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iDEN to finally lose some pudge with i290 candybar
i880 series aside (maybe), Motorola's iDEN lineup really doesn't have a track record of wowing the fashion conscious among us. Granted, the network has always been targeted at heavy-duty industries where impressing those around you with your face candy isn't necessarily a priority, but it'd still be nice to have the option of getting in on the most ubiquitous PTT service without carrying a phone that looks like a brightly-colored rock (and no, we're not talking about a PEBL, either). Enter the i290, a phone outed by Motorola that displays Telus branding -- Canada, here we come -- and will almost certainly find its way to Sprint, too. Little is known about the slim candybar, but the lack of a "c" in the model number likely means that it's straight iDEN, not an iDEN / CDMA hybrid. High end? No, but unlike most of its stablemates, you might get away without anyone knowing you're using iDEN here. We'll throw out more details as we get 'em.
Telus backs out: BCE Inc. and Telus won't unite
Round two for big Telco mergers seems set to have fallen off the rails in Canada -- round one saw Rogers Wireless merge with Microcell Communications (Fido). While bigger can sometimes be better, in the wireless world lack of competition can hurt and Canadian users may have just ended up with bigger bills, the same service, and fewer choices. Of course, said merger would have involved both wireless and wireline services of the two giants, but the wireless parts alone would have seen a combined subscriber list 10.9 million names long. Apparently BCE Inc. was in such a hurry to get this done that the time pressures are what gave Telus cold feet. Of course, a group led by Cerberus Capital Management and the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (BCE's biggest shareholder) are still in the running, so expect an update as soon as the dust settles.
BlackBerry 8830 "coming soon" on Telus website
Telus customers who can't part with their BlackBerry when they travel across the pond could rest easy when the 8830 was listed as coming soon on their website. As of yesterday, the price was $199 with a three year contract, had a 50% discount on international roaming through October, and was launching June 22. As of today, though, it was changed to $499.99 (ouch) with a three year contract and they removed the launch date. No word on what caused the surge in pricing but inquiring minds want to know. What gives, Telus?[Via BlackBerry Sync]
Telus HTC S720 in the wild
Our favorite Canadian carrier, Telus, is launching another HTC product before everyone -- this time it's the the Libra running Windows Mobile 6.0 Standard. Featuring a full numeric keypad and a slide down QWERTY keyboard, a 2 megapixel shooter, microSD expansion, and stereo Bluetooth, this device is built to please. Click on through for more pics!
Telus gets a pair of Sierra Wireless modems
All that newly-launched EV-DO rev. A happiness in southern Ontario, Montreal, and Winnepeg doesn't do a heck of a lot of good without hardware to match, so Canada's Telus has teamed up with Sierra Wireless to deliver a pair of modems that take full advantage of the speed. The 595U is a USB modem that already sees duty on Sprint, offering up support of PCs and Macs alike with average download speeds ranging from 450 to 800 kbps and uploads commanding 300 to 400 kbps. Look for it soon for $99.99 CAD (about $94) on a three-year agreement or $349.99 (about $331) commitment-free. The other unit, the MP 595 GPS, is intended for public safety, transportation, and field service applications with military-spec ruggedness, integrated serial, USB, and Ethernet connections, and a GPS receiver for vehicle tracking. Needless to say, it won't be available from your friendly local Telus outlet, but interested parties should be able to call the carrier directly to get hooked up.
Telus confirms BlackBerry 8830
Now that everybody is doing it has done it, it seems Telus is about to drop this newest and sweetest BlackBerry flavored device in Canada. Sometime between now and a little later from now, the BlackBerry 8830 will be offered by Telus for the princely sum of $400 on a 3-year contract -- and yeah, that's a pretty savage price. While Telus isn't giving an official date yet, the pic of the 8830 on the site has the date May 25th on it; this of course could be just a random date, but we're positive many eager Telusites will hope not. Check the link for more info and a pretty 360 degree view.
The HTC P4000 for Telus in the flesh
Being the first on the block to have the latest and greatest is an awesome feeling and the HTC P4000 (aka Titan) is no exception. Our favorite CDMA carrier up north, Telus, just landed the latest bad boy today that's sporting Windows Mobile 5.0 with a cost of $200 on a three (ouch!) year contract. Just in case you forgot the spec sheet, we'll give it to you again: EV-DO Rev. A, 2 megapixel cam, 256 MB of RAM, 128 of ROM, and Bluetooth 2.0. Verizon and Sprint customers should be very jealous!
