Tous Actualités
Suivre
Abonner Orange

Orange

Orange Announces Application Platform Programme to Speed the Delivery of new Mobile Services

London (ots/PRNewswire)

- S60, Microsoft Windows and Access Join new Orange Signature
Accelerator  Programme
Orange today announces its Signature Accelerator Programme,
advancing its successful Signature strategy, which first launched in
2002. This new move by Orange will enable unequalled support for
application development across key mobile platforms, in order to
provide customers with richer, more intuitive multimedia services and
faster delivery of mobile devices. Leading platform partners, S60 on
Symbian OS, Microsoft Windows and ACCESS Linux Platform are part of
Orange's new initiative, which standardises the way developers build
new mobile services for Orange's Signature devices. As well as
improving time to market, the programme also enables Orange to work
with these partners on new applications such as mobile TV, music and
location-based services from the grass-roots to final stages,
ensuring smarter, more intuitive mobile experiences for customers.
"Orange was the first operator to drive an open platform approach
in the mobile industry, starting with Microsoft and the delivery of
the first ever Windows Smartphone," said Yves Maitre, Senior VP
Devices, Orange. "Since launching the Signature portfolio of devices
with this handset over six years ago, our investment in this strategy
has never ceased. In fact, it has accelerated in response to a
rapidly changing mobile landscape and most importantly, to the needs
of our customers. "Yves adds, "The year 2007 was the pinnacle for
change in the mobile industry, and this shift change underlines our
belief that an open approach was right from the very start."
The Orange Signature Accelerator Programme is the first of its
kind in the industry, providing Orange with the deepest level of
integration with its device manufacturers and application developers
in order to build exclusive services for its Signature range of
handsets. The first phones produced by Orange Accelerator will be
available in the second quarter of 2008. Orange will soon be
extending the Programme to Java and other environments and will
invite more premier developers to create unique Orange services.
Orange Accelerator gives selected application partners privileged
access to current and forthcoming software platforms. At its heart is
a standardised process, supported by Orange's software engineers,
which aims to cut the cost and time required to develop, test and
launch applications. Handset makers and application developers will
benefit from a single point of contact at Orange, which will manage
relationships between them.
For consumers, the Programme will deliver a broader range of
service-rich devices to suit their needs, all within the familiar
user interface (UI) and handset experience of Orange's successful
Signature portfolio, which currently includes 70 handsets and
represents 70% of all device shipments.
"At Orange, we know our customers want smarter, more intuitive
services on their mobiles, whether that is an email, access to their
photo albums, or their favourite music tracks. As Orange builds
closer relationships with its partners and harnesses advances in
technology, we are able to deliver richer services, faster, such as
mobile HDTV," says Yves Maitre, Senior VP, Devices at Orange. "To
provide the best possible experience for our customers, in a climate
of rapid innovation and increasingly open and complex OS platforms,
we are taking a completely unique approach with the new Orange
Signature Accelerator Programme."
We are very pleased to see the launch of Orange Accelerator
Program today, as it further demonstrates Orange's firm commitment
towards their Platform Strategy," said Matti Vänskä, VP of Mobile
Software Sales & Marketing, Nokia. "Orange has established an
efficient model to help developers make the most of our platform, we
are happy to work with Orange and their developer partners to ensure
a smooth implementation of a competitive service offering on top of
our industry leading multi-vendor platform. We believe this will give
developers a unique chance to develop applications for S60
Smartphones from several leading handset manufacturers for Orange
Signature portfolio."
"ACCESS' close collaboration with Orange is directly aligned with
our shared vision of what customers' want today," said Toru Arakawa,
CEO, president and co-founder, ACCESS. "In an increasingly
competitive mobile industry, success hinges on the ability to provide
users with a customised experience, giving them the services,
features and content they want. ACCESS has a successful track record
of working closely with our partners to speed time-to-market and
develop best-in-class solutions. The Orange Application Package for
ACCESS Linux Platform leverages the flexibility and adaptability of
our platform to provide a suite of applications that will make it
possible to deliver a unique experience to Orange's subscribers."
In addition to the leading platform provider Microsoft Windows,
the Orange Signature Accelerator programme also unites application
developers Abaxia, Bluestreak, Surfkitchen NewBay, Musiwave and
PacketVideo in the delivery of customised Signature services.
"The Orange Signature Accelerator Programme answers the growing
consumer demand for richer, more personalized media services," said
James C. Brailean, Ph.d., CEO of PacketVideo (PV). We will continue
to deliver compelling multimedia services which help increase
Orange's revenues with PV's CORE(TM) client multimedia framework, a
sophisticated software solution that enables Orange to offer such
features as fast-channel changing, time-shifted television viewing,
and more. It's the ideal model to get new features to market quickly
and it changes the way we collaborate with Orange and its developer
partners."
About Orange
Orange is the key brand of France Telecom, one of the world's
leading telecommunications operators. France Telecom serves more than
170 million customers in five continents as of December 31, 2007, of
which two thirds are Orange customers. The Group had consolidated
sales of 52.9 billion euros in 2007. As of December 31, 2007, the
Group had 109.6 million mobile customers and 11.6 million broadband
internet (ADSL) customers.
Launched in June 2005, the NExT program (New Experience in
Telecommunications) will enable the Group to pursue its
transformation as an integrated operator and make France Telecom the
benchmark for new telecommunications services in Europe. In 2006,
Orange became the Group's single brand for Internet, television and
mobile services in the majority of countries where the company
operates, and Orange Business Services the banner for services
offered to businesses worldwide. France Telecom is the number three
mobile operator and the number one provider of broadband internet
services in Europe and one of the world leaders in providing
telecommunication services to multinational companies.
France Telecom (NYSE:FTE) is listed on Euronext Paris and on the
New York Stock Exchange.
For more information: http://www.orange.com,
http://www.francetelecom.com, http://www.orange-business.com
Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in
this material are trade marks of Orange Personal Communications
Services Limited.