The Samsung Galaxy is already available to the lucky Germans who can get the Android goods by way of O2 and it now appears that folks in the UK won’t have long to wait. The company confirmed to TechRadar that they will begin offering the Samsung Galaxy later this month and although it is unclear if they’ll be the exclusive carrier, they’ve beefed up their phone lineup to an intimidating size. O2 UK now has the iPhone 3G S and now they’ll allegedly  be getting the Samsung Galaxy in addition to the Palm Pre and Toshiba TG01.

While the details were non-existent in regards to dates and prices, we already know all about the phone’s specs… and the news is all good. The Samsung Galaxy comes with Cupcake 1.5, 5MP camera with flash, 8GB internal memory, MicroSD expansion port, thin body and a 3.5mm headset jack to top it all off.

With an already impressive UK market share of 27%, we can’t help but think that O2 UK has nowhere to go but up…. Way up.

Americans will have to wait for their own Samsung Galaxy to enter the United Stratusphere, but we spotted the Galaxy in the FCC awhile back so we’re pretty sure that somehow, someway, sometime it will indeed arrive. For those that can’t wait there may be an alternative: Techrader is also reporting that it will be made available SIM free for the small price of £499. If you do the math it is roughly $810 (via King Of Gadgets - sold out).

In order to acquire an unlocked Galaxy you’ll have to throw your wallet into a black hole.

The rumor mill is twirling at full speed this Monday morning as The Guardian reports that Nokia is producing an Android Phone in what they call “a strategic U-turn” for the world’s largest phone manufacturer. Nokia quickly and flatly denied the rumor, offering the following statement:

There is no truth to this story whatsoever. It is a well known fact that Symbian is our platform of choice for smartphones.

We didn’t think so.

One year ago Nokia purchased their partners stake in Symbian - their mobile operating system of choice - marking the birth of the Symbian foundation. At the time, the competitive pressures of Android, LiMo Foundation and of course the iPhone was threatening the future of Nokia’s dominance. So they promised to Open Souce the operating system and claimed the Symbian Foundation would work over the next 2 years to build their competing open source mobile OS.

It didn’t take but a month for the rumor mills to churn furiously, spawning claims that Android and Symbian would merge. While a possibly pleasant pipe dream it may have been, Dan Frommer from Silicon Alley Insider explained it best:

“Technical hurdle: You can’t just smoosh two operating systems together. Business hurdle: It’s hard to see either company giving up on their OS right now.”

At this point HTC and Samsung are the only major manufacturers to release Android Phones. Nokia launching an Android Phone would largely be seen as a white flag of defeat. It just isn’t going to happen. Nokia’s immediate and concrete statement negating the rumor that they have an Android Phone in development isn’t likely a cover up to keep their plans quiet - Nokia is still working diligently to bring an Open Source Symbian product to the masses. But it will take time.

Nokia sees the success Google is enjoying with Android. They aren’t too happy with the new competition from Google and they aren’t shy about it either - remember what they said at the N97 Announcement?

Don’t count Nokia out. They aren’t just an industry giant, they are the #1 mobile phone manufacturer in the world. If Palm can go from a limping sloth to the most buzzworthy behemoth overnight, imagine what Nokia has the potential to accomplish. They are taking their time. They are plotting, planning and developing in the background. They have an Open Source project in the works that won’t launch for quite a long time… but one thing is for sure:

Nokia isn’t making an Android Phone.

Is that at their own peril? Not at all… because if and when they decide turning on the Android faucet is necessary, they have the power to create quite an immediate flood. While I continue to say that competition is good, I can’t deny that seeing a Nokia Android phone would be pretty amazing. But as long as Symbian Foundation’s Open Source Mobile OS alive and well… it ain’t gonna happen.

Introducing the first Android Phone available in Russia - the Vobis Highscreen PP5420 which is ONLY available in Russia. The phone is produced by VOBIS Computers and their purchase page explains that it is designed for Russia and not sold in other countries. Most notable on the phone is the 2nd touch-sensitive display beneath the main display that replaces the traditional buttons/trackball we’ve seen on the majority of Android Phones to date.

