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Welcome to the latest edition of what’s on, our newsletter for Orange Partner members.
I’d like to kick this issue off with a welcome to our colleagues who have been spreading the app news around the world including Tunisia, where their local App Shop opened earlier this month, and Jordan, who launched a contest for Arabic-language apps. It demonstrates how the app tidal wave is now spreading right around the world and how local apps are important for Orange customers.
This month also sees the launch of VisionMobile’s annual developer survey and IDC’s smartphone market report. We’ll look at these later in this edition, but what really comes over is how the role of developers has changed so dramatically in such a short period. Developers today have an enormous impact on the innovation of the mobile industry and a huge influence over its dynamics. It’s a change we identified as long ago as 2004, when we established Orange Partner as a meeting point for like-minded innovators. We want our ecosystem to provide Orange customers – both consumers and business – with the best services and solutions that enhance their everyday digital lives. Your talent and creativity combined with our customer expertise and local knowledge is an enviable partnership. Long may it continue.
Best regards
Alexia Froudkine
Director, Developer Marketing and Alliances |
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news
 Orange Selects boosts app visibility for developers
UK-based Orange customers are now getting a simpler and more secure way to find and pay for content on their WP7-powered phones. Launched in early June, Orange Selects is the new area of Windows Phone Marketplace reserved just for Orange customers. It enables Orange customers to cut through the clutter of today’s current application store offerings by presenting them with a range of specially selected apps, which are chosen for their usefulness and relevance to the customer. This new concept is of particular benefit to developers and content providers as their apps will get greater visibility, boosting download and sales opportunities. Customers also benefit from the security and convenience of being able to defer any payment to their Orange mobile bill when paying for content.
The UK joins France in launching a ‘shop-in-shop’ experience for Orange customers after the launch of Orange sélection earlier this year. This concept underlines the Orange commitment to work as a digital ‘coach’ for its customers, helping them find the solutions that will give them a rewarding, safe and personal digital experience. This new deal is the latest step forward in the strategic partnership between Microsoft and Orange. |
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| Want to get your WP7 apps to Orange customers? Just email us at developers@orange.com and we’ll let you know how to do it. |
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Android still favourite for developers, but is WP set to topple iOS?
Google's Android is still the favourite among mobile software developers, ahead of Apple's iOS ecosystem according to research firm VisionMobile. The 2011 edition of the Developer Economics survey found that 67 per cent of developers polled are working with the Google platform, up from 59 per cent in 2010. The gain helped Android to maintain its developer lead over iOS, which rose from 50 to 59 per cent over the same period.
 However, the biggest shift in next year's report may come, not from any of the top platforms named this year, but from Windows Phone. The survey found that 35 per cent of developers intend to use the Microsoft platform, second overall behind Android and ahead of iOS.
It’s a position that’s endorsed by research firm IDC, who this month predicted that Android will still be ruling the worldwide smartphone landscape in 2015. By this time IDC expects the number two spot to be claimed by Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS. IDC forecasts it will claim more than 20 per cent by 2015 once it replaces Symbian as Nokia’s primary smartphone OS. |
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| Got a French language Android or Java app? We have immediate requirements for the Orange App Shop in France. Submit your app for evaluation and we’ll aim to let you know in 2 days if it’s suitable. Find out more about Orange Partner Connect and how to submit your app at: orangepartner.com |
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 Orange and Barclaycard launch smartphone payment service
Orange and Barclaycard have launched the UK's first contactless payment service allowing customers to pay for purchases using a smartphone. Orange Quick Tap allows payments of up to £15 ($25) in over 50,000 outlets around the country, including Pret A Manger, McDonald's and Subway. Customers need to use a Samsung Tocco Lite smartphone to use the service, which incorporates near-field communication (NFC) technology for the contactless payment. It’s believed that this could be the the first of many services as NFC becomes a common feature on Android, BlackBerry and possibly Apple devices. Analyst firm Juniper Research predicted that NFC will be built into one in five smartphones by 2014 as mobile payment and interactive promotions take off. Over 23 million NFC-capable smartphones are expected to be in circulation by the end of 2011, according to Juniper. |
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Orange App Shop client set to launch in Slovakia
The Orange App Shop client will be launching in Slovakia in the coming weeks, significantly extending the customer reach. Over the coming months the shop will be opening in Poland as well as Belgium with Mobistar. We’ll be looking at each of these countries over the next few issues of what’s on, giving you insight for these markets and to help you get a better understanding of their needs and immediate requirements. |
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Mobile data revenues expected to double by 2015
Revenue growth from mobile data at Orange is expected to double within the next four years as the bulk of its customers move to high-end smartphones, according to Olaf Swantee, executive vice president at Orange. "At present, up to 30 per cent of customers on contracts have smartphones, so we have a huge percentage with basic phones on contracts or on pre-pay devices”, says Swantee. “As these groups come to smartphones we think a doubling of revenues from data will occur". Huge demand for mobile data is even coming from markets where the overall economy is floundering. "Markets in the European Union seem to ignore economic differences and crisis when it comes to mobile data, as even in nations like Romania or Moldova we've seen huge growth in revenues," he said. This growth is supported by a recent report by research firm IDC, which forecasts vendors will ship 982 million smartphones in 2015, nearly double the total for 2011. |
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New website aims to get customer feedback on new Orange apps
