Here's a few interesting stats from a survey recently conducted in Europe. These aren't specifically about the iPhone, but given that smartphones relied on buttons almost exclusively before Apple's handheld came along (and nowadays, everyone's bragging about their touchscreen technology), a temperature-taking on what people think of touchscreen controls is more or less a referendum on what people think of Apple's influence.

At least in France, Germany and the UK, reactions are mixed. While 38% of those surveyed say they were planning to get a touchscreen on their next mobile phone, only 47% of people who already owned a touchscreen said they would get another one. In other words, less than half of touchscreen owners thought they'd stick with the technology on their next purchase. Apple remains an anomaly -- both HTC and Apple have a higher amount of current customers planning to stick with their touchscreen interface (with the full numbers being released at a conference later this month), but the fact remains: current touchscreen users aren't anywhere near 100% on living button-free forever.

Especially as a gamer, that makes a lot of sense. Touchscreens are great for a lot of things -- they allow for limitless flexibility in the kinds of interfaces on offer, and especially with multi-touch, a lot of the controls on the iPhone are extremely intuitive (you automatically know now that pinching equals zooming, and so on). But as nice as touchscreen is, there are a lot of functions on mobile phones, from adjusting volume or changing music tracks on a phone out of sight in your pocket, to hitting exact button controls while twitch gaming, that work much better with tactile feedback. Steve, as he always does, made a big deal about the iPhone being a one-button interface, but I wouldn't be surprised at all to see future iterations of the iPhone include either a few more buttons, or, even better, a few more haptic interface technologies.

There's been much news of "exploding" iPhones lately. If you're unfamiliar with the story, the European Commission formally asked Apple to investigate a series of reports that users' iPhones were abruptly cracking and/or catching fire. According to the French periodical Les Echos, an iPhone in Aix-en-Provence, France, started to "crackle and pop like a deep-frier" before breaking violently apart.

This past Friday, Apple said that, in all cases, the iPhones in question were damaged by an "external force," not a faulty battery or glass screen:

"To date, there are no confirmed battery overheating incidents for iPhone 3GS and the number of reports we are investigating is in the single digits. The iPhones with broken glass that we have analyzed to date show that in all cases the glass cracked due to an external force that was applied to the iPhone."

It does seem odd that at least four cases have been reported in France in short order. Still, it's even stranger that iPhones would suddenly turn into Molotov cocktails. We'll keep you updated on this story.

It's been a long wait, but Apple has finally announced their intent to open the first Apple Store in France, which will be located in Paris. In their conference call yesterday, they discussed the opening of new Apple Stores, including the opening of a store in Paris by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, HardMac has posted photos of not one, but two Apple Stores under construction in Paris. The first one, in Le Louvre, is expected to open up later this year. Meanwhile, the second location, in Rue Halévy, is expected to open up sometime after the location in the Louvre.

This should be a much-welcomed addition to Apple customers in France, as they have gone a long time without an Apple Store.

A couple of months ago I wound up in Paris and received a surprising direct message via Twitter from a young employee at Visua Mobile. Having nothing better to do in the City of Light, I wound up at their offices. I'm often suspect when a "mobile" development company rings me about their iPhone stable. Just like my tea, I prefer my developers steeped in Apple. Well, Visua Mobile is certainly made up of Apple fans. Just check out the gallery of their offices to see what I mean.

Visua's raison d'etre would be iPhone apps. To my astonishment, none have been runaway hits. They are beautifully designed and generally work well (some 3.0 bugs crept up). Visua gained some noteriety around their app, Fracture, that would make the iPhone screen appear broken when pressed. But they make a host of already-approved apps, including Celebrity, which features a special magazine cover just for TUAW fans.

One of France's providers, Orange, plans to charge €229 ($318US) for the 32GB version and €149 ($206US) for the 16GB with a one-year minimum contract. The least expensive contract will cost €39 and last two years. Orange plans to open its Champs-Elysées store one minute past midnight on the day of release, which means the French will have their iPhones in hand a full 14 hours before the U.S.

Orange is also releasing a new data plan that has four hours of calling and unlimited e-mail and text messages, 60 TV channels and Internet access through 3G and WiFi at €52 per month, an imporvement over previous plans with fewer TV channels and unlimited texting only at certain times of day. Tethering will also be available at €9.90 per month for 200MB of traffic, or €29.90 for "unlimited service" that will be throttled once the user exceeds 1GB of data.

Germany's T-Mobile, in a similar approach to O2 in the UK, is pricing the iPhone 3G S at €1 for both models, but to get that price the customer must agree to a two year contract at €119.95 per month. The most expensive configuration at the outset is the 32GB phone at €249.95, but it will allow for cheaper contracts.

Orange's competitors, SFR and Bouygues Telecom, have not yet released pricing information. SFR plans to release the 3G S on June 24th, and Bouygues has not yet announced a date.

Update: Italy's provider, TIM, has also released their pricing scheme for prepaid plans: €719 for the 32GB phone and €619 for the 16GB. Thanks, antiorario!

[Via Macworld]

When Apple was planning to sell the iPhone in France, Orange was identified as the exclusive carrier. The problem was that France prohibits a carrier lock to extend beyond 6 months. Additionally, French provider Bouygues Telecom SA filed a complaint with the Competition Council about that agreement back in September.

