Smartphone retailer Carphone Warehouse has confirmed that the Nokia Lumia 900 is “coming soon” to the United Kingdom, and recent reports suggest the phone could launch as soon as this June. The Lumia 900 was announced during the Consumer Electronics Show for AT&T as Nokia’s latest flagship Windows phone device. It’s equipped with a 4.3-inch ClearBlack AMOLED display, an 8-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, a 1.4GHz processor, 4G LTE connectivity support, a 1,830 mAh battery, 16GB of internal storage and 512MB of RAM. Carphone Warehouse did not reveal pricing for the phone and Nokia has not made any announcements outside the U.S. at this point.

[Via WPCentral]

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RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook will make its U.K debut on June 16th. The 7-inch QNX-powered tablet will be available from a number of retailers, including Phones 4u and The Carphone Warehouse, and the 16GB model will start at £399.95 ($648). iPhone 4u will also sell a 64GB version online for £559.95 ($907), while The Carphone Warehouse will also carry a third 32GB model for £479 ($777). U.K. customers can pre-order the PlayBook from either retailer beginning today. [Via Engadget]

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Following the great news that Google’s unlocked Nexus S would be £429.99 at launch in the U.K. instead of £549.99 as it was initially announced, Carphone Warehouse has confirmed that the smartphone’s launch will be delayed. Fortunately, our friends across the pond only have a few days to wait — the Nexus S will now become available exclusively through Carphone Warehouse on Wednesday, December 22nd, for free on contract or the aforementioned £429.99 contract-free. We reviewed the Google Nexus S recently and found it to be our favorite Android phone on the market at this time, in spite of its cheap-feeling high-gloss plastic body. Hit the break for the full press note from Carphone Warehouse.

Nexus S From Google Now Available from £429.99, free from £30/month

The Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy are today announcing that the Nexus S Smartphone from Google will arrive in the UK in time for Christmas at a great new price.

From 22nd December 2010, the only Smartphone running Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) will be available to buy from The Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy. Due to strong customer interest, limited stock will be available to buy direct at key Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy stores in the UK. All other branches of The Carphone Warehouse will be taking orders via instant ship delivery which will allow customers to pick up the phone from any store at their convenience. Customers can also order online at www.carphonewarehouse.com and www.bestbuy.co.uk. For those looking to upgrade, the Nexus S from Google will be available via direct sales on 0800 925 925. Nexus S will be available from free with a £30/month contract, or on PAYG for £429.99 plus £10 minimum top up with O2, Orange, Vodafone and T-Mobile. In addition, the Nexus S Smartphone from Google will be available SIM free for £429.99.

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British business paper City A.M. claims a Gingerbread-powered Google Nexus Two will launch in time for the holidays and will be available in the UK as a Carphone Warehouse exclusive. Considering Google CEO Eric Schmidt stated pretty plainly over the summer that there were no plans for a second Google-branded phone, we’re skeptical at best. The report cites an unnamed industry source in saying, “It looks like Google is experimenting with the future of its mobile model in the UK. It tried releasing through a single carrier, now it is trying a single retailer. It could be a solution to the problems it experienced when it tried to sell the Nexus One exclusively through its website. People like to be able to go to a store — this solves that.” The second coming of Google’s failed direct-sales experiment will apparently not be manufactured by HTC, the company responsible for building Google’s Nexus One, pictured above. The report does not indicate which company might be responsible for manufacturing the Nexus Two, however, saying only that the phone would likely not be made by Samsung.

[Via Engadget Mobile]

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While the US is now in full iPhone launch mode, those closest to the International Date Line have long been enjoying the hype of the iPhone launch and the resulting shortages that are associated with such demand. One of the first carriers to officially announce that it has sold out of its stock is Vodafone UK. A bright orange message on Vodafone’s website confirms that the carrier is plum out of iPhone 4s and is not expeingte to be replenished for a few weeks. This may only be the first of several carriers in the UK to sell out as it is rumored that entire region only received a meager 16,000 handsets. Shortages are reported at O2 and even some branches of Carphone Warehouse and Phones4U reportedly never received their iPhone 4 shipments. Anyone in the UK enjoying a bright and shiny new iPhone or are you still waiting in vain?

Read [16,000 for UK] Read [Vodafone]

More bad news out of the UK for Sony Ericsson as its flagship handset has been pulled from the shelves of both Carphone Warehouse and Phones4U. The two largest mobile phone retailers in the UK have suspended sales in response to a high volume of returns due to a reported “problem with the phone.” Sony Ericsson cites a software glitch as the cause of the problem and is expected to release a software update within two to three weeks to address the issue. In the interim if you absolutely must have the Satio, Orange and Vodafone are still selling the beleaguered handset with no problems being reported in their carrier-specific versions of the handset.

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Carphone Warehouse, the giant UK retailer for all major UK carriers minus Vodafone, has listed the BlackBerry 8900 Curve on its website and has announced that it is slated to arrive in December for the holidays. While nothing has been revealed in terms of which carriers the phone will be available from, so far T-Mobile is the only carrier who has announced that it will be carrying the new Curve. It is more than likely that Orange will be offering the device as it supports the UMA feature of the device. That said, Carphone Warehouse has apparently confirmed that it will also be selling the device SIM free — good news all around for anyone who will be in the market for a BlackBerry with an amazing 480 x 360 screen, WiFi, GPS and a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto-focus. For those of you looking for 3G however, not so much.

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Music lovers in the UK, Nokia now has a new phone for you. The Nokia 5310 XpressMusic ‘Comes With Music’ edition will be the first handset to feature Nokia’s new “Comes with Music” service. Makes sense, right? The subscription model music service allows phone owners one year of free access to Nokia’s music catalog which includes artists from Sony BMG, EMI, Warner Music, and Universal Music Group. Users can download tracks to one phone and one computer and are able keep the downloaded tracks after their free subscription expires. A “relatively high” download limit has been hinted at and PlaysForSure DRM is expected to hinder your overall music experience. After the trial year has ended, you can purchase new music by renewing your subscription (for a fee of course) or by purchasing on a track by track basis. If you buy a new Comes with Music phone, you can transfer your purchased music to your new phone. One little problem with that scenario is how do you coordinate a 12 month subscription service with an 18 month contract? Hmm. Hopefully that question and more will be answered on October 2 when more information about the Comes With Music service will be released at a Nokia event to be held in London.

Enough of the music service, now back to the phone. Only the music service appears to differentiate the new 5310 Comes With Music edition from the original Nokia 5310 XpressMusic phone. The phone will be sold through Carphone Warehouse who will start taking pre-orders today. Carphone Warehouse has an exclusive UK deal until the end of the year so don’t look for the phone outside of the UK anytime soon.

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