First app by SFR

[cdavidc]

Hello all,

It seems like SFR has published its first application for WebOS yesterday through the Web feed.

SFR Mon Compte

What is strange is that it was published for Canada and for the Pixi only!

Is that a trick to test the application publishing mechanisms or is there any truth to the Pixi tag?

Anyway lets hope their launch date is near. :-)

[AndrewP]

Canada has substantial French-speaking population so in the absence of a French Pre / Pixi, it's probably the best place to advertise it.

[cdavidc]

Granted Canada has a large French-speaking population but (AFAIK) SFR does not operate in Canada, the application is seems designed to help manage SFR mobile accounts and one of the screenshot shows a number beginning by "06" which is typical for french mobile numbers.

[MLJones8]

For those that don't know french, or what SFR typically makes/does could someone elaborate?

[c_man]

Originally Posted by MLJones8

For those that don't know french, or what SFR typically makes/does could someone elaborate?

Sure, the answer is here

[MLJones8]

Originally Posted by c_man

Sure, the answer is here

The wiki states:

SFR (originally Société Française du Radiotéléphone, no longer expanded) is a French mobile phone company. It has 20 million clients, including (as of January 2009) over 4,7 million using 3G (specifically UMTS) technology.
It also offers services on the island of Réunion through SRR (Société Réunionnaise du Radiotéléphone) although the company is branded as SFR Réunion.
SFR is currently 56% owned by the French group Vivendi and 44% by mobile phone giant Vodafone. Rumours often circulate concerning the possibility of Vodafone increasing its shareholding, but Vodafone's recent sale of minority shares in mature markets such as Belgium and Switzerland, and its recent interest in emerging markets such as Turkey and India, suggest that such an increase is not an immediate prospect.
In 2006, along with Bouygues Télécom and Orange SA, SFR was ordered to pay €535 million in fines for the formation of an illegal cartel (see Le Canard Enchaîné).
In December 2007, SFR which owns 40.5 percent of Neuf Cegetel, has offered to buy the rest of the first fixed alternate operator for €4.5 billion. The goal is to challenge France Telecom in the market for combined fixed-line, internet and cellphone services and create "the biggest, strongest non-incumbent in Europe" according to the group's statement.

SFR is a mobile phone company, mainly owned by a french group... and in 06' payed some fines.

Thats great... What kind of apps do they make? Why are people interested in them?

All links from the wiki seem to be in french... can you elaborate, personally?

[c_man]

The are what O2 are in UK, what Bell/Sprint/Verizon are to you guys in the States, they are a telephone network company who offer mobile and broadband services. They are essentially Vodafone in France.

Its kinda obvious once you visit their website (and no, I am not fluent in French either) - if you struggle you can always translate their website; probably quicker than waiting for a response on here.

Originally Posted by MLJones8

Why are people interested in them?

The clue is in the first and final lines of the Wiki:

- SFR (originally Société Française du Radiotéléphone, no longer expanded) is a French mobile phone company. It has 20 million clients, including (as of January 2009) over 4,7 million using 3G (specifically UMTS) technology.

- The goal is to challenge France Telecom in the market for combined fixed-line, internet and cellphone services and create "the biggest, strongest non-incumbent in Europe" according to the group's statement.

Oh, the third result in Google is in English, maybe that helps you: http://international-travellers.sfr.fr/en/index.jsp


Guess what? I didnt know any of the info I've posted myself. But it was very very easy to find via a very very quick Google search.

[Goyena]

The SFR My Account app is meant only for future French users after the Pre and Pixi Plus are introduced in May (April? June?) no doubt about that. Publishing it for Canada and the for the Pixi was most likely only done because the App Catalog doesn't provide for anything else at the moment, as you've seen with the mess locking people into one country's App Catalog or another.

Still, as a future SFR Pre Plus buyer, I think SFR is handling their roll-out as well as O2. There hasn't been any advertisement, but I they're in the process of closing up an dev competition for new apps, they've had a dev camp, Rubenstein, Almaer and Galbraith have all been here to answer questions. There's even an ongoing online game to win 20 Pre and Pixis. What's really working against them is how Palm is still relatively unknown here...WebOS is completely unknown, except for a select few who've been waiting FOR OVER A YEAR NOW.

The upside is that it seems when the Pre is introduced in France, we'll have a fully functioning app catalog, not like the poor Germans.

Thank god for homebrew and WebOSInternals!!!

[cdavidc]

Goyena, you're right, SFR seems to be doing the right thing on the developer end of the roll-out but I am afraid that if they keep on waiting before they advertise the Pre and Pixi to customers the noise generated by the next iPhone model is going to make them invisible... :-(

On the app front Le Monde appeared yesterday in the Web Feed as a France-only app.