Orange UK has begun publicly responding to criticisms of its upcoming iPhone plans. At the center of complaints is the company's unlimited data provision, attached to each iPhone subscription. In reality data use is restricted by a 750MB "fair usage" policy, in sharp contrast to other iPhone carriers, such as O2 UK and AT&T.
America's Apple and Orange, a division of France Telecom, have formally dropped an arrangement for exclusive French iPhone sales, says Dow Jones. France was in 2007 one of the first markets to receive the iPhone, and as in other countries at the time, negotiations left only one carrier in control of sales; unlocked phones were still available only through Orange, and at a high premium. Orange rivals SFR and Bouygues Telecom eventually complained to the country's competition regulator, which issued first preliminary then final rulings against exclusivity.
Orange UK is already being criticized for its data policies in regards to the iPhone, the BBC reports. The carrier yesterday announced its intentions to launch the iPhone on November 10th. Mentioned in subscription plans however is a 750MB "fair usage" limit on data, despite other marketing claims that data is unlimited, as at rival iPhone carrier O2.
Orange UK has publicly confirmed a 7AM, November 10th launch date for the iPhone, and simultaneously announced final pricing schemes. Non-business subscriptions range in cost from approximately £30 per month to £125, based on the number of texts and voice minutes a person selects, and the choice of an 18- or 24-month contract. People paying £125 a month can not only receive unlimited voice and texts, but included roaming voice and data allowances.
OmniVision may have given signs of a large jump in iPhone 3GS production today through a leak of its production demands. Best known for making the 3.2-megapixel camera inside the Apple handset, the mini-camera designer is warning its other customers that supply will be tight until at least late November as Apple is consuming much of its stock. Other sources for DigiTimes add that iPhone 3GS orders for the holidays may have increased by as much as 17 to 20 percent.
The UK division of Orange will begin iPhone sales on November 10th, according to regional newspaper The Guardian. Although Orange originally announced its intentions to carry the iPhone in late September, it has been hesitant to provide many more details. The date of the 10th is said to be significant though, as it is allegedly the day after O2's iPhone exclusivity ends.
O2's British division today said that the UK launch of the Palm Pre was successful. A spokesperson declined to say how many had been sold but told TechRadar that the carrier sold more Pres on Friday than it normally does all other phones. Many of these were also often buying one or sometimes two of Palm's Touchstone inductive charging dock.
Orange UK on Tuesday said it would ship the Motorola DEXT tomorrow, October 7th. It was available for pre-order on September 22th at the carrier, and its release Wednesday should mark the worldwide debut of the Android-powered device.
Orange UK this morning said it has struck a deal with Apple to carry both the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS "later this year." The carrier doesn't yet have information regarding phone prices or service plans but does say it will sell the handsets both online, at retail, and at "selected high street partners." No mention is made of Carphone Warehouse, which handles third-party sales for the iPhone today.
More than 15 phone manufacturers will release over 30 new smartphones running on Microsoft's upcoming Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system before the end of 2009, the copmany's GCR Mobile Team Unit senior director Benjamin Tan said recently. Tan was speaking to a group of reports at the time, according to a Wednesday Digitimes report. Among the phone manufacturers slated to introduce models are HTC, Acer, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and HP.
A version of the recently introduced Motorola Cliq smartphone, the maker's first Android device, got release dates for the European market thanks to a Friday report. In Europe, the device will be known as the Dext, with UK provider Orange getting the device in early October. While prices were not set, pre-orders will begin on September 22nd.
Motorola this afternoon entered into modern smartphones with its first Android device, the Cliq. The touchscreen slider centers on a new interface known as MOTOBLUR that has customized home screen widgets that let users check and update their social status, handle messages and check information like weather without loading a separate app. It even integrates status updates in other apps, such as for incoming calls or GPS mapping.
T-Mobile UK and Orange UK today unveiled plans to merge into a single company. The deal will cost between £600 million and £800 million ($982.4 million to $1.3 billion) to implement but should create the single largest British carrier to date, giving the combined entity about 37 percent of the market and 28.4 million users versus O2's 27 percent. Both also claim improvements for end users as the two should improve coverage by unifying their networks.
