TelusMobility
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Telus intros ZTE TXTster, "wow factor" nowhere to be found
While we patiently wait for certain other hotly anticipated handsets to drop on Canada's Telus, we can try and make do with the ZTE TXTster. This vowel-dropping flip boasts a 1.3 megapixel camera with flash and video capabilities and a 180 minute talk time and 120 hours of standby. This Fastap-equipped device -- you know, that quirky input method with tiny letters inbetween larger number keys -- can also take advantage of Telus' mobile music and navigator services. You can nab it now for a paltry $29.99 on a 3-year contract, or $229.99 straight up. You'd better really like Fastap.[Via mobilesyrup]
Telus BlackStorm Storm available for pre-order at Future Shop
We had always heard that Telus' BlackBerry Storm would be made available in time for the holiday season, but according to the estimated ship date on Future Shop's website, it'll be pushing it. The touchscreen handset can be pre-ordered right now by interested Canadians, though the $649.99 sticker may give you pause. Better not hold up your plans too long though -- wouldn't want that December 18th delivery date to slip.[Via mobilesyrup]
Telus offers HTC Touch Pro for $299.99 on a 3-year contract
We knew it was coming, and the day Canadian WinMo users have been dying to see arrive has, well, arrived. Telus Mobility has at long last decided to offer HTC's Touch Pro for those with the requisite coin, and while it's just the same as every other CDMA Touch Pro in terms of features, you'll be locked in for a solid three years (or eternity, same difference) if you're lusting after the $299.99 price tag. For those unwilling to sign the dotted line on such an agreement, you can pay $549.99, $599.99 or $649.99 on a 2-, 1- and 0-year plan, respectively.[Via MobileSyrup]
Telus tantalizes with LG Chocolate GiG music phone
Americans may know the pictured handset by another name (psst... it's Chocolate 3, you knew that!), but Telus Mobility customers will soon be referring to it as the LG Chocolate GiG. Available now on the Canadian carrier, said flip phone offers up 1GB of internal storage, an incredibly convenient 3.5-millimeter headphone jack, a spinning scroll wheel, 2-megapixel camera, 2.2-inch QVGA main display and stereo Bluetooth support. You'll also get access to Telus mobile radio (XM) as well as Telus mobile music, both of which should keep you adequately stocked with artfully imposed sine waves. It's available now for the taking at $99.99 (3-year contract), $199.99 (2-year deal), $249.99 (1-year agreement) or $299.99 without any obligations.[Via mobilesyrup]
Samsung's Slyde m540 comes to Telus in grey and pink
For Telus subscribers who've been unbelievably envious of Americans yapping on the Rant, it's time to kick back a cold one and relax. Telus Mobility has just introduced the renamed Samsung Slyde m540 into its lineup, and the pricing is mighty palatable if you've got three years to burn. Available now, the handset can be acquired gratis on a 3-year plan, while it'll run you $49.99 with a 2-year agreement, $179.99 on a 1-year deal and $229.99 with no strings to speak of. Now, if only choosing between grey and pink were that simple...[Via mobilesyrup]
Telus launches LG Dare for as low as $99.99
LG's Dare is pretty old news here in the US of A, but Canucks looking to get in on that touchscreen action finally can thanks to Telus Mobility. Starting now, users can snap up the LCD-dominated mobile for $349.99 off contract, $299.99 with a 1-year agreement, $199.99 with a 2-year nod and $99.99 with terms that extend far, far into the unknown future. So, Canada -- can you dig that, or are you already waiting for something far more intriguing?[Via mobilesyrup]
Future Shop feels really bad about Touch Pro mixup, offers Touch Diamond blowout as peace offering
When it comes to the retailin' biz, apologies don't really mean a lot to us -- unless they're accompanied by some sort of financial recompense, of course. Canada's Future Shop is graciously extending an offer to sell Telus' HTC Touch Diamond for just $99.99 CAD on a three-year contract (a $100 discount) after it was unable to deliver on its flyer's promise of a Touch Pro this week for $239.99. The store blames the "vendor's shipping delay" for the gaffe, and you know what? We believe them.[Via MobileInCanada]
Telus Touch Pro breaks cover again courtesy of Future Shop
Best Buy already did the honors a few weeks ago, but it seems like the release of Telus' Touch Pro is imminent now that Future Shop is... oh, you know, actually listing it in its mailings with a price and all. Excited Windows Mobile fans (and converts -- if such creatures exist) can apparently look to pay $239.99 CAD (about $206) on a three-year agreement, and you get a $50 gift card to boot. We're hearing that these are still difficult -- if not impossible -- to actually come by in Future Shop locations, but they've got to be shipping any minute now.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Sorry, CDMA: Telus, Bell finally fess up to HSPA, LTE aspirations
