Rogers on Monday announced two new LTE devices that will offer even faster speeds than earlier 4G modems on its network. The company will soon launch the Sierra Wireless AirCard 330U LTE Rocket stick as well as the Sierra Wireless AirCard 763S LTE Rocket mobile hotspot. Both devices utilize the 2600MHz spectrum and will offer LTE download speeds of up to 40 Mbps, compared to the 12-25Mbps offered by Rogers’s earlier devices. ”We are thrilled to offer Canada’s fastest LTE devices on Canada’s fastest and largest LTE network,” said Rogers Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer John Boynton. “We were the first to launch an LTE network in Canada and we have invested in the network technology that enables us to keep raising the bar for our customers to experience faster speeds, more devices and more LTE plan options.” Plans for the LTE Rocket stick and mobile hotspot will start at $22.93 per month. Read on for Rogers’s press release.

Rogers to launch Canada’s fastest LTE devices and new price plan options

TORONTO, Feb. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – To continue bringing more speed and choice to Canadians, today Rogers Communications announced the addition of two new Long Term Evolution (LTE) devices that will offer the fastest speeds inCanada, as well as more LTE plan options.

Rogers will soon be launching the Sierra Wireless AirCard® 330U model of the LTE Rocket™ stick as well as the Sierra Wireless AirCard® 763S LTE Rocket mobile hotspot which offer maximum theoretical LTE download speeds of up to 100 Mbps. These devices will be the first to support connectivity on both the 1700/2100 MHz and the 2600 MHz spectrum on Rogers LTE network, offering typical LTE download speeds of up to 40 Mbps, compared to 12-25 Mbps for devices using 1700/2100 MHz only.

“We are thrilled to offer Canada’s fastest LTE devices on Canada’s fastest and largest LTE network,” said John Boynton, Rogers Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. “We were the first to launch an LTE network in Canada and we have invested in the network technology that enables us to keep raising the bar for our customers to experience faster speeds, more devices and more LTE plan options.”

Rogers will also extend its range of 4G HSPA+ mobile internet plans to LTE models including the Flex Rate plan for Rocket stick and mobile hotspot starting from $22.93 per month and Flex Rate plans for tablets starting from $7.93 per month. Rogers continues to offer the LTE Introductory Plan of $52.93 for 10 GB/month on a three-year-term and plans include no overage fees for the first month.

The new LTE pricing options will be available this week. The Sierra Wireless AirCard® 330U model of the LTE Rocket stick will be in stores in the next few weeks and the Sierra Wireless AirCard® 763S LTE Rocket mobile hotspot will be available this spring. Rogers customers can reserve the new LTE devices online at www.rogers.com/lte.

Rogers was the first to launch an LTE network in Canada, starting in Ottawa last July, followed by Toronto, Montreal andVancouver in September as well as surrounding cities. Rogers will expand to more than 25 additional cities to bring the benefits of LTE to more than half the Canadian population by the end of the year.

Rogers was the first to launch LTE devices in Canada and continues to expand its selection with innovative devices such as the recently announced Samsung Galaxy Note™, an all-in-one LTE tablet and smartphone hybrid. Rogers also carries the Sierra Wireless AirCard® 313U model of LTE Rocket stick, the Sierra Wireless AirCard® 754S model of LTE Rocket mobile hotspot, the Rogers exclusive Samsung Galaxy S II LTE™ smartphone, the HTC Raider™ as well as Canada’s first LTE tablet, the Rogers exclusive, HTC Jetstream™.

The national launch of the LTE network reinforces Rogers proud history of innovative firsts and commitment to investing inCanada’s digital future. Rogers was the first carrier in North America to launch an HSPA+ network and offers Canada’s only coast to coast GSM network. Rogers was the first in the world to launch BlackBerry® devices; and the first in Canada to launch both Android products and the iPhone.