The Highscreen specs? It runs Android 1.5, has 128MB/256MB RAM/ROM, WQVGA display and 3MP camera . It has the following network technology:

• GSM - 850/900/1800/1900
• WCDMA/HSDPA - 900/2100

These are specs that won’t exactly blow you away but nonetheless its good to see smaller companies trying their hand at Android. We’ve seen similar attempts by the likes of General Mobile and Kogan with the Agora but it seems like we hear about them and they never truly surface or make it very far.

Will the Highscreen be any different?

[Vobis.ru]

Happy 4th to all our American readers - Sony Ericsson is helping you celebrate by way of a leaked internal document for the Sony Ericsson “Rachael” which is rumored to run Android and is clearly branded as an XPERIA handset:

If what we’re hearing about the specs on this thing are true - they’ll blow all of the existing Android phones out of the water from a pure power hardware perspective. It’ll pack a 1GHz Qualcomm Snap Dragon processor, HSPA speeds up to 7.2 Mbit/second and advanced 3D graphic rendering capabilities. An 8MP camera, 3.5mm headset jack and MiniUSB connectivity certainly don’t hurt the cause.

You can’t just load a phone with powerful specs and expect it to sell - it still has to work well, feel good, be ergonomically sound and integrate well with the software. But from the looks of it, Sony Ericsson has hit a homerun with the specs and the design looks great. Android fans have been looking for something this powerful for quite awhile so lets hope Sony Ericsson can stay on the straight and narrow and announce this thing later in 2009 as the sources predict.

The phone’s codename is Rachael but that is only a codename. It is clearly branded Xperia and you would expect them to go the same route Samsung has gone with the Omnia… Xperia 2, Xperia Lite, Xperia Pro, Xperia Android, etc… so I think we’ll see this phone be called Xperia with a trailing adjective. Any guesses as to what that might be?

[Mobil.nu via Engadget]

China Mobile isn’t projected to offer an App Store to its nearly 500  million subscribers until September, but the Mobile App Store website (mmarket.com) was found up and running today. Mostly with broken links, sure - but the implications are humongous.

China Mobile is launching their “OPhone” later this year which is slated to be an extremely customized version of Android. While HTC Sense takes Android and gives it a next gen “TouchFlo 3D” feel, OPhone gives Android a very iPhone look - at least that is how the previews appear.

Also on the site is a link for Android Market. Considering China’s censorship of the web via government, I’m wondering what type of implications this will have on the OPhone and Android Market in China. Any way you look at it, offering Android to 500 million people will certainly increase adoption dramatically.

Developers might not be all that happy as local sources are saying China Mobile will take a whopping 50% of all paid applications purchased. We’ll keep our eyes on the China Mobile App Store, OPhone and Android Market for sure.

[Via PCWorld]

There have been grumblings about a July 8th launch event for the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G and we can now confirm this is 100% true because we’ve just received our invitation!

So take off work, schedule a fake doctors appointment or just sit in your office chair with Phandroid on refresh and enjoy while we bring you as much awesome coverage as we humanly can. A ridiculous amount of people weren’t down with the physical keyboard of the G1 but craved an all-touch Android on T-Mo and that time has almost come…

The company line on the HTC Hero has been Europe in July, Asia later this summer and North America before the year ends. That last part crushed the spirits of many Americans and Canadians craving the latest and greatest Android. Fortunately for us the FCC has come through with  July 4th holiday weekend spirit by giving Americans a little something to chew on:

FCC documents show approval for WCDMA 850/1900 MHz which - guess what? - would point to an AT&T bound HTC Hero! Earlier rumors have been focused on the Hero coming to Sprint but maybe, just maybe, the phone will truly save the day by coming to multiple carriers.

I know there are a lot of you saying the sooner the better and we couldn’t agree more. AT&T, Verizon and Sprint need to get their Android on ASAP!

UPDATE: The confidentiality agreement requests confidentiality agreement for 180 days starting May 29th which suggests this HTC Hero flavor wouldn’t launch until the very end of 2009 at best.

[FCC via EngadgetMobile]

(Scroll down for the pictures!!!)

It was only last week that Vodafone held a high-priced and celebrity-filled Hotel party to celebrate the launch of the HTC Magic in New Zealand. For some reason, only a week later, all instances of the HTC Magic have not only been yanked from the website but they are nowhere to be found on store shelves either. What did Vodafone New Zealand officials have to say about this? Not much:

The response to calls to Vodafone retailers this morning was that the phone can be bought for $1099, but there are none in stock and it is not clear when it will again become available.