Telus launches HTC P4000?
Word on the street is that the HTC P4000 has allegedly landed at Telus Mobility in Canada. Although a perusal of the Telus website showed no evidence of the P4000 being offered as of today, we'd love to see the HTC Titan P4000 show up in some Telus stores or in a customer's awaiting hand real quick. If you're in Canada and have spotted the P4000 for sale, drop us a comment, would'ja? We'd love to see an HTC unit with Windows Mobile 6, full QWERTY and EV-DO Rev. A speeds. Verizon Wireless and Sprint customers -- this may mean good news soon, yes?[Thanks PocketGear]
BlackBerry 8830 Cyclone heading to Telus, eh?
RIM isn't selfish -- especially when it comes to sharing with its own countrymen -- and the BlackBerry 8830 isn't going to be any different. Our friends up north at Telus report that the svelte new Cyclone is in the final testing stages with a release in the not too distant future. Here's the rundown on specs: a dual band 800 / 1900 MHz CDMA radio, GSM / GPRS support for international roaming, trackball navigation, OS 4.2, media player, and removable memory. Now, only a two important questions remain -- at what cost and when?
Black Motorola KRZR K1m comes to Telus
Looks like Canada's Telus Mobility got hooked up with the Motorola KRZR K1m in yet another shade -- this time, black. We've been waiting for a while to see when new K1m colors would start showing up, and here's a pretty decent first stab at black we think (or second stab, if you count Sprint's). Anything new besides the color here? Very doubtful. If you just bought that pretty solver K1m from Telus recently, we feel for ya. Just don't break out the Sharpie marker for that new black-colored mod, mkay?[Via HowardForums, thanks Jay]
Canadians get HTC Vox before US
Our Canadian friends who are fortunate enough to subscribe to Telus Mobility will become the first North Americans to get their paws on the new HTC Vox handset. The CDMA Vox (GSM version announced a few moons back at the 2007 3GSM World Congress) will feature Windows Mobile 6, WiFi and Bluetooth, microSD, 2 megapixel cam and a 2.4 inch color display, though the real draw here is the dual keypad design. At first glance, the Vox looks like a standard Windows Mobile Smartphone candybar, but lurking underneath is a full QWERTY keyboard (which we hear is just how Canadians like it).[Via Crave]
Telus unleashes LG 8600
Canada's been doing a respectable job keeping up with LG's Chocolate releases with both Rogers and Telus offering variants of the Korean slider; next up, Telus is rolling deep with the Chocolate flip. Known by various model names on different carriers -- all typically ending in 8600 -- Telus' version will go simply by "8600" and offer the same comprehensive music support, touch sensitive external controls, EV-DO, and strapping good looks that have brought it success elsewhere. Look for it for $130 CDN on a three-year agreement -- a harsh sentence to be sure, but hey, at least they throw in a 1GB microSD card and reader.[Via Howard Forums, thanks Jay]
Telus adds Samsung u510, white Motorola KRZR
We feel like we can barely tell the difference between the white KRZR from Moto and the original gray -- especially if you squint your eyes a bit -- but choice is always good nonetheless, and to that end Telus has added the paler variant to its lineup. Going toe to toe with the K1m in the high-fashion game, Samsung's u510 has also found its way onto the CDMA carrier (look familiar?) with a 220 x 176 display, 1.3 megapixel cam, microSD slot -- something its Helio doppelganger lacks -- and touch-sensitive controls. Grab your white KRZR for the same price as its grayer counterpart, $149 CDN -- or a u510 for $50 CDN less, $100, both on a three-year agreement.[Thanks, Jay]Read - Samsung u510Read - Motorola K1m MOTOKRZR
Switchers, rejoice: Canada gets WNP today
Let's be honest: even if you like your carrier, being married to it sucks. Whether you're staring down the business end of a three-year contract (Canadian carriers, we're looking squarely at you), your company is engaged in some sort of business relationship with a particular carrier, or you can't take your beloved phone number with you -- whatever the reason may be, getting locked in instills a feeling of dread and unease that we'd personally rather be without. Contracts and business deals may be here to stay, but for our friends north of the border, your government has finally solved that whole number conundrum. As of today, carriers doing business in metropolitan areas are required to support wireless number portability (WNP, as the kids are calling it these days), opening the floodgates from Rogers to Telus, Telus to Bell, Bell to Fido, and so on. We're not sure what carrier(s) stand to benefit the most from the move, but if you've been waiting for today with bated breath, let us know all about your move in comments![Via Scott Robinson]
Telus, Sierra Wireless carrying EV-DO Rev A to Canada
If the Canucks out there have been getting a bit jealous at all the Rev A love going around down south, your resentment ends now -- well, sometime this year, anyway. Thanks to Telus and Sierra Wireless, EV-DO Rev A connectvitiy is headed to Canada in the coming months, as interested users will be able to pop the AirCard 595 into their laptop's PCMCIA slot and reportedly reach peak speeds of up to 3.1Mbps downstream and 1.8Mbps upstream. Of course, it is noted that typical speeds will range between 300 to 400Kbps whilst uploading, and 450 to 800Kbps on the downward slope, but you Canadians will probably take what you can get, eh? Unfortunately, there's no set dates for the future rollouts, and "select markets" is all we have to go on for availability, but we do know that Telus will be charging $349.99 for the AirCard 595 sans a contract, or you can lock yourself in for a whopping three years if you've only got $99.99 to spare.
