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It's official! - Orange is looking for trialists for next smartphone ...

You'd probably think it would be an SPV-X -the Tanager. Well, you may be wrong. Orange is looking for trialists - but this doesn't necessarily imply that it's the Microsoft design that it is thinking of.

Following our report that Orange is out of stock of SPVs in the UK, the phone operator is replying to anybody asking about the SPV - and asking if they'd like to try out "a new and improved device in the very near future."

"This addition to the SPV family offers new functionality that will allow Orange customers to make fuller use of existing and forthcoming Orange services giving a richer user experience," says Orange trial organiser, Julian Hope.

But SPV isn't a Microsoft name; it stands for Sound Pictures Video - and Orange could launch any brand of smartphone into the SPV market - including a Nokia or other design. There's nothing to stop Orange calling it an SPV, even if it's made by Sony Ericsson.

And the reason some people think it might not be a Tanager phone, is that there are several questions asked about Bluetooth, including "do you have a Bluetooth headset?" and "do you connect to your PC via Bluetooth?" in the questionnaire which Hope is sending out.

The Tanager, like the Canary, cannot work with Bluetooth wireless - apart from a bodge design from Jabra.

The mail says: "We will shortly be running a four-week trial to selected Orange customers and would like to invite you to apply to take part. For this preliminary trial, we will be selecting trialists based on their usage of specific Orange services and currently-owned hardware.

Successful trialists will be provided with a prototype of the forthcoming SPV and will be transferred to a promotional tariff including free of charge GPRS data and inclusive text and photo messaging bundles for the duration of the trial."

It also insists that "trialists will be expected to complete questionnaires throughout the duration of the trial and must return the equipment when instructed to do so." But in exchange for this hard work, you will get "a voucher for a free upgrade to the launch version of the new SPV and activation of a new promotional SPV pack."

Contact me for Julian Hope's email address. You have until June 30 to apply!