Word's on the street that the world's first Windows Phone 8 (WP8) powered smartphone, the Samsung ATIV S, is now available for pre-order and will ship from Dec. 21.

Samsung was the first to announce the smartphone in partnership with Microsoft; however, the Korean company has lagged behind competing WP8 makers Nokia and HTC when it came to the device's launch.

Earlier in November this year, it was reported that the ATIV S was delayed till December and retailer Clove UK's pre-order page cited stock holdups until "week commencing December 10^th." Initially, Samsung's ATIV S was expected to hit the shelves in November in time for the holiday season.

However, consumers in the UK will welcome the news that the ATIV S is now available for pre-order on the Vodafone mobile network thanks to retailer Phones4U.

Interested buyers can pick up the ATIV S for free from the retailer's Web site for £33 on a two-year contract from Vodafone. The contract is inclusive of 600 free minutes, unlimited texts, and 500MB of monthly data. Alternately, a £34 per month plan with a £29.99 upfront cost (two-year contract) will give users unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, and 2GB of data.

Phones4U will ship the smartphone from Dec. 21, which confirms that Samsung has delayed the ATIV S' release by a month. Clove UK still shows the shipment date as "week commencing" Dec. 10, which is two weeks earlier than Phone4U's estimate, and is offering the unlocked handset for £442.80. Samsung is yet to confirm which of the two dates is accurate.

The INQUIRER reported that Samsung told them last week that "The launch of Samsung Ativ S in the UK is scheduled in December. We will be bringing our customers a unique and best-in-class Windows Phone 8 experience."

With the ATIV S delayed to December and varying shipment dates, it doesn't seem promising for buyers who would have wanted the smartphone before Christmas.

Would you be pre-ordering the ATIV S or prefer the HTC and Nokia offerings?