The iPhone could be sold through multiple American carriers as soon as next year, suggests Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster. The analyst notes that in France, where Orange was once the exclusive iPhone carrier, Apple now enjoys a "dramatically" higher marketshare as compared to countries where exclusives remain, namely the US. "We believe Apple is seeing the increased unit sell-through more than offset the slightly (~10 percent) deteriorated economics per unit involved in non-exclusive agreements," writes Munster in a new investor note.
The launch of the Israeli iPhone continues to be beset by problems, a regional website notes. Although Apple has signed deals with carriers Orange, Cellcom and Pelephone, iSpot notes that the device is not yet available in the country. The release date has in fact been delayed twice, and is now only scheduled for October. Carriers are each being required to sell 100,000 iPhones per year, for a duration of three years.
The UK division of Orange announced on Thursday it will be the exclusive provider of the LG Watchphone, the GD910, with the device first sold in the carrier's Bond Street Station store in Central London on August 27th. The device will sell for the equivalent of $824, or much less than the previously reported $1,291, but only for a limited and undisclosed amount of time. The handmade watch phone is expected to be relatively popular and will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis, with only one per person. Orange also said another limited batch of the devices will be made available from the provider's online store in mid-September.
As promised, Orange France today began selling the GD910 watch phone. Still the first phone of its type to use 3G calling and data, the device still functions as a world clock and stopwatch but, through a touchscreen, can perform both the usual calling and messaging as well as handle music playback and take VGA-sized photos. Bluetooth is instrumental to the GD910; it comes with a designer headset for calls and supports optional Bluetooth stereo headphones.
O2's UK exclusivity deal for the iPhone may be coming to an end within the next few months, T-Mobile suggests. The latter company says that it is already in talks with Apple, and could begin carrying the iPhone 3G within a matter of months. The iPhone 3GS has not been mentioned by T-Mobile so far, nor is it said to have been brought up by Orange, also rumored to be pushing for UK sales.
T-Mobile UK today confirmed through its Twitter feed that the HTC Hero will come to its network, rebadged as the G2 Touch. The carrier doesn't detail how if at all the phone will change from the reference version, but it does say the G2 Touch will ship in July and come for free with a £40 per month, 18-month contract. Orange UK has already said it would offer the phone this month for free on a two-year plan.
UK wireless provider Orange on Thursday officially confirmed at an expected event that it will be the exclusive provider of the Toshiba TG01 touchscreen smartphone. The 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered device will ship to stores on Friday.
Orange has recently announced that LG's watch phone, the GD910, will be coming to the UK wireless provider sometime in August. Introduced as recently as late 2008, the phone will be available on pay-as-you-go plans as well as a SIM-only offering, where users buy the device itself and bring their own subscription and SIM card. The watch phone has a touchscreen interface, access to 3G HSDPA networks and video-calling support thanks to an integrated camera. It will ship together with a Bluetooth headset for making private calls.
While it was reported just yesterday that Toshiba's first full touchscreen smartphone, the TG01, will be officially unveiled at a launch event in London on July 9th, it is now known the handset will make its debut in the UK at provider Orange on the same date. The wireless provider already has a product page up for the device; pricing is unknown but may be unveiled at the July 9th launch event.
Palm's UK event for the Pre will likely reveal O2 to be the sole carrier if tips are authentic. More than one source has told The Guardian that earlier rumors are true and that Palm is likely to imitate Apple's strategy for the island nation, which both gives O2 sole network rights and Carphone Warehouse the only third-party rights to sell the phone on O2's behalf. Reportedly, it has also echoed O2's coup for the iPhone by thwarting an attempt by Orange to land the same deal.
Palm today told the UK press that it will hold an event July 7th regarding the Pre. The company stops short of confirming it as a launch event, but it's commonly assumed by Pocket-lint and others that the gathering next week will provide details of Pre with GSM and HSPA-based 3G and will likely include a release window as well as details of which carriers will sell the smartphone. Pricing is also a possibility.
HTC at a press event this morning launched its third-generation Android phone in less than a year. The Hero is designed as a web- and music-focused phone with a touchscreen-dependent design like the Magic but is even more compact. Its key, however, is a new interface known as Sense: like TouchFLO, it offers quicker access to calendars, contacts, the time and the weather as well as a quick launcher for the phone dialer. These are all accessible as Android-standard widgets.
Several European carriers, including Orange in France and T-Mobile in Germany, have announced pricing for the iPhone 3G S. The new handset will be available from Orange on June 19th, with the 16GB model carrying a price of €149 (~$205 USD). Customers choosing the 32GB variant will have to pay €229 (~$315 USD) for the device.
