Telus announces HTC Touch Diamond for a summer release

Though the Sprint version is the most well-scooped CDMA variant thus far, Telus is actually becoming the first carrier 'round these parts to announce the Touch Diamond imbued with a little EV-DO for your data-consumption pleasure. The phone will run $149.99 CAD (which is just about a wash in US dollars) on a three-year contract, accompanied by data plans ranging from $15 for email and instant messaging to $30 for email, IM, and web browsing. Sprint, Verizon, we anxiously await your press releases.

[Adam @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:06PM]

Looks very cool at a great price!

[Nick @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:18PM]

Pictures of the back of the phone on http://htcsource.com/index.php
It's smooth without the Diamond Facets. Also, it looks rounder under the screen where is connects to the hard buttons.

[rock99rock @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:20PM]

Those don't look like "hard buttons"...

[rob @ Jul 4th 2008 1:43AM]

Sprint then Telus??....does HTC need some new sales people or what?

[pat @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:13PM]

WHATS TELUS?

[JAmerican @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:14PM]

Yes Tell us about Telus

[Dillon @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:15PM]

telus.... Telus?!!... TELUS!!!111

THIS IS... canada.

[Darren @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:49PM]

AGT

[Khris @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:58PM]

@ pat

Ever heard of Google?

[rawdikrik @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:09PM]

Not a bad price... I hope it comes over here for that cheap!

[Ace b @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:20PM]

The price is nice,but the contract time is not.3 years?Yeah...that does not sit well with me.

I'd really love for the Touch Pro to come out already.then I'll jump on this bandwagon

[Ari @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:43PM]

i believe 3 years is very common in canada.

[Khris @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:57PM]

3 years is par for the course in Canada, and to me, barely anything to sneeze at anymore.

Having said that however, I'd never use Telus as my cell provider.

[rawdikrik @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:09PM]

Not a bad Price... I hot it comes to the US at that price...

[boogie @ Jul 3rd 2008 5:42PM]

You are hot, in fact. At least your avatar is.

[rawdikrik @ Jul 3rd 2008 6:18PM]

Damn it... No comments post and then 2 of them... With a TYPO!!! Damn my luck.

[tyler @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:10PM]

I sure hope this thing comes to Verizon soon...

[bengreen21 @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:11PM]

Wow I have been wondering what to do with Rogers and the iPhone/Bold, and had previously wanted to cancel from Rogers (being with them makes you feel ashamed and used i.e. rogered). My gf is with Telus and now with this phone I have a decent option of getting away with canceling Rogers and getting this phone with the couple plan from Telus.

[Dillon @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:14PM]

Ya, screw rogers! Friggin hate them. All they want to do is overcharge us Canadians to death, and then lol at us. Make sure to cancel your Internet with them as well. I would say cancel your TV, but Bell is about 1000 times worse in that department, and they suck just as much, if not more.

[Viru @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:10PM]

Yeah, it's good. HTC has been bringing out some cool stuff these days for sure.

[mitch @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:18PM]

Great price, but a 3 year contract? This is starting to get a little extreme. Not only is that too long to be locked in, think of the phone you were using 3 years ago.....

[jorvay @ Jul 3rd 2008 4:07PM]

3 years is becoming the norm for all Canadian cell providers. Though it's not quite as bad as it sounds: you can upgrade your phone after a shorter period of time (one year with Rogers) as long as you re-extend your contract to 3 years from the upgrade date. Still evil, just not quite as evil as it sounds at first.

[tiuk @ Jul 3rd 2008 5:00PM]

Becoming the norm? It is, and has been for years.

[Natsume @ Jul 9th 2008 9:36PM]

You can change your phone after anytime, really.
Just buy the phone from wherever, unlock it if you need to, and bam, you're set.
As well, Rogers sucks because they won't let you have a discount on the phone until after the contract, so no real reason to change the phone by buying it from them. Might as well get an unlocked (and untouched by rogers' firmware) device for either a bit cheaper OR a bit more.

With TELUS, you're given an option to upgrade to a new phone with $100 off the phone after 18 months.
At 24 months, they load another offer, and at 32 months, they try to get you back into another contract before you're done.


For Rogers, the magic word is Customer Relations.
For TELUS, it's Loyalty & Retention.

For Rogers, you have to keep on complaining (you have to call atleast 6 times before getting ANYTHING).
For TELUS, you just have to say you've been with them for over 5 years, you want to go on another contract, and you want to get on another e-mail/web plan.

BTW, $15 gets you unlimited email/IM.
$30 gets you that AND VoiceMail 10 & Caller ID unlimited text OR web (applications included).
$45 gets you everything.

Rogers starts at 15 dollars for 2Mb of data, and unlimited e-mails to SELECT e-mail servers.
It goes up to $20 for 4Mb, and so on so forth.
If you hit $50, you're still at ONLY 80Mb.

With Rogers, they've capped HSDPA at 1.8Mbps (wasn't that suppose to be Stage 1?), sometimes topping out at 3.6.
With TELUS, EVDOrA is at 850kbps, and EVDOrB will be at 4.9Mbps, and expected maximum around 14.1 by the coming year.

[Travis @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:12PM]

why doesn't alltel get any good phones, get on the ball alltel

[kjb434 @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:31PM]

Altell typically does not get the first runs of phones in the US. It's much cheaper for them that way. They'll release the cool ones from Verizon and Sprint/Nextel when the exclusivity expires.

[JAmerican @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:13PM]

I fear the day US Carriers go to three-year contracts.

[Minilap @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:44PM]

I fear the day Canadian carriers go to life time contracts.

