The last we had heard about a release date for HTC’s upcoming Leo was late October/Early November. Well, a conflicting rumour has been tossed into the open suggesting an earlier October 12 release date on the UK’s O2 (NYSE: TEF) network. Getting a little carrier-specific certainly adds some weight to the rumour; apparently the internal O2 database is listing the Leo as the HD2 and missing the usual XDA branding. If you haven’t had a chance to get a close loook at the Leo, it’s shaping up to be one of the Windows Mobile 6.5’s hottest new handsets: 512 MB of RAM, 1Ghz processor, a 4.3″ WVGA display, 5 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS, and all the rest. Considering the proximity of the dates, it seems entirely likely that the Leo HD2 will make a more official appearance on Windows Mobile 6.5’s launch on October 6th. Here’s hoping!

[via Engadget]

O2 (NYSE: TEF) is the carrier of choice for Palm (NSDQ: PALM). The carrier which is also known for its iPhone offering, will start selling the Pre on October 16th. The long-anticipated device will be available starting from free on 24-month £34.26/month, and 18-month £44.05/month or £73.41/month contracts. Alternatively, those who prefer to pay more upfront, could grab the device for £96.89 and sign for the 18-month long £29.38/month contract. The full chart is bellow, and the additional details are available from the dedicated page on O2’s website.

UPDATE: UK is not the only market where O2 will bring the Palm Pre. O2 Ireland and O2 Germany will also start selling the device on October 16th and 13th, respectively!

I recently enabled iPhone Tethering, and was expecting it to solve my problems of having to use a separate mobile broadband dongle – since it does the same thing. However, I ran in to two problems:

• poor network coverage where I’ve been travelling to
• the initial connection of the iPhone to the network for data seems slow and unreliable

Now of course the first of these problems is purely network-related – in this case O2 (NYSE: TEF). But the second of these problems is a funny one – the iPhone appears to pick up the tethering to the MacBook very quickly, but data rates you get once you key in say a website are very low indeed. This is in both areas of good and bad coverage, and trying it out I’ve been able to compare it with a dedicated O2 broadband dongle (by Huawei as it happens). The dongle outperforms the iPhone every time actually, both with speed of connection to the network, and then data rates.

Having said all of this, I’m not the biggest fan of the iPhone when it’s connecting to the network by itself with it’s Mail client, or Safari – whether on EDGE or 3G, it does seem to take a while to get that initial burst of data through. So what’s the problem?

Well it’s either the iPhone software stack responsible for connecting to the network, or it’s the network itself not providing resource in a simple fashion for the iPhone to connect to. Which exactly I can’t say for sure, but I’m sure other devices I’ve had on O2 have been quicker to the punch as regards data.

What are your experiences with the iPhone and it’s data connection to (various) networks? I’m keen to hear if any of you have a better time of things!

O2 has announced My O2 for iPhone, an app designed to help make viewing the amount customers spend on their phones even easier.

The My O2 section of O2’s website gives comprehensive information on every part of a customer’s account and could already be accessed via SMS and online, however the new My O2 app takes this information and makes it available in a way specifically tailored for the iPhone.

Using the My O2 app, both O2 Pay & Go and Pay Monthly iPhone customers will be able to securely see their tariff details, a summary of their inclusive allowance and how much remains, their latest bill and any Bolt Ons on their account.

“Our customers want to stay in control of how much they spend whenever they like. The My O2 iPhone app allows them to do this with the minimum of fuss,” said Sally Cowdry, Marketing Director for O2. “We wanted to make this information as easy to view as possible. This is all part of our commitment to a great customer experience and we’ll be looking at rolling this out to other phones in the near future.”

The My iPhone app has been created together with Mobile Interactive Group (MIG). Ben Cusack, Group Creative Director at MIG said, “The My O2 application allows the iPhone customer base to benefit from having details of their account on their handset. To enable ease of integration, MIG designed the app so it can easily be rolled out to other smart phone devices or incorporate additional features in the future.”

I’ve tried the App, and I have to say it does what it says on the tin – and that’s pretty much all you need from an account checker type of App!

The app is now available as a free download on the Apple App Store.

Everythingpre.com is reporting, based on a PC Advisor article, that there is going to be an announcement this week regarding the Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre!

Now it’s not 100% clear what the specifics of the announcement will be, but it’s quite possible that it could include a date for release of the wonder-device  - now how cool would that be?!

Of course, O2 (NYSE: TEF) (the so-called ‘home of smartphones’) has got the exclusive on the Palm Pre, so it’s going to be no surprise at all when are mentioned – however, the tariffs that it will appear with have been the subject of some speculation, so it would be good to know a little bit more about that too. I wonder actually whether the announcement of the Pixi has stolen some of the Pre’s thunder? Well I guess sales volumes (when it does launch, sometime in October we think) will tell…

[Via: Everythingpre.com via: PC Advisor]

So who IS going to buy T-Mobile UK?

Well according to Mobile News, it could be any of the following: Vodafone, France Telecom (Orange), or Telefonica (O2)!