Research In Motion’s recent BlackBerry outage was the worst in the company’s history, leaving BlackBerry users in the Middle East, Europe, parts of South America, Canada, Africa and the United States without service for a total of three days. This major outage could cost the Canadian vendor more than $100 million, Financial Post reported on Friday. The costs include refunds RIM may have to issue carriers for monthly fees it collects for each BlackBerry user. “Given a large portion of global traffic looks potentially affected we believe that a 5% impact to service fee revenue is plausible though likely worse case,” JPMorgan Chase analyst Rod Hall said. Read on for more.

Scotia Capital analyst Gus Papageorgiou estimated that lost revenues could be in the ballpark of $117.7 million, or $0.22 per share, but that RIM should have the crisis under control by the weekend. The costs however, do not include the possibility of shaken faith from RIM’s top enterprise users, who rely on BlackBerry products and services for day-to-day operations. RIM co-chief Mike Lazaridis issued a public apology on Thursday in which co-CEO Mike Lazaridis said RIM was “working around the clock to fix this,” and the company stated a few hours later that service had been fully restored.

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Beginning on September 18th, AT&T will offer a new $25 GoPhone prepaid plan that will include 250 minutes and unlimited messaging. Starting on the same day, customers can opt to sign up for a new $10 international long distance plan that offers 250 minutes of calling to more than 50 countries. The minutes for both plans expire after 30 days. GoPhone customers will also be able to roam in Canada at a rate of $0.39 per minute. Text messages in Canada will cost $0.25 per message sent and $0.20 per message received. AT&T currently offers thirty different GoPhone devices ranging from basic handsets to more advanced Android or Windows Phone-powered smartphones. The plans do not require a contract and unsubsidized phone prices range from $19.99 on the low-end to $500 on the high-end.

Prepaid Calling Never Looked So Good: New $25 Monthly GoPhone Plan

AT&T Customers Can Also Choose New $10 International Long Distance Package GoPhone Roaming Now Available in Canada

Dallas, Texas, September 12, 2011

Key Facts:

• Starting September 18, GoPhone customers can choose a $25 monthly plan which includes 250 nationwide voice minutes and unlimited, nationwide messaging every 30 days.
• Also starting September 18, AT&T* will begin offering a $10 International Long Distance package for prepaid customers which includes 250 minutes to over 50 countries for 30 days.
• GoPhone roaming now available in Canada.

Customer Benefits

GoPhone options are better than ever. AT&T’s prepaid customers can enjoy unlimited nationwide messaging and 250 minutes of domestic calling for $25 per month starting September 18. Earlier this year, AT&T launched an unlimited talk, text, and web plan for $50 per month with no long-term commitment (data not included on smartphones).

Also on September 18, customers can purchase a new international long distance feature—250 minutes of international calls to over 50 countries—for only $10 a month.

With the new $10 international long distance feature, minutes can be used to call international landline numbers to all countries on AT&T’s designated list. Calls to mobile numbers are included in Canada and a number of additional countries.

For more information, please visit att.com/gophoneintLD starting September 13.

GoPhone Roaming in Canada

GoPhone customers can now enjoy service as they travel to popular areas in Canada such as Montreal, Niagara Falls and Vancouver. Pricing includes:

• Voice – $.39 per minute (no surcharges)
• Text – $.25 per message sent, $.20 per message received

Quotes

“We’re constantly exploring ways to add value to the GoPhone user experience,” said Judy Cavalieri, vice president, Voice and Prepaid Products, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “Being able to enhance roaming capabilities in Canada and offering affordable international long distance plans allow customers to enjoy the amenities of global travel with talk, messaging and data without ever having to worry about long-term commitments.”

GoPhone Portfolio

AT&T offers a broad selection of plans and handsets for prepaid customers. With options such as the LG Thrive™ — the first Android smartphone available for GoPhone users launched in April — AT&T is steadily adding to prepaid value. Quick messaging devices, feature phones and smartphones with no long-term contract, credit check, or deposit are available options of which customers may take advantage. Smartphones require a separate data package to access data/web services.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

The $25 Monthly Plan includes 250 nationwide airtime minutes and unlimited domestic text, Instant Messaging, picture and video messages for a charge of $25 every 30 days.  Nationwide airtime over the 250 minutes will be charged at 10 cents per minute.  Unused airtime minutes do not rollover. Minutes included in this plan may not be used for International calls.

