Mobile News is reporting that O2 Ireland apparently has a shortage of the iPhone 3GS, meaning that customers are having to wait weeks to get a device.

Logistics seem to have been a somewhat variable problem for Apple since the device was launched – checking O2’s UK website on a regular basis, I’ve seen a mixture of messages about no stock, limited stock, and somewhat more plentiful supplies!

Once that initial burst of demand is over, hopefully more people will be able to get their hands on, what is in my opinion, the best device on the market.

I wonder what the most popular memory/colour configuration has been in Ireland?

[Via: Mobile News]

The Palm web OS Blog has some interesting, nay exciting, info for potential Palm Pre owners in the UK – apparently the Pre is due on October 30th!

The info has supposedly come from an anonymous tipster, so we can’t say much about it be a verified source, but, the end of October seems entirely reasonable if O2 are going to capitalise on the Christmas market. The handset company I used to work for wanted devices out at the START of October to get the Christmas run-in, so engineering issue aside, Oct 30th might even be a little late…

The only other question is as to price plans, which the Palm web OS Blog says will be the same as the iPhone – which one, we’re not sure yet…

[Story via: Palm web OS Blog / Image via: Palm]

Well it’s a small update of sorts….

A few days back, I reported on a story from Electricpig, stating that the i7500 Galaxy (an Android handset from Samsung) was due in a week or so. To try and substantiate this, I asked O2 (NYSE: TEF) directly, and their spokesman said:

“The Samsung Galaxy is currently going through O2’s customer experience test process and we expect to launch it in the next few weeks.”

I told you it wasn’t much to add, but at least we’re confirming the Galaxy is due very soon indeed – I shall continue my salivation in anticipation of it’s arrival!

There are some out there that might disagree with London’s push to clean up the seedier side of metropolitan life, but wireless carriers in the UK are apparently on board with new program to block phone numbers known to be tied to prostitution rings. The Times Online is reporting that the Metropolitan Police, the Crown Prosecution Service, British Telecom will meet with the CEOs of Vodafone (NYSE: VOD), Orange, O2 (NYSE: TEF), 3, Virgin and T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) this coming October. The topic of discussion: How to block prostitutes’ phone numbers before the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

At stake here is the welfare of women brought into the UK to work as prostitutes. With the 2012 Olympic Games coming to London, tourists will be flocking to the foggy city. Research from the 2004 Olympic Games showed that the number of women trafficked into Athens doubled prior to the 2004 Games. And, London wants to prevent a similar surge in sex trafficking.

London’s underbelly is home to criminal gangs (prostitution rings, really) that trick women into coming to the UK to work high-paying jobs, only to find that they’re now indebted to pay back travel and immigration costs by working as sex workers. The gangs set up phone numbers and distribute flyers to market their “business.” By blocking access to these prostitution rings, London hopes to fight the abuse of women by taking away a key part of pimps’ business model.

A noble effort indeed. The rest of the world would do well to follow London’s example.

[Via: T3]

Electricpig.co.uk is hot on the news trail again, quoting The Register Hardware with a story that O2UK are going to launch the Samsung Galaxy i7500 next week? What’s in a model name – well the key thing here is that it’s an Android handset!

We’ve known about the Galaxy for a while, and on the specs front, the basics are: 3.2 inch AMOLED screen, 5MP camera, 8GB memory – but the question on most peoples’ minds will of course be the pricing.

As soon as we know for confirmed release dates, we’ll update y’all.

[Via: Electricpig.co.uk via: The Register Hardware]

O2 has announced an agreement with Telmap which will see its personal navigation and mapping service made available to O2 (NYSE: TEF) customers on the majority of GPS-enabled handsets sold by O2. O2 has worked closely with Telmap to optimize the application for use on the O2 network and will be providing first level customer support and billing support.

Telmap’s Navigator offers a rich mapping and GPS navigation experience with features including in-car 3D maps with text-to-speech technology, traffic alerts with alternative route options and turn by turn directions while walking. O2 customers will also benefit from access to relevant content including places and businesses, event ticketing, restaurant listings and reviews amongst other premium services. O2 will also incorporate points of interest such as O2 Academy venues and Wi-Fi hotspots.

