O2 denies UK delay for Samsung i7500 Galaxy
Will be with us in the 'next few weeks'
O2 clarified to TechRadar the status of the forthcoming Samsung i7500 Galaxy, the company's first Android phone, after rumours it was delayed 'indefinitely'.
"The Samsung Galaxy is currently going through O2's customer experience test process and we expect to launch it in the next few weeks," confirmed an O2 spokesperson.
Rumours have been gaining weight on message forums that the launch of the Samsung i7500 Galaxy has been delayed by O2 after it 'failed accreditation'.
The poster on the O2 forum stated that he had been to a branch in Wilmslow and a manager had shown him an email from head office stating the Galaxy had failed accreditation, and will be delayed indefinitely.
Pulling dummies
The poster also stated dummy handsets have been pulled from the shelves, although each store TechRadar has spoken to has stated they have not been given any dummy handsets to display yet, and most confirmed it will be coming in "two to three weeks".
The ire is also growing for the latest 'must have' phone after it went on sale in other territories, including France and Germany.
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O2 does not appear to have the exclusive on the handset as it does with the iPhone and Palm Pre, so any delays on the i7500 Galaxy wouldn't be simply down to the network, more likely to do with a problem transferring the settings to a UK-specific version.
However, it is clear that the Galaxy has been subject to some delays in the UK, as it was originally tipped to appear at the end of July or the beginning of August.
Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grew with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.