The International Long Distance Package includes 250 minutes of international long distance service to landline numbers in specific countries for 30 days. The list of countries and details about making calls to international landline and mobile numbers can be found at att.com/gophoneintLD. Countries and/or call destinations not included on the list will be charged at standard pay per use rates for international long distance. For details on pay per use charges go to att.com/gointl.

BGR has reported on several occasions that Apple will announce its brand new iPhone 5 at the tail end of August with a September street date, though it looks like the company might make the iPhone 5 available a little bit later than that. According to confirmed information we have received from a reliable source at Canadian carrier Telus, Apple’s iPhone 5 looks to be touching down on October 1st in Canada. In the past, Apple has flip flopped between releasing its iconic smartphone in the U.S. first and then in Canada, or launching its smartphone simultaneously in the U.S. and Canada as it did with the iPhone 3GS. As such, it is currently unclear if Apple intends to launch the iPhone 5 in the U.S. and Canada at the same time or if we’re still looking at a September launch stateside, which we see as being likely. Hit the break for more.

We have seen seen an internal Telus document that lists October 1st as the launch date, and while the first could just be a place holder, we do not believe that is the case in this instance. The document lists additional launch dates that are not placeholders — several of the listed dates line up with what we’re hearing from other trusted sources. The thing is, October 1st is a Saturday and Apple has historically released iPhones on either a Thursday evening or a Friday. Our source has indicated to us that Saturdays are the busiest day of the week for wireless retail stores, of course, and the source does not believe a Saturday launch is unrealistic.

On Thursday, Rogers and Ericsson officially activated the first Canadian 4G LTE network in Ottawa. “This network will power the next generation of innovative products and services in ways we’ve never seen before,” Rob Bruce, Rogers’ president of communications said. “[It] will be the backbone of Canada’s digital economy as we continue to move from a wired to a wireless world. We’re thrilled to welcome Ottawa — and Canada — to the future of the fast.” Rogers currently does not offer any 4G LTE smartphones but it is expected to launch devices from HTC and Samsung later this year, Toronto Sun reported. Rogers also said it will roll out its 4G LTE network to a total of 21 markets in 2012, starting with Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver this fall.

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On Tuesday AT&T officially announced that its customers can now sign up for a $50 unlimited GoPhone plan that includes unlimited text, talk, and web for $50 per month. AT&T’s GoPhone option does not require a contract and it also allows customers to text Mexico, Canada, and 100 other countries at no additional cost. AT&T’s new pricing is a considerable drop from the original $60 per month GoPhone option, which just provided unlimited talk and text.Read on for the full release.

Prepaid Calling Just Got Better: Nationwide Unlimited Talk, Text & Web Plan Now Available for $50

AT&T Customers Can Save More Than 20% With No Long-term Commitment Starting June 26

Dallas, Texas, June 21, 2011

Key Facts

• Consumers can sign up for an unlimited talk, text and web nationwide GoPhone^® plan for $50 per month starting on June 26 with AT&T* — a savings of more than 20%.
• Plan includes unlimited text and instant messaging to Mexico, Canada and 100 additional countries.
• Customers can apply this new GoPhone plan to quick messaging phones such the Pantech P7040p, available for purchase on the same day for $59.99.
• Available to new and existing GoPhone customers with a feature phone.

Customer Benefits

AT&T GoPhone customers can now take advantage of a new unlimited talk, text and web nationwide plan for $50 per month. Unlimited text and instant messaging to Mexico, Canada and 100 other countries are also included at no additional cost.

GoPhone service can be purchased at AT&T company-owned retail stores, online at att.com/gophone and thousands of authorized retailers nationwide. Smartphone customers can choose unlimited talk and text for $50 and select one of three data package options from $5 to $25.

Earlier this month, AT&T announced the new Pantech P7040p, a stylish quick messaging phone, would also be available on June 26 in company-owned retail stores for $59.99. With a full keyboard, the Pantech P7040p is ideal for maximizing the value of this new plan.

