Thousands of broadband subscribers in the United Kingdom who illegally downloaded pornography will soon have their identities exposed. The United Kingdom’s High Court has ordered O2, a large U.K.-based Internet service provider, to hand over personal details identifying more than 9,000 subscribers to Golden Eye International and Ben Dover Productions, two companies run by British porn actor and producer Lindsay Honey. The subscribers in question are found to have illegally download copies of copyrighted movies owned by the pornographer, and their identities will be turned over to the court so that Golden Eye International and Ben Dover Productions can seek damages. O2 reportedly fought in court to protect the identities of its subscribers, however the company confirmed that it would cooperate with the court’s ultimate decision. “Clearly we respect the court order and will therefore be co-operating fully,” an O2 spokesperson told AKAScope.

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Citing issues with the user experience, O2 UK announced on Thursday that it “will not be selling” the BlackBerry PlayBook. The wireless carrier began notifying customers who had signed up for more information about its change of heart on Thursday. The carrier officially stated: “unfortunately there are some issues with the end to end customer experience,” but didn’t delve further into its reasons for the decision. We suspect it could be the lack of a native email client, an addition that RIM has said it will add in a future update, but we also noted that it felt like an “unfinished product” in our recent review. O2 did say that it could offer the product at a later date, and that it will work with Research In Motion on its BlackBerry PlayBook products in the future.

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Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Play in a black tuxedo not doing it for you? If you’re living under O2′s coverage area in the UK, you have an exclusive offering — the Xperia Play in white, complete with matching dock. If you are outside the UK, though, there’s still hope as availability of the white device outside of the UK hasn’t been announced just yet. A shot of the front of the handset after the break!

[Via Engadget]

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According to German carrier O2, the HTC 7 Pro — a full-QWERTY, horizontal sliding, Windows Phone 7 device — will hit store shelves sometime in January. The set has been, up till this point, rumored for U.S. based CDMA carrier Sprint, however, O2 uses GSM technology. The device boasts a 1 GHz processor, 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, and a 3.6-inch display that tilts towards its user. No word on whether or not the GSM variant will show-up Stateside, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed.

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Are you still reeling from last week’s Windows Phone 7 press event? Ballmer and Co. announced a staggering 10 handsets (and counting) right out of the gate, sporting their latest mobile OS. HTC, Samsung, Dell, LG among others, have pledged their alliance and announced handsets that will grace the world’s stage over the coming months. We have simplified things for our discerning readers, hit the jump for BGR’s definitive guide to Windows Phone 7 hardware.

HTC

HTC HD7

• 1 GHz Qualcomm QSD8250 CPU
• 4.3″ WVGA LCD, 480×800 resolution
• 512 MB ROM, 576 MB RAM
• Internal Storage: 8 GB in Europe and 16GB in Asia
• 5 MP camera, Auto-focus, dual LED
• 720 video recording
• Sensors: G-sensor, digital compass, proximity sensor, light sensor
• Connectivity: 3G 7.2 Mbps, WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 (A2DP support)
• HTC Hub
• Input method: Touch screen only
• Unique Feature: Boasts the largest screen real estate amongst the WP7 handsets
• Carriers and Availability: The HTC HD7 will launch in the U.S. on the 8th of November on T-Mobile. For UK customers, the phone is currently available on O2

HTC Surround

• 1 GHz Qualcomm QSD8250 CPU
• 3.8″ WVGA LCD, 480×800 resolution
• 512 MB ROM, 576 MB RAM
• Internal Storage: 16 GB on-board
• 5 MP camera, Auto-focus, LED flash
• 720p HD video recording
• Sensors: G-sensor, digital compass, proximity sensor, light sensor
• Connectivity: 3G 7.2 Mbps, WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 (A2DP support)
• HTC Hub
• Input method: Touch screen only
• Unique Feature: Slide-out integrated stereo speakers, Dolby Mobile and SRS surround sound
• Carriers and Availability: HTC Surround will be available on AT&T in the U.S., and Telus in Canada by the end of 2010

