Apple iPad Canadian launch, Rogers on-device data plans available, Bell plans available, and Telus is MIA

Though you’re all probably aware, we wouldn’t be doing our jobs here if we didn’t mention something about the roll out of the iPad beyond US borders, including here in Canada.  From the breathless coverage in the mainstream press, it appears that there were close to 200 people ready to get their hands on the iPad on opening day at the Apple store in the Eaton Centre.

If there’s a certain lack of excitement to this article, it’s not born so much from cynicism of the whole circus, though there might be a hint of that.  It stems more from the the iPad not being the kind of device anyone here at rgbFilter has an overwhelming interest in owning.  That, and ,criticisms of Apple’s capricious AppStore policies, which have been the root of many a ‘debate’ in the virtual bullpen at rgbFilter HQ.  Even before the iPad was a glimmer in Steve Jobs’ eye, at least a couple of us have been waiting patiently for a good tablet device, preferably a convertible.  After reading erstwhile rgb’er Ryan’s iPad hands on when it launched in the US, and Johnny’s subsequent review of the the HP tm2 convertible tablet, it’s a little difficult to get excited about the launch of the iPad, when other less tweeted about – less hyped – more flexible portable machines exist on the market.

Of course, not everyone wants/needs the kind of portable computing a convertible tablet brings, and if the iPad is something you’re looking at getting, it’s available now.  The pricing ranges from $549 for the 16GB WiFi only version up to $879 for the 64GB WiFi + 3G version, which is in line with US pricing.

If you opt for the 3G version, Rogers has announced contract-free pre-paid only data plans for the device. For $15/month you can get the 250MB + unlimited access via Rogers Wi-Fi Hotspots. For $35/month that 250MB limit goes up to 5GB. Rogers has still not announced if the data sharing plan, that Apple accidentally leaked, will be available soon, and stated on their Redboard blog:

As we confirmed in the comments section of our May 10th post, we have been working on adding data-sharing plans that would allow customers to extend an existing data plan to share with an iPad.
Internationally, data sharing plans are not widely available for the iPad. But we’ve always been proponents of sharing plans, from sharing plans for family members to co-workers. We know many of you are interested in our data sharing options for iPad. They’re not available at this time, but we’ll share more details when we can.

Rogers also is one of the few carriers in the world to be certified by Apple to offer on-device data plan activation, which gives you greater flexibility in cost management, since you can put your data plan on hold during months when you don’t need it, directly from the iPad. Rogers has more details about this service on their Redboard blog here

Bell also announced their iPad plans on Wednesday, just in the nick of time for the launch. Their plans match what Rogers are offering, $15 for 250MB and $35 for 5GB, contract-free and pre-paid only. More information on Bell’s plans can be found here.

Strangely, other than reports of a short email going out yesterday, saying that they would be supporting it, Telus’ iPad plans are MIA. We were hoping that Telus was going to announce something today, but other than some rumours posted on ipadincanada.ca, they have been strangely silent, even though they are going to be selling the micro-SIMs needed for the iPad. However if the comments on the ipadincanada post are to be believed, Telus will have the best plan, with 500MB for $20, and ability to open a regular post-paid account.

Visit ipadincanada.ca to see some pictures of today’s launch from across Canada.