Several lifetimes ago I used to work as staff writer on a music magazine called International Musician and Recording World. I have no idea if it’s still going. But its major claim to fame was that it was owned by Richard Desmond whose idea of rewarding staff was to let them take Saturday and Sunday as days off.

Had you been strolling around Docklands at Trinity Bouy Wharf on Saturday night (September 22), chances are you may have heard the unmistakable cacophony of the rich and famous cavorting – and even spied several important mobile industry reprobates having a high old time.

I’ve not seen so much hype surround a product in a long time in this industry – iPhone this, iPhone that. But the worst kept secret in the industry was revealed last week at Apple’s flagship store on London’s Regent Street – O2 has the contract.

The hottest topic on the Phone Dealer Forum for a while was posted by Independent Mobile Phone Dealer Association (IMPDA) chairman Chris Caudle.

Vodafone has unveiled its answer to the iTunes-compatible iPhone.

Finally an opportunity to put the face to the voice and the words – seeing as how the voice and the words are how most of you in the mobile world would know me.

It sure is a tough old life working at Vodafone.

Anyone that managed to get their hands on an American Apple iPhone can soon start to enjoy it as an actual phone as well as just a glorified iPod.

The question on most industry lips last week was, pretty much, an approximation of the childish time waster: who would win a fight between…? In this case, the hypothetical pugilists were Nokia and, as the largest UK operator, Vodafone.

3 is the latest operator to seek a networksharing arrangement with a UK rival to cut costs.