HTC 7 Mozart

• 1 GHz Qualcomm QSD8250 CPU
• 3.7″ WVGA LCD, 480×800 resolution
• 512 MB ROM, 576 MB RAM
• Internal Storage: 8 GB on-board
• 8 MP camera, Auto-focus, Xenon flash
• 720p HD video recording
• Sensors: G-sensor, digital compass, proximity sensor, light sensor
• Connectivity: 3G 7.2 Mbps, WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 (A2DP support)
• HTC Hub
• Input method: Touch screen only
• Unique Feature: Best Camera in it’s class, brushed aluminium unibody construction, SRS ‘WOW HD’ sound and boasts a Xenon flash
• Carriers and Availability: Currently available to order on Orange UK

HTC 7 Trophy

• 1 GHz Qualcomm QSD8250 CPU
• 3.8″ WVGA LCD, 480×800 resolution
• 512 MB ROM, 576 MB RAM
• Internal Storage: 8 GB on-board
• 5 MP camera, Auto-focus, LED flash
• 720p HD video recording
• Sensors: G-sensor, digital compass, proximity sensor, light sensor
• Connectivity: 3G 7.2 Mbps, WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 (A2DP support)
• HTC Hub
• Input method: Touch screen only
• Unique Feature: No-frills HTC WP7 handset
• Carriers and Availability: Coming soon to Orange, Vodafone and O2 in the UK

HTC 7 Pro

• 1 GHz Qualcomm QSD8250 CPU
• 3.6″ WVGA LCD, 480×800 resolution
• 512 MB ROM, 448 MB RAM
• Internal Storage: 8 GB on-board
• 5 MP camera, Auto-focus, LED flash
• 720p HD video recording
• Sensors: G-sensor, digital compass, proximity sensor, light sensor
• Connectivity: 3G 7.2 Mbps, WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 (A2DP support)
• HTC Hub
• Input method: Touch screen and slide-out QWERTY keyboard
• Unique Feature: The only HTC WP7 phone to sport a physical QWERTY keyboard
• Carriers and Availability: First half of 2011 on Sprint

Samsung

Samsung Focus

• 1 GHz Qualcomm QSD8250 CPU
• 4.0″ Super AMOLED, 480×800 resolution
• 512 MB ROM, 512 MB RAM
• Internal Storage: 8 GB microSD, not hot swappable without a hard reset
• 5 MP camera, Auto-focus, LED flash
• 720p HD video recording (23fps)
• Sensors: G-sensor, digital compass, proximity sensor, light sensor
• Connectivity: 3G 7.2 Mbps, WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 (A2DP support)
• Input method: Touch screen only
• Unique Feature: Vibrant screen, added camera functionality and front facing camera
• Carriers and Availability: U.S. exclusive, launching on November 8th on AT&T

Samsung Omnia 7

• 1 GHz Qualcomm QSD8250 CPU
• 4.0″ Super AMOLED, 480×800 resolution
• 512 MB ROM, 512 MB RAM
• Internal Storage: 8 GB microSD, not hot swappable without a hard reset
• 5 MP camera, Auto-focus, LED flash
• 720p HD video recording (25fps)
• Sensors: G-sensor, digital compass, proximity sensor, light sensor
• Connectivity: 3G 7.2 Mbps, WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 (A2DP support)
• Input method: Touch screen only
• Unique Feature: Vibrant screen, added camera functionality and front facing camera
• Carriers and Availability: Currently available on Orange and 3 in the UK

Dell

Dell Venue Pro

• 1 GHz Qualcomm QSD8250 CPU
• 4.1″ WVGA AMOLED, 480×800 resolution
• Internal Storage: 8 GB microSD, not hot swappable without a hard reset
• 5 MP camera, Auto-focus, LED flash
• 720p HD video recording
• Sensors: G-sensor, digital compass, proximity sensor, light sensor
• Connectivity: 3G 7.2 Mbps, WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 (A2DP support)
• Input method: Touch screen and hardware keyboard
• Unique Feature: Scratch-resistant screen (Corning Gorilla Glass), physical QWERTY keyboard
• Carriers and Availability: Available end of 2010 on T-Mobile U.S.

