Orange has launched, nay unleashed, the Unique phone, its first converged service using a single handset that connects via WLAN in the home and then switches to the regular mobile network when the user goes walkabout.
Initially rolling out in the UK and selected European countries, the phone promises unlimited free VoIP calls from home to other Orange mobiles and landlines.
Calls can be seamlessly switched between the Orange mobile network and VoIP, with screen icons keeping customers constantly informed of the network connection.
Interestingly, calls started from home remain free, even when the user has wandered out of their front door and out of range of their Wi-Fi network, causing the phone to switch to the mobile network.
To use the service, customers must get an Orange Livebox which lets users connect to the Orange network via Wi-Fi.
Households can have up to six Unique phones, although there is a limitation on their use, with only three users allowed to use the Internet or make calls at any time.
So far, only the Motorola A910, the Nokia 6136 and the Samsung P200 can be used with the service, but more phones will be launched in 2007.
Two price plans are currently on offer; the Canary 50 (offering 600 minutes per month) and the Panther 65 (1,200 mins), priced at £50 and £65 respectively.
A broadband connection is bundled in free with the convergence-tastic deal, with the setup offering clear benefits to users, who’ll now only need one phone, one number, one address book, and one bill from Orange.
The service will be available from November, although punters keen to be hip with the convergence crew can pre-register their interest here: www.orange.co.uk/uniquephone
Currently listed as the fourth most popular English-language Website on the planet and the sixth most popular in any language, MySpace has become a social networking phenomenon, and looks set to notch up an amazing 100 million accounts in the next few days. As we publish, it’s sitting on 99,677,398 after being on 99.4m yesterday.
To the chagrin of many of its users, Rupert Murdoch whipped out his fat wallet in July 2005 to the tune of $580 million and added MySpace to his News Corporation empire.
Commercial synergy ahoy!
According to figures compiled by mmetrics.com, a research firm who strut around in the exciting world of mobile market measurement, when it comes to mobile phones there’s a hefty transatlantic gulf in smartphone tastes.
French say “Nous aimons Nokia”
“Ja ist Nokia gut,” say Germans
Americans go ape for Palm
Microsoft have been fined by the European Commission for failing to comply with an anti-competitive ruling.
The EC made a previous ruling against Microsoft in March 2004 when they 
Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes was quoted by Reuters as saying, “Microsoft has still not put an end to its illegal conduct. I have no alternative but to levy penalty payments for this continued non-compliance. No company is above the law.”
With credit card-crazy Brits leading at the front, Europeans are spending ever more money online, with the yearly total for 2006 on course to hit €100bn.
So where’s the cash going? 
She’s got a mission to eliminate mobile phone roaming rip-off charges. She’s Commissioner Viviane Redding of the EC, and today, Vodafone took PR action to keep itself out of her sights, by promising to “cut roaming by 40%” by this time next year.
But like many of the giants, Vodafone is suffering from the cost of providing phones. All the European operators, traditionally, subsidise handsets; they give them away, or sell them for a fraction of their cost, in the expectation of making substantially more out of phone call charges – and it works.
Last year took ourselves to Berlin to attend IFA. Being the first time we’d attended we were _totally_ blow away at the size of the place – it’s massive. Every side of the Consumer Electronics (CE) industry was covered, from the smallest to the largest with the later building their own houses (Siemens, Deutsche Telekom).
Asked why IFA was so loved by trade visitors, his answer was simple, “We treat them as VIP’s. Nothing is too much and they feel very special.” Sounds like a recipe for success to us, one that could easily be learned by many other shows around the world.
Now, we like gadgets. And shiny things. And we like football (well some of us).
There’s also ample storage on board in the shape of a 80GB SATA HDD, with a set of built-in Harman & Kardon speakers for playing back the roar of thousands of tanked up Taffies as Wales slam in the winning World Cup goal (well, we can dream).
It is being reported that MySpace-owner, News International, is looking to expand its presence in Europe with its focus being London.
Importantly it also has social/network effects built it. This works both for the creators, as they grow their links to their friends – real and imagined; but importantly for MySpace’s income, the network effect for browsers is huge. As a browser looks at the original site, they split off in a myriad of different directions as they distract themselves, exploring the music taste and hobbies of linked friends.
It’s expanded beyond this now and has now reached the point where record companies feel bands _must_ have their own presence on MySpace, even if they’ve got their own Web presence – witness sons of Ventnor, 
With the media footprint that News International has, it’s highly likely that they’re going to be able to make best value from what appears to be a considerable purchase price. Already there’s been reports their