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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.
MobiTV breaks the 4 million subscriber mark
MobiTV has been around for quite awhile, and although it has seen its fair share of ups and downs, today's a day for celebration in the offices that remain. After hitting the 3 million mark in February, the company is now claiming that its benefiting from some 4 million subscriptions. Charlie Nooney, MobiTV's CEO, was quoted as saying that the firm was "thrilled to be on the cusp of mass market acceptance for mobile entertainment in North America." We don't know if we'd go that far just yet, but here's a tip of the hat to you anyway.[Via RCRWireless, image courtesy of PDAsNews]
Bell, Telus getting ready to pull GSM trigger?
The rumors are certainly nothing new, but rumblings over official announcements from both Bell and Telus regarding their newfound love for all things GSM have reached a rolling boil in the past few days. The latest little tidbit comes from UBS, whose fortune tellers say that both Canadian carriers should be outing some transition plans in the near future in the hope of better positioning themselves to compete with rival Rogers, get cooler handsets on board, and realize some synergy with the overwhelming majority of carriers around the world. Bell and Telus are both staying completely tightlipped for the moment, but one remaining question is whether they'll be going with HSPA or moving straight to LTE -- a distinct possibility, considering that the 4G tech should be ramping up right around the time that the carriers could realistically put the gears in motion. You ready to cry uncle yet over there, UMB?[Thanks, Mario and Jay]
Telus, Bell start charging for incoming texts, government takes offense
Though it's a common practice in the US, charging customers for incoming text messages isn't terribly common up in Canada. Don't worry though, Canadians -- your days of being chronically undercharged are drawing to a close thanks to suspiciously closely-timed announcements from Bell and Telus that they'll start chalking up 15 cents per inbound message for anyone not on a messaging plan starting in August. The country's industry minister is none too pleased about the change (the dude must get like a thousand texts a day, after all), sending out letters to Bell and Telus' head honchos requesting meetings before the new charges take effect. We'll see where this goes, but we certainly wouldn't get our hopes up.Read - Bell, Telus customers to pay for incoming text messagesRead - Ottawa moves to forestall texting revolt [Via Smart Mobs]
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.
Telus getting enV2 as "KEYBO" -- seriously?
We're hearing that Telus will be ushering in a whole new age of Texter's Thumb before too long with the launch of the curiously-named "KEYBO," a rebrand of the enV2 found on Verizon in the States. EV-DO data, a media player, and a 2 megapixel camera make this a solid choice for SMS maniacs who want something just a little sexier and fancier than the Rumour (itself a rebrand of Sprint's Rumor). We understand where the name comes from -- sort of -- but that doesn't mean it's right.
Telus launches Samsung SPH-A523, is way late to the party
Need slim, svelte, cool, and pretty outdated? Telus has you sorted with its new -- to them, anyway -- Samsung A523, also known as the Mysto from Helio, and the Samsung Ultra 10.9 in the GSM world. Features are tight with a 2 megapixel cam, QVGA display, weighing a measly 84 grams, with a standby time of about 577 hours. Pricing is decent at $99 on three years, $149 on 2, $299 if one year's your thing, and outright purchase for $349. The A523 is sitting pretty on the Telus site as we speak, so if you're in the mood for an upgrade, swing on by.[Via MobileSyrup]
