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Orange had to suspend their sale of the Blackberry Bold, listing their reason as “software issues” in an internal memo to employees.  It seems that AT&T wasn’t the only company having issues with this one.  At least they chose to hold off and try to sort things out instead of rushing a release date. 

In the meantime, RIM is attempting fix the situation.  This came as a result of issues starting in the UK, where the Bold was pulled off the shelves. As a result, shipments in the US have been repeatedly delayed and it now looks like we know why.

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Orange in the UK has followed the recent announcements from T-Mobile in Germany and Movistar in Chili and has become the latest to announce an availability date for the BlackBerry Bold, customers will have to wait just a few more days, with the Bold expected to be in stores on August 16.

Although we are still awaiting the official release details from Orange, it is looking like the Bold will be free as long as customers sign the required 18-month agreement. Not only is the release of the Bold good news for UK customers, but it has also been rumored that the £45 per month calling plan will also include unlimited data.

Via [Telegraph]

Everyone loves a music festival: the mud, the cold, the inevitable rain, the ludicrously priced drinks and of course the music. However going to live in a field for a weekend does mean you have to survive without mains for a couple of days, so portable gadget recharges are becoming increasingly popular. This leads nicely onto the ‘Dance Charge’ prototype that has recently been released by Orange, which essentially converts the kinetic energy from your dancing into juice for your phone.

Using a system of weights and magnets you can convert ‘The Monkey’, ‘The Robot’ and ‘The Worm’ into electricity which can recharge your phone, and this is all contained in a strap that goes on your arm and closely resembles those worn by joggers for their MP3 players, which looks fairly discreet and not a bit ‘uncool’. However for those who don’t feel confident either dancing or wearing what looks like a doormat, Orange has also lined-up the Dance Charging Man which we can only guess is a small (and probably interactive) man which will dance an do the work for you.

So far Orange has only made a few prototypes (which will be scattered around Glastonbury) so we do not know how popular it will be, but it does show some promise.

Via [Register Hardware]

Levi’s is quietly spreading its mobile phone presence out in Europe and they don’t seem to be nearing a stop any time soon, since Orange France has been granted the exclusive privilege to market its tri-band GSM, 3G network connected handset. No other details about the deal have been provided, except to say that there will be a free 1GB memory card for every purchase, which customers can use to upgrade the memory of their devices through the built-in microSD card slot. It also sports a 2-megapixel camera for your regular snaps, and don’t forget, it’s a 3G network enabled handset. That means you can transfer all you want - or not - but it’s a few notches faster than any old GPRS or EDGE connection can ever give you. The features aren’t that bad, I have to admit, but at 279 Euros or about $444 USD, this hardly seems a bargain.

Via [PhonesReview]

The long awaited HTC Shift will soon be available in the European market. Beginning February 19, 2008 Expansys will be offering the device for $1720, about 1185 Euro. Orange is also rumored to be launching a branded version of the Shift in March, but no pricing has been leaked from Orange.

The HTC Shift features a 7-inch touchscreen display, a full QWERTY keyboard, 1GB RAM and a 30GB hard drive, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 along with support for quad-band GSM/GPRS/Edge, 3G HSDPA.

While the HTC Shift is a solid device with a nice set of specs, the price tag does seem to be a bit limiting. Ultra-mobile prices are starting to drop and this seems to retain that price premium. For $1720 you can get an average full sized notebook or desktop along with a budget UMPC for those on-the-go needs.

Via [SlashGear]