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European mobile carriers will share location data to track COVID-19 spread
More governments are relying on phone location tracking in a bid to track and contain the spread of COVID-19. Eight European carriers, including Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile), Orange and Vodafone, have agreed to share phone location data with the European Commission to help measure the coronavirus' reach. That immediately raises privacy issues, but an official talking to Reuters stressed that the EC would protect users.
HTC has a new CEO
HTC announced that it has appointed a former executive from telecom giant Orange, Yves Maitre, as its new CEO. The company said that current chief Cher Wang will step down while remaining chairperson of the company. Wang took over the position from Peter Chou back in 2015.
Euro 2016 social activity will determine Eiffel Tower's colors
The UEFA Euro 2016 soccer tournament kicks off next week, and fans will have the opportunity to show their team spirit via the Eiffel Tower. Tournament sponsor Orange, a French wireless carrier, will light up the Paris landmark in the colors of the most popular team based on social media activity across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Posts will be counted from 12:01 AM until 9:30 PM local time the following evening during the month-long event set to take place in France. At that time, the team/nation with the most activity will have its colors displayed on the iconic structure.
France wants Apple to pay $55 million over strict carrier deals
Have you noticed that many carriers give prominent placement to the iPhone in their catalogs, with virtually identical marketing? That's because Apple gets to dictate some pretty strict terms to providers that want the iPhone in their roster... and France isn't happy about it. The country's competition regulators have launched a complaint against Apple that asks the tech giant to pay a total of €48.5 million (about $55.3 million) and change carrier deal clauses that are reportedly illegal. If you ask officials, these pacts are extremely lopsided.
Global carriers adopt Google's SMS standard
Google is trying to move Android from the ancient SMS messaging system over to Rich Communication Services (RCS), and last year bought a company called Jibe Mobile to speed up the process. That appears to have paid off, as numerous global operators, including Sprint, Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone have agreed to adopt the standard. RCS has often been compared to iMessage,offering features like group chat, high-res photo sharing and read receipts. Carrier adoption means that users will get "a consistent and interoperable messaging experience between all Android devices and across all operators worldwide," according to the group.
EE's 10 million 4G customers are great news for BT
EE was the first mobile network to offer 4G in the UK, and now, more than two and a half years later, it's still easily the most popular. The company has accumulated 10 million 4G customers, beating the numbers last reported by Three, O2 and Vodafone. It's a huge lead and one that will please BT, which is in the midst of buying EE's business. BT wants to strengthen its quad play offering and EE, provided the deal goes through, will give it a substantial network and subscriber base to work with. The company already offers mobile contracts -- using EE's network, unsurprisingly -- and Sky has confirmed it'll launch an O2-powered network in 2016. Three UK's owner, meanwhile, is acquiring O2 in order to leapfrog EE and become the UK's biggest carrier. While they sort out the details, BT has some time to fortify its position -- after all, EE's base of 4G subscribers will only continue to grow, benefitting the provider when its £12.5 billion buyout is finally approved.
Mozilla launches Firefox OS phones in Morocco and Senegal
Firefox OS might be in a distant fourth place (or further?) here domestically, but Mozilla sees plenty of value for it in emerging countries. Specifically? Senegal and Madagascar in Africa, where it recently partnered with French telecom Orange to launch the KLIF. And no, you aren't wrong, it's neither a flip-phone or a slider. Nor is it transparent. A Mozilla blog post says that the main idea with this 3G smartphone is to get more people online in places where they previously couldn't. It's the web outfit following through on a promise it made back at Mobile World Congress in Spain, and the Middle East is where we'll see the initiative pop up next.
Comparethemarket revives Orange Wednesdays with 'Meerkat Movies'
When EE announced its replacement for Orange Wednesdays earlier this week, we couldn't help but feel a slight pang of disappointment. Sure, cheap movie rentals are nice, but the deal isn't a patch on snagging two-for-one cinema tickets in the UK. If you're feeling the same way, there's some good news today: Comparethemarket is taking up the mantle and offering movie lovers the same promotion, albeit with a couple of caveats. The biggest one is that you'll need to buy something through Comparethemarket first, such as car, travel, life or home insurance. If you've bought something from the site already, you can open the "Meerkat Movies" app immediately and use the deal for the next 12 months, starting from the day you made the original purchase. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until April 3rd, when the promotion is officially launched for everyone else. Unlike Orange Wednesdays, the deal can also be redeemed every Tuesday and Wednesday, giving you a little extra choice over when you watch the latest blockbusters and indie flicks.
