I can't believe it: a phone innovation that will actually save people money?

The new Nokia 6301 is mostly "blah"; 2 mega pixel camera, 30 MB of internal memory, microSD card slot space that taps out at 4GB, MP3 player, FM radio, speaker phone, 3.5 hours of talk time, and a stainless steal frame that says bland in the way only a Nokia design team can deliver.

(And how's this for unsexy: the Nokia 6301 is featured in Orange's Unik line of phones.)

What it does have going for it however is you can make calls both over Wi-Fi and Triband GSM; meaning when in range of an open internet signal, you can chat to your hearts content without having to pay your carrier (at this point just Orange) a cent.

Okay, yeah technically you can already get the iPhone anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet connection and a mailing address; but now it's in France it's official.

Apple and France Telecom's Orange signed a deal yesterday bringing the wonder phone to France starting sometime in November. While the exact price isn't known yet; it won't be subsidized.

According to David Smith from the Observer (I know guys, it's the UK, but soon enough in a store near you...) Google and Orange are thinking about producing a Google-branded cellphone that would come pre-loaded with mobile versions of Google apps like Google Earth, Gmail, etc. The "Google phone" would be manufactured by HTC, which implies - but doesn't guarantee - that this thing might run Windows Mobile.