Release Date: Not Good News!

I haven't posted for a short while as I haven't been told anything new regarding this phone or its release date, until today!

I've just spoken to Anne in the directors office again and have been told that the Vario IV has been put back as it's still in testing and is not going to make the October 1st release date that they originally hoped for. The date she has given me now is... wait for it....


..the END OF NOVEMBER!!!!


This has come as a real shock to me, and I've been left wondering if it's worth me waiting for it any more, since it's not even definite to be released at that time either. I have a friend who has the HTC Touch Pro and has said he's putting it on ebay as it's not very good, which is disappointing. I'd expect/hope some of these problems would be sorted with the Vario as this would be the kind of thing being tested and hopefully fixed - which is what is putting the release date back even further.. but it's just whether or not I want to wait almost 2 months after my contract is supposed to end before *maybe* being able to get this phone.

The only other phone I have been interested in is the Samsung Omnia, which I have now asked to try out and I should have on Friday for a 7 day trial.

I'll post again when I get the Omnia as if you're anything like me then you're possibly considering both!

More Conversations With Head Office!

I rang head office again today, and have been told something slightly different to last time. The girl I spoke to, said that she had a look on the internal internet of T Mobile, and could only find ONE piece of information about the phone and that was saying Q3 release, which could be any time up to September. I told her that I had been told many conflicting things about the date and that I was told October, and she said it could be late September/early October then, but that they don't tend to get much information until the actual release of the phone and she had to look quite deep within the internal internet just to get the snippet of information she told me. I told her I'd heard that it had been released already in the Netherlands so was hoping that would mean it was a bit further on over here. She has basically said that the release over in the Netherlands wouldn't have any bearing on the release of the phone in the UK.

I then rang back and spoke to Anne again as I wasn't sure who I'd spoken to or if they had any authority to get accurate information; and she clarified that the expected release date was still at October the 1st and that whilst the phone is in the testing stages, It could still be rejected if it's incompatible with the services etc of T Mobile like they have done with many of the Nokia N Series phones; although this is apparently unlikely as it's a T Mobile branded phone so problems would be ironed out rather than just not releasing the phone at all. She also told me that the Netherlands release wouldn't have any impact over here as I'd asked if it was out of testing now, due to it being released over there. She said that although it's one parent company, each country operates in a different way and gets handsets differently based on what their customers in that country want from a phone in terms of features etc and that each country has it's own way of testing, which is a big reason why T Mobile in different countries have different/more phones available to T Mobile UK. I'll be talking to her again in 2 weeks so if there's any news then (or indeed before then) I shall be sure to post it up for you all.

On the plus side, I have been sent a loan phone (Samsung U900 Soul) from T Mobile as my N95 is having technical difficulties which need sorting.. which is partly the reason I am so desperate to upgrade to the Vario IV.