Orange UK has officially announced that it will be carrying the Motorola DEXT, the European version of the CLIQ, as its second Android smartphone. The DEXT will be offered in early October for as little as £0 to those who opt for a 2-year contract with a monthly tariff of £34.26. It’s not exactly cheap, all things considered, but it’s also not as if you can find many plans Stateside that offer 900 minutes, unlimited texts, data and use of Orange Maps for around $56.50 per month.

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Now that the excitement of the Motorola Android event has died down and the company’s first Android offering has been unveiled, we can take our focus off of what will be released and concentrate on when it will be released. The first rumor out the door comes from merry old England where Orange UK is said to be launching the Motorola DEXT in early October. Pre-orders are expected to begin September 22nd, though no specific release date has been specified. No pricing information is available yet either, but you know Europe — with the proper tariff nearly any phone can be had for free.

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Our pals across the pond are going to be facing some changes in the coming months as Deutsch Telekom and France Telecom are planning a massive merger in the UK. The companies are reportedly preparing to combine T-Mobile UK and Orange to form what will become the largest telco on the island, assuming the joint venture is approved by antitrust regulators. The deal is expected to be inked toward the end of October, giving the parties involved plenty of time to iron out details in the interim. The bright side for consumers, we suppose, is expanded network coverage — the downside of course being the fact that the two carriers will no longer be competing for business. So, what do our UK friends think?

Thanks, Roger A!

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We love useless gadgets as much as the next person, but this whole Dick Tracy-like obsession with the LG GD910 touchscreen watch phone is completely lost on us. Sure it can compose text messages and place video calls, but is it really worth running that the risk that your unkempt nose hair might offend a key business client? If so and you happen to live in the UK, then pack a blanket and a snack and get ready to camp outside the Orange’s Bond Station Stop on the night of the 26th/27th — as soon as the store opens in the morning, the GD910 can be all yours for £500 ($828 USD). Orange won’t have many units on hand so in the event you can’t get the time off work/have a prior commitment, more will be made available online in mid-September. As for that 899€ the French are being asked to pay for the GD910, well, that’s what you get for being French. Heyo!

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The bad news: it’s €899. Subsidized. On contract. Seriously. Orange has finally made LG’s highly anticipated GD910 Watch Phone official, confirming it will be the phone’s exclusive carrier in Europe. The sleek 3G touchscreen handset wristset is available immediately in France and the aforementioned price is tied to “an Origami star, first, jet or Origami plus package (12 or 24-month contract).” Unsurprisingly, no contract-free pricing is listed. We’re really interested to see where this thing goes to be honest. Here’s our conundrum: If you have €899 (about $1,300) to spend on a phone, you should already be rocking a pretty solid watch, no? Not necessarily anything too crazy per se, but a solid timepiece that you probably spent at least a few grand on. In fact, odds are good you have several nice watches to choose from each morning. Now you’re going to replace them with a Watch Phone? One that you have to wear each and every day — because it’s your phone — unless you swap the SIM constantly? Sorry guys, we’re just not seeing it. If you are seeing it however, and you think $1,300 on contract is a fair price, it’s time to pack up your things and move across the pond as we can’t imagine that this little guy is going to make it to the US any time soon — FCC approval or not.

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More interesting news from the UK today as it looks like LG’s would-be-highly-anticipated-if-not-for-the-insanely-high-rumored-price-tag GD910 watch phone is set to become a reality next month. Orange has reportedly confirmed that LG’s Dick Tracy-esque wrist gear will hit store shelves some time in August as an exclusive, though Orange exclusivity will only be for “a limited time”. The carrier hasn’t yet pinned a price on the touchscreen GD910 watch phone and we don’t blame them considering it’s rumored to be in the £1,000 range (about $1,612 at today’s exchange rate) on a pay-as-you-go plan or SIM-only. And you thought the Nokia N97 was expensive. For the sake of our British friends’ wallets, let’s hope the rumored price is way high and this little HSDPA-ready wristwatch drops with a slightly less ridiculous price tag. As for availability on this side of the Atlantic — don’t hold your breath.