Quotes

“As summer approaches, consumers want a plan that provides even more value as they connect with their loved ones in the U.S and abroad,” said Judy Cavalieri, vice president, Voice and Prepaid Products, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “GoPhone provides customers a unique opportunity to experience the dependability and availability of AT&T’s national wireless network with no long term commitment.”

GoPhone Portfolio

AT&T offers a wide selection of plans and handsets for prepaid customers – everything from feature phones to smartphones with no long-term contract, credit check, or deposit. In April, AT&T launched LG Thrive™, the first Android smartphone available for GoPhone customers. Smartphones require a separate data package to access data/web services.

Learn more about GoPhone offerings at www.att.com/gophone.

Sony continues to be targeted in a series of cyberattacks that have resulted in the theft of personal information belonging to over 100 million Sony customers. Following breaches of the company’s PlayStation Network, Sony Online Entertainment, So-net Entertainment and most recently, the Sony’s Greek website, hackers have breached a database associated with Sony Ericsson’s Canadian online shop. Personal data including names, email addresses and passwords belonging to more than 2,000 customers was compromised, but Sony said no credit card numbers were stolen. A Lebanese hacking group called Idahca claimed responsibility for the attack, and it said the information obtained has been leaked on Facebook and Twitter. It is unclear if this latest attack is tied in any way to previous attacks on Sony’s various digital properties.

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Netflix released its fiscal first quarter 2011 earnings on Monday and, thanks to record amounts spent on marketing, the firm reported an increase in net customer additions and a spike in revenues. The video subscription service added 3.3 million domestic net customers during the quarter, a 94% increase year-over-year — that service now serves 23.6 million subscribers globally. Netflix reported revenues of $719 million, up 46% year-over-year, and a net income of $60 million, an 88% jump from the same period a year ago. The company said noted that it expects DVD shipments to decline and spending on streaming content to “increase substantially” in the second quarter and beyond. Hit the jump for Netflix’s letter to shareholders.

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eBay has revealed sales figures for the iPad 2 during its first two weeks on the market. The online auction house created a chart that shows just under 12,000 iPad 2 units were sold during the two week period that it was exclusively available in the United States. The graphic notes that 35% of iPad 2 units sold during that 2 week period were to international customers looking to get an early taste — that figure is down from the 65% of international customers who purchased the original iPad on eBay. Canada and Russia were the two largest importers, each purchasing about 500 iPad 2 tablets. Hong Kong, Japan, and the United Kingdom each bought about 350. Australia purchased 317 iPads last year, but only purchased 110 iPad 2 devices in 2010. The 16GB Wi-Fi version of the iPad 2 was the most popular, as it represented 30% of all iPad 2 sales. Apple has yet to release its official iPad 2 sales figures.

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If you’re a Canadian resident struggling with the newly imposed broadband data quotas, you’re definitely going to appreciate this. Netflix has announced a new set of tools available to Canadian users that can curb the amount of data used while streaming movies by up to 66%, “with minimal impact to video quality.”

“In the past, viewing 30 hours of Netflix could consume as much as 70 GBytes, if it was all in HD, and typically about 30 GBytes,” writes Neil Hunt, Chief Product Officer at Netflix. “If any member wants to change back to higher data usage and video quality, they can do so on the Manage Video Quality page, found under Your Account.”

Using the new settings, that same 30 hours of video can be viewed with just 9GB of data flying over the wire. If you’re interested to know exactly how Netflix has managed to slice and dice its data usage, there is some technical information waiting for you after the break.

We’ve created three settings:

1. “Good” – The default setting with good picture quality and lowest data use per hour (about 0.3 GBytes/hour)
2. “Better” – Better picture quality and medium data use per hour (about 0.7 GBytes/hour)
3. “Best” – Best picture quality and highest date use per hour (generally about 1.0 GBytes/hour – or up to 2.3 GBytes/hour when streaming HD content)

Any member can adjust the settings anytime by visiting the Manage Video Quality page, found under Your Account.

At all settings, Netflix adaptive streaming may choose a lower data rate stream if your connection is lower speed or, in the case of congestion, in order to minimize interruptions.

