Orange and PalmSource in Segway giveaway

PalmSource and Orange have teamed up for a competition aimed at those developing applications for mobile phones that use GPRS.

The companies have been firm friends since Orange started to ship the Treo 600 smart phone, based on the Palm OS. It has become a leading high-end device in several countries, such as the US and those in Europe where Orange has a network.

Awards are split into four categories, with the overall winner taking away a Segway Human Transporter. Runners up will get Treo 600s.

The categories are localisation, best use of a wireless network in a standalone application, most innovative use of a data network, and best phone utility.

Winners will be announced at the Orange Code Camp in Poitiers, France, running from 13 to 15 September. The competition details are available on request, from http://www.palmsource.com/developers/smartphonecontest .

France Telecom-owned Orange is part of the Palm Powered Mobile World programme but is also a key ally of Microsoft and Symbian, other providers of operating systems for smart phones.