Simply can't let a day pass by without sending at least one SMS? Well, if so, then be prepared for the report of the company Research and Markets. They have predicted that a whooping amount of two trillion messages will be sent out this year. Details in the full article.

After a long period of wondering when they'll get a taste of Apple's hottest pie, UK finally gets the iPhone through O2, and will be launched in the UK for a reasonable price of GBP 269 or US$ 537 (VAT-inclusive).

While UK will not be able to enjoy 3G service from O2 (as advertised in a rumored leaked ad from German T-Mobile), the UK telecom service will provide free WiFi usage for O2 iPhone customers through 7,500 hotspots in UK.

If you're living in the UK and interested in getting an iPhone, then this pricing information will come in handy: there will be three payment plans for the O2's iPhone service:

• GBP 35 (US$ 70) - 200 voice minutes, 200 SMS
• GBP 45 (US$ 90) - 600 voice minutes, 500 SMS
• GBP 55 (US$109) - 1,200 voice minutes, 500 SMS

You also need to know that the iPhone's EDGE service will cover only 30% of the UK upon launch.

Once you're decided on getting one, you can drop by any of 1,300 participating Carphone Warehouse outlets to talk with a resident iPhone "expert".

Is this a sign of good things to come? A German T-Mobile ad was leaked, indicating a new iPhone variant soon to hit European shores: an iPhone with 16GB of storage and 3G-level 3.6 Mbps internet connection, with both HSPDA and UMTS that is mostly native to Europe.

The price tag for the new iPhone is a bit...pricey, however. Compared to the recent iPhone price cut - US$ 399 for the 8GB model - the 16GB model with 3G internet access is set to be priced at 499 Euros, or US$ 687, which is a tad more expensive.

According to the ad, T-Mobile will offer three rate plans for potential new iPhone users in Europe (in Germany, at least), named L, XL, and XXL. L offers 200 minutes and 100 SMS messages, costing 50 Euros per month (or US$ 69). XL gives 300 minutes for only 60 Euros (US$ 83) while XXL lets subscribers go crazy with 400 minutes of calls for US$ 96.

Of course, this is only a "leaked" ad, so it may be best if you take this with a grain of salt. However, with Apple already promising a formal iPhone launch in Europe for this year's last quarter, this may really be it.

People in the UK may find themselves carrying their money in a different sort of wallet these days. PayForIt is a new payment scheme designed to buy goods and services up to £10, implemented last September 1, as a means to give consumers an alternative method asides from paying for them directly out of their wallets.

PayForIt is a mobile-based payment system which displays the information of any services and goods purchased and documents the details, specifically the amount and the retailer you purchased the goods or services from, on your mobile. The concept of digital wallets isn't a new thing, however they want to standardize such a payment scheme in the UK and hopefully expand the industry through it.

While this type of payment scheme has had a lot negative feedback in the past, Mike Short, chairman of the Mobile Data Association assures the public that the goal of PayForIt is to restore the faith in such a service. It does not seek to replace conventional payment options but rather offers consumers an alternative form of payment instead.

The companies involved in PayForIt include: I-play, Gameloft, EA, Multimap, Sony Ericsson and Samsung. The service aims to concentrate on payment options for ringtones, train tickets, parking fees, and eventually web shops and sites.

Anuj Khanna, a spokesman for Tanla Mobile, one of the firms administering payments made via PayForIt, had this to say about the system:

Most big brands would not use premium rate SMS to run their services, it's not a good experience, it's not consumer friendly. It's entirely geared at the low value, high volume transaction market.

Many phones with access to email are now available in the market, and there is no need to spend big bucks to afford a phone with such feature. Given that more people are demanding email on the go, research firm Gartner believes that SMS would soon be a goner.

According to the firm, one of five people will be using mobile email by 2010. 20 million wireless email users today will grow to a whopping 350 million on the same year, said firm's research vice president Monica Blasso. She noticed that the availability of low-cost phones with mobile email functions is driving consumer adaptation.

"Once email becomes available more or less free of charge by default on your mobile handset, people will gravitate to that rather than just continuing to use SMS," added Robin Simpson, mobile and wireless research director at Gartner Australasia. This is due to mobile email access being offered free as part of mobile phone contracts in Australia, he said.

According to Simpson, low mobile email uptake in Australia can be credited to high costs, but competition between carriers like Hutchison 3 and Virgin Mobile will drop prices rapidly. "The interesting thing is that SMS, if you look at it in terms of actual cost for the data, is really expensive, and where we're heading is you'll get a free email package when you sign up to your monthly plan," he continued.