Capping months of speculation, Canadian CDMA carriers Bell and Telus have both announced that they'll be moving to HSPA to power portions their 3G networks as a stop-gap on their way to an eventual LTE rollout. While both networks will be investing heavily to build out the necessary infrastructure, they'll be sharing the fruits of their collective labor to extend roaming agreements that are already in place between the two -- a logical move, considering they'll be going up against the Rogers juggernaut which has the distinct advantage of already being on the GSM technology roadmap. The carriers are looking at 2010 to flip the switch on HSPA, but don't worry, owners of EV-DO handsets: the CDMA goods will continue to be supported for the foreseeable future while HSPA is getting layered on top. Odds are, anyone using a CDMA handset will be due for new hardware long before the lights finally go out.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Telus claims BlackBerry Storm on behalf of Her Majesty's Canadian Dominion
Seems that the bickering over which Canadian carrier would land the Storm has drawn to an end -- either that, or Telus is gearing up to jump the gun and just declare itself the preemptive winner in the hopes of elbowing Bell right out of the picture. Whatever the case, the CDMA giant now has a page up on its site encouraging folks to sign up to find out when the 9530 is available -- which according to Boy Genius Report's leaked press release, should be "just in time for the holiday shopping season." If that unnecessarily nebulous statement means November, that puts 'em right in line with Verizon to the south and Vodafone to the east; so much for preferential treatment on the home turf, eh?[Via Boy Genius Report]Update: What's this -- a truce? Could it be? Bell has now also announced that it's getting the Storm, so if there's any sort of exclusivity going on here, it's for an awfully short period of time. Thanks, everyone!
Telus and Bell in bidding war over BlackBerry Storm?
The Storm's a lock for Verizon stateside, but we're hearing the battle for the jewel in RIM's crown is far from over north of the border -- which would actually make a whole lot of sense, considering that we haven't yet heard anything definitive from any of the carriers up there. Telus is said to have tried to lock up the deal out of the gate, but Bell jumped in, upped the ante, and currently has the high bid for an exclusive Storm launch. Our tipster says "this won't be over any time soon," so we've got to ask: any Bell or Telus subscribers out there want to kick in some cash to get it on your network?[Thanks, kjb_ninja]
Best Buy spills the beans on Telus' HTC Touch Pro and Touch Dual
We absolutely love it when stuff like this happens, the FCC do it -- well we might add -- and now it appears Best Buy wants in on the game at Telus's expense. While it comes as no surprise that Telus is snapping up the HTC Touch Pro, we honestly weren't thinking they'd have the Touch Dual on their radar, too. Curiously, the image gaffe doesn't mention dates and pricing, but seeing as it is in this week's ad, Telus might well be fleshing out those details in a day or two. Stay tuned.[Via Boy Genius Report and thanks, RileyFreeman]
Telus announces lights out for analog network, not a dry eye in the house
Look ma, no more analog! In the glorious pic above, the map shown in green represents Telus' analog coverage, the other shows digital coverage. If the maps are really representative of the various signal types, we'd guess that Saskatchewan (above) will be mostly alright. Telus commented that a few "very, very small rural communities" in British Columbia will be left in the lurch in all this, as they only had analog service and are rightly concerned about the lack of 911 and general public safety. Part of the reason for the shut down seems to be the shrinking stockpile of hard to find spare parts and keeping the network lit for so few customers just isn't cost effective. All subscribers with analog sets will get a shiny new digital set for free and there's even talk of finding some way to boost digital coverage to those left without. [Via intomobile]
Telus and HTC bump S720 to Windows Mobile 6.1
With Windows Mobile 7 on the horizon (presumably... no, hopefully), it's easy to lose sight of the fact that 6.1 updates are still going strong. Take for example Telus' S720, the CDMA version of the Vox -- a Standard handset with a penchant for high-efficiency texting. It's a bit of a dark horse in a world dominated by high-gloss badasses like the Touch Diamond, but it's still a totally serviceable device that's worthy of an update from time to time. What's more, this particular patch offers EV-DO Rev. A support and an improvement in "overall device functionality and stability," so it seems like a no-brainer for owners. Until they have a crack at something like the S740 on a GSM carrier, anyway.[Thanks, Colin]
Bell, Telus to announce HSPA partnership this week?
