O2 UK says it’s going to sell mobile phones without chargers as part of a trial scheme with HTC. It’ll be offering a forthcoming HTC device with a USB connection cable but no mains charger. The phone uses the microUSB standard, which means it’ll charge via a PC and will work with many chargers for other devices.

Research from O2 suggests the UK has more than 100 million unused phone chargers.

UK virtual mobile network operator Podsystem, which specialises in multi-network data SIM cards for machine-to-machine connections, is donating a number of its MultiNet Europe SIM cards to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. The move is part of Podsystem’s ‘SIMs for Charities’ initiative, which aims to encourage partnerships between tech companies and charities.

Podsystem is also providing mobile data services at cost price.

Over 250,000 SIM-only mobile contracts were taken up in the UK during July 2012, the highest figure since research company GfK began keeping records.

It means customers committed themselves to over 150,000 years of mobile phone use in that one month.

The Google Play application store has now delivered more than 25 billion app downloads, according to the official Android blog. The service, which currently hosts 675,000 apps and games, will be celebrating for five days with a series of offers including some software discounted to 25 cents.

It’s around six months since Apple celebrated the same milestone.

US-based online and high-street bookshop Barnes & Noble has launched two new tablets in the USA and the UK. The 7-inch NOOK HD and 9-inch NOOK HD+ will support more than 2.5 million eBooks, electronic magazines and apps. In addition, B&N says TV shows and movies will also be available in the next few weeks.

Pre-orders will begin next month, with availability expected towards the end of November.