France Telecom’s grand fromage, Stephane Richard, has confirmed that his company is working with Apple on a smaller SIM card standard. The telecoms giant owns Orange, which we already knew was backing Apple’s plans in Europe, but this adds weight to the likelihood of changes coming sooner rather than later. Apple’s plans for a smaller …

Sharp could be very close to launching its Hybrid 007SH clamshell phone in the US, according to documents that have shown up at the FCC and reported by Engadget. We knew one Aquos phone was imminent, but the Japanese company had been rather cagey about exactly which handset would grace the world stage. It’s now clear that Sharp’s latest retro …

Nokia’s new X1-01 is another in its line of super-cheap mobile phones and a variant of the X1-00 we tentatively associated ourselves with a couple of months ago. It’s the mouthy little brother of the X2. The significant difference between the X1-00 and X1-01 is the latter’s dual SIM capability. Should you have done your homework and ascertained that one …

The Motorola Droid 3 may be set to launch in the US next month, according to an inside source who spoke to Techno Buffalo. If it makes it to the UK it could follow previous droids and become the Milestone 3. The Droid 3 could include a 4-inch, qHD (quarter high definition) touchscreen — 360×640 pixels, in other words. The …

Sharp will introduce an Android-based Aquos smart phone to markets outside Japan. The Aquos SH-12C launched in Japan last week, alongside two other Android siblings. At CNET UK Towers, the phone caused many eyebrows to raise in an intrigued fashion, due to the presence of a 1.4GHz Qualcomm processor, dual cameras and 4.2-inch, 3D-capable touchscreen. The SH-12C may not be the handset that makes it to markets outside of …

Three will introduce a 1p charge for every SMS delivery notification requested from 6 June. We discovered the change while reading about the recent Ofcom rulings on cross-network call charges. While O2, Everything Everywhere and Vodafone dispute the regulator’s calculation of what they can reasonably charge for accepting incoming calls from another network, Three is calling for a drastic reduction, …

Today’s launch of the Quick Tap contactless mobile-payments service means Orange customers with a compatible phone can now pay for goods at some 50,000 UK stores by simply tapping their handset on a payment reader. A rebranded version of the Samsung Tocco Lite, the Tocco Quick Tap, is the first Orange handset to include the near-field communication (NFC) chip and custom software required …

The patent portfolio of defunct Israeli phone manufacturer Modu has been bought by Google for around £3m. Modu manufactured tiny phones that could be slid into a range of different jackets, with various designs and functions. For example, the Modu 1 could be inserted into a dock that turned it into a digital picture frame, or a jacket that added a 3-megapixel …

Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Arc and Xperia Play will waltz into the land of Android 2.3.3 next week, reports Recombu. Assuming that UK mobile networks approve, users should see their handsets ready for upgrade very soon. As always, there may be a variation in exactly when the update rolls out. All that should be solved with the Ice Cream Sandwich release later …

The HTC Sensation is finally available, after an unusually short waiting period. The smart phone comes free on all Vodafone tariffs of £35 or more per month. There are plenty of other packages, with varying minutes, texts and data, across 12-, 18- and 24-month contracts, if you don’t mind laying down some cash — up to £199 — for the handset. You’ll get at least …