ORANGE SA : with the hello! show, Orange shares its ambition for open innovation

By opening up its assets to the startup and developer ecosystems, Orange wants to bring more innovative services to its customers. It is offering its partners access to key functionality in the network, cloud, and in invoicing and location services through new APIs (application programming interface). It is opening its doors to startups, engineers and designers through the Orange Fab initiative, which launched in Silicon Valley and is now coming to France and Japan, and soon Poland. Among examples of API use presented today, Wevideo is an application that lets users put together videos on their smartphones, easily upload them to the Orange Cloud and retrieve them on any of their devices. This serice will be available in March 2014.

Orange is renewing its commitment to protecting the personal data of its customers, while at the same time showing the potential for use of the data once they are made anonymous and personal details are protected. Orange is already cross-referencing the flow of people, i.e., data obtained from aggregated and anonymised location data, with the public transportation network in Marseille. This data is proving  to be essential development projects in the area. Likewise, in the Ivory Coast, the Data for Development (D4D) Challenge makes careful use of network data to support public policy development. For example, the collected data will optimize the deployment of medical teams and the relay of information to affected populations in the event of epidemics.

At the heart of the customer experience, network coverage and quality are priorities at Orange, illustrated in particular by the new Orange Wi-Fi app. Beginning in 2014, this service will allow users, regardless of location, to automatically access the network that best meets their needs at every moment, whether on 3G, 4G or Wi-Fi. Customers will also have the option of customizing their profiles based on how much data they use. Network performance also now provide access to ever richer content. This is why Orange has revamped its Orange Ligue 1 app for 4G in order to watch 100% of Ligue 1 games in HD. In addition, by the end of 2013, a timeline will allow users to review game highlights live and on-demand, not to mention the option of finding and sharing information through a new "Stats center."

Because everyone wants to share their videos, photos, and music with their friends on their mobile phones, Orange conceived and designed a new type of connected object manufactured by Awox called le Bloc. It consists of a mini-projector combined with a high-performance audio system co-developed with Cabasse, one of the leading names in high-end sound. With a Wi-Fi Livebox connection, le Bloc lets users watch TV videos in any room of the house. It communicates with tablets and smartphones to broadcast all content via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi direct, even without internet access. Orange is also excited to partner with LG for the sneak-preview launch in France of a 4G-enabled smartphone that features a groundbreaking design. The LG G Flex is a true technological achievement and provides an unprecedented video experience with its curved HD screen. These two exceptional products designed to take advantage of all sources of entertainment will be in stores in February 2014.

To make patient care easier for doctors, Orange has developed the first mobile identification management and authentication system. This global first offers healthcare professionals the possibility to securely access their patients' medical files with the use of a SIM card and an ID card, regardless of where they are located and from any device, as if working from their own office. This system is currently in the pilot phase with the Clermont-Ferrand CHU, to be followed by a rollout across France.

Building on its success with over 8 million users in 13 countries, Orange Money has grown by 50% in the past year. Thanks to Orange Money, customers who live in Africa and the Middle East transfer money, pay their electric bills and collect their paychecks, all without a bank account. Orange continues to develop secure mobile money services with the first mobile-to-mobile money transfer service between Mali, Senegal and the Ivory Coast. In September, more than one million euros have already passed between these countries, which represents 5% of the entire money transfer market, only three months after its launch. In the summer of 2014, France will join with these three countries in their ability to transfer money between each other.
Mobile banking is also now coming to France with Orange Cash in partnership with Visa. Orange Cash is a 100% mobile prepaid account in the form of a smartphone application. Once the bank card number is provided, the user can pay merchants using contactless NFC technology and make online transactions using a single-use card number. "The prospect of a massive migration toward mobile payments opens up real opportunities for operators like Orange," said Stéphane Richard. "We have several key advantages: first, we embody mobility in a world where the smartphone occupies a central place in our lives. In addition, we hold a key element in secure transactions: the SIM card, which is as secure as the chip in our bank cards." Orange Cash will be available in early 2014 in 3,000 payment locations in Caen and 4,000 in Strasbourg. The national launch is planned for the second quarter of 2014.
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See the innovations presented at the hello! show (#leshowhello) at hello.orange.com as well as the event photos at http://flic.kr/s/aHsjJf1KME