Photos: Future tech with an Orange hue
The Collection section
iPhone apps, new gadgets and a TV controlled by gesture alone: just some of the technology on show at last week's La Collection event in Paris.
Twice per year, Orange stages La Collection to reveal its up and coming kit and silicon.com went along to check out what's on the mobile operator's drawing board.
First up is a system for live TV viewing on the iPhone. At the moment, the system is only available in France, where Orange is the exclusive carrier of the device.
Photo credit: Jo Best/silicon.com
The iPhone's inspiration is also evident in this application - Visual Voicemail.
Instead of listening to a number of voicemails to find the right one, messages are displayed on the screen, allowing the user to go straight to the relevant message.
At the moment, the app is only available for a handful of Windows Mobile and Symbian phones but the operator has also developed a system for standard phones where voicemails can be accessed straight from a text alert.
The smartphone system will get its debut in France this year, while Belgium will get its hands on the non-smartphone option this autumn.
Photo credit: Orange
Both the iPhone TV player and Visual Voicemail can be downloaded from Orange's Application Shop.
The shop is expected to hit the UK later this year.
Photo credit: Orange
Shown here is a piece of hardware on show at La Collection called Tabbee, a portable tablet designed for home entertainment use.
Tabbee can show web-based information including weather forecasts through a series of widgets as well as photos, films and other content from the user's home network.
The device will be on sale in France first and can run independently of Orange's network.
Photo credit: Jo Best/silicon.com
Another piece of hardware on show at La Collection is Orange's Hi-Fi Adapter, shown here.
The device, coming to France later this year, allows users to play MP3 and web radio through an average hi-fi.
The adapter connects to traditional hi-fis by means of a cable and to Orange's broadband hub Livebox over wi-fi.
Photo credit: Jo Best/silicon.com
The Livebox itself turns five this year, with eight million of the hubs now out in the wild.
To celebrate the anniversary, Orange got a number of artists to give the kit a makeover - shown here is the result of their work.
Photo credit: Jo Best/silicon.com
The standard version has also been redesigned and now has a newly launched partner: the Orange set-top box, shown together here.
The box, which has a 160GB hard drive, and is compatible with ADSL, HD terrestrial and satellite TV channels.
The device will debut at the end of this year and will be given away free to new Orange TV customers.
Photo credit: Jo Best/silicon.com
For those that don't fancy using a remote to control the telly, Orange is working on a gesture controlled system known as Project Keanu.
A camera attached to the top of the TV is used to record and interpret gestures made by a user standing in front of it.
Here, the direction of the cursor, shown in white, is governed by a user moving their arm.
Photo credit: Jo Best/silicon.com
Business tech was also given an airing at La Collection.
Orange demoed a telepresence system by linking up with its Slough office, shown here. While the systems - which can cost in the region of $300,000 for multiscreen set ups and $60,000 for a monoscreen - won't be provided by Orange itself, the operator does provide a concierge service to arrange meetings and ensure interoperability between different customers, as well as the IP VPN networks telepresence systems run over.
Photo credit: Jo Best/silicon.com
Medical Office, shown here, allows doctors to securely access their records using a smartcard system, while messages sent through the set-up are encrypted in an effort to prevent data leaks.
The system - set up here to scan the French health professionals card - also means that doctors can access their home desktops from any other location equipped with the card reader.
Photo credit: Jo Best/silicon.com