A decision was reached earlier this month when the Competition Council decided that any French carrier should be able to offer the iPhone 3G. While Bouygues Telecom and SFR (the second-largest carrier in France) haven't begun selling iPhones, retailer FNAC has, and they're unlocked as far as we can tell. It's unclear (at least to us) if they're unlocked completely or only open to French carriers.

For the low, low price of €799 (or $1,122US as of this writing), you'll get an unlocked 8GB iPhone. The 16GB model will set you back €899 ($1,262US).

While we're on the topic, you can learn how to unlock your iPhone here.

[Via Ars Technica]

The French government's competition watchdog told Apple that it must allow other carriers besides Orange to offer the iPhone. Orange is a subsidiary of France Telecom.

In September, Orange competitor Bouygues Telecom SA filed a complaint with the Competition Council about the exclusivity agreement. While a decision hasn't been reached on the merit of Bouygues' argument, today's order was a "protective measure" as the Council continues its investigation, likely to take a year or more.

Both SFR (the second-largest carrier in France) and Bouygues Telecom (the third largest) hope to begin selling the handsets soon.

In a statement, the Competition Council said that the Apple-Orange agreement posed a "serious and immediate threat" to competition among carriers, and higher costs for customers.

France Telecom plans to appeal the decision.

[Via BusinessWeek and Reuters.]

A French court has ruled that online retailers shipping music players to addresses in France must warn the customer that they will have to pay the "iPod tax" once the device arrives in the country.

France enacted a levy designed to compensate copyright holders to the tune of €40 per device for illegal file copying. French retailers roll the levy into their price, making vendors outside France more attractive, price-wise. The levy applies to music players, USB storage, and blank media.

While the warning is now necessary, it's no guarantee that the tax will be paid.

The UK, Canada and Japan have all considered or tried a similar fee, but all have failed for one reason or another.

[Via The Register.]

According to French newspaper La Tribune, Apple plans to build a 7700 square foot, two-level store underneath Le Louvre's pyramid. There's a shopping gallery underneath the world-famous museum, which attracts 8.7 million visitors each year and is open 7 days a week, 365 days a year, according to La Tribune.

Quite a grand location for what will be France's first official Apple Store.

We've got no details on when construction will begin or when the store will open, so we'll ask any TUAW readers in Paris to keep their eyes peeled for us.

Thanks for the tip, Tim!

Macworld is reporting that Apple will not attend the Apple Expo in France this year. This year's expo is scheduled to take place on September 17 - 20. An Apple spokesperson was quoted by Macworld saying, "Apple is participating in fewer trade shows every year, because often there are better ways for us to reach our customers."

Macworld notes that this was the same excuse given by Apple when they decided not to attend the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) tradeshow. Apple has, however, started using their Cupertino campus to host several special announcements including last year's iMac announcement and the recent iPhone SDK announcement.

The news comes from reader tips to French tech site PCInpact, though Orange apparently has no official statement yet.

We can just add this to the number of other 3G iPhone rumors that have been swirling as of late.

[via CrunchGear]

Here's some good news for people in Switzerland, Spain, Poland who are awaiting iPhones. According to Fortune, all three countries may sell them soon.

Earlier this week, Le Matin Online reported (linked page is in French) that Swisscom will be the official iPhone carrier for Switzerland. Coincidentally, Apple is rumored to be opening an Apple Store in Zürich in July of this year (we first heard rumors of a Zürich store in 2006).

Likewise, France Telecom stated their intention to extend coverage to "...more than just two countries" via their CFO Gervais Pellissier. As the largest European countries that still lack a carrier, Poland and Spain are obviously attractive to France Telecom.

In related news, French iPhone customers can expect no immediate changes, as France Telecom intends to remain the country's exclusive carrier for the next two years.

To all the TUAW readers in Switzerland, Spain and Poland ... we've got our fingers crossed for you! Let us know if you hear anything from your local news outlets.

After selling 30,000 iPhones in the first five days, Orange reports this week that 70,000 iPhones were purchased in the first month. Nearly half (48%) went to new Orange customers, and 3,500 were sold unlocked.

I'm a bit surprised that the number of unlocked phones sold isn't higher. Plus, if Orange sold 30,000 in the first five days and an additional 40,000 over the following three weeks, than that's a significant drop in sales. Having gone on sale just before the holidays (November 29th), I thought sales would have been more consistent.

It will be interesting to hear what numbers Steve shares at Macworld.

When the iPhone became available in France on November 29th, the French said, "Oui."

According to a report at Reuters, Orange has sold 30,000 iPhones in the first five days . As Fortune points out, that's nearly 1 iPhone for every 2,000 Frenchmen. Compare that to the 270,000 iPhones sold in the United States' opening weekend (or about 1 for every 1,111 Americans), and it's clear that the iPhone is a hit in France.

What's more, 17 percent of Orange France stores sold out of iPhones in the first 21 hours. It should also be noted that France shoppers can purchase iPhones without a contract that ties them to a single carrier.

Thanks, Eddie!

Reader Guglielmo sent word that the first four French iPhone ads hit the airwaves today (also viewable at apple.com/fr in a wide selection of resolutions). The ads end with the tag screen of a November 29th on-sale date for the French model.

Unfortunately I don't speak French, so I can't comment on the ad scripts, but as far as I can tell they hew fairly close to the original US versions, subbing in Le Monde for the NY Times and other culturally appropriate substiutions. I do think that "un pâle imitation d'internet" is a pretty awesome phrase, though. You can compare the German and UK ads at their respective pages.

Thanks Guglielmo