Now that we’ve gotten word that the LG Optimus 3D will indeed be making its official debut at MWC, there are still some juicy bits of information that people will want to inquire about.

Needless to say that everyone will want to check out this handset up close and personal when it’s finally in the flesh, but at least Vodafone customers can count on the handset to make its presence known some time down the road. There’s no denying that we all want to know some of the specs surrounding this out of this world smartphone, but the LG Optimus 3D is poised to hit Vodafone’s lineup – but there is still no concrete date on when that’ll happen. An unnamed Vodafone source said, “It will come to Vodafone. As soon as it’s launched, we will bring it to the UK.”

Aside from knowing that it’ll be coming, other specifics about the handset weren’t made known – such as pricing. Regardless of that, we’d imagine more information will begin to pour out once the handset is officially unveiled at MWC – which isn’t too far off now.

source: Electricpig

Vodafone UK customers have plenty to look forward to now that both the business centric Nokia E7 and multimedia powerhouse Sony Ericsson Xperia arc have made their way to Vodafone’s web site as “coming soon.”

Although no exact time frames were given regarding their arrivals, it’s only natural to assume at this point that they’re very close to launch – especially when Vodafone UK mentions them as coming soon. As it currently stands, you can only register to receive the latest updates regarding both smartphones. But with almost all things, we’ll slowly start to see additional and concrete information regarding the availability and pricing for both smartphones in the near future.

With two highly anticipated smartphones bound for Vodafone UK, one targeting business minded individuals with the other for multimedia buffs, there’s going to be a lot of excitement for their customers. So if you’re interested in either devices, you can check out their respective coming soon pages and register for those updates.

source: Vodafone UK (1 & 2) via Unwired View

Although we’re already made known about a white version of the Nexus S after rendered shots were leaked, we’re finally getting the opportunity of seeing it in the flesh for the very first time.

The handset in question was recently snapped on film showing us the pristine white back cover of the Nexus S – which follows accordingly to what we saw in the rendered images. As you can tell, the back of the Nexus S is coated with a white paint job, but we can also see the evidence of some texture that adds character to the device. In terms of release, it’s reportedly headed to Vodafone in the UK – but there is no word if we’ll be seeing it elsewhere outside of Europe.

Granted that it does stand out, it would have been nice to see the entire device covered in white – as opposed to seeing the front retaining its usual color. However, we’re sure that there are still some people out there that will pick up the handset – but it would be unlikely to find current owners of the smartphone making the switch.

source: TNW via Android Central

Vodafone UK customers still clinging to their HTC Magic can all rejoice now that the phones will be getting a taste of Android 2.2.1, better known as Froyo, much like its HTC myTouch 3G relative that has already begun receiving updates on the T-Mobile USA network.

Yes, Google has officially unveiled Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Yes, the Samsung Nexus S will be hitting the shelves shortly with a spec sheet reminiscent of the popular Galaxy S phones. Does that mean you should ditch your old hardware and hop on the baked cookie bandwagon? Absolutely not, but that is for you all to decide, especially if you are rocking an HTC Magic with an update on the way.

For the longest time, the HTC Magic and its T-Mobile USA doppelganger survived with outdated software. With new software on board, these phones can now keep up with the newest phones of the bunch. However, to line them up and compare hardware with the bad boys of the moment would be unfair.

Froyo brings some nice additions to the Magic, the same additions the myTouch 3G saw. In fact, take a look at the official quote from Vodafone:

Android 2.2.1 will give customers a number of improvements including: latest Gmail and Android Market clients; ability to save applications directly onto an SD card; support for USB tethering so the phone can be used as a modem; improved support for Active Sync Exchange (email, contacts and calendar sync); enhancements to Bluetooth; and enhancements to the camera. The update also includes the latest Google security patches.

Even though this isn’t quite Gingerbread, this is a serious improvement nonetheless despite what’s now considered to be underpowered hardware. For all of the Magic users that have received their update; tell us how the phone is handling it.

source: Android and Me

It seems that the European carriers got pretty stirred up by Apple’s intent to get even more influential, solder a SIM card into the next iPhone, and allow people to flash it for use with any carrier they want via a simple app download. First, it was threatening to cut subsidies, and, rumor has it, actually diminishing the grand total they dole out to Apple for each iPhone, as well as taking the Apple promos off their home pages in a short-lived retaliation.

Then the European telcos obviously sat down, thought long and hard where this smartphone craze that makes the phone more important for users than the carrier will lead them to, and concluded that they are at the losing side of the equation. Therefore, France Telecom, Telecom Italia, Telefonica and Vodafone, are now demanding payments from Google, Apple and Facebook, among others, for the fact that they are generating too much traffic on their wimpy networks, and force them to invest in upgrading, or lose customers. It is basically the same guys that threatened to cut the iPhone’s subsidies, if Steve Jobs makes them just “dumb pipes” for zeros and ones flowing to his superphone and “magical” tablet. Only T-Mobile is missing from the gang involved in the latest intimidation effort, but we are sure they will gladly take the money too.

