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Vodafone has staked its hopes of avoiding the role of 'dumb pipe' on 360, its ambitious own-branded mobile web experience and developer ecosystem. As with most operator driven applications strategies, early impact has been muted, but the carrier plans to step up its activities considerably during this quarter. At Mobile World Congress, it promised a large number of new phones running the 360 platform and user interface, and has now launched the new Nokia X6 to support the claim. It has also announced a range of new applications via software partner WIN, and pledges many more during the coming months.

The 360 implementation of the X6 marks an interesting shift in the often stormy relationship between Vodafone and Nokia, which has so frequently defined the changing balance of power between vendor and carrier brands on the handset. For Nokia, it reflects a growing readiness to co-brand key phones with operators in the quest for market share in the midmarket, where carrier platforms tend to shine, and which is a key growth area this year. For Vodafone, the deal sees 360 going multi-OS (Android options will also come along), although clearly its preferred platform is LiMO, which underpinned the first 360 handsets, the Samsung H1 and M1. LiMO is an environment defined by operators, including Vodafone, and so gives them a far greater measure of control than the vendor controlled choices.

But Vodafone needs to keep all its 360 options open. It may be trying to emulate the tightly controlled experience that Asian carriers like DoCoMo deliver to their customers, but it knows European users are accustomed to greater freedom of choice. In Barcelona it promised Android handsets and showed a version of the central 360 app, Vodafone People, for the OS. It also introduced the co-branded LG GD880, and a tablet design from Qisda of Taiwan. It says it sold almost 300,000 of the H1 and M1 handsets between November and January, and in Germany and the UK, these products were Voda's best selling smartphones in the holiday quarter.

There are now over 7,000 apps available for download from the Vodafone 360 Apps Shop and by March these will be supported by 50 handsets. The latest come from WIN, which has added Pocket Doctor, a medical guide; an app to provide lottery information and a lucky number generator; and Snow and Ski, which delivers information on ski conditions at resorts all over the world. The first two are free while Snow and Ski costs €0.99. The apps run on Symbian or LiMO.

The Nokia X6 360 is now available to buy in the UK, preloaded with the Vodafone software. It is the successor to Nokia's successful XpressMusic 5800, its first touchscreen model, and part of the newly relabelled X Series of midrange smartphones geared mainly to entertainment and social networking. It has a bright 3.2-inch touchscreen and comes with exclusive Vodafone content such as the preloaded third series of comedy series Gavin and Stacey. It also features a 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and dual LED flash; and a 'built-in DJ' that chooses the music for your mood. The Vodafone 360 Homescreen gives access to Vodafone My Web, VIP contacts and the 360 Apps & Games Shop, plus the DRM-free Vodafone Music service. The handset is free with two-year contracts of at least £30 a month with 600 minutes, unlimited texts and 500Mb of mobile internet.

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