Samsung i7500 coming soon to UK

O2 has confirmed that it will shortly be bringing Samsung's i7500 Galaxy to UK shores.

The information was revealed inadvertently when the i7500 was listed in the July issue of O2's monthly store catalogue, which would suggest an August release for the phone in the UK. The i7500 is already on sale in Germany on O2.

"We haven't announced anything yet, but we will be in the next few days or so," an O2 spokeswoman told IT PRO, saying the exact release date and price will be confirmed then.

The i7500 is notable for being Samsung's first Android based handset, and boasts a very impressive specification that includes an OLED screen, and a five megapixel camera in a thinner frame than HTC's Android-based Magic handset, which should make it the Android phone of choice on its release.

It will also offer 8GB of internal memory, a microSD card slot for adding more, Wi-Fi, GPS and HSDPA support for faster downloads.

The i7500 Galaxy will be O2's second UK high profile smartphone handset win of the summer, following on from the iPhone 3GS. The company hopes to make this a hat trick when it brings Palm's long-awaited Pre to the UK as well.

Before this, it is rumoured to have the rights to sell the Toshiba TG01 wrapped up too, though Orange may also be in the frame.

Benny Har-Even is a twenty-year stalwart of technology journalism who is passionate about all areas of the industry, but telecoms and mobile and home entertainment are among his chief interests. He has written for many of the leading tech publications in the UK, such as PC Pro and Wired, and previously held the position of technology editor at ITPro before regularly contributing as a freelancer.

Known affectionately as a ‘geek’ to his friends, his passion has seen him land opportunities to speak about technology on BBC television broadcasts, as well as a number of speaking engagements at industry events.