AT&T and Verizon’s CEOs have made comments before that they need to extract money from popular web services simply because they are popular, otherwise they will have to make do with the role of the aforementioned “dumb pipes”. It didn’t work then, it probably won’t work now, but the net neutrality rules in the EU are stricter and encourage more competition among sites, so we’ll see how this pans out. Basically Google, Apple, Facebook and the rest, can just say – “If you want money from us because we have invented services everybody wants, how about we share some of the monthly subscription fee people are paying you for your cable broadband or wireless, isn’t that what’s supposed to ensure your profits? Get a grip!”.

source: Arstechnica & Barron’s

HTC Desire HD (L) and Nokia N8 (R) both now available from Vodafone U.K.

A pair of today’s top-of-the-line smartphones are now being launched overseas by Vodafone U.K. in a manner that almost makes those in the U.S. wish that the States were still British colonies. The carrier’s web site and retail outlets are both now offering the HTC Desire HD and the Nokia N8. The former is a Froyo flavored Android device that is equivalent to a 4G-less version of Sprint’s HTC EVO 4G available in the States. The unit is equipped with a 4.3 inch WVGA display and a 1GHz Snapdragon processor along with an 8MP camera with dual flash and AF.

The Nokia N8 is the Finnish based firm’s strongest challenger to the Apple iPhone, matching the 3.5 inch screen size of Apple’s touchscreen device and offering users the new Symbian ^3 OS. With a 12MP camera on the back of the phone, the N8 is superior to the majority of handsets when it comes to taking snapshots. Video capture at 720p allows for HD videos.

Vodafone is offering the HTC Desire HD for free with a 24 month plan costing 35BP a month. Buy the phone online and get 900 minutes of uncharged texts and 750MB of mobile data per month compared with the 600 minutes of texts and 500MB of monthly data you receive when buying the unit at a store. Buying the phone online will also entitle you to 5MB of European roaming data.

The Nokia N8 can also be obtained for free with a 2 year, 30BP a month service. A special lime green variant of the model is available for Vodafone buyers only.
source: TechRadar

If you live in Europe, and have been lusting over the HTC Aria since it was first introduced as an AT&T-only handset back in the summer, your cravings are about to be satisfied. The HTC Gratia will come ashore with the same 3.2″ capacitive screen in 320×480 pixels of resolution, and 600MHz chipset, but HTC has bumped the operating memory a bit to 384MB from 256MB, and loaded Froyo on the handset.

More RAM, coupled with the performance optimizations of Android 2.2, should make the interface smoother, and leave power for more intensive tasks. The HTC Gratia will come in two more colors other than the plain black – Forest Green and Pearl White. HTC Sense UI, of course, comes standard, but not of the cloud-friendly flavor that will be coming to other HTC handsets. The HTC Gratia will be available from carriers and retailers in all major European markets in November.
source: HTC

Not too long ago, we reported on how the HTC Desire HD was spotted in a Vodafone Catalog, but now it looks as though it’s being officially confirmed by Vodafone UK.

Customers can now get a piece of the upcoming high-end Android powered smartphone thanks to pre-orders that are being made available right now. This Froyo filled device can be purchased for free with a new 2-year agreement and service that run from at least £35 ($55) per month. Getting down and dirty with an actual release date, the mobile operator says to expect it to ship out on October 14th – which is only a week away. That’s not too shabby since European customers have been eying the HTC EVO 4G in the US for quite some time now.

So fittingly, they’ll be able to absorb and experience all of the wonders that the HTC Desire HD will bring to the table when it’s finally out to customers.
source: Vodafone UK via Unwired View

With it still being fresh in the minds of most European consumers, the HTC Desire HD is looking to be bound with Vodafone UK after the handset was recently spotted in the new Vodafone catalog.

This should bring some delight to customers who are looking to check out the latest offering from HTC’s camp, but there is still no indication on when the carrier plans to officially launch the Android powered smartphone. In fact, Vodafone UK joins T-Mobile UK as the mobile operators in the country that are positioned to sell the device.

When is comes down to pricing, Vodafone is pretty good in the department since a handful of high-end devices are offered for free on select monthly calling plans – so the HTC Desire HD would probably follow suit as well.
via CoolSmartphone

Although some would be bold to say that the Motorola DROID 2’s luster isn’t at its potential due to its CDMA flavor, the Motorola MILESTONE 2 should appease those individuals because it’s identical in almost every way, but a GSM device. During IFA, both the MILESTONE 2 and rugged Defy were spotted just hanging out for all to see.

Needless to say that the MILESTONE 2 replicates the design of the DROID 2 in every way, which is a good thing, but it does feature some improved specs over its CDMA brother. As we reported before, the MILESTONE features, a 3.7” display with a resolution of 480 x 854 pixels, 5-megapixel auto-focus camera, HD video capture, 1GHz processor, 8GB on internal storage, and its improved QWERTY keyboard.

On the other hand, the actual device of the Motorola Defy seen during IFA has a white colored bezel that wasn’t seen with its rendered images. Still, it could potentially still be some kind of pre-production unit, but this rugged style handset features a 3.7” Gorilla Glass display, 5-megapixel auto-focus camera, 2GB of internal storage, Wi-Fi, GPS, and 3G.

Both Android powered smartphones were found over at Vodafone’s booth, so it’s looking like that the carrier will be offering both handsets some time down the road.

Motorola Defy Specifications
Motorola MILESTONE 2 Specifications

via Unwired View

Motorola MILESTONE 2

Motorola Defy