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France Telecom-Orange will release Tizen 2.0 devices from Samsung this year, maybe Huawei too (updated)
Tizen's holding a posh little shindig here at Mobile World Congress to officially launch the Tizen 2.0 OS, which was recently released to developers (but not on phones you can actually buy). In addition to showcasing the operating system, which we just got hands-on with, the company announced a bit of news: France Telecom-Orange will sell Tizen 2.0 handsets this year, with devices from Samsung and possibly Huawei. Unfortunately, we don't have any more specifics to share, but we have to say, that was fast! The folks at Tizen don't play, do they? Update: While France Telecom-Orange has confirmed it will carry a Samsung device running Tizen 2.0, it has not confirmed it will sell a Huawei-made Tizen phone; the carrier has only said it is considering adding a Huawei Tizen device to its lineup.
France-Telecom CEO: Apple now easier to deal with
France Telecom-Orange CEO Stephane Richard noted during a dinner with reporters on Monday during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that Apple has become easier to deal with. "Apple has [become] more flexible, paying more attention to everyone else, probably a little less arrogant than they used to be," Richard said, according to AllThingsD. He went on to compare the iPhone maker today with the iPhone maker under Steve Jobs' leadership. "I think they are probably a little more under pressure, and it is quite nice." Richard is known for his outspoken comments -- and they didn't end with Apple. He admitted that it will be hard for any other mobile ecosystem to gain a foothold over iOS and Android, saying that telecom CEOs hope a powerful third player will emerge, although that seems unlikely. As for the fledgling Windows Phone, Richard says he doesn't see it catching on as it lacks a "wow" factor and doesn't do anything better than iOS or Android. Richard's experience with the ease of working with Apple is clearly subjective, but given the increased competitiveness in the smartphone marketplace and the entrenchment of Android, it makes sense that the notoriously "my way or the highway" company might be more willing to give a little ground in order to keep its partners happy.
Baidu and Orange launch mobile browser for Africa, Middle East
Not content to dominate internet search in China alone, Baidu and France Telecom's Orange are partnering to capitalize on African and Middle Eastern markets as well. Today they launched a co-branded version of Baidu's browser on France Telecom's Egyptian operator MobiNil -- it's essentially the same as the one released last year for the Chinese market but in English / Arabic instead (a French version is also coming). The browser is a pre-installed app on carrier-sold smartphones and features bookmarks for Orange and Baidu services. According to Orange, smartphone adoption in the region has become widespread due to the increased availability of 3G networks -- demand apparently doubled in Egypt in the second half of 2012 alone. With nearly 80 million potential customers at hand, Baidu could certainly give Google a run for its money yet again. You can peek at the full PR after the break.
Orange begins first HD Voice calls between countries, decides clarity knows no borders
Orange was one of the vanguards of high-quality cellphone calls, having kicked off HD Voice with a Moldovian launch back in 2009. The premium chatter has always stopped at the border, however -- even two Orange customers couldn't see the improvement if they were in different countries. The carrier is bridging that gap with claims that it's the first to support improved voice on the international level: starting today, Moldovans and Romanians on Orange can give each other a ring and expect the extra-smooth calling they're used to from local conversations. We don't yet know if and when other countries will hop on the bandwagon. We've reached out, but it's possible that any upgraded links between other countries will come only from case-by-case negotiations. Those in Bucharest might want to track down any relatives in Chișinău for a quick chat in the meantime.
Minitel to be shut down tomorrow: France bids adieu to the internet's precursor
Back in the mid-80s, the idea of transferring funds, checking your email, buying stocks and booking a trip online was all a faraway dream. But if you happened to be in France at the time, you might've already been wired up and doing these things for years -- thanks to the state-subsidized Minitels that were in each and every household. The country was far more interconnected than any other and proud of the text-only terminals, even though government-owned France Telecom monopolized access and you had to be newspaper company to supply any content. It took off anyway, and soon faux-newspaper companies sprung up everywhere for the not-so-secret purpose of delivering paid Minitel services. They supplied information, financial access, ticketing, online shopping, and even some naughty text-based services (sacré bleu!). At its apogee in 1998, the system generated over a billion dollars a year in revenue, and accounted for nearly 15% of the annual income for online retailers 3 Suisses and La Redoute, to name a couple. But France can be an insular nation, and Minitel never really spread anywhere else. The internet gave the coup de grace to the system and displaced it, and though it's still accessed by millions each year, France Telecom will pull the plug once and for all this Saturday. Some regret that the nation didn't build on its technological lead, but most French folks will probably remember the boxes nostalgically, knowing that they beat the internet by almost 20 years. [Image credit: Musée De l'Informatique]
Orange offers free Wikipedia access to mobile users in Africa and the Middle East
There are more than 70 million Orange customers across Africa and the Middle East, but only about 10 million are able to access the web from their handsets. That gap may be narrowing, though, now that the provider has decided to offer free mobile access to Wikipedia for users throughout the region. Under the program, users with an Orange SIM card and a web-enabled phone will be able to access the site as many times as they want, without incurring any data charges. Heralding the partnership as the first of its kind, Orange says its new initiative should make it easier for emerging market consumers to access the online encyclopedia, which Wikimedia Foundation director Sue Gardner described as a "public good." The offer is slated to roll out across 20 countries in Africa and the Middle East, beginning early this year. Find more details in the press release, after the break.
