Orange outlines Twitter image-sharing service

Twitter image-sharing arrives on Orange

Mobile marketing experts may be interested to learn that phone users can now share photos on Twitter via text.

Orange has become the first mobile operator to offer the service, which could be of particular interest to early adopters and heavy social networkers. Customers can use MMS to post their photos to Snapshot, a specially designed Orange UK site, which will then automatically post the link to Twitter. In theory, this would make it easier for mobile users to spread viral marketing pictures to friends and work colleagues.

As part of a major Twitter push, the mobile operator is also allowing customers to tweet and send direct messages with a standard text message instead of through external software. And there will be no charges for receiving Twitter alerts under the plan.

Twitter joins social media aggregator

Finally, the micro-blogging service has been added to Orange World's mobile networking aggregator Social Life – joining Facebook, MySpace and Bebo. It means Orange's 16 million UK mobile customers will be able to view and post updates on all four social media sites from a single account.

Mark Watts Jones, head of product management for Orange UK, said: "We've seen over the last year how Twitter is transforming the dynamics of real-time search.

"So we're delighted to extend the value of the service by bringing it to mobile, enabling our customers to view and update their Twitter streams and giving them the unique ability to upload photos."

Orange is the third largest mobile operator in the UK behind O2 and Vodafone. However, its parent company France Telecom recently announced plans to merge the brand with Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile. The proposed Orange-T-Mobile merger would create a new number one operator with a 37 per cent market share.