There's a bit of controversy surrounding a TUAW report that a British iPhone user was able to get an AT&T SIM to adopt a local Vodafone number, enabling him to use the iPhone outside the US with an American SIM.

Apparently, the user was excited about the iPhone and got it even though he could only use it with AT&T activated by iASign. Realizing the futility of having his US number in the UK, he went to the Vodafone store and had the people there add the phone to his account. Amazingly, the Vodafone-enabled AT&T SIM worked great on the iPhone. The screen flashed AT&T but the number was localized and SMS was working well.

According to TUAW, users in IRC have been discussing how this could have happened and if there was any truth in it. Most chatters say that it shouldn't have worked because of regional and technical restrictions. Apple has not commented on the topic so far.

TUAW reports that they tried to have the same procedure done in Canada but the Rogers store there would not touch the SIM. We'll keep you posted for more on this issue and other exploits as they come.

What's black and white and has GPS? Say hello to the BlackBerry 8820. Stylishly thin at 14mm, this little dynamo weighs in at only 134g and is packed with everything you need - and more - for your lifestyle on the go. Features include:

• Wireless email
• Organiser
• Browser
• Phone
• BlackBerry Maps
• Multi-media player
• Corporate data access
  
• SMS
• MMS
  
• GPS
• Wi-Fi support
• 64 MB internal memory
• MicroSD card
• Bluetooth capability

Plus this little SmartPhone is smart enough to automatically adjust its lights for optimal viewing. It has a QWERTY keyboard with a 320 x 240 display screen. The 8820 is also Research in Motion's first Smartphone to support WiFi and has the standard 802.11 a/b/g and even supports IM and can switch between calls and WiFi networks seamlessly.

It also supports third party applications, giving users access to a whole plethora of available programs. The battery is removable and can support up to 5 hours of talk time and can go up to 22 days if on standby.

RIM will release the BlackBerry in the U.S. through AT&T later this summer, and last heard to be priced at US$ 230.

The Transformers craze is hitting fever pitch with the big movie by Dreamworks and Paramount coming up on July 4 and games slated for every major platform. Don't look now, but even mobile phones are getting into it as Glu mobile announces customization and game content for your phone.

With more than 130 partners around the world, Glu Mobile is thinking well beyond American shores. Europe, Asia and South America will catch the action through downloads from mobile partners distributing the content. Right now, Glu says there are 30 wallpapers and screensavers at hand, along with voice actors for different experience to set up the perfect theme.

How about hearing Optimus Prime say "MEGATRON must be stopped no matter the cost!" every time you receive SMS? Or having him say "this is OPTIMUS PRIME - do you read me?" when someone calls you up? It's going to be Transformer-mania to say the least.

As for the Transformers mobile game, prepare to plow through 20 Decepticon-infested levels as the Autobot leader. Transform as a laser cannon-firing robot or a huge trailer truck depending on what the situation calls for. Your allies will make cameo appearances to help you in case things get tough.

Looks like the road to July 4 will be one that will have us all drooling as we wait, but while the film and games aren't here yet, let's chill out and let the excitement build up with our phones.

The Consumerist ran a story of how Verizon and other cell phone companies mark up the cost of text messages by at least 7314 percent when compared to their rates for data transfer services. Compared to the rate of US$ 0.015 per data kilobyte, text messages cost US$ 1.09 per text message kilobyte, representing a markup of 7314 percent.

Of course, a lot of mobile subscribers got miffed by the story. Thousands of percent markup? But before you let this snippet of news ignite your ire, we'd like to suggest this fresh new idea: why not call instead, if SMS is so expensive?

Short message service or SMS is a method on mobile phones that allows users to send short text messages to other mobile users. It has been mentioned that Verizon's max text message size is 160 characters. At seven bits per character, that's 1120 bits or 140 bytes. Verizon's website names 140 text messaging bytes as costing US$ 0.15.

We would not like to get into the economics of text messaging - that a convenience is always marked up high - but maybe this story may serve as a warning to us. Before you try typing that message, why not give the receiver a call instead? It's often better to hear human voice.

Okay, so maybe it's a little on the chunky side (0.86 inches) but the Ocean by Helio is loaded with a lot of great features, be it in terms of components, software and functionality.

 

The Helio is triple-decked with two sliders. It has a numerical pad, an LCD and a QWERTY keypad that is intended to hasten text messaging. It sends all the standards - SMS, email and IM, browses the web with Google, Wikipedia and Yahoo. It also has Playsforsure, Helio's own music service and a 2 MP image uploader.

The Ocean is a great phone to have for the business class. It's priced at US$ 295 and will be available in time for you to grab a new sizzlin' mobile for the summer.