Orange has just launched a great new offer for pay as you go (PAYG) mobile phones that’s almost too good to be true. Put simply, by spending as little as £30, you can get a free Christmas gift box containing goodies worth over £60 – including a set of Angle & Curve headphones. That may sound like a barmy deal, but it is actually true.

To qualify, simply buy a new pay as you go / PAYG mobile phone costing at least £30 from Orange’s official UK online shop:

» Get an Orange Christmas Gift Box now (opens in a new window or tab)

The offer is subject to availability and ends on 24 December 2011, better known as Christmas Eve. See below for more information about the offer.

What’s inside the Orange Christmas Gift Box?

Customers who buy a qualifying new pay as you go / PAYG phone from Orange during the course of the promotion will receive their free Christmas Gift Box within 28 days of taking delivery of their mobile phone. Orange’s free gift box includes:

- Free pair of Angle & Curve headphones, with a recommended retail price of £60
- An adapter jack for the headphones
- A code that can be used to download six free games apps
- Three more small gifts (unspecified)

The games apps need to be downloaded by 31 January 2012 from Orange’s app store, which isn’t compatible with iPhones or Windows-based mobile phones.

However, the terms and conditions of the offer do confirm that customers who buy a PAYG iPhone or Windows phone from Orange will still qualify to receive free Angle & Curve headphones, adapter and three small free gifts.

Are any mobile phones excluded from the Orange Christmas Gift Box offer?

Whilst the short version of the terms and conditions for Orange’s free Christmas gift box offer simply states that Doro, iPhone and Windows mobiles are excluded, the longer version clarifies that:

“Window mobiles and iPhones have their own unique operating systems that are not compatible with our application store. However if you do choose one of these phones you’ll still get the headphones and 3 small gifts.”

Otherwise, the only condition is that the PAYG handset must cost at least £30.

Qualifying Orange PAYG mobile phones

As of today, Orange’s UK online shop features a choice of 42 pay as you go / PAYG mobile phones that qualify for the free Christmas Gift box. Prices range from £30 to £659.99.

Lower priced examples include:

- Orange Miami for £30
- Orange Atlanta for £30
- Orange Rio for £34.99
- Orange Sydney for £39.99
- Samsung Monte Slider E2550 for £39.99
- Sony Ericsson Spiro for £39.99

Upper priced examples include:

- BlackBerry® Curve 9360 black or white for £249.99
- iPhone 3GS 8GB black for £299.99
- iPhone 4 8GB white for £409.99
- iPhone 4S 16GB black for £489.99
- iPhone 4S 64GB white for £659.99

» Get an Orange Christmas Gift Box now (opens in a new window or tab)

For all PAYG phones, a £10 top up must be bought at the same time as the handset.

Orange has launched a new, market-leading pay monthly SIM-only price plan that costs just £7 per month. Yes, you read that right: only £7 per month. But don’t hang about, as this is a “limited time offer”.

Going by the name of Orange Dolphin 7, this SIM-only deal represents great value, featuring monthly allowances that should prove more than sufficient for many UK mobile phone users:

- 150 anytime calling minutes
- 500 text messages
- 250MB mobile internet

Orange Dolphin 7 is offered on a 12 month SIM only contract.

» Buy Orange Dolphin 7 SIM only now (opens in a new window or tab)

Aside from the inclusive monthly allowances, Orange Dolphin 7 customers can also benefit from 2-for-the-price-of-1 cinema tickets with Orange Wednesdays.

“Out of plan” costs for this SIM only tariff (ie for any calls, texts and/or mobile internet browsing that fall outside of the inclusive allowances) are also reasonably priced.

Orange Extras

When buying the Dolphin 7 SIM-only price plan online, customers are offered the opportunity to add optional Orange Extras (none of which are compulsory). Extras offered at an extra cost per 30 days include:

- Orange Maps sat nav
- Photo messaging
- Orange games zone
- Sky News & Sports
- Extra mobile internet allowance
- International calls

Orange home broadband

Orange Dolphin 7 customers also qualify for Orange Broadband, which starts from only £5 per month for broadband and off-peak calls.

Keep your mobile phone number with Orange Dophin 7

Customers of other UK mobile networks who want to switch to Dolphin 7 can keep their existing mobile phone number. There’s no need to arrange this in advance: just order your Dolphin 7 SIM only plan online, then contact your existing network to request a PAC (Port Authorisation Code). Once received, contact Orange customer services and they’ll organise the transfer of your number onto your new SIM only plan.

