If you, however, want to get the Galaxy S Advance along with a carrier contract, you’ll be able to choose between 3 options – Three, T-Mobile and O2. Unfortunately, they failed to mention the exact launch date, though we guess it’s safe to bet that will happen in early March (or at the end of February).

As a reminder, the Samsung Galaxy S Advance comes with a dual-core 1GHz processor, 4-inch curved WVGA Super AMOLED screen, 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and 8GB of internal memory.

[Via: EuroDroid]

The bigger issue here is why are people so freaked out about this? So O2 messed up, it’s not like they were intentionally trying to put your number out into the ether. Someone who was configuring the network accidentally checked a check box he wasn’t supposed to check and that’s all there is to it. Can a website see your text messages? No. Can they see your contact list? No. Can they see the naughty photos you take of yourself and send to your significant other? Nope. One might argue that because a website can see your phone number they can now hack into your voice mail, but come on, do any of you guys use voicemail? If so, haven’t you already changed your password after the whole News of the World scandal?

All in all, this story is perfect for a slow news day like today.

[Via: Mobile Industry Review]

Update: O2 has fixed this issue and posted an FAQ on their blog about what happened.

Although we’ve no idea how much each carrier will ask for the Sony Xperia S, it’s safe to bet all of ‘em will give away the device, while requiring users’ signature on a two-year 30+ GBP per month contract.

As a reminder, the new Sony smartphone sports a 4.3-inch 720p (1280×720 pixels) Reality Display, 1.5GHz dual-core CPU, 12-megapixel camera on the back, 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, HSPA+ and Wi-Fi connectivity, 1GB of RAM and 32GB of built-in memory. Android 2.3 Gingerbread will initially run the show with Ice Cream Sandwich update launching soon afterwards…

[Via: Unwired View]

Available initially through O2 stores and over the phone, O2 Lease costs 55 GBP per month and that money includes insurance, 750 minutes, unlimited text and 500 MB of data per month.

Under the scheme, the customer doesn’t own the phone during the terms of the lease. At the end of the contract, there’s an option to return the phone to O2 and take a new one with a new lease, or move to another O2 contract, or move on.

According to the carrier’s marketing and consumer director Sally Cowdry, this is the first time a UK mobile operator has adopted a leasing model. “We know that customers and small businesses are used to leasing everyday items from cars and washing machines to photocopiers and office space. They understand how it works and what the advantages of a leasing are. We have simply taken this idea and applied it to the smartphone market,” she added.

[Via: Cellular-News]

A subscriber from U.K. wireless carrier O2, wrote on the forums:

“Got my Galaxy Nexus on Friday night and so far I’ve been pretty impressed on the whole, however, the volume seems to have a ghost which makes it go up and down at its own accord!!” The user continued saying ”I don’t even have to be touching it and when it happens you have to wait for the volume bar to disappear before you can use the screen!!”

This minor problem has scared Vodafone into delaying its launch of the device, as Vodafone community manager Tom wrote in a Thursday forum post:

“We’re continuing to test the Galaxy Nexus software to ensure our customers get the best possible experience of the device.” He also added ”We’ll provide concrete details on availability of the device once the testing process has been successfully completed.”

Although this is a terrible issue, we must keep in mind that Google has plenty of time to fix these kinks before the Galaxy Nexus launches stateside. When it comes to new software, this isn’t something out of the norm. Honestly, I’d rather have a ghost bug messing with my volume, instead of an energy sucking bug going on with the iPhone 4S and its battery issue.

[via PCMag]

In addition to these hot phones, HTC Explorer also found its place on the list, hinting us O2 will also look to add folks who’re getting their first Android smartphone to its customer base. You can check out O2′s coming soon page from here…

[Via: CoolSmartphone]

The bigger question is of course when will the network go live so that ordinary people can start using it? The sad answer is late 2013, and you have to blame the government for that. Auctions for 4G LTE spectrum were supposed to take place in early 2012, but that’s now been pushed back to Q4 2012. After the auction is over, it’s going to take at least a full year for operators to build out their networks, so late 2013 is a conservative bet for when our friends in Jolly Ol’ England will be able to get their high speed fix. To put that into some perspective, Sweden and Norway got 4G LTE in late 2009, Americans got 4G LTE in December 2010, and Japan’s Softback recently announced that they plan on covering 92% of the population of their small country by the end of 2012.

That being said, we still think 42 Mbps HSPA+ is better than 4G LTE in most cases. It delivers better battery life, enables smaller form factors, and it uses the spectrum that operators already own.

Here’s what they said (an excerpt):

The move from FroYo to Gingerbread does carry a risk that we want you to be aware of. The X10 was really only meant to work with FroYo but Sony Ericsson have managed to squeeze Gingerbread in and this may mean your phone runs slower than you’re used to. The update is irreversible, so this may be something you want to think about before doing the update.

If you’d still like to proceed with the upgrade, you’ll be able to download it in a week from the support section for X10 on the Sony Ericsson website.

Usually I would suggest you to “push the button” and install Gingerbread on your X10 (presuming you’re in the “affected” group), but I’m not sure what to say this time round. Don’t want to be responsible for your phone running slower than usual, that’s for sure. So… it’s your call.

[Via: EuroDroid]

This, however, doesn’t mean Czechs aren’t be able to grab Apple’s latest smartphone — quite the contrary, two other operators in the country, Vodafone and T-Mobile, are already listing it on their websites.

Now I wonder what was wrong with Apple’s business terms. After all, British branch of O2 will offer the iPhone 4S in addition to existing iPhone 4 model. Does the Cupertino-based company require such volume purchase that O2 can’t get the math right for the Czech market? That’s my best bet, if you have any other ideas, don’t hesitate to drop them in a comments form below…

[Via: TUAW]