Vodafone spokesman Paul Brislen said that the phone’s sudden absence was due to a “commercial issue that Vodafone is having” but declined to give any details.

“We are working to resolve it,” he said.

The disappearing act was first noted by blogger Ben Gracewood who attended the party, snapped a bunch of pics, posted them on his blog and then received a request from Vodafone to take all his pictures down. Some are suggesting that Vodafone’s use of a naked woman with the Google logo painted on her body for promotional purposes has caused conflict between carrier and Google about the use of their “With Google” branded phone.

Here is that picture:

The story was then picked up by larger outlets like ComputerWorld and New Zealand Herald, the former of which is running with a much more graphic version of the nude/painted and unauthorized Google painted woman - see left.

Gracewood complied with Vodafone’s request but then realized his freedoms and reposted the picture with an apology to his readers, noting his “obligation” to them. Surely he isn’t the only one with pictures from the event… if you’ve got some send them to us! And preferably one where that young lady right there turns around!

The invitation to the event seemed to showboat the line-crossing things one might see my attending:

Vodafone’s invitation to its “Black & White Launch Party” last week reads: “Elephants, snow, oompa loompas and roller girls, Vodafone parties have them all and more. This year it’s time for party goers from outside the walls of Vodafone to experience Black & White Magic.

“Create history with us as we combine the infamous party style of Vodafone with the Magic of a phone even Google have put their [sic] name on.

“Heck, if you ever needed a reason to party this is it, dress in black or dress in white but dress to be seen at the only party this year that will have you struggling to explain the facebook snaps to your granny.”

The spinsters are spinning this as a tech related issue with the phone although we can understand how Google would be protective of this situation - afterall the “With Google” phones have certain rules and stipulations assigned with leveraging the Google brand. If you want to have naked women steampeding around a hotel party - use your own darn brand (and invite us to the party)!

Of course the connection between the party pictures and removal of the phone from Vodafone New Zealand is pure speculation based on the timing of these two things in addition to the alledged take-down request of the pictures.

Thoughts? Or are you still drooling… you pig!

SEND US YOUR PICTURES OF THIS EVENT AND WE WILL KEEP THE GALLERY UPDATED HERE!!!

According to RegisterHardware, Managing Director of Archos Northern Europe - Tony Limrick - has officially confirmed that an Archos Internet Media Tablet Based On Android will launch this September. He made the announcement at an event in London, England where he also suggested attendees keep September 15th open on their calendar. Launch day?

Limrick described the Archos Android Tablet as “Android-based devices with phone, email, Google apps and Android Apps” but beyond that not many new clues were given. Back in February we heard the Archos Android IMT would have:

• 5-inch display
• 7.2Mb/s HSDPA
• 2Mb/s HSUPA
• 500GB of storage (holy smokes!)
• Ability to play HD movies
• Only 10mm thick
• 7 hours of video playback time
• 800MHz Texas Instruments OMAP 3440 processor described as “laptop-like”

Is this the kind of thing you would be down with? And at what price?

Yesterday we posted an HTC Hero Unboxing video that was Day 1 in a 7-Day series from CoolSmartphone. Our commenters found it quite funny and one of them wondered why he was recording from the car - and in his Day 3 video that question is answered!

Ummm… the reason I’m doing it in the car is unfortunately we have only got a few days with this handset, and uhm, I - unfortunately we don’t have time to video it uh… in, in the house currently haha so uh we’re videoing it in the car and its all one-handed as usual but uhm…

A few things:

• That’s what she said (”it’s all one-handed as usual”)
• That reasoning makes absolutely no sense and I have no clue what that even means. Is this guy locked out of his house for days? Does he live in the wilderness?
• So far that was my favorite and most hilarious 30-second period in all of 2009 July.

Decide for yourself:

Here is the Day 2 video (PS I like how he says “Welcome to Day Twooo0-uh” in this one haha):

I realize I posted these in reverse order but I wanted to maximize the possibility of you watching that car explanation. I understand that my humor is slightly warped but I thought that was hilarious. I don’t want to detract from this guy’s actual review because while it is very simple and perhaps aimed at newbs, he has put 30 minutes of HTC Hero video up in the past 3 days.

