Orange has started publicly talking about Bubbletop, an AJAX web home page. It is a competitor to sites like Netvibes and Pageflakes. The closed alpha of Bubbletop is now open for possible sign up. Bubbletop will join a number of other Orange Web 2.0 services including Pikeo (images and photographs) and SoundTribes (music).

I was able to see a preview of Bubbletop at the recent Orange Partner Camp. It has the normal modules for adding content and widgets (all of which have been slickly implemented), but there is also an emphasis on making the site easy to use for those who may have shied away from other AJAX home pages as being too complex or unnecessary.

There's also some neat ways to share the modules of Bubbletop with others users - in the demo I saw there is a stronger emphasis on the social sharing aspect than other AJAX home pages.

Of course given this is an Orange project there is also a strong mobile element. You will be able to take your Bubbletop home page with you when you leave the house.  

Bubbletop is still in active development, but the indications are that it should be open up more widely some time in June.

Orange's other web services include Pikeo (launched last year) and SoundTribes (launched recently) 

Orange describe Pikeo as 'a community site where Web users can discover and share their photo universes. With this free service, users can archive their photos via a PC and exhibit them for friends, family and other Web users by positioning them on a map of the world.' Pikeo has built a sizeable userbase in a short period of time. The links with mobile are among the strongest of all the main photo sharing / community sites. The Orange brand has been used very effectively to push the site out to a wider group of users that would otherwise be aware of the site. 

SoundTribes (launching shortly) is a community networking site (along the lines of Bebo) which aims to be a hib for unsigned bands. Features include the ability to upload music which is then automatically made available for download from the band page. Adding ina  unique mobile element the tracks will also be converted into ringtones suitable for download to a variety of mobile phones.

Orange has and is continuing to make a considerable investment in creating these sites and services. It is clearly committed to the creation of added value services as part of its multi-play strategy.