Orange and google to provide web apps on handsets
Orange has teamed up with Google to offer customers new google tools such as its search engine and maps.
The multi-year deal will make Google services available across Europe on a large range of its Orange Signature phones. The new services will include access to Google Search from the homescreen on Signature Android handsets, as well as other services such as Orange TV.
The Orange and Google partnership taps in to strong demand from consumers for mobile devices that can access the internet, send emails and play music, as well as allow calling and texting.
Google Mobile App will later be made available across a wider range of Orange Signature devices operating on Symbian S60, RIM (BlackBerry) and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile, Orange said.
Orange claimed its own data showed strong consumer appetite for simple internet search on mobiles. Mobile searches increased by 120% over the last 12 months, it claimed.
