Orange has a habit of eating up its own words and taking U-Turns on its own official statements. The latest being a sequence of a confirmation and then denial for a retail partnership for the about to be launched Apple Tablet with network connectivity, webcam and videophone features.

In a recent interview with Europe 1, Stephane Richard, the Deputy CEO of France Telecom mentioned that “Orange customers would be able to enjoy the Apple tablet”. This was shortly followed by an Orange PR clarification that “Orange is in no way confirming the existence of rumored device”.

All said and done, I’m sure that Orange Apple Tablet deal is pretty much on the cards and it’s a matter of time before a public disclosure is made. For God sake, my advise to the folks at Orange – Either learn to keep things secret or if you can’t do so, learn to accept that the secret is going to come out sooner or later and roll with it!

See the Full French interview on the next page as well as a snippet of the transcript in English.