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LG has announced two new handsets, the GW520 and GT505, that do their best to target the social networking, business-oriented crowd. Both handsets feature push notification of updates from various social networking sites, push email from personal accounts and Microsoft Exchange support. The GW520 is a QWERTY side slider with a 2.8-inch touchscreen, 7.2Mbps HSDPA and a 3 megapixel camera. The GT505 is a candybar with a 3-inch touchscreen, 3.6Mbps HSDPA, Wi-Fi and a 5 megapixel camera. The GT505 also comes with a 30 day trial of WisePilot for LG which offers turn by turn navigation. Both handsets are expected to be available in June 2009 with the GT505 launching on Orange while the GW520 to debut with various, yet-to-be-named carriers.

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Right on schedule, LG is apparently getting ready to start pushing out it’s newest touchscreen gem — the Viewty Smart. You hear that ‘other’ handset makers? It is possible to release a phone on schedule! As we’re sure you recall, this little dynamo sports a 3″ touchscreen display with WVGA resolution, 7.2Mbps HSDPA, aGPS, Wi-Fi and the 3D S-Class UI. Oh yeah, and it rocks an 8 megapixel camera capable of “DVD quality” video recording. Sweet. On a separate and even more intriguing note, LG reportedly told several UK blogs to expect a 12 megapixel handset to drop this year with “even more smart features”. Interest = piqued.

[Via Engadget]

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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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Covet your costly and feature-rich touchscreen phones as you wish but in this day and age, forking over big bucks for a phone just isn’t always the smart way to go. While this may be one of the facts of life, carriers such as Orange are doing their best to deliver feature-rich handsets at low prices. One such device is the newly announced Orange Vegas. Available in both black and pink, the dual-band GPRS touchscreen device features a 2.4-inch display, 1.3 megapixel camera, FM radio, MP3 playback, 128MB of internal memory and support for a microSD card up to 4GB — all packed into a handset that weighs 84g. The price? A totally affordable £48.50 ($71 USD) on pay-as-you-go. The best part? When a Vegas user tops up his or her account with £10, it comes along with 300 free texts, a £10 credit and unlimited access to Bebo, Facebook and MySpace. Something tells us this thing will sell pretty darn well. The only thing we might take issue with is the choice of name — Vegas is anything but cheap and sensible.

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On Monday, April 20, Panasonic and NEC are expected to unveil nine devices that run on the Linux-powered LiMo operating system. While not much is known about the soon-to-be-announced devices at this time, proponents of open source operating systems will apparently have plenty of cause for celebration in 2009. Current members of the LiMo Foundation include Motorola, NEC, Panasonic, LG and Samsung, though the latter two have yet to unveil a single LiMo device to date. Still, the foundation does have an all-star line-up of carriers backing it up as NTT DoCoMo, Orange, SK Telecom, Telefonica, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone have all announced they will be carrying LiMo devices at some point this year. While there might not be too much to account for at the moment, the LiMo picture is apparently about to get a whole lot clearer.

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While LG may have shown off the Viewty II at a trade show or two, it’s actual existence had never been officially acknowledged by the Korean company until now, as the handset has been officially featured on LG’s German blog. Although the company did reveal some very nice photos of the device which has also been given the nickname Viewty Smart, very little was mentioned in regards to the specs of the phone itself. However, since its spec sheet was captured by an eagle-eyed trade show attendee a few months back, we know the following:

• 12.4mm thin, 90g
• S-Class 3D UI
• 3-inch WVGA (800 x 480 pixels) touchscreen display
• Quad-band GSM, HSPA, WiFi, aGPS
• 8 megapixel Schneider-Kreuznach camera, Xenon flash
• 32GB storage
• DivX playback

Find it odd that the company would provide such a small amount of info on its blog? Yeah, it looks like there was a bit of a mix up as the post in question has since been pulled — though the bright side is that the blog now states more info will be available in a few days. Perhaps then we’ll get a better idea of pricing and release timing as well.

Hit the jump for a few more pics of the sexy handset.

[Via PhoneArena]

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The arrival of the LG Viewty’s successor is rumored to take place some time this June, but only for our good friends in the UK. Jealousy would be an issue towards Orange subscribers across the pond because this iteration packs an 8 megapixel camera with a host of picture/video options, new S-Class 3D user interface, WVGA touchscreen, A-GPS, DivX, Dolby sound, 32GB expandable storage, 7.2 Mbps 3G speed and Wi-Fi. Phones of this capacity seem to be increasingly standard fare these days, but we’re still excited when they launch. If you’re looking to dodge crazy crowds and frantic lines this summer, maybe, don’t let this one slip under your radar.

