Orange, the UK’s most popular mobile network, has wheeled out the initial line-up for its Great for Music handsets; the Nokia 6680 3G handset, Nokia 3230 and Sony Ericsson K300i handsets.
All the phones utilise the full range of music services available from Orange World, making it easy to download tracks, news and gossip, follow the hit40uk chart and buy videos, True Tones, wallpapers and tickets.
If all that proves too technologically challenging for confused customers, Orange are kindly staffing their stores with “phone trainers” to explain what button does what (we can’t help imagining a store full of lycra-clad sales assistants dancing to bad disco).
Music downloads from Orange World are to be included in the Official UK Download Chart, paving the way for tracks downloaded to Orange mobiles to be included in the Official UK Singles Chart for the first time.
“The Official UK Chart’s decision to include music downloads from Orange World in its Chart demonstrates that the music industry has recognised the rising importance of mobile music downloads within the digital music sphere,” said Mark Ashford, head of music, Orange UK. “The advent of digital music downloads on mobile means that up-to-date phones also act as music players, making digital music accessible for one in three people in the UK.”
A backslap of sponsorship deals will make it possible to book gig tickets through Orange handsets and download exclusive artist material and downloads.
“Enjoying music on your mobile handset is the going to explode in 2005. Therefore it is no surprise that Orange is committed to providing customers with the richest and most rewarding music experience possible. With Find music we are working with the best in both the music and mobile industry to help people buy, receive, listen and even interact with music in much more spontaneous and exciting ways.” enthused Julian Diment, head of brand and commercial partnerships, Orange UK.
Music downloads from Orange World cost £1.50 (US$2.8/€2.20) per track (£3.50/US$6.55/€5.10 for Fireplayer tracks), with users able to browse through the latest releases or search for the artist of their choice on Music Player.
Orange will also be trying to look hip and radical while promoting their corporate brand at the forthcoming Glastonbury and T in the Park events.
Napster UK has teamed up with Channel 4 to broadcast a short series of live TV music shows, creating the first national terrestrial television programme to be run by a digital music service. 
Building up to a crescendo of mutual backslapping, Sharman added: “Channel 4 has a deserved reputation for groundbreaking and forward-looking programming as well as championing live music, so we’re delighted to make our TV debut on their platform. Napster is also extremely fortunate to have a partner like Blaze TV whose production skills, expertise and contact book have proven invaluable in creating this series.” 
Video Networks, providers of the HomeChoice entertainment and communications service, has announced the addition of a brand new R.E.M. video-on-demand (VoD) channel to its platform. 
While useful, this isn’t quite as slick as it sounds: if a viewer hears a track they want to buy, they have to click on the onscreen information button which will provide a number to text. A code is then sent back to them which they can enter when they log onto the Internet to download the music track. When we spoke to HomeChoice, they told us they were working on a more integrated way of getting pay-for content to their customers. 
Roger Lynch, Chairman and Chief Executive, Video Networks Ltd said: “The addition of this on-demand channel is not only a true coup for R.E.M. fans but also ensures Video Networks continues to offer the most innovative music content on TV in the world today.” 
News of the Pope’s death was broadcast to the media from the Vatican using text messages and email enabling the 2,000-year-old Church to meet the increasing demands of real-time news. 
Minutes later, Archbishop Leonardo Sandri informed the crowds, who greeted the news with a long round of applause – an Italian tradition – with the spectacle being captured on television in real time. 
A year after its launch, Google has doubled the capacity of its Gmail service and added new features. 
Google is, however, aware that some crafty Gmail subscribers are using the service for this purpose, mailing files to themselves as a way of storing them online. 
Curiously, Gmail is still technically in a beta phase, and is not generally available – the only way users can obtain a Gmail account is by invitation from an existing user (each current user has 50 invitations to give). 
Vodafone Netherlands have added two further ‘channels’ to their current 20 plus channel UMTS (3G) service. 
To date, Vodafone has EuroSport and RTL Nieuws exclusively and their addition brings the total number of TV channels available to 23, joining CNN, Playboy Channel, 2GOTV and MTV. 
The London Underground is to show digital advertising on its escalators for the first time, as part of a trial being handled by Viacom Outdoor. 
The trial is due to start within months, and if successful will be rolled out at other locations across the network. 
Everyone’s heard of Space Invaders haven’t they? Those who haven’t, will surely have been sitting in a very dark room with their fingers in their ears, singing “La, la, la, la” very loudly to themselves since 1978. 
Not wanting to let a good thing go by, Nintendo has announced the latest version of Invaders – Space Invaders Revolution for the Nintendo DS. 
The new version sounds like it has some of those interesting features, such as rules that change as you pass between levels. 
In normal play, the DS version doesn’t make a great use of the dual screens. You can use the lower, touch screen as a controller, tapping the on-screen buttons, in some of the games and sometimes graphics do pass between the two.