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Welcome to the Orange Partner newsletter.

Summer is almost upon us here in the northern hemisphere. As we get ready for summer fun, we introduce you to our new look Orange Partner Portal.

In this months edition of our newsletter, we help you to navigate around the new look Orange Partner website, to take a closer look at all the new information that's available.

We also look at the latest France Telecom Group and Orange customer information and financial results. You can also read through the latest industry trends on mobile gaming, and take a look at why the gaming industry doesn't do more to please women.

We have several forthcoming virtual seminars and two upcoming events in the Americas regions, where you can meet the Orange Partner team.

I look forward to seeing many of you in Boston on 17 June and San Francisco on 23 June at the opening of our latest Developer Centres.

Steve Glagow
Orange Partner - Director

New-look Orange Partner website – have you found all the updated information?

Navigate around the new sections, find specific information on Orange, our footprint and the countries that we operate in, how to develop for us, information on the operating systems and our partners plus lots more …

Since the launch of the Orange Partner website last year, we've been collating valuable feedback from you, our members, via the web, virtual seminars, in focus groups, at events – and at any opportunities where you've felt the need to share your views!

We've been listening…and over the past year, we've been working hard to improve the website to create additional value for you. So…what exactly has changed on www.orangepartner.com?

We've enhanced the design to improve navigation around the site, and make information easier to find. There are 5 new sections; walk through the programme, work with Orange, develop with Orange, technical support and news and events, all featuring easy-to-find content of value to you in your development work .

One of the key things you've been telling us is that you would like to have more specific information about Orange requirements … What are we interested in receiving from you? What are your fellow developers producing? How successful are they? As you can understand, a lot of this information is sensitive in nature since it involves divulging information about our plans for the future, but we want to share with you as much as we can.

So, you can now find more information on devices, the categories that each handset falls into and which customer segments our devices are aimed at.

Plus, you can find out about the categories of mobile applications, content and solutions we are looking for.

Following soon will be even more information about the specific areas of focus for your applications, content and solutions – by country – together with examples of recently-commercialised products from your peers within the programme.

We hope you like the new look site and as always we'd love to know what you think – let us know by emailing us at: developers@orange.com with website_feedback in the subject line.

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Why you should partner with Orange – France Telecom Group and Orange have released their latest customer information, and results.

Orange Partner members - your mobile applications, content and solutions can potentially reach an even wider customer base. France Telecom Group and Orange customer base has now reached 64.4m worldwide – up 14% year on last year.

The UK customer base is up 3.7% to 14.33m at the end of Q1 2005 and Orange France remains the market leader with a customer increase of 4.6% to 21.3m, and less mature markets – Romania, Egypt and Poland fuel growth.

In Poland our customer base increased 33.4% to 8.02m – faster than the Polish market as whole. Market share has increased to 32.7% as the overall market penetration in Poland rose sharply to 64.1%.

In April, Orange signed a 10-year Brand Licensing Agreement with Centertel giving it the right to operate under the Orange brand. Applications, content and solutions in the Orange Internal Product Catalogue potentially will be distributed to even wider market, to customers who recognise Orange – a strong international brand.

The results about 3G so far demonstrate why you should be developing 3G mobile solutions now!

Orange France now has over 52,000 3G subscribers following a full consumer launch in December 2004 and is on track for 2m users by the end of 2006. Moreover, 3G users are delivering higher ARPU which is running at €105 per month for 3G customers. Additionally, in April, France launched EDGE with 85% population coverage giving Orange leadership in mobile broadband through a combination of 3G, Wi-Fi and EDGE.

The UK is on target for 1.5m to 2m 3G customers by the end of 2006 and currently has the largest broadest integrated 2G/3G network in the UK, covering 70% of the population.

Find out more – read the full press release >

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Better billing equals more billions – mobile games developers take a look at the global market

The mobile gaming market is now a $1 billion industry. Java downloads in general will generate more than $4.8b in mobile revenues by 2009, according to two market reports form Screen Digest and Juniper Research respectively.

Screen Digest predicts strong growth for mobile gaming – $6.4 billion by 2010 – but concedes that, as of now, 80 per cent of this market originates from Japan and Korea. Its report (Wireless Gaming: Operator Strategies, Global Market Outlook And Opportunities For The Games Industry) concludes that operators in Europe and North America should experiment with different pricing models in order to realise the full potential of their wireless gaming markets.

It recommends that the industry moves towards flat-rate pricing and away from tariffs that charge customers for each game download and then add further charges for data airtime. "We think that mobile operators in Europe have not yet got the strategies right to exploit this market to its full potential," said Screen Digest Chief Analyst Ben Keen. "Operators should consider flat-rate data pricing and subscription models to drive take-up of these services and we believe that there are some major European players who are prepared to do so."