Israelis should finally be able to buy the iPhone in the near future, announcements reveal. Partner Communications -- which operates the Israeli division of Orange -- says it has signed an agreement with Apple Sales International, which will allow it to sell iPhones domestically for a period of at least three years. Partner is in turn expected to buy a minimum number of iPhones each year, representing a "significant portion" of all its cellphone purchases.
HTC has sent invitations to a press event to be held in London, UK, according to PhoneMag.com. The teaser simply reads "Come see..." but does not provide any additional details regarding the focus of the event. The company already announced the HTC Snap earlier this year, although a number of reports have provided details surrounding the Android-based Hero handset. The device is said to launch exclusively through Orange in Europe later this year.
LG picked Friday to launch another full touchscreen phone to its rapidly growing mix. The GT505 has the 3-inch touchscreen and 5-megapixel camera that define most of LG's 2009 phones but centers on social networking with updates 'pushed' to the phone in real time, much as smartphones handle e-mail. LG also promises a better start on GPS than for most non-smartphones with both native support and a trial version of turn-by-turn app WisePilot.
The HTC Hero smartphone, running on the latest open-source Android operating system, will be offered exclusively by UK wireless provider Orange in Europe, according to a Wednesday Pocket-Lint report. If this proves true, it would be the provider's first Android-based handset, and is expected to be released sometime in 2009.
Nokia today launched a Comes with Music edition of the 5800 XpressMusic in Britain. The addition is exclusive to Orange UK and comes in a unique black-and-silver trim. Improving on the special-run 5800 available elsewhere, the touchscreen phone now gets a two-year subscription to Nokia's unlimited, copy-protected music service. It continues to let buyers keep their downloaded tracks whenever the subscription ends.
T-Mobile's UK division may merge with a rival or even sell off its assets if it can't recover from major losses, its CFO Timotheus Hoettges said at the cellphone carrier's annual shareholder's meeting. The British group may have to write down the equivalent of $2.4 billion in costs for just the first quarter of 2009 and is considering any steps it can take to cut these expenses. Which is more likely isn't known, though the executive sees a merger as one of the most practical ways to address the problem.
UK-based wireless provider Orange is now offering what it is touting as being the smallest, lightest and least expensive touchscreen device in the country with the Vegas handset. Features of the handset, which looks like an HTC Touch, include a 2.4-inch display, a 1.3-megapixel camera on the rear panel and what looks like a front-facing camera for video calls, though Orange makes no mention of such a capability.
LG Germany today accidentally revealed the company's plans for the Viewty II in a company blog post ahead of an official schedule. Since admitting that the information had been posted a "few days" early in a retraction, the company confirms that the photo-centric handset will have an 8-megapixel camera and a new emphasis on video; a simpler interface will let users flip to video and video capture in a true 480p (720x480) resolution, or much higher than the at best 640x480 used by competing phones.
British cellular carriers O2 and Vodafone are being asked by the government to share their 3G spectrum as part of an effort to supply rural broadband. Although the two providers are currently the exclusive holders of the 900MHz band for faster wireless data, officials at the independent regulator Ofcom are asking the two to allow at least one other carrier to share the space and build out coverage in those areas that aren't already served.
International phone carrier Orange is preparing to sell subsidized MacBooks, according to Mobile. The UK magazine says it has learned that MacBooks will go on sale through Orange this summer, significantly discounted as a result of being tied to a two-year mobile data contract. No deal has been firmly cemented, but it is believed that negotiations are in a late stage, only requiring details to be arranged.
LG on Monday said it has launched the Arena in Europe. The company's new range-topping phone should be available today through carriers like Orange and T-Mobile in the continent's "major" markets and is still claimed as one of LG's most anticipated phones with more than 1 million pre-orders, though this includes carriers in Asia and other regions besides Europe. No mention has been made of how many Arenas are expected to sell through on launch day.
UK phone carrier O2 is poised to drop prices on the iPhone 3G come May, claims a regional magazine. Mobile cites exclusive information, pointing to the device becoming free with £35 or £45 per month subscriptions. The 8GB iPhone is currently free with £45 and £75 plans, while the 16GB model is free only at the £75 level. Practical costs of iPhone ownership can rise as high as £159 a month.
