The land of crepes and home to "The City of Light," has just officially hopped on the iPhone 3G train. Well, they've been riding the iPhone 3G train since Apple's announcement at WWDC 2008, but with today's announcement, Orange has solidified their iPhone 3G pricing structure - and it looks like discounted iPhone 3G handsets [...]

It looks like Levi's is back at it with another fashion-branded handset. Following on the Levi's handsets designed by Modelabs, the famous jean-maker has launched another handset in France. This time around, France's Orange network will be the exclusive provider for the 3G-toting mobile phone slider. By the looks of it, the only "fashion" forward [...]

It looks like French iPhone hopefuls are next in line to see a drop in the price of current-generation iPhones. Reports are pointing towards Apple working with Orange France to offer subsidies for the iPhone. As it stands, Orange is not allowed to offer any purchase subsidies on the iPhone, but with the 3G iPhone [...]

It turns out that those “unlocked” iPhones from France’s Orange and Germany’s short-lived unlocked iPhone offering from T-Mobile weren’t really all they were cracked up to be. You see, we had cracked them up to be truly unlocked iPhones capable of surfing any network in the world. Truly unlocked iPhones would have been an international iPhone fan-boy’s wet-dream. Alas, Apple had an Ace up their sleeve - all those unlocked iPhones are apparently still locked to their country of origin. With Germany’s T-Mobile having recently resumed sales of exclusive , locked iPhones, France’s Orange is the world’s only source of Apple-sanctioned “unlocked” iPhones. Unfortunately, enterprising iPhone users thinking about buying an unlocked Orange iPhone and using it in another country will find out the hard way that the 749 Euro unlocked iPhone won’t work outside of France. Apple likely acquiesced to France’s telecom regulations by allowing unlocking iPhones to work with any wireless operator - as long as the non-Orange network was within French borders. Anyone out there actually make a trip to France in hopes of using a fully-operational and firmware-upgradeable iPhone in, say, the US? Our condolences to your wallet. But then again, you should have known better. Apple-unlocked iPhones sounded too good to be true, and it seems it was too good indeed. [Via: iPhone Atlas ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:T-Mobile set to face-off with Vodafone over locked iPhones in Germany - November 29Want an unlocked iPhone? Just go to France. Orange France to sell carrier-unlocked iPhonesT-Mobile victorious over Vodafone - German court overturns injunction; keeps iPhone's locked, exclusive to T-MobileGerman court delays ruling on T-Mobile iPhone injunctionFrance's Orange expects to sell [...]

If there’s one thing that gets people riled up more than details on how well the iPhone is selling, it’s news that the iPhone is out-selling the Nokia N95 in Europe. The iPhone clearly outsells these handsets in the US, but Europe has been regarded as a reluctant market for the iPhone, given it’s lack of critical hardware features. We previously mentioned that the iPhone has shown disappointing sales figures in the UK, but it seems that even “ laggard ” iPhones sales on UK’s O2 network are still outselling rivals. In fact, all three European markets are reportedly seeing sales of the iPhone outpacing those of its closest, and highly subsidized, competitors - a group that includes the HTC Touch , LG Prada, Nokia N95, and Nokia’s E-Series handsets. Michael Abramsky, an analyst with RBC Capital, is reporting that iPhone sales in the UK, Germany and France have proven strong. He notes “solid European iPhone momentum,” adding that the “iPhone appears to be an early hit with European Smartphone consumers.” Despite selling only 10,000 iPhones on launch day , many of T-Mobile’s 700 German retail stores are reporting 15-20 iPhone sales per week. France’s Orange Wireless, by far the iPhone’s strongest EU market , has reported that approximately 63,000 customers have registered their interest in the iPhone, with reports of some Orange stores running out of iPhone-stock. Most notably, and sure to draw the ire of Nokia fans (especially those with Nokia N95’s - the author excluded), the iPhone has been outselling the feature-packed Nokia N95 in Europe - which has sold 1 million handsets since its launch in March (not a sluggish seller, to be sure). Keep in mind that the iPhone is still only available in three European markets (at least officially) and has largely been sold on-contract and locked to a particular carrier. All these factors led Mr. Abramsky to raise his previous forecast for Apple to sell 12.1 million iPhones in 2008 to a new target of 12.5 million iPhones - higher still than Apple’s own goal of 10 million iPhones. And, this is all before the next-generation iPhone, with 3G in tow, has been officially announced ( brain-farts from AT&T CEOs excepted ). We have to believe that Apple had forecasted sales performance in this range, and has purposely kept details on the 3G iPhone under tight-wraps in an effort to curb cannibalization of current-generation iPhones. [Via: Tech Trader Daily ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:Apple iPhone bests Nokia N95, HTC Touch in usability studyiPhone and its rivalsLG Prada phone vs Apple iPhoneHTC ships 1 million HTC Touch handsets in 6 months!HTC Touch Preview Videos - HTC's answer to Apple's iPhone in the flesh

