Bell, Telus, Rogers trial inter-carrier video calling
Even as American carriers continue to resist it, a variety of Canada's GSM networks support video calling on so-enabled 3G handsets -- but currently, the problem is that you're only able to video call other phones on the same network. Fortunately, Rogers, Bell, and Telus have been hard at work playing nice long enough to ensure that their respective video calling services play nice one another, and they've just announced the successful completion of inter-carrier trials. The companies are quick to point out that this makes them the "first inter-carrier partnership in North America" to support 3GPP-compliant video calling, something that should hopefully make AT&T and T-Mobile feel at least a fleeting moment of shame.
Categories: Mobile Phone, Other Tags: bell, bellmobility, feel-at-least, fleeting-moment, hard-at-work, respective, rogerswireless, successful, the-successful, videocalling
Rogers getting Android 2.1-equipped Acer Liquid e this spring
Acer may make plenty of cellphones, but they've so far been a pretty rare sight on North American carriers. That's now set to change this Spring, however, when Rogers will reportedly be the first carrier in North America to offer Acer's new Liquid e phone -- and, incidentally, the first carrier in Canada to offer an Android 2.1 phone (not counting the upgradable Milestone, that is). In case you missed its debut at MWC, the Liquid e packs a 3.5-inch touchscreen, along with a slightly underclocked 768MHz Snapdragon processor, a 5-megapixel camera, 7.2Mbps 3G and Wi-Fi and, of course, a basic implementation of Android 2.1.
Categories: Android, Mobile Phone Tags: acerliquide, carriers, debut, engadget, exact, liquid, liquid e, phone, release, rogers, rogers-wireless, rogerswireless, snapdragon
Rogers yanks HTC Dream from shelves for urgent emergency call fix
Some of you Rogers subscribers have probably already taken your carrier up on its offer to upgrade your Dream to a Magic , but if not, pay very close attention here: calling 911 doesn't work right now without making some changes. Basically, there's an issue that prevents emergency calls from being completed if location-based services are enabled, which means you've got to head into Settings and disable GPS -- not an optimal solution by any stretch of the imagination. Rogers and HTC are said to be working on a patch as we speak, but in the meantime, don't expect to waltz into a Rogers store and pick up one of these bad boys.
Categories: Android, htc, Mobile Phone Tags: already-taken, emergency, emergencycalling, entry, rogers-wireless, rogerswireless, your-carrier
Rogers signed up to carry Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 as a Canadian exclusive
We still don't know whether T-Mobile is going to take on-contract advantage of the X10's AWS version in the States, but as far as we can tell, WIND won't be taking advantage of it in Canada now that Rogers has locked it up as an exclusive. The bad news is that it won't be launching until some time in the second quarter -- but when you think back to the X1 and the excruciating 16-month delay between announcement and retail on Rogers , that ain't half bad.
Categories: Android, htc, Mobile Phone Tags: 16-month-delay, aws, engadget, excruciating, mobile, result, rogers, rogers-wireless, rogerswireless, sony-ericsson, x10, xperia-x10
Rogers vends Nokia N86, $100 on a three-year deal
S60 or otherwise, it's pretty tough to argue with the meaty goodness of an 8 megapixel cam paired with an AMOLED display -- especially when it's being delivered on carrier subsidy. Rogers customers have another reason to celebrate their network's willingness to release a glorious variety of largely untouched, sparsely branded handsets this week on news that the Nokia N86 8MP is now available for CAD $99.99 ($94) on a three-year contract, scaling all the way up to CAD $449.99 ($424) contract-free. These days, it's pretty easy to lose sight of the fact that there's such a thing as a non-touch smartphone, and the N86 -- along with the E72 -- is a prime example of why those sorts of devices still exist
Categories: Android, BlackBerry, htc, Mobile Phone, Other Tags: 100-on-a-three-year-deal, engadget, japanese, mobile, podcasts, return-false, rogers-wireless, rogerswireless
More evidence mounting of an 8GB iPhone 3GS?
Filed under: Handsets , Rogers Wireless , Apple , iPhone OS Well, kids, we don't know if this is a typo, a Freudian slip, or both (or neither), but according to this handy graphic on Rogers' website the rumored 8GB iPhone 3GS exists -- if not for sale, at least for comparison. Keen readers of charts will note that the price listed for the 3GS still starts with the 16GB model, and if you scroll through to the ordering page there is no 8GB 3GS option listed. So, what do you think
Categories: Android, BlackBerry, htc, Mobile Phone, nintendo, Other Tags: canada, iphone3gs, messaging, mobile, rogers, rogers-wireless, rogerswireless, virgin-mobile
Apple phasing out iPhone 3G in favor of 8GB 3GS?
Filed under: Handsets , Rogers Wireless , GSM , EDGE , HSDPA , UMTS , Apple As brilliant as the $99 subsidized iPhone 3G strategy might seem on paper, the fact remains that the 3G now is a 13 month-old device -- the better part of a lifetime by smartphone standards -- and it stands to reason that Apple wouldn't be interested in consuming manufacturing capacity indefinitely with outdated equipment, especially since that game plan cuts into economies of scale on the 3GS' chipset and superior camera hardware. The solution? Let iPhone 3G inventory cool down for a few months -- $99 is a nice, round number after all that's plenty low enough to move units -- and when the carnage is over, phase it out in favor of a new lower-cost 3GS
Categories: Android, BlackBerry, htc, Mobile Phone, nintendo, Other Tags: accessories, apple, china-unicom, culture, iphone, iphone 3gs, iphone3g, mobile, rogers, rogers-wireless, rogerswireless