iPhone Gets More Video, But Not From Apple

A couple of new services are sending video to the iPhone, which has been hampered by a narrow choice of supported video formats. NBC is streaming episodes of 30 Rock and The Office to the iPhone over the WiFi network reports NYT quoting Silicon Alley Insider. Orb has also launched a native client for the iPhone and iPod Touch, letting users stream video from their PC reports The Register. Orbs client works over the 2.75G Edge network.

The important thing is that these methods bypass Apple’s (NSDQ: AAPL) store, which was pointed out by J. B. Perrette, the president of digital distribution for NBC Universal: “One other benefit of streaming is that it can reach users of a device like the iPhone without having to cut deals with the phone’s maker. Web video, he said, “is only using the hardware as an access point to the content.” The same goes for the data channel.

America Movil to Carry iPhone to Latin America

Apple and America Movil announced they have signed a deal to bring the iPhone to more than a dozen Latin American countries. The carrier said it plans to offer Apple’s handset across all of its Latin American operations starting later this year, but didn’t give any other details of the arrangement.

Apple also recently announced deals to offer its only handset with Rogers Communications in Canada; Telecom Italia in Italy; and Vodafone Group in 10 countries, including Australia, India, Italy and Turkey. Based on its report for the quarter ending March 31, Apple has sold 5.4 million iPhones worldwide so far; the company stands firm with its goal of selling 10 million iPhones by the end of this year.

France Telecom In Talks With Apple; Vodafone’s Portugal iPhone Deal Not Exclusive?

France Telecom (NYSE: FTE), owner of the Orange network, is in talks with Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) to sell the iPhone in other countries, according to the company’s CFO Gervais Pellissier. Dow Jones reports that Pellissier revealed that the discussions were for more than “just two countries.” He also said that France Telecom was “pleased with the success” of the company’s exclusive deal with Apple that has another two and a half years to run—quashing recent rumours that the French group had balked at Apple’s supposed insistence that they slash iPhone prices to boost sales. Pellissier also said that he expected a 3G iPhone to boost sales in France, where Orange has sold over 100,000 of the device.

Yesterday, Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) announced it would be selling the iPhone in ten countries. News later surfaced that its deal in Italy is not an exclusive one, after Telecom Italia announced they too would be selling the device. Thomson Financial, meanwhile, picked up a story today from Portuguese newspaper Diario de Noticias, which reported Tuesday than Vodafone’s Portugal deal is not an exclusive one either, though it did not cite a source. Portuguese networks Portugal Telecom and Sonaecom are reportedly still negotiating with Apple over distributing the iPhone.

In Australia Vodafone declined to say whether the deal to sell the iPhone was exclusive, reports the SMH, and it’s a short jump to the conclusion that it is therefore not exclusive. “Mark Novosel, telecommunications market analyst at IDC, said the fact that Vodafone hasn’t announced whether the deal is exclusive indicates the iPhone will be sold by all carriers…He said it is likely Vodafone will sell the iPhone at a discount and lock it to its network, in which case Apple would sell an unlocked version – capable of running on any carrier – through its own stores.”