Now that literally everyone on the planet except Bell and Telus themselves has accepted that the Canadian carriers are moving away from CDMA, the rumors are really starting to heat up -- and there's a twist this time around. Rather than wait for LTE, the Financial Post is reporting that Canada's two CDMA giants will proceed directly to HSPA posthaste, dropping $1 billion in the process to try to get a network up and running in just one year's time. Furthermore, they won't be trying to outbuild one another; instead, FP's sources report that Bell and Telus will be partnering in an effort to take the Rogers juggernaut head-on. It's starting to look more and more like CDMA is becoming a burden and a competitive disadvantage for the carriers that are still on it -- and if this all goes down, Rogers had better be looking over its shoulder.[Thanks, Justin S.]
Telus' HTC Touch Diamond gets video review
While Sprint and Verizon consider final monikers for the HTC Touch Diamond, some North Americans are already enjoying the thing up in the Great North. The ecstatic folks over at Mobile Syrup were able to snap up Telus' version of the WinMo 6.1-packin' handset, and of course, they put together a video review for us Americans to drool over. The 7:15 clip includes a few comparison angles with other mobiles and a full walk-through of the user interface. Reviewers found the web browsing on Opera Mobile to be a real treat, and of course, they couldn't deny the awesomeness of the 640 x 480 resolution display. You can check the review in full just after the jump, but if you're easily made envious, we'd suggest you not.
Canada's industry boss: don't like incoming text charges? Switch carriers
We're not sure what sort of mind-altering tricks Bell and Telus pulled on him, but Canada's minister of industry, Jim Prentice, is taking an entirely less confrontational tone after meeting with the carriers following their decisions to start charging 15 cents for incoming text messages. He'd originally sounded pretty fired up over the plans -- which involved absolutely zero collusion whatsoever, we're sure -- but now says he "would encourage consumers dissatisfied with existing plans to seek alternatives" after being assured by both Bell and Telus that customers charged for spam texts would be able to get the charges removed. Given everything we know about billing issues and customer service calls, that's... shall we say, not exactly reassuring.[Via MobileSyrup]
Telus offers up Student Plan for heavy texters / surfers, light talkers
Telus clearly knows what's up. College kids aren't much on talking this day and age, but they sure love to text and surf. A pair of Student Plans (good 'til September 30th) have just emerged, one for phones ($35 per month) and the other for smartphones ($50 per month). Both rate plans offer up just 200 minutes of talk time but include nationwide unlimited talk, text, picture and video messaging with your Fave 10, unlimited nights and weekends starting at 6:00PM and unlimited web browsing. If you're hemming and hawing, maybe the $50 GAP gift card you get when purchasing the $35 plan with an LG KEYBO will be the deciding factor. No? Okay.[Via mobilesyrup]
Telus launches LG KEYBO
We were secretly (or not so secretly) hoping there'd been some crossed signals in the rumors that Telus would be launching a version of the enV2 called the "KEYBO," but no, it's all very true. The Tae Bo Thibault KEYBO checks in at $49.99 CAD (about $48) on a three-year contract, offering EV-DO, GPS, a 2 megapixel camera, and of course the series' claim to fame, a flip top that reveals a second display with a dedicated QWERTY keyboard for extreme texting action. Enjoy trying to say "KEYBO" without giggling, Canadians. We dare you.[Via MobileSyrup]
HTC Touch Diamond headed to Telus on August 14th
While Sprint and Verizon still haven't officially nailed down an exact release date for their incarnations of HTC's desirable Touch Diamond, Telus isn't keeping its customers (or potential ones) in the dark any longer, with it now announcing that the handset will be available on August 14th. Prices will start at just $150 on a three-year contract, and jump to $350 on a two-year one, $400 on a one-year deal, and a full $450 if you don't want any strings attached at all. You can also expect to pay $15 a month for a basic email and IM plan, or $30 for email, web browsing and IM -- on top of your usual voice plan, of course.