LG

LG Optimus 7 (E900)

• 1 GHz Qualcomm QSD8650 CPU
• 3.8″ WVGA LCD, 480×800 resolution
• Internal Storage: 16 GB
• 5 MP camera, Auto-focus, LED flash
• 720p HD video recording (24fps)
• Sensors: G-sensor, digital compass, proximity sensor, light sensor
• Connectivity: 3G 7.2 Mbps, WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 (A2DP support)
• Input method: Touch screen
• Unique Feature: Wireless media transfer to DLNA DMR enabled devices
• Carriers and Availability: Coming to Telus (Canada) end of 2010, and currently available on Vodafone-UK

LG Quantum

• 1 GHz Qualcomm QSD8650 CPU
• 3.5″ WVGA LCD, 480×800 resolution
• Internal Storage: 16 GB
• 5 MP camera, Auto-focus, LED flash
• 720p HD video recording
• Sensors: G-sensor, digital compass, proximity sensor, light sensor
• Connectivity: 3G 7.2 Mbps, WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 (A2DP support)
• Input method: Touch screen and physical QWERTY keyboard
• Unique Feature: Wireless media transfer to DLNA DMR enabled devices, and QWERTY keyboard
• Carriers and Availability: Coming to AT&T on the 8th of November

Are you planning on ditching your iDevice/BlackBerry/Android for a Windows Phone 7? If so, let us know which one you’re leaning toward — there are a lot of options!

Image credit: George Joseph

T-Mobile UK has jumped the gun and revealed pricing for the, BlackBerry OS 6-toting Bold 9780. The  Bold 9780 is the successor to the aging, but wildly popular Bold 9700. According to Electricpig, the new BlackBerry will be available before Christmas. The handset will be available for £0 ($0, if you convert) if you sign 2 years of your life away for a £30/month. Reasonable, no? However, we still don’t have any info on tariff details.

The three other major carriers in Blighty – O2, Orange and 3, have remained tight-lipped on availability. With the festive shopping season around the corner, you can expect all the major carriers to jump on-board

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Today, Microsoft announced that all five major UK wireless carriers — Orange, O2, T-Mobile, Three, and Vodafone — will be carrying handsets that run the Windows Phone 7 operating system. “It is wonderful now to have all of the UK’s network operators supporting the launch of Windows Phone 7,” said Alex Reeve, Microsoft UK’s director of the Mobile Business Group. We know plenty about the “who,” what we really want to know is the “when.”

ALL UK MOBILE NETWORK OPERATORS BACK WINDOWS® PHONE 7

LONDON, UK: 22 SEPTEMBER 2010: Today, Microsoft has announced that all
five of the mobile network operators in the UK – Orange, O2, Vodafone,
T-Mobile and Three – will be ranging phones running Windows® Phone 7
when it launches later this year. In addition, Windows Phone 7 will be
ranged by the leading UK retailers The Carphone Warehouse and Phones
4u.

Windows Phone 7 is a different kind of phone, designed to bring
together the things people care about most. Featuring an innovative
and beautiful user interface and integrated experiences, it simplifies
what you do every day. Plus, for the first time ever, Microsoft will
bring together the Xbox LIVE® games and the Zune® music and video
experience exclusively to Windows Phone.

Alex Reeve, Director, Mobile Business Group, Microsoft UK, said:
“Following our announcement at Mobile World Congress that Orange will
be our lead partner, it is wonderful now to have all of the UK’s
network operators supporting the launch of Windows Phone 7. This means
we can provide network choice and also a range of phones across
networks for customers to choose from, all with the power of Windows
Phone 7. We are thrilled to be working in partnership with these major
industry players.”

For more information and see a demonstration of the phone, please
visit www.windowsphone7.com

O2 UK announced today that it will only offer the iPhone 4 to current customers when the handset launches on June 24th. The wireless carrier cites extremely limited stock as the basis for this potentially controversial decision. Folks looking to score an iPhone by signing up now with O2 are out of luck as the iPhone will only be offered to wireless, home broadband, and home phone customers who have been with O2 since May 24th, 2010. Current customers will have to travel to a brick and mortar store to snag an iPhone as the incredibly hot handset will not be available online from O2 until the end of July. Once the supply of iPhones is no longer limited, O2 will finally make the handset available to new customers.

Thanks, Andrew!

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Apple’s iPhone 4 is a undeniably selling like wildfire both here in the States and overseas. Similar to the U.S., the UK iPhone is experiencing delayed availability with the ship by date now pushed back to July 14th. If you missed the June 24th and the July 2nd pre-order window, your only option now is to try to score an iPhone 4 from your local Apple store or your favorite wireless carrier at launch next week. Thankfully, many opportunities exist for the UK iPhone customer as, unlike the U.S. where exclusivity reigns, the UK iPhone 4 will be sold by O2, Orange, Vodafone, Tesco Mobile, and T-Mobile with the the first three carriers announcing their iPhone 4 pricing and associated tariffs earlier this week. Hit the jump for a full roundup of each carrier’s pricing and best of luck in snagging the latest and greatest handset Apple has to offer.