[whatishalo? @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:14PM]

If it is anything like the Instinct, Sprint will make everyone sign a $400/month contract just to demo the phone...(yes that is an exaggeration but requiring an all-we-can-bilk-you-plan is rediculous)

[ThePerfectCompanion @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:27PM]

Thanks....

I suspected but I never really took the time to confirm. I guess if its offered on Verizon I'll probably switch to them...

[Landon @ Jul 7th 2008 9:13AM]

Except they have 3 levels of the anything plan starting at 69.99 so really....that's not that bad.

[ThePerfectCompanion @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:18PM]

More interested in the Touch Pro to be honest...

Hopefully thats coming out for Sprint or Verizon...

Does anyone know who has the better network in the South between Sprint and Verizon? Specifically North Carolina?

[Nik @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:21PM]

By far Verizon

[rock99rock @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:27PM]

Tossup

Sprint:

Sprint (NYSE:S) customers throughout North Carolina can now enjoy the benefits of SprintSpeed[TM] from even more places in the state. During 2007, Sprint added 148 new cell sites to its Nationwide Sprint Network and Nextel National Network.

via http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2008_Jan_23/ai_n24221065

Verizon:

RALEIGH, N.C., Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless announced today that $96 million was invested in 2007 to enhance and improve the company's voice and data wireless network across North Carolina, increasing the company's seven-year investment to over $815 million. The investment includes adding and updating cell sites and other technologies to improve call quality, increase coverage areas and allow a variety of advanced services for customers across North Carolina, with particular detail and investment across the eastern part of the state.

via http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/southern-us-wireless-forum/68175-verizon-wireless-spends-over-96-million.html

[bengreen21 @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:22PM]

Already canceled Rogers Internet (went to Teksavvy) about the cancel Rogers Cable this month. So with this I would be Rogers Free!

[Verdant @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:27PM]

too bad it is telus, if it were rogers, i'd get it, telus coverage blows

[Evan @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:37PM]

If it was Rogers, you'd pay an arm and a leg for it, like they are charging for iPhone service.

[Kinger @ Jul 3rd 2008 4:06PM]

I think the Telus coverage is pretty wicked actually. Its Fido that blows.

With my Telus phone, I'm picking up signals where my Rogers buddies can't.

[Greg @ Jul 3rd 2008 8:45PM]

Fido is owned by rogers hence, the coverage is generally the same. I'm with rogers right now and the coverage is decent, but as far as plans go they are the worst. I will have to contemplate a move to telus with the diamond in their corner.

[konshuss @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:36PM]

nice dig at the canadian dollar by comparing 150 bucks here with the price of doing laundry in the states.("a wash") either that or the term is being used to say the canadian price will cancel out the american one? or is this a way of suggesting since the dollars are neck and neck that it'll be identical? either way you slice it this term seems to be used incorrectly.

also F*** Rogers, and for that matter Telus isn't that much better, I canceled service with them the day my bill was to renew and after being reassured i'd incur no further charges, another month was tacked on.

As for what Rogers is doing with their loyal internet customers... ugh.

[simon @ Jul 3rd 2008 4:04PM]

Dude... chill eh! I can say that I am Canadian, here's my rant: When they use the term "wash" it has nothing to do with laundry. Next time please consult a dictionary.

Even answer.com returns the following:
Informal. An activity, action, or enterprise that yields neither marked gain nor marked loss: “[The company] doesn't do badly. That is, it's a wash” (Harper's).

[simon @ Jul 3rd 2008 4:05PM]

Dude... chill eh! I can say that I am Canadian, here's my rant: When they use the term "wash" it has nothing to do with laundry. Next time please consult a dictionary.

Even answer.com returns the following:
Informal. An activity, action, or enterprise that yields neither marked gain nor marked loss: “[The company] doesn't do badly. That is, it's a wash” (Harper's).

[blitzkrieg999 @ Jul 3rd 2008 4:19PM]

/facepalm

The phrase "a wash" in this case means there's basically no difference. $150 CAD is about the same as $150 USD at present.

[Steffen Jobbs @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:45PM]

Wow! HTC Touch Diamond. Time to take a tinkle.

Of course, it's all moot on 7/11 at 8:00 AM.

[Rob @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:16PM]

@ Steffen Jobbs,

Not in Canada, mate. Rogers is just about to screw the launch of the most anticipated phone in the Canadian cell phone history in a major way, thanks to greed and arrogance.

For many Canadians who were anticipating the 3G iPhone launch, after Rogers announced their hideous iPhone contracts, July 11th will turn out to be just another day up here.

As much as I dislike Telus, Rogers makes Telus look phenomenal.

[SirWalksAlot @ Jul 3rd 2008 3:53PM]

There seems to be a great deal of talk about this phone on the net.. can someone fill me in as to what's so special about it? I'm missing something...

[Surur @ Jul 3rd 2008 4:42PM]

VGA screen, accelerometer, light sensor, capacitive scroll wheel,Opera Mobile 9.5, Touchflo 3D, 11.5 mm thick (although the CDMA version is 14mm), 3 megapixel camera, 4GB flash.

[andrew @ Jul 3rd 2008 4:36PM]

$150!!!?!?!?!!!! Holy cheap, awesome, smartphones, Batman!!!!!!! I'm so there!!!

[andrew @ Jul 3rd 2008 4:41PM]

Don't those data prices seem really reasonable, too? I'm totally moving to Canada now.

[HalfJoey @ Jul 3rd 2008 4:43PM]

I cant remember, does this have Wifi?