Orange hopes to drive smartphone sales with three Facebook phones, two seem kinda dumb
Orange is unhappy. The company cites that of its new phone sales, nearly half are feature phones. While the statistic isn't exactly a shocker, the French telecom believes it can do better. In an effort to drive the adoption of smartphones, Orange has chosen to jump on the Facebook bandwagon with three new options that offer immediate access to the iconic social network. Perhaps the carrier's efforts are a bit misguided, however, because of this trio, only one handset is actually a smartphone. (As such, it's the only one we care about.) Known as the Alcatel One Touch 908F, it's a re-configured 908 with the same 2.8-inch display, 600MHz Qualcomm CPU and Froyo -- yeah, you read that correctly. Could it be that the two feature phones are so unpalatable that they'll also drive smartphone adoption? Whatever the case may be, each device is squarely aimed (and priced) at teens and emerging markets. For example, the 908F will debut south of €100 off-contract, accompanied by plans that start at €9 per month. Before year's end, Poland and Romania will be among the first victims to receive the bunch, followed by countries such as Armenia, Botswana, Cameroon and France. Speaking of misguided, perhaps Orange should have asked AT&T how the Status is selling.
Orange exec welcomes Google's Motorola buy with open arms
Motogoog, Googorola -- whatever phrasing you've landed on, yesterday's giant bit of industry news is sure to draw strong opinions on both sides of the fence. Thus far, we've seen a largely positive responses from the competition, with companies like HTC, Samsung, LG and Sony Ericsson issuing fairly uniform statements on the matter. And while US carriers have been pretty quiet on that front, France Telecom-owned Orange is about ready to high five all parties involved. Yves Maitre, an SVP with the company, called the whole thing "great news," suggesting that Mootlegooga (okay, that one probably won't stick) will offer a good bit of competition for the mobile juggernaut that is Apple. The deal, he explained, adds a sort of vertical integration that's all the rage in the industry right now, with companies like Apple and Nokia / Microsoft.
Broadband claims another: France Telecom putting the kibosh on Minitel
'Tis a sad, sad day for fans of all things retro. In a developed nation dominated by high-speed connections, near-ubiquitous 3G and sub-$€300 computers, it's more than a little astounding that the Minitel is just now being axed by France Télécom. Originally, the aforesaid machine was ordered by the French government in the 1970s "as part of an initiative to get people to share information and, eventually, reduce the consumption of paper." In a bid to rapidly increase adoption, the terminals -- complete with a monochrome screen and bantam keyboard -- were actually doled out to denizens free of charge, with access billed on a per-minute basis. It obviously required a phone line, and things were kept understandably simple; users rarely did more than shop for train tickets, check the occasional bank account and peruse the phone directory. Astonishingly, France's precursor to the internet still raked in €30 million in revenue last year, but the time has finally come to push existing users onto more sophisticated solutions. As of June 30, 2012, "the Minitel will die." 'Course, the service itself will be the only thing shuttered -- those memories are bound to last a lifetime.
France Telecom CEO talks SIM cards, next iPhone, apps and more
The CEO of France Telecom, Stephane Richard, recently spoke to Ina Fried at AllThingsD and spilled some juicy tidbits about how Orange (a global brand owned by France Telecom, which currently sells the iPhone in 15 countries) has worked with Apple. He also made some interesting comments about Apple's competition in the smartphone world while basically crediting the company for creating the entire smartphone market! And yes, he mentions RIM and Nokia, two other pioneers in the smartphone game. In terms of dealing with Apple, Richard's comments about apps made me cringe. He's basically in favor of carrier-owned app marketplaces, which were the standard before the iPhone came around. You know all that crapware that comes pre-installed on Windows machines and other smartphones? Yeah, he loves that stuff and worries that someday Apple will deny an app that Orange approves of. He also says, however, that his company has a good working relationship with Cupertino, who can be "a little tough." If Apple should refuse an app that Orange likes, Richards says, "Definitely, if we face these kind of problems, we will go to court. Because competition is not only something that should be applied to telcos and to carriers. For us it should be a principle for the whole Internet environment." Those of us in America will chuckle at that competition comment, given AT&T's former stranglehold on the iPhone. The juicy bit that the Apple blogosphere seems to be freaking out about today is Richard's comment about the "next iPhone." After a discussion regarding a SIM-less phone (like ESIM), and noting that the SIM card takes up valuable space, he goes on to say, "I understood that the next iPhone would be smaller and thinner and they are definitely seeking some space." Which, in blogosphere freak out-speak means that Apple's next iPhone will be the iPhone nano. I think he's simply saying the next iPhone will be somewhat smaller and thinner, which is par for the course for Apple's design team, isn't it? I'm hard pressed to think of a product line that Apple made larger and thicker in a new iteration. At any rate, we already knew Orange was working with Apple on a smaller SIM card.