A laugh and some info - double the fun. Maybe this guy is a hero himself… like Clark Kent and the car is his phonebooth?

If you didn’t go to the HTC Hero launch event in London but really, really wanted to go we’ve got the second best option - official videos from the event. I know the event is over and all but I’m sure you’ve watched your favorite movie several times, why not your favorite Android.

I’ve embedded the playlist so it should play the videos back to back to back:

And as an added bonus, a new promo teasing that the Hero is “Coming This Summer” that I haven’t seen posted much of anywhere:

Looks like some of the anticipators(word?) for the Geeks Phone One made a simple request of upping the RAM from 128MB to something a little more admirable. And their wish has been granted. According to the Geeks’Phone Blog the phone was just doubled in RAM size with a simple request to the engineers. “Icing on the cake, please.”, you say? This comes at zero cost to the buyer.

This is cool in a couple of ways. First, and obviously, the phone just got a sweet memory upgrade. Second, and most importantly, it really shows the responsiveness of both the big guys in the comfy chairs at Geeks’Phone as well as their Engineers. End users aren’t very used to seeing their requests come to fruition in such a positive and encouraging manner.

I have a feeling that this is going to be a company that I can really invest some Android emotion into. We can’t wait to see what you guys have in store for us!

[via Geeks'Phone Blog]

If you’re an existing T-Mobile customer and you pre-order the MyTouch 3G in between the July 8th to July 28th timeframe you’ll have your MyTouch 3G by August 3rd! T-Mo makes it very clear that this is before everyone else, so it is likely that it won’t hit retail until at least a few days later.

This update comes in a T-Mobile email about the MyTouch:

The pre-order starts in less than a week and the first customers will get theirs in just over a month!

We’re all awaiting a handful of Android Phones to splash on carriers in our area and for those in the UK that means the HTC Hero. One lucky guy (from CoolSmartphone.com) didn’t get enough Hero at the London event but someone rescued him - he has a review unit for one week and unboxed it for our viewing pleasure:

Are we jealous? Of course… but we’re probably not alone as I can practically see you salivating through the monitor. Or maybe you were salivating at those rabbits at the beginning of the video - was that hilariously weird or was that me?

Anything not in the video that makes you curious about the HTC Hero and/or HTC Sense?

This morning we showed you the SciPhone Dream G2 phone which we only cared about because of the cool charger - the stupid thing doesn’t even run Android only a proprietary Android clone. But the company’s website is now boasting the SciPhone N12 which - while still probably of clone phone quality - appears to run an authentic version of Android.

It is rather odd because the heading above the specs reads “SciPhone N12 Smart Phone With Google” which not only suggests it is definitely an Android Phone but also that it is a Google Experience phone. But if you look at the specs below and notice the Operating system it says Android/WindowsMobile.

That could mean one of many things:

• N12 comes with your choice of operating systems
• They haven’t decided what N12 will actually run
• One phone can boot either OS
• Android or Android Market is virtualized as a Windows Mobile application
• It runs their proprietary fake Android junk and they just put this as specs for the fun of it

We’ll see. Not like any of this is written in stone - the page appears half done and they’re missing a closing </div> or something somwhere with all that grey space.

In any case, if you care, here are the specs:

SciPhone N12 Smart Phone with Google

• Processor: Marvell Monahands (624MHz) + Qualcomm MSM6246
• Operating system: Android/ Windows Mobile
• Dimensions: 117*58*12.7
• Mode: UMTS-2100MHz, GSM-900/1800/1900 MHz
• Bearer: GSM, 3G(WCDMA)
• Display: WQVGA 240*400 pixels, 3.2 inch TFT 262K
• Main camera: 3.2M pixel
• Secondary Camera: 0.1M pixel
• Storage: ROM-256MB+64MB, RAM-256MB+64MB
• Extended Storage: Micro SD, up to 16GB
• USB: USB 2.0 high speed
• Bluetooth: Ver 2.0
• GPS: Yes
• WiFi: IEEE 802.11b/11g
• TV: CMMB
• Battery capacity: 1000mAh
• Standby time(GSM): Up to 220 hours
• Voice talk time(2G): Up to 170 minutes

Whatchya think?

[Thanks Jeff!]