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Read (O2 iPhone 4)

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As if resident of the UK didn’t already have a line-up of handsets to chose from that would make even the most reserved American green with envy, today Dell announced that it and O2 will be releasing the Dell Streak in early June. A giant amongst smartphones, the Streak features a 5″ WVGA capacitive touchscreen display, 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, 16GB of internal memory, support for microSD cards up to 32GB, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth 2.1, 7.2Mbps HSDPA and 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. To debut with Android 1.6, Dell says the Streak has been “designed with the future in mind” and will be subject to OTA updates which will bring Adobe Flash 10.1, Android 2.2 “Froyo”, and video chat apps to the Streak before the year’s end. Pricing has yet to be announced, but the Dell Streak will be available online and in stores from O2, at Carphone Warehouse, and later “later in the month at Dell.co.uk.” Oh, anyone whose thinking of making an easy buck brining these bad boys over to the US better move fast — it’s coming here “later this summer.” Click through for the press release.

DELL STREAK TABLET ENTICES PEOPLE TO WATCH, SURF, CONNECT, LISTEN, AND PLAY ON 5″ OF POWER AND PORTABILITY

• Streak to launch early June in the UK exclusively on O2
• Available at O2 stores, O2.co.uk, The Carphone Warehouse and later next month at Dell.co.uk
• U.S. availability to arrive later this summer

BRACKNELL, UK – May 25, 2010 – Today, Dell released plans for Streak, a 5-inch Android™-based Tablet designed to provide people the best “on-the-go” entertainment, social connection, and navigation experience. Early this June the Dell Streak will be available across the UK at O2 stores, O2.co.uk, The Carphone Warehouse, and later in the month at Dell.co.uk. Pricing and data plans for the UK will be announced by O2 ahead of availability. Later this summer, Dell plans to make Streak available in the U.S.

The Dell Streak is a compact and powerful companion for people who want to expand their ability to access their digital lives on the go, and realize tomorrow’s technology today. The spacious 5-inch screen is ideal for experiencing thousands of Android Market™ widgets, games and applications, all without squinting or compromising portability. Built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and available 3G connectivity brings easy access for downloading and listening to music, updating social networking status in real-time, and staying connected to friends and family through e-mail, text, IM, and voice calls.

On-the-go students, mobile professionals, and active families will find Streak’s web-browsing capabilities as natural as a laptop. The 5-inch screen is large enough to present Web pages in their natural form, create a comfortable viewing experience, and make turn-by-turn navigation simple and safe. The Dell Streak leverages Qualcomm’s Snapdragon™ solution with integrated 1GHz processor to combine basic functionality, performance, and benefits of a laptop in a pocket friendly size.

“The Dell Streak hits the sweet spot between traditional smartphones and larger-screen tablets,” said Ron Garriques, president, Dell Communication Solutions Group. “Its unique size provides people new ways to enjoy, connect, and navigate their lives.”

The Dell Streak was designed with the future in mind and will support over-the-air updates including platform upgrades, Adobe Flash 10.1 on Android™ 2.2 later this year, video chat applications and other software innovations.

Dell is a member of the Open Handset Alliance™ (OHA), a group of technology and mobile companies working together to accelerate innovation in mobility. Together, the OHA created Android, the first complete, open, and free mobile platform to provide people a richer, less expensive, and better mobile experience.

Key Features:

• Integrated Google Maps™ with turn-by-turn navigation, street and satellite views
• A full screen browsing experience with a 5-inch capacitive multi-touch WVGA display
• Easily integrated social media apps: Twitter™, Facebook, YouTube
• High resolution 5 MP camera, VGA front facing camera, removable battery, built-in Wi-Fi, 3G and Bluetooth connectivity options
• 2GB of internal dedicated storage provides plenty of space to access and download Google Android Market’s many options
• Packaged with cushions made from 100 percent sustainable, compostable bamboo

Specifications:

