The Feed | Orange

working for the weekend

Orange — 2009-11-13T12:23:00+00:00

It's Friday, you've just finished lunch, and let's face it – you're in no mood to get back to work. So put those afternoon ambitions on hold, brew yourself a nice cuppa and settle in with our weekly round-up of all things awesome…

The tech-savvy among you should get laugh or two from Intel's new online game, IT Manager III – or at least from this rather weird promo video. After choosing your favourite snack and, er, network configuration, you play an overworked tech support person who has to run around solving employees' tech problems, fixing the servers, zapping stuff à la Matrix etc. Pretty fun, unless you actually are an IT manager.

Elsewhere online we've laughed at some football fashion disasters, marveled at the world's first computer-less blogger and debated Total’s Film’s top 8 concert movies – surely a bit of an old man’s list that missing some recent greats? The Libertines on home video? Sonic Youth in The Year Punk Broke? Join the discussion and enter our Taking Woodstock competition on the Film Club while you’re at it.

Back in the real world, yesterday saw the arrival of the subtle mob – a quieter take on the now-ubiquitous flashmob. You can take part tonight in Bristol, or tomorrow in Liverpool – don’t forget to send us your pics! If you’re in London, check out our friends at BAFTA’s Games Networking Night, for anyone working in (or just interested in) the games industry.

Finally, there’s the excting prospect of walking, projecting texts and even cycling amongst some giant bubbles in the sky. It’s all part of a proposal for the Olympics called The Cloud – and with backing from Google and engineering firm ARUP we wouldn’t be surprised if they pulled it off – or should we say up?

That’s it for this week, but we’ll be back next Friday with some ideas for your Christmas wishlist. Pens at the ready!

–The Feed Team

the more things change...

Orange — 2009-11-11T12:09:00+00:00

...the more they stay the same. Here’s a blast from the pre-3G past: one of our TV ads from 1996 trumpeting our widespread digital coverage. Back before 3G, or even 2G, which makes it just... G?

We doubt there are still this many bicycles in Vietnam, but thankfully some things never change. Our all-singing all-dancing 3G network now reaches a whopping 93% of you here in the UK – you can check if your house is covered with our handy (and strangely fascinating) interactive coverage map.

In fact, we've just picked up a What Mobile award for 'Network of the Year' – so whether it’s reading the latest news on The Feed, updating your friends on Facebook, watching videos or downloading apps, you know you're covered. Check out our dedicated 3G site for more on our 3G handsets and (we're blushing a bit now) some of the other awards and accolades we've collected.

Orange Wednesdays comes to your iPhone

Orange — 2009-11-10T15:52:00+00:00

It’s Orange Wednesdays tomorrow, and thanks to the new Orange Wednesdays iPhone app it’s now even easier to get your 2 for 1 voucher, find the nearest cinema and check out what’s playing. Just search for ‘Orange’ on your iPhone or download it from the Orange apps page.

You can then browse through the latest releases – like Harry Brown, the new Michael Caine thriller opening tomorrow – and watch trailers on your iPhone at the touch of a button. Display local cinemas on a map and see which ones are signed up to Orange Wednesdays, then invite a friend directy with an email showing the film, time and venue. You can even read reviews and join the critics by voting ‘hit’ or ‘miss’ after you’ve watched the movie, or browse upcoming titles for next week. Best of all, you can request your 2 for 1 voucher directly from the app, making your cinema experience seamless. So go on, treat a mate tomorrow. If only to show off what your Orange iPhone can do.

Guitar Hero takes a turn.. for the bigger

Orange — 2009-11-04T13:27:00+00:00

We're very chuffed that Kasabian's shiny new album, Underdog, was released a few weeks ago. Now, we've seen some album promos before, but not one quite as inventive as this one.

Kasabian teamed up with interactive gaming platform, Arduino, to give their take on the Guitar Hero game. Sure, it's Guitar Hero, but with five footballers, some giant coloured squares, and some heavy Kasabian riffs thrown in. Good fun, eh?

get your freak on

Orange — 2009-11-02T18:03:00+00:00

Friday night saw 300 brave winners of our Facebook film club competition travel to Tower Hamlets cemetery for the Night of Fright screening of The Exorcist.

The audience had to endure a foggy cemetery tour and a goosebump-inducing welcome from Beth the creepy character from the Film Club story, before being greeted with a warm glass of mulled wine.

Thouroughly spooked, we were all pleased to find the outdoor cinema decked out with comfy directors’ chairs, a big bag of goodies and a creepy introduction by Empire magazine’s horror expert, Kim Newman.

The Exorcist was screened as a silent cinema and you listened to the film through headphones. If you dared remove them, all that could be heard was a sinister silence. Except for the unexplained blood-curdling screams, that is…

Congratulations to all our winners, we hope we haven’t scared you away. And if you’re not yet a fan of the Orange Film Club Facebook page, find it here and you could be in for some great treats – or maybe some tricks!

Check out all the photos here

LG Watchphone - Knight Rider inspired?

Orange — 2009-10-30T16:33:00+00:00

The Orange LG Watchphone went on sale a few months back and has been selling like hotcakes.

Now, if you think the concept of a watchphone sounds a little odd, you’re probably too young to remember David Hasselhoff in Knight Rider – he was always talking to his car using his watch. They just don’t make ‘em like they used to.

Anyway, the concept obviously appealed to a fair few people, as the Orange LG Watchphone sold like hotcakes after going on sale in a Bond Street shop. Buyers travelled from all over Europe to get their mitts on it. Ben from Surrey told us, ‘I’m here to buy the Watchphone for my brother. He’s been waiting two years to get one.’ Bless.

It’s been called a ‘miracle of miniaturisation’ and ‘the ultimate boys’ toy’. Just a shame there isn’t one left for the Hoff…

What's the craziest gadget you have seen? Let us know in the comments section....

our new favourite

Orange — 2009-10-30T13:39:00+00:00

We love the Sound of Orange Rockcorps here at Orange, and apparently others do too. Yesterday it made site of the day on The Favourite Website Awards (FWA). You'll find all the details on this music making app in our our earlier post here.

If you haven't yet taken part in the Sound of Orange RockCorps, give it a try - this video will give you the idea.

Orange Cinema ticket giveaway

Orange — 2009-10-28T14:35:00+00:00

What’s scarier than watching The Exorcist? Watching it in the dark, at night, outdoors, in a scare-your-socks-off-spooky secret location, that’s what. Welcome to Orange Cinema – A Night of Fright.

On Saturday we gave away the Orange Cinema tickets to our lucky winners, for our Night of Fright event this weekend, in a secret location in Central London.

The event has proved so popular we’ve released additional seats. If you reckon you can handle the fear, come along – we’ve got limited free tickets to give away, and all you have to do is email us here, quick.

The Priest giving away the first ticket at our secret East London venue.