In addition to providing customer service, O2 will make it easy for customers to pay for the Telmap service by integrating the subscription charge onto their mobile phone bill. O2 will also offer the chance for customers to try the service for 14 days before they decide to buy.

The first new handsets from O2 with the application embedded will appear on the market in the autumn. There will be a range of subscription packages available, starting from £3.50 per month. Existing customers will also be able to download the application if they have a compatible handset.

The agreement with O2 in the UK will form a framework for future agreements between Telmap and Telefónica operations globally.

[Via: O2]

The iPhone 3G

Well yes, according to Mobile Entertainment. They are claiming to have seen docs that state October 9th is ‘end of days’, so to speak.

Apparently O2 (NYSE: TEF) has the rights to sell iPhones for 5 years, but only has exclusivity for 2 years. What this would probably mean is that T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) and Orange (who have been strongly linked with the iPhone) get the iPhone 3G, but O2 (I’d guess) will get to keep exclusivity on the iPhone 3GS – and I’d bet they won’t surrender the exclusivity on further handsets either!

Interestingly, although the iPhone is sold in around 80 countries, it’s only exclusive in the US, UK, and Germany – so changes in the UK wouldn’t be a massive shock.

I personally can’t wait to see the kind of tariffs that T-Mobile and Orange will come with, if they do get the rights to sell the iPhone 3G – it could suddenly make things VERY interesting!

[Via: Mobile-Ent.biz]

The Samsung Galaxy GT-I7500 is Samsung’s first Android smartphone. As such, it would be a shame to see the Galaxy coming to market in just a single shade of Black. It would be, that is, if these new spy pics didn’t confirm the existence of the White Samsung Galaxy. What you see here are real-life images of a Samsung Galaxy clad in White, not the rumored Samsung Galaxy Lite. The fair-hued Galaxy will sport the same spec-sheet as the Black Samsung Galaxy – 3.2-inch AMOLED touchscreen, 5-megapixel camera, Bluetotoh 2.0 + EDR, WiFi, 3G data, GPS and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Thanks to theunwired, we now know that the White Samsung Galaxy will bring its Android goodness to Europe later this Summer. O2 (NYSE: TEF) will apparently be the first to get the White variant, with other European carriers to follow.

The Samsung Galaxy’s tri-band 3G (900/1700/2100Mhz) radio makes it a good fit for T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) USA’s AWS 3G network (which runs on the 1700Mhz frequency band). It’s probably only a matter of time before T-Mo USA launches the Galaxy… it is cleared by the FCC after all.

[Via: theunwired]

It wasn’t so very long ago that I wrote a post reporting on the supposed attempts of T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) and Orange to secure distribution rights for the iPhone in the UK. The specifics were that they were looking to sell the iPhone 3G, with O2 (NYSE: TEF) apparently retaining exclusivity on the 3Gs.

Well now The Guardian Newspaper in the UK is reporting that Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) is chasing to become a retail outlet for the iPhone too, which would destroy O2s exclusivity in spectacular fashion, were it ever to happen. Now, Vodafone DOES sell the iPhone in some countries that it has operations, but there are some key ones missing in that set – the UK being one of them.

So could it happen? Well, I think there’s a good argument from Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s perspective to open the distribution of its 3G model, and then perhaps keep the latest (3GS) model back for its exclusive deals – you could see Apple wielding its marketing magic to get this deal in fact. But would it be reasonable for Apple to ditch the exclusivity arrangements that have served it so well, so far? Not in my view, though with speculation being rife now with 3 Operators in the UK, anything could happen! Watch this space, methinks!

[Via: The Guardian]

According to Cellular News, O2 (NYSE: TEF) Germany is going to expand it’s mobile advertising services to do more targeting of Ads, based on anonymous group classification.Things such as gender, age, and interests will be will be used as indices to target the Ads.

As is more and more the case these days, users have to explicitly opt-in to receive the Ads – those that do can expect portal Ads, and SMS/MMS messages containing the same.

Me personally, I’m not an Ad fan – I like a clean user experience no matter what platform I’m using – but if the Ad-serving is twinned with some kind of financial incentive, we could end up seeing more and more of these appearing.

[Via: Cellular News]