As much as we love to make fun of the French, they really seem to know what they’re doing. They’re food is amazing (seriously, has any seen Ratatouille?), their fashion is cutting-edge, and their taste is impeccable - the Frenchies apparently have the same taste in handsets that sparked feverish iPhone sales in the States. In stark contrast to the iPhone’s disappointing sales on UK wireless network O2, France’s Orange has announced that they’ve sold 30,000 iPhones in the first five days since the handset’s launch last week . Similarly, T-Mobile Germany reportedly pushed 10,000 iPhones on its launch-day sales. About 8,500 iPhones have apparently been sold on “Orange for iPhone” wireless contracts - at a €399 ($585) price point (the same price that T-mobile Germany is charging for their locked, on-contract iPhone). However, Orange has sold somewhere around 1,500 unlocked iPhones - and at just €749 without contract (which includes a €100 unlocking fee), that sales figure makes plenty of sense. Still, the launch-week sales are nothing compared to US-sales - Apple and AT&T moved 270,000 iPhones in the first weekend, nay 1.5 days, after the iPhone’s launch. Orange has reached, if not passed, O2’s iPhone sales figures in the first few days of sales. We can only assume that the French are more willing to pony up the dough to get the latest and greatest handset than are those reluctant Brits. Both France and Britain have socialized healthcare systems, so you would think they’d be able to come up with the extra cash to grab an iPhone. So, why are Brits so cheap? [Via: InfoWorld ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:France's Orange prices unlocked iPhone at 749 EurosIt's official - Apple has sold 1 million iPhonesFrance's Orange expects to sell 100,000 iPhones by year-end; sell cheaper unlocked iPhonesCarphone Warehouse sold 11,000 iPhone over the weekendO2 sells tens of thousands of UK iPhones since Friday's launch

As we expected , France’s exclusive Apple iPhone carrier will be offering their unlocked iPhone at a price that undercuts its German rival T-Mobile’s price point of 999 Euros. The French wireless carrier will be asking 749 Euros for the unlocked version of the Apple iPhone, a steep discount in comparison to T-Mobile’s unlocked iPhone. The announcement of a relatively cheap unlocked version of the iPhone on Orange’s network makes sense. With Orange obligated by French telecom regulations , it makes sense for the iPhone operator to attempt to attract as many customers as possible with a lower-priced unlocked iPhone offering. T-Mobile’s unlocked iPhone price of 999 Euro seems to be more of a deterrent - an effort to coax customers into buying a subsidized version of the iPhone, while T-Mobile fights to have the court-order (that forced T-Mobile to offer an unlocked version of the iPhone) overturned. Orange will be offering four iPhone-specific rate plans when it launches today at 6:30pm local time - all plans are Visual Voicemail-enabled and will include unlimited data. The cheapest plan will cost 49 Euros and include 120 peak minutes, 120 night/weekend minutes, and 50 SMS text messages. The most expensive plan will cost 119 Euros in return for 480 peak minutes, 480 night/weekend minutes, and 1000 SMS text messages. We’ll have to wait and see if Orange will be able to meet their iPhone sales goal of 100,000 units by year’s end . [Via: Apple Insider ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:Want an unlocked iPhone? Just go to France. Orange France to sell carrier-unlocked iPhonesFrance's Orange expects to sell 100,000 iPhones by year-end; sell cheaper unlocked iPhonesT-Mobile set to face-off with Vodafone over locked iPhones in Germany - November 29It's official - Apple and Orange launching iPhone in France on November 29Apple and [...]

With the French iPhone launch just days away, the nation’s Apple-partnered wireless carrier is speaking up about its iPhone sales goals. Orange has announced that it expects to push 100,000 iPhones out its doors by the end of this year - merely a month after the iPhones launch on November 29 . Orange Wireless’s CEO, Didier Lombard, stated that he expects sales numbers to reach “a little under 100,000″ by December 31 - amounting to approximately 3,000 iPhones being sold every day. And, to help move more iPhones than its European counterparts in Germany , Lombard has promised that Orange will be selling unlocked iPhones at a price that’s significantly lower” than the 999 Euro ($$1,485 USD) price tag that T-Mobile German is charging for their iPhone. Recall that the iPhone’s future in France was put in jeopardy due to French telecom regulations that required all wireless carriers to offer unlocked versions of their handset. We think it makes sense that France’s Orange would offer the unlocked version of the iPhone at a lower price-point than Germany’s T-Mobile. It seems that T-Mobile is only offering the unlocked iPhone to comply with a temporary court-ordered injunction, which T-Mobile is actively seeking to get overturned - so unlocked iPhones in Germany are something of a stop-gap solution, and is perhaps even discouraged from being purchased through the incredibly high price. In France, however, Orange will have to offer the unlocked version of the iPhone without question, and so will likely be giving customers more incentive to buy the iPhone, locked or unlocked, from Orange. Orange’s subsidized (read: locked) iPhone will command 399 Euro and will require a 2-year contract that starts at 49 Euro per month for 120 minutes and 50 SMS text messages. Interestingly, customers opting for a 1-year contract will initially pay the same price for the handset, but will be charged about 4.50 Euro more per month for service.  We’d love to see this sort of tiered-contract offering from US carriers - it would be easier to pay a few bucks more per month than to shell out a couple hundred more dollars upfront in order to keep contracts down to a reasonable length. It’d be great to pay the same amount for the cellphone and just pay an extra $8 per month in return for a 1-year contract. [Via: Apple Insider ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:Want an unlocked iPhone? Just go to France. Orange France to sell carrier-unlocked iPhonesT-Mobile set to face-off with Vodafone over locked iPhones in Germany - November 29Carphone Warehouse expecting to hock 10,000 UK iPhones on launch dayT-Mobile Germany offering unlocked Apple iPhones due to court orderO2 sells tens of thousands of UK [...]