Meanwhile Juniper interviewed more than 60 mobile industry leaders to reach similar conclusions. It also found that Java was widely expected to remain the dominant platform for delivering mobile applications until at least 2009.

Are you working on mobile games that you would like to commercialise with Orange – submit your ideas or products now >

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Girls behaving gamely – a look at why the games industry doesn't do more to please women?

It's a no brainer that girls like their mobiles. So why aren't game publishers and developers doing more to stimulate the female half of the mobile universe?

Can there be any excuse for ignoring of 50 per cent of 'hardware' owners? Because, that's the point. While most PS2 owners are male, one could argue that the most enthusiastic mobile phone users are female. To generalise, women love to communicate and they also love to accessorise. The mobile is perfect for both. Creating game platforms that embrace these two factors would undoubtedly attract girl players. But where are they?

Figures are hard to come by, but even those that are available are not encouraging. French publisher In-Fusio recently conceded that, while 50 per cent of its registered players were female in 2002, that figure has now dropped to 22 per cent. Furthermore, Eidos' commercial director of new media, Mark Stranger, has stated that just 18 per cent of UK mobile gamers are female.

However, the latest Japanese market research has found that these trends have been bucked in Japan.

Read the full article and find out more >

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The Orange Partner Virtual Developer Centre – help us deliver exactly what you need

Orange Partner is launching a Virtual Developer Centre in Q4 2005, and to maximise its value to our members we would like your help to 'fine tune' what we will be delivered.

We aim to provide you with a Virtual Developer Centre that has everything you need to produce finished applications at your desk, anywhere in the world, via the Orange Partner website.

The Virtual Developer Centre will enable you to test your products by containing:

Orange Partner members, there are two ways in which you can help us…

Firstly, send us your views on what you think the Virtual Developer Centre should contain. What is your ideal wish-list?

Secondly, let us know if you know of any technology that you think would be useful for inclusion within the Virtual Developer Centre.

Send us your views to: developers@orange.com with Virtual_developer_centre_feedback in the subject line.

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Java Developers – find out about the new Unified Testing Criteria

If you're developing Java based mobile solution, make sure you're updated on the new Unified Testing Criteria.

Find out about the main differences in the Unified Testing Criteria for Java TM Technology-based Applications for Mobile Devices versions 1.4 and 2.0.

Due to the level of changes we encourage you to read the new criteria in detail >

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MEDC: 8 and 10 June – Orange is a Gold sponsor
Paris France and Reading UK

If you're planning on attending these two Microsoft events this week, don't forget to drop by the Orange Partner booth at Paris and Reading and spend some time with the team. …

Orange is a gold sponsor of Microsoft Mobile & Embedded DevCon 2005 (MEDC 2005), a premier developer event focused on the future of Microsoft Windows Mobile and Windows Embedded platforms.

Split into two European locations, MEDC 2005 will offer you the opportunity to learn how to build and bring to market devices and applications plus access the latest code, hands-on labs, technical breakout sessions, and much more.

We look forward to meeting some of you there!

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Orange Partner Days: Boston 17 June & San Francisco 23 June

To celebrate the opening of the Boston and San Francisco Developer Centres we will be hosting an Orange Partner Day at both locations this month.

Registration for both events has now closed.

If you're interested in attending future events at the San Francisco or Boston Developer Centres, send an email to developers@orange.com with Interested_in_attending_orangepartner_us_days in the subject line.

For those of you who are attending, we will be sending you the full agenda and other useful information this week. We look forward to meeting you there.

Orange Partner Days are the ultimate opportunity for all members to explore and utilize the Developer Centre facilities, learn more from Orange, meet the team, and 'show us your products'.

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Talk to Orange: 21 June – join us at the Maidenhead Developer Centre

Orange Partner premium members - if you're planning to use the Maidenhead Developer Centre on 21 June, take the opportunity to have a chat with some of the Orange Partner team while you're there.

Book your place now >

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Orange Partner Virtual Seminars – find out about the forthcoming topics and dates

Participate in a real-time workshop from the comfort of your chosen environment by logging on to the Internet, viewing and listening to presentations, and asking questions ... all in real-time – no travel is required!

Our 45 minute seminars are themed around a variety of topics of interest – for Orange Partner members.

There are a number of seminars scheduled for June and July, kicking-off with:

Working with the programme
Thursday 30 June
Steve Glagow – Director, Orange Partner

Re-familiarise yourself with the Orange Partner programme, how it works, and how you can get the best from it. What is a member? What about a premium member? What's the difference and why go through the process?
What exactly can offer Orange you, and how can we help you develop the applications, content and solutions we are looking for?

Use this opportunity to get to understand how we segment our consumer and business customers. What do they need from you, and how can we help?

Take a look at the full schedule of Virtual Seminars – find out more and register now >

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We want to hear your thoughts about the Orange Partner Newsletter. Drop us a line at developers@orange.com