Mobile News reports on a story that surfaced in The Financial Times, stating that three companies listed above have all shown interest in subsuming T-Mob. Of course, there could be some serious regulatory hurdles, as whoever inherited T-Mob’s subs would be in a commanding position in the UK market.

It is thought the sale could bring in around €4 billion, an not inconsequential sum for parent company Deutsche Telekom.

[Via: Mobile News]

Tethering sounds like a nasty affliction, doesn’t it…..

So after somewhat of a kerfuffle, I got Internet Tethering setup for my iPhone 3GS today. I say kerfuffle, because I didn’t get any notification (of any kind) that it was working – oh no, hang on, they sent it to the wrong email address, that’s it

Anyhoo, I’m looking forward to giving the iPhone a chance to stretch it’s data-legs over the next couple of months, and see how it performs compared to one of O2 (NYSE: TEF)’s plug-in USB dongles. Speaking of the USB dongles, the iPhone tethering weighs in the same cost, with a pretty much identical tariff – that is:

• 3GB data per month
• £15 per month (£14.88 to be exact)
• 30-day rolling bolt-on (for the first month, then I believe you can cancel at any point during a month)

However, just trying it out briefly earlier, I’m noticing the iPhone is taking longer to make a data connection that one of the USB dongles does do, plus it’s throughput appears to be a bit slower also. Now that could of course be the prevailing network conditions this evening, but I’ll be keeping an eye out over the next few months to see if an iPhone does actually perform as well as a dedicated dongle.

Anyone out there with existing experience care to share a view?

Picking up on a quote in the post I put up on the release of the (Android-powered) Samsung Galaxy, O2 (NYSE: TEF) now seems to be the place to go for smartphone exclusives:

“O2 has become the home of smartphones and launching our first Android-powered phone with Samsung is a key part of this,” said Steve Alder, General Manager Devices, Telefónica Europe.

This got me thinking – exactly how many smartphones OSs do they, or will they shortly, support? Well, by reckoning it’s:

• Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) OS – iPhone
• WinMo – O2 XDA Zest and Guide
• RIM OS – BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Curve, Bold, 8310
• Series 60 – Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N86, N73 Refurb
• Android – Samsung Galaxy

and… soon enough….

• WebOS – Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre

Dang, that’s a lot of OSs right there! Let’s consider that a snapshot now, and then re-visit in a year’s time to see how things have changed. My prediction is that WinMo might be gone, as may Palm be (unless there’s a raft of devices that come out sporting WebOS), and both RIM and Android will increase. I’d imagine Apple and Series60 might remain the same.

What say you, IntoMobile readership?!

Samsung Mobile UK today announces that its Galaxy handset (i7500) is now available on the O2 network in the UK. The Samsung Galaxy is the company’s first device powered by Android, giving customers instant access to familiar applications, as well as access to a range of ever-expanding services being developed for the Android platform.

“The Samsung Galaxy is one of the most innovative and high-quality Android-powered devices on the market. We’ve built in all the features people have come to expect from high-end Samsung devices, like the AMOLED screen and fast processing power, to provide a great user experience,” said Mark Mitchinson, VP, Samsung Mobile UK. “We’re fortunate to have the technical ability at Samsung to support a variety of operating systems and demonstrate real leadership in developing the technologies that customers want and understand.’

“O2 has become the home of smartphones and launching our first Android-powered phone with Samsung is a key part of this,” said Steve Alder, General Manager Devices, Telefónica Europe. “What I love about the Samsung Galaxy is the great user experience and the fantastic range of apps it brings to even more customers.”

The familiar Google services on the PC are ready and waiting on the Samsung Galaxy including: Google Search™ Google Maps™, Gmail™, Google Talk™.  It also has an integrated GPS receiver meaning you can make full use of Google Maps to guide you in the car or on foot.  ??As well as the world of applications, the internet really comes to life through the Samsung Galaxy’s 3.2inch AMOLED screen; watch great quality videos from You Tube, surf the web with the super-fast browser or view pictures you’ve taken with its 5 mega-pixel camera.

A device as powerful as this needs a long battery life and memory capacity so it can be enjoyed fully and the Samsung Galaxy doesn’t disappoint. Capable of storing up to 40GB of memory (8GB internal memory, external up to 32GB), this smartphone packs a lot into its slim, compact design (115 x 56 x 11.9mm).

Full(er) specifications:

The Samsung Galaxy (i7500) is available in the UK on O2 exclusively for 4 weeks from Monday 31st August 2009 and is free on a £45 per month tariff. If you go for the cheapest Tariff then the device weighs in at £244.67.

[Via: O2.co.uk]

Only last week, it looked like we were going to get the Samsung Galaxy i7500 arriving in O2 (NYSE: TEF) shops in the UK – well, that hasn’t happened, and Mobile Magazine has picked up reports from O2 staff that the device has failed testing.

This is a small setback for O2, since it’s their first Android handset, and I’m sure they want to get it out before the Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre arrives, sometime in October.

Once these two handsets are out, O2 will be bridging WinMo, iPhone, RIM, Android, and Palm operating systems across their range of devices – impressive five-way split!

[Via: Mobile Magazine]