If anyone doubted that this is going to be a weekend of worldwide mass hysteria, here’s a clue: after a few hours there are no more iPhones 3G available for pre-order in the UK. O2′s pre-ordering site was activated this morning and–after being down for a few hours under the massive demand–it now says that there are no more available JesusPhones. So go, loot, stay at home this Friday, and don’t forget to block your windows and doors or the fanzombies will eat you alive. [Thanks Mark and Jon]
The only real problem with today’s portable electronics is battery life. The gear gets more powerful but sadly battery technology really hasn’t kept up, that’s why we write about things like solar power. But there are also nifty things called dynamos, devices you pump or crank to juice up your batteries. O2, a large mobile carrier in the UK, will be installing bicycle-powered dynamos around a festival it’s sponsoring this coming weekend to charge up music fans’ mobiles. Sure, they could have run power cables and created power stations, but where’s the fun in that? And as anyone who’s been to a large outdoor festival in the last few years knows, you’re going to want to power up at least once a day or else you’re cut off. And if you’ve got our luck, it’d be right before Winehouse takes the stage, so you’d have no bawdy SMS session to distract you. [Pocket Picks]
It’s official: O2 and Telefonica users in the UK and Spain will get the iPhone absolutely free if they sign up for a 18-month plan with a US$88 monthly cost. But how “free” is free? Is this really a better deal than AT&T’s US$1,975 24-month plan price? The answer is yes, absofrakinlutely. Those countries got really good deals, enough to convince me to buy the new version:
One fun rumour bopping around the phone sites is that MWg, the smartphone maker previously known as O2 Asia, will be rolling out a Windows Mobile 7 phone in the fourth quarter of 2008, specifically the Flame II shown above. That’s about a year earlier than we last heard. Everyone sounds skeptical, but you never know, the timeline could have been accelerated because WM6 isn’t exactly a crowd pleaser. If you want a more complete roadmap, check out Boy Genius; for the original video presentation from MWg, look at MoDaCo. Either way, take it with a grain or two of salt. [MoDaCo via BGR]
Despite the rumours of iPhones being out of stock in the UK, it’s not really true—according to the retailers themselves. Reghardware has spoken to both O2 and Carphone Warehouse, and both say they’re just tackling getting more 16GB iPhones for their online departments. Apple themselves have stock and O2 and Carphone Warehouse have iPhones available in their high street stores. Does this info mean they won’t be getting any more 8GB versions, though? Well, we can speculate that, but we don’t know. It also leaves us wondering what this news does to the iPhone 2.0 rumours. [Reghardware]
Both 8GB and 16GB models of the iPhone are out of stock in the UK, according to both the O2 and Carphone Warehouse websites, although units are still ready to ship from the Apple Store online. I guess they’re clearing the decks for the 3G version. Just tell us cuando, cuando cuando, Apple. [Pocket Lint]
Looks like we were pretty much on the money except for the date—O2 will be carrying the iPhone in the UK, which will arrive Nov. 9 for £269 (8GB model only). Sadly, but not unexpectedly, 3G’s still not on board. To mitigate the EDGE factor, O2′s hooking up with The Cloud to put out over 7500 free Wi-Fi hotspots for the iPhone. Speaking of, the Wi-Fi Music Store will launch later this month and be pre-loaded onto the iPhone. Finally, mum’s still the word on other European countries—they’re only talking about the UK today. Overall, kind of an anticlimactic event if you ask us. UKers, thoughts?
In order to secure the Apple iPhone deal, UK’s O2 had to give up a gigantic margin on any revenues it makes on the phone—up to 40%, claims the Guardian. In addition to giving up 40% to Apple, it also has to split up commissions and revenue sharing to Carphone Warehouse, a deal drafted also because Apple was afraid O2 didn’t have enough presence in the UK. [Guardian]
Swedish gadget blog Fosfor got their hands on the svelte O2 Cocoon phone, and were gracious enough to produce an unboxing gallery. Not only is the phone simple and elegant, but so is its packaging. We’re big fans of this newcomer, from its clean lines to the incorporation of a hidden LED display. Hopefully this will spur some better design into the industry. [Fosfor] galleryPost('cocoonunbox', 4, 'o2 Cocoon Unboxed');
Yes, it’s no iPhone and it’s British, but the O2 Cocoon’s has a blue LED screen that shines straight through its retro-70s white clamshell design. It can display time, caller or track information, whilst simultaneously looking awesome. Best of all, it can transform: it comes with a dock that converts it into a bedside alarm clock as you can see in the video after the jump.