A new website developed by Orange Labs, Orange’s research and development group, is aiming to get feedback from app users on new ideas. Called Prime Zone, the site offers a selection of mobile and tablet apps designed by the team and invites comments and feedback either via the Orange Labs Prime Zone site or through Facebook or Twitter. The scheme has been introduced to enable Orange’s developers to get feedback directly from users and from peers in the developer community, enabling the team to better understand the needs and requirements of customers as well as offer a preview of new services and concepts that the team is working on. New apps will be regularly added to the site, which can be downloaded free of charge. |
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| Did you know? We’re developing and publishing Orange apps in the market’s leading application stores. The most recent launches include Liveradio for WP7 in France and UK, Orange Cinéday for iPhone and Android in France and Do Some Good for iPhone, BlackBerry and Nokia in UK. Our portfolio reached more than 12 million downloads. |
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events
 7 July: Webinar – Developing Android and HTML5 Apps for the Motorola ATRIX
In this session we’ll take a look at Motorola’s ATRIX, the world’s most powerful smartphone, and the developer ecosystem. We’ll review the key features of the ATRIX that are of interest to developers, including the current status of HTML5 and the ATRIX webtop application. You’ll also learn about the tradeoffs between web apps and mobile apps. Providing the insight and the answers will be Karan Geddam of MOTODEV where he works as the Android Developer Advocate. The event will be hosted by Martin Wrigley, who heads up the developer services side for Orange. |
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| Don’t forget: When you register for the webinar take the opportunity to ask a question that you’d like answered by the MOTOROLA or Orange teams. |
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testing
Android Testing Criteria now available from UTI
The Unified Testing Initiative (UTI) has released its set of Android Unified Testing Criteria: the industry's first comprehensive set of testing criteria designed to help developers consistently drive quality into Android applications. It is a detailed set of test cases developers and the entire Android community can use to test the quality of their Android apps before releasing them. A new version of the Java ME Unified Testing Criteria has also been released, which removes the need for ‘About and Help' to be included in a Simple App that only launches a browser application. UTI is a worldwide mobile industry body created to reduce fragmentation across the industry and encourage wide-spread adoption of sound working practices to increase the quality of mobile applications. |
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feature
What’s on talks to Lester Madden, our resident AR expert, on the prospects for the technology.
It’s like real life, only better: Augmented reality comes of age
Augmented reality – AR, as it has quickly become known – has only recently become a phrase that trips easily off developers’ lips. What's changed in the past year is that AR has come within reach of all sorts of developers – and the technology powerful enough to make use of it is owned by millions of people, often in the palms of their hands.
When you’re working on your app, just think about how the smartphone camera could be used to enhance the mobile application experience. AR could be used to enhance your application in several ways: Imagine holding up a smartphone to a landmark and in the camera window seeing live data related to that object displayed. This example uses geo-location data to superimpose the Points Of Interest (POI) data directly on the target in the live camera view; or AR could be used to provide visual search functionality to identify images and provide a quick means to get more information. In this example you could scan a movie poster with your smartphone and instantly be taken to a website to see a trailer or book tickets without having to type in a URL.
AR can also be used to create interactive 3D experiences which are triggered when an image is recognised. Imagine reading a newspaper and using your smartphone to interact with a car advert, which can then be viewed in full 3D through your phone’s camera.
Gradually, AR-enhanced apps are making it into the mainstream. For instance, Yelp offers an AR app that will show you ratings and reviews for a restaurant before you walk in – the sort of thing that could make restaurants quiver with delight, or shudder in horror.
AR, it seems, could offer a whole new dimension to the app experience. How a developer can incorporate it into an application is limited only by their imagination. |
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| Did you know? Lester has published a book on creating AR applications for three of the leading platforms. Titled Professional Augmented Reality Browsers for Smartphones its available on Amazon. |
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support
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Are your apps in the Orange App Shop yet?
The Orange App Shop keeps growing and is set to get even bigger over the coming months. Now there's Orange Partner Connect, a single distribution point for you to get your apps into the Orange App Shop and out to Orange customers across our markets. To get started, you can submit your app for evaluation. We'll check it meets our content policy and let you know if you can go ahead and register to complete a full submission. We'll aim to be back to you within two working days. Once you've signed up you'll be able to manage your account, view your downloads and sales, as well as keep track of your payments, all through your online dashboard. |
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We want to hear your thoughts about the Orange Partner developer update. Drop us a line at developers@orange.com
If you wish to unsubscribe from Orange Partner emails, please reply to this message with unsubscribe in the subject line |
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When linking to a third-party site, you do so at your own risk and should review and determine whether you agree to that site's terms and conditions of use (legal policy) before using such site. Orange Partner has no control over the content of any such sites and cannot assume responsibility for material posted on or published by third-party sites. In addition, a link to a non-Orange site does not imply that Orange endorses the site or the products or services referenced on such third-party sites.
Copyright © France Telecom 2011. Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trademarks of Orange Personal Communications Services Limited, Orange France or France Telecom. Android is a trademark of Google Inc. BlackBerry is owned by Research In Motion Limited and is registered in the United States and may be pending or registered in other countries. Java and all Java-based marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. Samsung and bada are owned by Samsung Electronics Co.,Ltd. All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners. |
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