Orange Wednesdays are coming to an end
Created as a way to boost flagging cinema attendances, Orange Wednesdays has become a mid-week tradition for many film fans. However, after a successful 10-year run, EE is finally pulling the plug. According to Marketing Magazine, the decision was made after the UK network struggled to hash out a new deal with its partner Cinema First. It means Orange Wednesdays and EE Wednesdays, which offered a stellar two-for-one deal on both cinema tickets and Pizza Express, will cease to exist come February 25th, 2015. It's not all doom and gloom though. EE says it has another "exclusive" offer planned for its customers in 2015, although we suspect it won't be related to theater tickets. In the meantime, you have just over two months (or 11 Wednesdays, to be precise) to take advantage of the decade-old promotion. We recommend heading here to see what'll be released in the weeks ahead.
ROTO: Simply Addictive
Guiding a ball to a finish flag by timing jumps from one rotating circle to another is the core gameplay feature of ROTO. While navigating a maze of rotatory platforms filled with hazards, such as spiky saw blades, players have to collect stars which will unlock levels. ROTO is compatible with iOS devices running iOS 6.0. ROTO features simple mechanics set in a very minimalistic environment. Players tap to jump from platform to platform in an attempt to collect all of the stars in each level. The circular platforms have different speeds and this requires players to adjust their timing. Because of this, the difficulty level increases fairly rapidly, adding challenge to every level. In addition to different platform speeds, the platforms themselves have other attributes. This encourages players to plan out there moves more carefully. There are grey ghost balls that slowly disappear when players land on them, which players have to keep in mind or they will plummet to the ground. Orange balls that cause the player's ball to bounce off of are available after an in-app purchase. There is a demo level in the game for players to check out this challenge. Another challenge that is unlocked are portals, which test players' ability to choose the correct pathway of portals to get all of the stars in the level. The sound effects in the game add interest to the gameplay and make it easy to tell what type of ball a player is currently on its attributes are. For instance, when players land on a ghost ball, there is a sound effect that gives an urgent feeling referencing the impending disappearance of the platform. A downside to ROTO is that the pause button is too small, which leads to difficulty tapping the button. However, the fun addictive nature of the gameplay overshadows this minor setback. Players will be too interested in trying to collect all of the stars, and won't want to pause. ROTO is free on the App Store and recommended for players who enjoy puzzle-platformers with easy to use controls and addictive challenges.
The French pay tribute to The Red Balloon in this iPhone 6 ad
French telecom company Orange has released a charming new ad for the iPhone 6 which puts a spin on the classic short film, The Red Balloon. While the advertisement raises questions about how exactly every stranger in France has each other's number, it is still a nice little short film all on its own. We hope that if your child ever loses a balloon you respond with similar social savvy.
EE confirms it's also talking to BT about a possible sale
BT surprised many when it confirmed it's currently in talks to buy back mobile operator O2, nearly 10 years after it sold the company to Telefonića. However, the telecoms giant said at the time that it wasn't interested in just one carrier. Rumours suggested that EE is the other subject of BT's affections, and sure enough those predictions were spot on. In a move to clear things up, Orange and Deutsche Telekom (50/50 owners of the UK's biggest mobile operator), today confirmed that they are engaged in "highly preliminary exploratory discussions with BT" over a possible sale. Its owners say they are keen to maximise value for shareholders while strengthening EE's market position, but say it's currently "too early to state whether any transaction may occur."
EE TV is a set-top box that streams video to your mobile devices
Already the UK's biggest mobile network, EE is looking to branch out. The company today announced EE TV, a new set-top box that will serve up over 70 Freeview channels, as well as various catch-up and on-demand services. The box itself has DVR capabilities, with a 1TB drive capable of storing roughly 600 hours of recorded TV or film. Up to four channels can be recorded at any one time, and as you'd expect, you can pause and rewind live TV. With EE being a mobile network and all, smaller screen devices are integral to the product. EE TV will pump content to up to four different screens including your TV, so tablets and smartphones connected to the same WiFi network can tune in to different channels, watch on-demand video streams, or view anything that's been recorded to the box.
With Free, France shows the US what an open mobile market should be
If you hadn't noticed, T-Mobile has been on a rampage lately in the US. It has offered cheaper contract-free plans, paid users cold hard cash to switch, and generally crashed other carriers' parties. The result has been a wave of new customers for T-Mobile and cheaper, me-too plans from AT&T and Verizon -- all a boon to US consumers. But over in France, an alternate-reality version of this scenario has been playing out. Until recently, old guard carriers like Orange and SFR have trundled along, milking customers while stifling innovation. Then, trampling over them on a white horse, came a Bizarro T-Mobile carrier called Free Mobile. It's been a far greater competitive threat than T-Mo in the US and, thanks to its radical plans, France has become a wireless utopia with some of the cheapest rates in the world.