[Via Electric Pig]

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Well, watch phone fans… It was fun while it lasted. When we first caught wind of the LG Watch Phone, we laughed. When LG unveiled it, we were silenced. When Orange reportedly priced it late last week, we laughed again — and then cried. For the time being this is a rumor as Orange and LG have yet to confirm it, but word on the street is LG’s Watch Phone will be announced by Orange soon for a whopping £1,000 ($1,454) or £500 ($727) on contract with a monthly rate of £40 ($58) and up. Wow. The 3G is great, the UI is nice, the touchscreen is cool and the functionality is respectable but the price? No, no, no. That ugly little Phenom watch phone isn’t looking so bad anymore, is it?

Thanks, Danger!

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France Telecom is not in a good place right now. Imagine the time, negotiations and bags of money resources it took to score iPhone 3G exclusivity on Orange for a five-year term all to see things evaporate thanks to the scrappy Bouygues Telecom. Appealing to the Competition Council, Bouygues contested that this exclusivity agreement seriously undermined competition in the mobile space due to the excessive length of the agreement. Despite obvious opposition from both France Telecom and Apple, the Competition Council concurred and decided in December to cap such exclusive agreements at a substantially abbreviated three months. Body blow! Needless to say, FT and Apple went right to work fighting the decision but an appeals court ruled today that the decision would be upheld. Upper cut! Apple and FT plan to take their appeal to Cour de Cassation, France’s Supreme Court, while Apple slyly plays both sides by undertaking negotiations with Bouygues to offer the iPhone 3G on its network. T.K.O. Apple stands to benefit either way of course and as such, the company appears to be fairly brazen in its handling of the situation. FT on the other hand, has everything to lose – including a healthy portion of its customer base on Orange. Bouygues, currently the number three operator in the French region, would undoubtedly couple iPhone availability with some incredibly attractive rates to lure customers away. Hmm. We have to wonder what AT&T’s 2008 would have looked like with the iPhone on multiple US carriers…

[Via AppleInsider]

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We just got a tip that Orange UK would be the first carrier in Europe to launch a Pay As You Go BlackBerry device. Here’s the deal: it’s an exclusive-colored BlackBerry 8120 (Indigo, which is available on T-Mobile USA, might just be an UK exclusive) that will sell for £145. What about the monthly fee? A laughable £5/month. A pretty awesome deal that we’re told launches tomorrow. You can also most likely look for the PAYG service to color-up the rest of the BlackBerry devices Orange UK offers over time, provided this goes well. We guess we were right about BlackBerrys coming in boxes… Any Orange folks out there interested in picking up one of these?

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According to a report issued this morning, European carrier Orange is considering dropping the Bold from its lineup after being unable to solve “ongoing technical issues.” Orange employees familiar with the matter have said the Bold has the highest rate of return in its category, something which is not sitting well with the higher-ups due to a previous issue with the Bold. Back in October, Orange halted sales of the Bold due to a high incidence of dropped calls, crashes and poor overall performance. After a more stable OS release from RIM however, sales of the Bold resumed. If Orange were to pull the Bold for the second time it would most likely remain sidelined for the duration of its market life which would deal a huge blow to RIM. To compound matters, this move would give a great deal of additional publicity to the woes of RIM’s latest flagship products, the Bold and the Storm. For the time being Orange has declined to comment on the matter, as was the company’s position before the Bold was pulled last year.

At the time of the first recall, every Bold on the Orange network was running OS 4.6.0.126, a very buggy release indeed. Since Orange reinstated the Bold however, it moved to OS 4.6.0.162 – also not the the most usable version issued in recent history. In all fairness to RIM and Orange customers, perhaps Orange should hurry up and release a new OS build like 4.6.0.190 or beyond (though many are a severe step backwards) as several other carriers have done.

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Apple must end its exclusive agreement with Orange and allow other mobile providers to sell the iPhone in France according to a decision handed down today by France’s Competition Council. This temporary injunction was announced as part of an ongoing investigation into a complaint filed by Orange rival, Bouygues Telecom SA. In the complaint, Bouygues Telecom claims Apple’s exclusive deal with Orange is a serious threat to competition amongst mobile operators and is costly to consumers who are forced to switch providers in order to purchase an iPhone. The Competition Council, in its initial ruling agrees in part with Bouygues complaint, and states that the exclusive agreement between Orange and Apple “by nature introduces a new factor of rigidity in a sector that already lacks competition”. This temporary injunction will remain in effect until a final decision is made by the Competition Council. As expected, Bouygues Telecom is pleased with decision and is looking forward to selling the iPhone in the near future while representatives at Orange have not been available for comment.