France to auction off 4G spectrum, carriers ready to get their bid on
If you have a few billion euros hiding in your couch cushion and you've always dreamed of owning a coveted sect of airspace, might we suggest a 4G auction? France has some 18 blocks of high-speed spectrum up for grabs this September in the 800MHz and 2.6GHz bands, and wants at least 2.5 billion euros ($3.6b) in exchange for the whole enchilada. Expensive as it may seem, there's no reason to believe it shouldn't easily surpass that amount; the biggest competitors are definitely not lightweights by any stretch of the imagination, and -- as this will be the last of such spectrum to be sold for at least ten years -- we know each contender will be on its A-game. Fortunately the government has regulated the whole affair to keep spectrum-hogging to a minimum: no company can buy more than half of the "beachfront" 800MHz band, and no more than 15MHz of the 2.6GHz (out of 70MHz available). The most awe-inspiring regulation, however, is that victors will be required to build out their 4G networks in rural zones, ensuring that 90 percent of the population will have access to high-speed mobile broadband within 12 years. Could the US government learn a few things from this process?
T-Mobile and Orange get cozy, go shopping together
Following a good lean in their office chairs, decision-makers from Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom have made good on their February announcement to explore network sharing strategies, revealing they will combine their purchasing in a 50 / 50 joint venture. Buyers from Bonn and Paris will now collaborate on the procurement of consumer devices, network equipment, service platforms and IT infrastructure, with the companies expecting to save €1.3 billion from their efforts. They foresee this coordination creating more effective relations with suppliers, and benefiting customers through harmonized technology across networks. While the deal still needs regulatory approval, this isn't the first time the operators have gotten friendly, having previously merged T-Mobile and Orange in the UK. There's nothing like cooperation to get an edge on the competition, right? Get the full PR after the break.
European carriers want content companies and smartphone makers to pay network usage fees
How do you start a net neutrality debate without ever saying "net neutrality?" If you're a European wireless carrier like France Telecom, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, or Vodafone, you do it by just getting straight to the point: you say companies like Google, Apple, and Facebook need to start paying for continued network access because their devices and services use too much bandwidth. Yep, that's a straight-up network neutrality issue, but the carriers are framing it like it's an accounting problem -- and they're not being shy about wanting more cash to even out the books as they invest in next-gen networks. "It's necessary to put in place a system of payments by service providers as a function of their use," says France Telecom CEO Stephane Richard, while Telefonica CEO Cesar Alierta says that Google and Yahoo's free use of his network is a "tragedy" that "can't continue." (No, we're not making this up.) In addition to shaking down service providers and device makers, European carriers are also following AT&T and Verizon to tiered data plans -- France Telecom is will move from unlimited pricing to something "more sophisticated," and the other networks expected to follow. What's most interesting to us is that the carriers are appearing to conflate bandwidth-heavy services like Facebook and YouTube with devices that customers use to access those services -- does it really make any sense to charge Apple or Google a fee for making good phones that encourage more network use, on top of charging users for tiered data? That's an unexpected -- and unfortunate -- twist on the standard net neutrality debate, and we're not so sure we want to see where it's going. Read the whole article at the source link, it's a good one.
European operators considering making yet another mobile OS?
What, France Telecom? Neither LiMo nor Brew MP are good enough for you? Bada not open enough? Rumor has it that France Telecom-Orange boss Stephane Richard has summoned the heads of Vodafone, Telefonica, and Deutsche Telekom to Paris early next month to discuss how to best shoehorn their way back into the business of profiting off mobile software stacks, something that both Apple and Google have helped significantly diminish over the past couple years. Of course, Vodafone already tried this with its now-defunct 360 platform based on LiMo, so we're sure it's going to take a bit of convincing to get them back into the game -- and AT&T and Verizon have both done their fair share to prove you can mangle Android enough to profit from it. The phrase "dumb pipe" still isn't clicking with any of the major operators after all these years; maybe if we called it "smart pipe" instead?
