MICROSOFT MEDIA EMBLAZED

The Virgin deal IS a trial in the sense that it's a low-volume deal.

Virgin will be selling the handset at full price. The reason for the trial is to allow Virgin to gauge customer response to a new handset supplier without having to take the risk of ordering a big batch. If consumers don't like the product, then they won't order any more, but if the response is positive then you will see this turned into a larger order, and probably a wider range of BLZ handsets on sale through Virgin.