Nokia's plans to offer Skype on its Nseries handsets has stirred conflict with several cellular carriers. O2 and Orange have reacted negatively to the suggestion of introducing VoIP services on the upcoming N97, according to Mobile. The disagreement could drive the carriers to reject consideration for the device altogether if Nokia does not pull the Skype client.
The LG G910 Touch Watch phone is, as promised, coming to market later this year through European wireless provider Orange. The handset will pair up with the included Bluetooth headset as well as others, and has a 1.43-inch capacitive touchscreen with 128x160 resolution. It can also access 3G HSDPA networks, can send and receive text messages and supports video calling thanks to a built-in VGA camera. Furthermore, the G910 has multimedia playback functionality, with 2GB of built-in storage.
The LiMo Foundation on Monday announced six new wireless providers have committed to release LiMo Platform based handsets in 2009. The Linux OS-based phones will become available from Verizon Wireless, NTT DoCoMo, Orange, SK Telecom, Telefonica and Vodafone sometime in 2009. The open-source Linux operating system in the devices will be based on the latest version of the LiMo Platform.
The Austrian division of Orange has dropped pricing on the iPhone 3G, new listings show. The 8GB model of the phone can now be bought for €1, though this must also be accompanied by a €35 general monthly subscription, and a €14 monthly iPhone pack. The latter bundles 3GB of data transfer and 100 SMS messages.
The sudden lifting of iPhone exclusivity in France will remain in effect, a ruling from the Paris Court of Appeals has declared. In December, the country's national competition council ordered Apple and official carrier Orange to temporarily permit other companies to sell the device, pending deeper investigation into complaints from Bouygues Telecom. Apple and Orange subsequently filed an appeal, but this was denied by a Parisian judge in a 19-page Wednesday ruling.
The official iPhone carrier for France, Orange, achieved solid sales during the Christmas season, according to national newspaper La Tribune. People within Orange are said to be claiming triple the sales of December 2007, or approximately 210,000 phones. Between November 28th and December 31st of 2007, the company is known to have sold roughly 70,000 iPhones.
People looking for an iPhone in France can now buy one without having to go through the country's official carrier, Orange, a local retailer has announced. FNAC is now selling a contract-free version of the iPhone 3G, though at a significant markup. An 8GB version of the phone is priced at €799 ($1,123), while black or white 16B models are selling for €899 ($1,263). By contrast, similar options in Belgium are priced at only €529 and €619.
The iPhone 3G has launched in Jordan, available exclusively from wireless carrier Orange, according to SaudiMac. The device is sold with a one-year contract commitment, with various pricing depending on the chosen plan. Customers looking for the lowest phone cost can choose the iDiamond 2000 package which includes 2GB of data usage and offers the 8GB model for 160JD (~$225USD) or the 16GB variant for 230JD (~$322USD). The phones currently lack full support for Arabic, while Jordan is not yet listed on the App Store country list.
Apple must at least temporarily allow carriers other than Orange to sell the iPhone in France, the country's competition regulator has ordered. The ruling stems from a complaint filed in September by Bouygues Telecom, accusing Apple and Orange of hurting competition. The regulator has so far agreed, calling the deal a "serious and immediate threat" to competition in the cellular world, as well as something that could lead to increased costs for people switching carriers.
Orange, a wireless provider and brand of France Telecom on Tuesday announced its future technologies at the La Collection show in Paris. Key among them is the planned introduction of High Definition Voice technology that aims to improve voice clarity during calls. The software will find its way into certain Orange handsets starting in December, and promises to reduce background noise by doubling the handset's ability to pick up the human voice.
Apple's plans for Black Friday -- the crucial sales day following Thanksgiving -- should see some major deals available to the public, argues analyst Ben Reitzes of Barclays Capital. Reitzes notes that low-cost notebooks will have a significant presence on Black Friday, given plans for $299 PCs at Best Buy, Walmart and Dell.com. He further suggests that due to the looming threat of recession, people will want to trade down to cheaper computers.
Orange France is rumored to be reducing its iPhone 3G prices to 100€ (~$125 USD) for the 8GB model and 130€ (~$165 USD) for the 16GB variant, according to a post on the French Mac enthusiast site MacBidouille. The change is claimed to happen on November 13th, and would make the devices significantly cheaper than the US market offerings. Presumably the prices represent the two-year contract prices, dropping from the current 150€ and 200€ tags for the 8GB and 16GB phones, respectively.
