Orange, one of the largest mobile operators in the world, announced today the future availability of Apple's iPhone in Romania, as well as in many other countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The announcement comes after Vodafone, one of Orange's main competitors, also unveiled the upcoming release of the iPhone on ten new markets where the V carrier is present.

Although the iPhone's availability in Romania is officially confirmed, for the moment there are no details about the handset's price, nor about the exact date when users will be able to buy it. Moreover, Orange did not mention if it would bring the original edition of the iPhone or the new, 3G one that should be unveiled by Apple in the next months. I guess we're going to find out only when Orange decides to finally offer the handset.

Since its release in the US, back in September 2007, Apple's iPhone became one of the most wanted mobile devices ever created. At only 11.6 millimeters in thickness and 135 grams, the handset comes with a wide range of advanced features, including the 3.5 inch touchscreen display (320 x 480 pixels and 16 million colors), an innovative multi-touch interface based on the Mac OS X, high-end multimedia and Internet capabilities, a 3.5mm audio jack, Google Maps, Wi-Fi, a 2 Megapixel camera with video recording, all "assorted" with a generous built-in memory of 8 or 16 GB (depending on the phone's version).

Besides Romania, the rest of the markets where Orange will launch Apple's handset during 2008 are: Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Poland, Switzerland, Slovakia, Jordan, Egypt, the Dominican Republic, plus other African countries where Orange offers mobile services. These are Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Mali and Senegal - the iPhone will most probably be available there too.