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Internal Orange Statement on the Bold:

“Following reports of software issues with the BlackBerry Bold handset across a variety of mobile operators, Orange has decided to act in the interest of its customers by suspending shipments of the device in the UK. We are currently awaiting feed back from RIM as to when an industry wide fix for these issues will be in place, and expect this suspension to be an interim measure. We apologize for any inconvenience this issue may cause you. BlackBerry/RIM are doing everything they can to resolve this issue and will be completing full testing and validation to ensure future handsets do not have any quality issues. This may take a couple of weeks so it’s up to us to do what’s best for our customers.

So… yeah. Exactly.

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Since RIM completely screwed the pooch on this one (you know, like, delays for seven years?), we’re going to try and make it up to you! We’re giving away 5 BlackBerry Bolds for your local service provider. The 5 we are giving away are: AT&T, T-Mobile Germany, Rogers, Orange UK, and PCCW HK. The winner of the AT&T Bold won’t get their unit until launch since all devices we’re giving away are purchased from the respective carriers. You’ve got to play to win they say. Not so much when you’re dealing with a BGR giveaway, though. To enter, just email us a photo of your current BlackBerry. The more damaged the BlackBerry is, the higher chance you have of winning. Get it? Also drop in a comment from the same email with what carrier you’d like. RIM made you mad by making you wait, they might have even had you think impure thoughts. Now you can lay back and relax, ’cause your good friend Boy Geezie and the rest of the folks at BGR are going to hook you up!

• Send pictures to blackberrycontest at boygeniusreport dot com
• Make sure you comment here in addition to sending in the picture. Also specify what carrier you want!
  
• You can enter as many times are you like, just make sure they are different BlackBerrys
• *Highly damaged BlackBerrys are a plus*
• We’re going to add all pictures to our world-famous gallery. If you don’t want your picture included (freak) don’t enter.
• We’ll run this until this Sunday, August 24th at 11:59PM ET
• The BlackBerry Bolds in the photo are not the units you will be receiving. You will be receiving a brand new Bold in box that is locked to the requested carrier.

UPDATE: Wow, we’ve got almost 200 entries already! But! You need to comment also, people.

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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Take this for what you will, but one of our ninjas tipped us off to an iPhone ad currently being Portugal by wireless carrier Optimus, which is a subsidiary of Orange. According to the ad, Optimus is going to be offering the iPhone 3G with a monthly tariff on both post and pre-paid accounts. Yep, you read that one correctly. While AT&T has explicitly said that they will not be offering the new iPhone 3G with any sort of pre-paid options, it looks like other carriers are reserving the option to provide the handset without a lengthy contract. The ad doesn’t give any indication as to what we might expect the unsubsidized pricing to be, but we’re working hard to dig up that info. Unfortunately, we’re not expecting any miracles here on the US side of things, as AT&T has been very explicit about the contractual requirements of the iPhone agreements. Remember when the rest of the world was madly trying to import American iPhones? Things might be going the other way this time around.

Thanks, António!

In move that would be very welcome over here in the States, it looks like Orange France might be offering incentives to attract current iPhone owners to the next generation device. Apparently, the company is offering current iPhone owners a new 3G iphone for 50 Euros if they trade in their old device. Current users wishing to upgrade and hold on to their current handset can expect “generous subsidies”. Orange hasn’t released any official statement on the matter, so we’re not sure how widespread the incentive program may be, but if any other global iPhone carriers want to jump on the subsidy bandwagon, we’d be all for it.

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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?

While we not-so-patiently await the arrival of HTC’s first entry into the UMPC market, Orange UK is taking matters into its own hands. The European carrier announced today that they will be selling a subsidized version of the HTC Shift beginning this March. The company is going to be selling the device for about 900 Pounds, which works out to about $1,765. Whoa. Orange is offering the Shift with an Orange SIM, service contract, and full service and support. That’s good news for anyone that was looking to utilize the device’s integrated HSDPA radio, but we think there might be more economical ways of getting a little Shift into your life. That is, of course, if HTC ever gets their act together enough to actually release the damn thing.Read