Also, at all settings, Netflix streams a little bit of additional data as a buffer each time you start a movie or TV show. Frequent starts and stops, or rewind/seek activity, will slightly increase the amount of data Netflix streams to you per hour. In most cases this will amount to less than a few minutes’ worth.

The “Good” setting limits video/audio to 625 kbps/64 kbps. With this setting, 30 hours of content would be up to 9 GBytes per month.

The “Better” setting limits video/audio to a maximum of 1300 kbps/192 kpbs. With this setting, 30 hours of content would be less than 20 GBytes per month.

The “Best” setting will use any of the video/audio rates available. Our highest quality files are 4800 kbps (for 1080p HD video) and 384 kbps audio (for 5.1 audio). 30 hours of this highest quality streaming would be less than 67 GBytes. However, only a selection of movies and TV shows are available at these rates, and in many cases, the effective video/audio upper limit for non-HD content is 2200 kbps/192 kbps. At that rate, 30 hours of streaming is less than 31 GBytes.

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Want some of that dual-core goodness north of the border? You’re in luck, as Bell Mobility has officially launched the Motorola ATRIX handset. The device comes complete with the aforementioned 1GHz dual-core processor, 4-inch qHD display, 1GB of RAM, front and rear cameras, and Android 2.2. The handset will retail for $169.95 with a signed 3-year contract and Bell will offer the Standard Dock, Vehicle Dock, HD Multimedia Dock, and LAPDOCK for $49.95, $59.95, $129.95, and $329.95 respectively. Bell’s ATRIX will not, unfortunately, be able to take advantage of the company’s 42Mbps or 21Mbps HSPA+ networks — a 14.4Mbps HSPA radio is all the handset will be working with. Regardless, if you’re a Bell customer in the market for a beastly, dual-core handset, here’s one to add to your list.

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WIND Telecom SpA announced on Thursday that the shareholders of Russian mobile operator VimpelCom have voted to approve the acquisition of WIND Telecom for $6 billion. VimpelCom said regulators approved the acquisition as well. The deal covers all of WIND Telecom’s assets, which includes Orascom Telecom, a major WIND Mobile shareholder, and VimpelCom will add nine new markets including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burundi, Italy and Canada to the eleven it already covers. When finalized, the purchase will make VimpelCom the world’s fifth largest mobile Teleco with more than 173 million subscribers. “This is great news for us. Our partner, Orascom, will be even larger and stronger as a financial partner. This gives us more leverage and increased scale with telecom network equipment manufacturers and more importantly, for devices including handsets and tablets,” said Anthony Lacavera, WIND Mobile’s chairman, adding that the purchase will give WIND more access to long distance roaming services. Lacavera said he would provide more information as new details on the acquisition emerge.

Thanks, Kelvin

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According to an email offer being sent to Sears Canada affiliates, Research In Motion’s highly anticipated BlackBerry PlayBook tablet will begin shipping on April 10th — the launch date we reported exclusively earlier this month. The email offers recipients the opportunity to pre-order the device beginning tomorrow, March 12th. The PlayBook at Sears… okay. We’ve reached out to RIM and will update this post with any comment it provides.

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Despite the fact that Canadian wireless provider Bell Mobility will be rolling out LTE in the near future, it — like many of its peers — has decided to play the name game when it comes to “4G.” In an internal memo to employees, Bell explains that its high-speed HSPA+ network will henceforth be known as 4G. “Given the significant improvements in performance and quality the wireless carriers have made to their networks, the ITU has reassessed the definition of 4G standards,” reads the note. “This re-classification allows Bell to promote the HSPA+ network as 4G.” The changes take effect today, though there’s no word on how Bell’s marketing department will differentiate its 4G LTE network from its 4G HSPA network. Hit the jump to check out the full memo.

Thanks, B!

We have just been informed that as of February 15th, Telus in Canada will be offering SIM unlocking options on almost all handsets and devices. To qualify, you will need to be an active post-paid customer with an account that has been open for a minimum of 90 days. Telus will charge $50 for the unlock code and will unlock both iDEN and GSM devices. Not a bad offering, right?