Mobile – Page 19 – rgbFilter

Bell and Telus To Launch iPhone In November

October 5, 2009October 7, 2009 Doug Groves Bell, iPhone, Rogers, rumour, Telus10 Comments

As long as quasi-substantiated rumours are to be believed, anyways. The iPhone will be available from Bell and Telus in November, breaking a year plus exclusive deal with Rogers. November also marks the nation wide launch of the joint HSPA network from Bell and Telus, well ahead of the original schedule, which suggested it would be available around the time of the Olympics, and probably starting in Vancouver so the two telecom companies could take advantage of international roaming fees racked up by visitors from around the world. It’s little…

Motorola Resurrects Itself With CLIQ Android Phone

September 10, 2009September 10, 2009 Doug Groves BLUR, CLIQ, Motorola0 comment

Motorola has seen it marketshare) drop precipitously since the heydays of the RAZR. A large part of this has to do with the increasing consumer demand for smart phones that do much more than make calls and send texts. To gain a piece of the ever growing consumer smart phone market, they’re looking to Google’s Android, with the announcement of the new Motorola CLIQ. Right off the top, I think it’s safe to say that CLIQ is probably pronounced ‘clique’ (not ‘click’) since the new MOTOBLUR interface they’ve built on…

Palm Announces Pixi for US

September 9, 2009 Doug Groves palm, Pixi, Pre, webOS2 Comments

Like the cheeky little monkey that it is, Palm isn’t afraid to interrupt news from the big boys for their own new gadget announcement, even on 09-09-09. They today unveiled the long rumoured Palm Pixi, a slimmed down version the Pre. The new phone is coming to US carrier Sprint this holiday, and if the history of the Pre is any indicator, it’s likely to come to Bell a few months later. The design of the Pixi should be familiar to Palm Centro users, as it’s the same candy bar…

Cellular Code of Conduct

September 3, 2009September 3, 2009 Doug Groves Bell, CWTA, Rogers, Telus4 Comments

On Tuesday the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) released a new ‘code of conduct’ that will theoretically govern how wireless carriers will behave vis a vis their subscribers, which number over 23 million in Canada. On the face of it, the code of conduct sounds good. Part of the 3 page document includes allowing customers out of their contracts if, at any point, the carrier has made changes to said contract. I’m sure most long time mobile users are used to such shenanigans, where fees start creeping up, or there’s…

RIM Acquires Iris Browser

August 31, 2009August 31, 2009 Doug Groves Blackberry, RIM, Webkit1 Comment

Windows Mobile and Qtopia users who were enjoying the Iris Browser might as well not bookmark the Torch Mobile site anymore. The Toronto-based makers of Iris have been bought up by Research In Motion. According to the Torch Mobile blog… Torch Mobile is excited to announce that our company has been acquired by Research In Motion (RIM), one of the most renowned mobile technology companies in the world. Our team of developers will join RIM’s global organization and will now be focused on utilizing our WebKit-based mobile browser expertise to…

Palm Pre Launches On Schedule In Canada

August 27, 2009August 27, 2009 Doug Groves Bell, Palm Pre0 comment

Right on time, the Pre has hit the Great White North (or should that be Great Wet North given the weather lately). Instead of rolling with the US Palm ads (ironically starring Canadian actress Tamara Hope), Bell has launched a very iPhone-esque TV spot, and done some viral style ads via Facebook. Videos after the break:

Palm Pre Coming To Bell August 27th

August 4, 2009August 4, 2009 Doug Groves Bell, Palm Pre20 Comments

Bell originally announced the Canadian exclusive for Palm’s Pre some months ago, but they’ve finally announced availability… starting August 27th, you can walk into a Bell Mobility store, or select (and yet to be determined) retail partners. If you’re willing to commit to 3 years, it’ll cost you $199 + a 500MB/month data plan. If you can’t commit that long (and we’d totally understand that), you can pay the full retail price of $599. The official announcement says that ‘due to unprecedented demand’ you’ll be able to pre-order it.

Rogers becomes Speed Junkie with HSPA+

July 28, 2009July 28, 2009 Doug Groves Rogers3 Comments

Rogers wireless division has announced the launch of their HSPA+ network, which will supply speeds of up to a whopping 21 Mbps. The roll out begins in Greater Toronto in August, and will continue to other cities over the upcoming months. This is hot on the heels of their recent announcement of a 50 Mbps home internet connection using DOCSIS 3.0 technology. “With the exponential growth of smartphones, application stores, mobile Internet sticks and embedded laptops and netbooks, Canadians are embracing wireless data and services like never before,” said Rob…

Sony Walkman Turns 30, 13 Year Old Gives It a Spin

June 29, 2009 Doug Groves retro, Sony, walkman0 comment

That’s right. The Sony Walkman has been around for 30 years now, revolutionizing portable music forever by allowing aural connoisseurs to listen to whatever they want, whenever they want. In celebration of the advent of the Walkman, the BBC Magazine had 13 year old Scott Campbell put down his iPod and try living for a week as if it was 1983, when cassette tapes ruled the mobile music roost. There’s a LOT to recommend in the article, but my favourite line has to be… I mistook the metal/normal switch on…

HTC Hero Announced – Best Phone UI ever?

June 24, 2009June 24, 2009 Doug Groves Android, cellphone, HTC12 Comments

HTC held a launch in London, England to announce their new phone, the HTC Hero, running Google’s Android. The first thought that ran through my mind is “Oh great, HTC launches a new Android phone, big deal.” That is, until I saw videos of it in action. This phone could be huge. What really sets this apart is the user interface, which HTC is calling the Sense UI…

Mobile Flash Coming This Fall

June 24, 2009July 25, 2009 Doug Groves Adobe, Android, Flash, HTC, Microsoft, Windows Mobile1 Comment

In it’s Q2 2009 earnings presentation, Adobe mentions that Flash 10 for smartphones should hit beta October of this year. This should mean a better quality (or, finally, the capability) of most smartphones from Nokia, Microsoft, Palm and Google amongst others to play robust Flash content on the go. We’re assuming the beta will hit all these operation systems at the same time, and should provide a consistent Flash presentation environment. There are two major phones missing off that list though: RIM’s Blackberry line, and Apple’s iPhone. I’m not exactly…

iPhone 3G S launch in Toronto, on June 19th 2009

June 24, 2009June 24, 2009 drsquid Apple, iPhone2 Comments

Last Friday we went to the iPhone 3G S launch event at the Toronto Eaton Centre Apple Store…this post is a little tardy, but better late than never!