Samsung Wave brings Bada to Europe today, everyone else told to wait
Samsung's Wave (otherwise known as the S8500) may not be coming to Vodafone UK until June 1st, but it's available somewhere in Europe starting today. According to a new release from the outfit (seen in full after the break), today marks the first day in which its first Bada-equipped smartphone is available in Europe, with Germany, France and the UK mentioned in particular. We're also told that the "complete Bada SDK 1.0.0 will be available for download shortly," and while pricing details weren't discussed, the Wave should ride to Southeast Asia, China, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America in short order. Don't everyone cheer at once, okay?
Orange and T-Mobile UK merger approved by EU, forms 29.5 million customer juggernaut
The European Commission has decided it doesn't mind the crass splicing of pink (okay, magenta) and orange, and has therefore provided its tastefully hued green light to the UK merger of the two mobile operators. Once the transaction is completed this Spring, we'll still be looking at two delineated entities on the consumer market, but there'll be one back office and one consolidated network servicing the two brands. That'll remain the case for at least the next 18 months, when the joint venture between Deutsche Telecom and France Telecom, the respective parent companies of T-Mobile and Orange, will likely complete the process by rebranding itself into one entity. The press announcement is littered with vague references to synergy leveraging and value generation, but those all-important questions as to what the new operator will eventually be called and what colors it will sport are left unanswered. All that really matters for now is that the UK has a new market share leader and the mobile space became that little bit less competitive. [Thanks, Mitchel]
VP for France Telecom verifies Apple tablet on the way?
French tech blog Nowhereelse.fr had a scoop of sorts this morning. It turns out that Stéphane Richard, VP of France Telecom, was interviewed by Europe 1's Jean Pierre Elkabbach today. During the interview, Elkabbach made a comment to Richard: "According to the weekly Le Point, (in) a few days your partner Apple will launch a Tablet with a webcam." To that, Richard simply replied, "Oui." ("Yes") Elkabbach, probably sensing that French television viewers would love to know if they'd be in line for the new device, continued: "Is it that Orange users will also benefit?" This is in reference to the Orange wireless brand in France. The long, complicated answer from Richard: "Bien Sûr!" ("Of course!") Our French is not the best, so it's impossible to verify the rest of the discussion or the context in which these comments were taken, but according to the translation of the Nowhere Else page, the tablet is to at least be announced (if not sold) by the end of the month. In addition, the blog reports that the tablet will have a webcam and videophone capability built-in. Update: TUAW reader Florian translated parts of the video and sent this to us: "They [the customers] will benefit more easily with the webcam. It will indeed be transmitted from the image real time, we will update this [use] in a way that videophone has been a few years ago and is also the network size and network quality that we put in place to serve the French will allow the new uses to develop." While that translation obviously leaves a bit to be desired, it seems to be the source of the information about videophone capabilities. The original video (in French) follows on Page 2 if you wish to translate for us and provide additional commentary.
T-Mobile UK and Orange to merge, still clash
Step aside O2 and Vodafone, there's a new sheriff in town. At least there will be if the announced 50:50 merger between T-Mobile UK and Orange can be signed into existence by November as planned. The new venture would give France Telecom and Deutsch Telekom units a 37% share of the UK mobile marketplace leaving O2 with 27% and the once mighty Vodafone with 25%. Let's hope that the corporate cultures mix better than orange and magenta.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Deutsche Telekom rumored to fight off Orange, Vodafone bids for UK unit
Word on the street has been that Deutsche Telekom is being given the full-court press to do something with its unprofitable British operations, and the obvious choice would be to sell it off to one of its competitors -- Vodafone, Orange, O2, or 3. Apparently, though, Orange went ahead and made an offer just in the past few months, only to be turned down -- a sign that the French company either lowballed or that DT has very different plans on its mind. Rumors are circulating now that a restructuring will be announced as soon as this week that could give T-Mobile UK some time to turn its red ink around, but if that falls through, it's said that Voda might be interested in swapping its Turkish division for it -- so hang tough, DT, you've got options on the table.
iPhone on sale in France contract-free, trs cher
Retailer FNAC is now selling free-of-contract iPhones in France, apparently a result of this month's ruling by the French competition agency that deemed Apple and Orange's exclusive deal illegal. Though the injunction is just a temporary measure -- and has been appealed by France Telecom (Orange's owner) -- if you want to get one now, well, you can.. Those expecting a decent price will be sorely disappointed, however -- an 8GB model costs €799 and the 16GB runs €899 ($1,123 and $1,263, respectively). [Via Apple Insider]