• Android platform complete with Android Market and Dell user interface enhancements
• ARM-based Processor: Qualcomm’s powerful and efficient Snapdragon chipset and software platform with integrated 1GHz processor
• 3G + WiFi + Bluetooth * UMTS / GPRS / EDGE class 12 GSM radio with link speeds of up to HSDPA 7.2 Mbps / HSDPA
• 5 MP autofocus camera with dual LED flash. Easy point, shoot, and uploads to YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and more
• User accessible Micro SD expandable memory available up to 32 GB*. Store up to 42 movies or 32,000 photos, or 16,000 songs with 32GB* Micro SD

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Michael Dell took the stage at the Citrix Synergy conference yesterday and, like any good CEO with a hot, new product on the horizon, he could not resist the opportunity to show off a shiny new Dell Streak. While the crowd at the virtualization conference was entertained with a minute long preview of the handheld device, the rest of the world was given the juicy tidbit of information that confirms the Android device will land in Europe via O2 Telefonica in June and in the US via AT&T later this summer. Anyone else excited for sun, sand, and Android this summer?

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WebOS devices have long since extended their reach beyond the cozy confines of United States, but unfortunately paid apps have yet to be made available as they are in the US. This could all change in one week’s time, however, as Palm has notified developers that they will be able to sell apps through the App Catalog in Canada, the UK, Ireland, Germany, Mexico and Spain starting on the 31st of March. If all goes according to plan, a large number of paid apps will be available on day one simply because Palm has made it easy for developers to get in on the international market: resubmit the app, check off where you want it to be sold and relax while the app is rushed through the approval process.

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We envy every single Pre/Pixi user this morning, because for our money, we can’t think of a more enjoyable way to start the day than installing a software update for our beloved smartphone. And that’s just what those lucky devils will be doing because overnight Palm pushed out webOS 1.4. There’s a whole lotta awesome packed into this update, but we think we can sum it up in a few words: bug fixes, Flash support and video capture. Good stuff.

UPDATE: Looks like it is not currently available for Verizon Palm users yet.

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Ars Technica has posted an interesting article, speculating that wireless carrier network congestion (especially in the case of AT&T) may not have so much to do with how much bandwidth your device is consuming, but rather how your smartphone is connecting to the network.

Typically, when a phone needs a data connection, it makes a request via a signaling channel on your carrier’s network. The data connection is then approved, opened, and remains open in an idle state when not in use. However, iPhone, Android, and webOS devices have all employed a little trick to help conserve battery life; they drop the data connection when not in use as opposed to allowing it to idle. While end-users see this manifested as increased battery life, wireless network carriers see it manifested as a spike in signal channel traffic, especially in urban areas. “Cell nodes use signaling channels to set up the data connection, as well as signaling phone calls, SMS messages, voicemails, and more. When enough iPhones are in a particular area, these signaling channels can become overloaded—there simply aren’t enough to handle all the data requests along with all the calls and messages,” writes Ars.

It isn’t just American carriers experiencing this issue. U.K. wireless provider O2 experienced a similar problem soon after releasing the iPhone. O2 had to work with network vendors to optimize its network to allow for the dynamic handling of signal requests. However, most European carriers did tend to fair much better than their American counterparts. “Europe embraced heavy text messaging and data use far earlier than users in the US. SMS and MMS messages rely heavily on signaling channels to operate, and so networks were generally configured to dynamically manage changes in signaling traffic,” said an industry expert.

As for AT&T, scheduled backhaul improvements and over 2,000 new cell towers scheduled for 2010 should help stem the tide, but with the iPad and a litany of Android devices in the pipeline… stay tuned.

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AT&T is apparently not alone in struggling to cope with the demand that data hungry devices like the iPhone have placed on its network. Ronan Dunne, CEO of O2 UK, has publicly apologized to Londoners for the poor performance of its network over the past 6 months, blaming the explosion of demand for data by smartphones such an Apple’s iPhone for its woes. Londoners on O2 have struggled with intermittent data outages and occasional periods where they could not make or receive phone calls, a scenario all too familiar for AT&T customers in the US. To cope with this surge in usage, O2 UK has dumped 30 million pounds ($48 million USD) into its network and has added 200 mobile base stations. O2 is also working closely with Nokia Siemens to help better equip its network infrastructure and is in talks with both RIM and Apple to help identify data-intensive applications, a strategy which sounds a bit troubling. With a bit of good news, Mr. Dunne claims O2′s London network has shown improvement in the month of December and that any  “short-term blip” in their network reputation will be ameliorated by these efforts.Read