Orange and Apple (News - Alert) are set to bring iPhone 3G to market in Austria, Portugal and Switzerland on July 11and to France on July 17. The new iPhone (News - Alert) will be launched in additional markets across Europe, the Middle East and Africa later this year.

 

Orange will begin taking pre-orders for iPhone 3G later this month. iPhone combines three products into one small, lightweight device: a mobile phone, a widescreen iPod, and Internet capabilities (e-mail, Web browsing, search and maps applications).

 

"At Orange we believe in making the Internet more personal — giving our customers fast access to the information and entertainment that they want, wherever they are," said Olaf Swantee, head of Orange's global mobile operations, in a statement. "iPhone takes advantage of our widespread 3G networks and together we are making the mobile experience for our customers even better."

 

Orange is a brand of France Telecom (News - Alert), which provides services for more than 172 million customers on five continents. Orange's mobile networks use the fastest available technologies with speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps. The combination of widespread EDGE, WiFi, 3G and HSDPA networks mean customers can fully enjoy the mobile Internet almost wherever they go. In addition, Orange will offer a range of new services, tariffs and benefits for iPhone customers.

 

"We're excited to extend our relationship with Orange to bring iPhone to more than 12 markets across the globe," said Tim Cook, Apple's COO. "We can't wait to get this revolutionary phone in the hands of even more people around the world."

 

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today the company, which still makes desktop computers, is perhaps best known for its iPod iPod portable music and video players, its iTunes online music/video store, and of course iPhone.