See Orange’s site for more details and to buy the Dolphin 7 pay monthly SIM-only price plan online.

In so doing, Apple wrong-footed hordes of journalists, analysts and mobile industry commentators, who’d collectively generated vast wordage speculating about the impending iPhone 5, only to discover that its arrival wasn’t so imminent after all.

The choice of name makes abundant sense, as the dimensions and outward appearance of the iPhone 4S are almost identical to its predecessor (good news if you already have an iPhone 4 case that you’d like to keep using – and even better news for case manufacturers).

In terms of functionality, the iPhone 4S delivers a number of significant advancements including:

- An 8 megapixel camera with 1080p HD video recording
- Other camera optics improvements including an additional lens, a wider f/2.4 aperture (for better low light performance) and refined LED flash
- Dual-core A5 processor chip, delivering up to 2 x faster performance and up to 7 x faster graphics
- Intelligent switching between two built-in antennae for better call quality
- Siri personal assistant software, offering advanced voice-based control and interaction with the iPhone

iPhone 4S contract deals

The iPhone 4S is currently available to pre-order from many UK mobile networks on pay monthly contracts for planned delivery from 14 October 2011 onwards:

» Buy the iPhone 4S direct from Vodafone (with 3 months “data test drive”).
» Buy the iPhone 4S direct from T-Mobile
» Buy the iPhone 4S direct from Orange
» Buy the iPhone 4S direct from Three
» Buy the iPhone 4S direct from O2

 SIM-free / unlocked iPhone 4S

Apple’s latest smartphone can also be purchased direct from Apple’s UK online store. These handsets are supplied unlocked, so can be used on any UK network when inserting a compatible micro SIM card.

» Buy the iPhone 4S SIM-free / unlocked direct from Apple UK

Apple Store’s prices include free UK shipping, with pre-orders currently scheduled for delivery within 1-2 weeks from ordering.

SIM-only iPhone 4S price plans

Many UK networks offer “SIM only” price plans specifically for the iPhone (delivered via SIM cards in the required micro SIM format).

Monthly costs for SIM only plans are typically much lower than for iPhone contract deals, as there’s no handset price subsidisation (implied or otherwise) included within the monthly cost.

iPhone SIM only deals come with as short as 30 day minimum contract periods, though longer terms are also available. See the UK mobile networks’ online shops via the above links for more details.

Customers of Orange’s UK mobile network already enjoy the benefit of “Orange Wednesday”, which enables the Orange faithful to secure 2-for-1 tickets to cinema screenings on Wednesday nights.

Orange’s latest coup removes the need to visit a bricks and mortar cinema altogether. Orange customers (mobile, broadband, dongle or wireless pointer) can now watch a new film (or movie, if we really must) via iTunes every Thursday. The cost for mobile phone customers? A mere 35p. Pretty cool, no?

» Orange UK’s online mobile phone shop

» Orange home broadband

Every Thursday, Orange UK customers can download the Orange Film To Go from the UK iTunes store. Mobile customers simply need to text FILMTOGO to 85060 from their Orange phone – the text costs an eminently modest 35p, which is FAR cheaper than even a single cinema ticket. The film then needs to be downloaded via Orange’s website before midnight on Thursday. You get up to 30 days to watch the film, subject only to finishing watching it within 48 hours of starting it.

Orange will choose the Film To Go each week. You have the choice of watching it on a PC, laptop, iPhone or iPad – subject to having Apple’s iTunes software installed to make everything work as it should.

To summarise: Orange Film To Go? Hats off brilliant – and a great reason for film buffs to consider choosing Orange over other UK mobile networks or home broadband providers. Even if you must mistakenly insist on referring to films as movies…

Great news: UK mobile network operator Orange is running a promotional code offer this weekend, ending on the night of Sunday 12 June 2011.

Buy online from Orange’s own mobile phone shop using their special promotional code to get half price line rental for the first six months on all 24 month contract deals costing over £20 a month (excluding SIM only or iPhone price plans).

» Shop now with Orange – use voucher code 6MTHPROMO

To claim your discount:

- Choose your mobile phone, qualifying 24 month price plan and any extras;
- Click on the “checkout” button;
- Towards the bottom of your basket, you’ll see a link marked “Enter promotional code”. Click that link, type 6MTHPROMO into the text entry box that appears and then click on the “get discount” button to submit the code.
- You should see your line rental discount appear in your basket, ready for you to complete the checkout process.

Don’t hang about, though, as the voucher code will expire promptly on Sunday night!