Canada on verge of number portability
Americans have been enjoying number portability for a while now (though not without its fair share of hiccups), but some surprising names make the list of countries that haven't yet taken the plunge; Japan, for example, just flipped the switch for fickle customers this month. It appears that next up will be our neighbors to the North, with Fido noting on their website that all major Canadian carriers will be allowing number transfers in "all metropolitan areas" no later than March 14 of next year. Regional carriers will still be on the hook to allow outbound transfers by the same date, but are given a reprieve until next September to get the inbound side working. Any Canadian readers out there anxious to make the switch? Tell us all those heart-wrenching stories in comments![Thanks, Frank]
Canadian telecommunications company upgrading for HDTV
The TelCos aren't the only one upgrading their networks, the Canadian Cable Cos have a lot of work to as well. It isn't all bad considering they only need to run fiber to their head ends vs to the customer premise. Telus Corp. plans to spend $600 million over the next three years to up grade 7000 head-ends which will enable them to offer more HD programming as well as faster Internet access.
Telus brings Fastap to Canada with LG 490
It looks like Canadians are getting a second shot at Digit Wireless' love-it-or-hate-it Fastap keypad layout with Telus' introduction of the LG 490 clamshell. As you might recall, this same model came to Alltel a couple months back, though we're guessing the Telus incarnation is cleansed of the NASCAR fodder strewn about on its American equivalent. Strangely, Telus customers are going to pay a good deal more for the phone, commanding $129 CAD (about $115 USD) on a two-year contract compared to Alltel's $60 -- the carrier must be brimming with confidence that 38 keys are exactly what text-savvy Canadians yearn for.
Pantech's 3200 heads to Canada by way of Telus
Say you're on Telus and you're looking for a fresh low-end flip. You'd like it to be Korean, but you're opposed to Samsung and LG. Pretty tough requirements to satisfy, eh? Pantech's swooping in to your rescue with their PN3200, a basic clamshell with 220 x 176 internal and 96 x 96 external displays, Bluetooth, a VGA cam, 64-tone polyphony, music player, and little ol' 1xRTT for data. Not a bad freshman effort for Pantech's entry into the Canadian marketplace, especially at $99.99 CAD on a 2-year contract.[Via Slashgear]
Sona's video player for BlackBerry powers "bbTV"
Last time we checked in with SonaMobile, their video player was in beta and it was looking a bit, well, beta-like -- download times were hurting, video quality left a lot to be desired, and content selection was limited at best. Well, times are a-changin', and it looks like these guys are just about ready to flip the switch for Canadian BlackBerry users on Rogers, Bell, and Telus. So what's changed? For starters, Sona's claiming faster download times and reduced storage requirements thanks to an improved compression scheme, though you're still looking at a 3-5 minute download for a 1-2 minute clip. The commercial launch has also been renamed "bbTV," offering news, sports, and financial content from Canada's Global National, and they've added an archive feature for reminiscing about last week's... uh, news, sports, and finances. No word on launch plans outside Canada, though users are claiming it's easy enough to fool Sona's site into letting anyone download the goods; the only question is whether you want to put up with some pretty painful download times to watch exclusively Canadian content.