EE's slow killing of Orange and T-Mobile shows it's ready to bet big on 4G
Orange, T-Mobile and EE have managed to coexist together for a number of years now, despite them all being essentially the same company, and all selling similar services. While Orange and T-Mobile used to be large, established names in their own right, 4G darling EE has understandably become by far the most prominent brand of the trio. High-street stores once coloured orange or magenta have long been redressed to EE's preference, and as of fairly recently, the online presence of the 3G-only providers has begun to be absorbed by EE. T-Mobile's site now forwards directly to ee.co.uk, and although Orange's homepage still exists, you can no longer purchase anything from it directly. Previously only of interest to "technofreaks," as Vodafone's CEO once put it, 4G is more or less mainstream. It's only a matter of time before all major networks begin to retire old 3G plans in order to structure themselves more around 4G, and in EE's case, this probably means putting Orange and T-Mobile out to pasture.
EE, Orange and T-Mobile phone bills set to rise on May 28th
If you missed the postman this morning, then we hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you might be returning home to a letter detailing an imminent increase to your monthly mobile phone bill. As of May 28th, customers on EE's 4G network or the 3G sub-brands Orange and T-Mobile will be expected to fork out another 2.7 percent on top of what they're already paying each month -- the charges for anything beyond your allowance will go up slightly, too. We'll leave you to crunch the numbers, but basically the price hike is in line with inflation, meaning you kind of agreed you'd be cool with it when signing those T&Cs you read so thoroughly. If you want to cancel your contract, then, we're afraid you'll be paying early termination fees. If you signed a new contract or upgraded after January 23rd this year, however, then nothing's going to change for you. Under Ofcom's rules -- the ones O2 ain't following -- anyone in that situation could exit their contract scot-free, and EE'd likely prefer the business. If only our data caps rose with inflation, too.
Orange shares all its call data with France's intelligence agency, according to new Snowden leak
Another day, another round of troubling surveillance news. In a twist, though, today's nugget has less to do with the US or the NSA but rather, France's central intelligence agency, the DGSE. According to a leak by Edward Snowden to the French paper Le Monde, Orange, the country's leading telecom, has been willingly sharing all of its call data with the agency. And according to the leaked document -- originally belonging to the UK intelligence agency GCHQ -- the French government's records don't just include metadata, but all the information Orange has on file. As you might expect, the DGSE then shares this information with other countries, including, of course, the UK, which had this incriminating document in the first place.
Orange's Gova smartphone promises fast LTE on a budget
We don't normally think of Orange's smartphones as quick, but we'll have to make an exception for the carrier's just-unveiled Gova. The 4.5-inch, Android 4.3-toting handset is the provider's first with 150Mbps LTE, giving subscribers fast data without making them spring for more advanced hardware. It's also one of Orange's more capable phones overall thanks to its 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 5-megapixel rear camera and 8GB of built-in storage. The Gova should reach Luxembourg, Mauritius, Moldova, Poland, Spain, Slovakia and Tunisia in April. Those that don't need quite so much power can opt for the already available Reyo, which combines more modest data speeds with a 5-inch screen, Android 4.2 and a 1.3GHz dual-core chip. Unfortunately, there's no word of UK launches for either of these frugal devices.
LG G Flex to launch in over 20 European countries this February
The G Flex's world tour continues: following news of launches in the US, LG has announced that its bendy smartphone will reach more than 20 European countries this February. The continent-wide release involves larger countries like Austria, France, Germany, Italy and the UK. LG hasn't named carriers just yet, although we already know that both EE in the UK and Orange in France will carry the 6-inch Android flagship. Given the pricing we've seen so far, it's safe to say that European G Flex variants won't be cheap.
3DS XL gets more colorful in Japan, orange and turquoise are the new black
Given how many 3DS XL liveries Nintendo has teased of late, collectors are liable to go broke trying to catch 'em all. Fresh out of Japan is yet another pair of the gaming giant's extra large -- or LL -- handhelds , except this time they're sporting orange and black (just in time for autumn!) and turquoise and black color schemes instead of game-specific branding. Come November 28th, you'll have the privilege of dropping 19,900 yen ($204) for a bundle that includes a 4GB memory card, carrying pouch and the previously a la carte AC adapter. Sure, last year's bundles may have let you hunt monsters, but these new models are cheaper even after subtracting the price of a free game. Who said Nintendo never gave you anything?
