Did we nail it or what? Today Rogers announced the creation of chatr, the low-cost wireless brand we exclusively told you about last week. Created to serve what Rogers calls a “niche” market that is not currently served by its flagship and value brands Rogers Wireless and Fido, chatr will offer no contract voice and text plans as well as unlimited talk and text plans. Data is not a part of chatr’s game plan. According to Rogers, the big draw of chatr is not only its great plans, but that for...

We assure you that we’re not trying to stir up rumors with this one, but we’re starting to get the feeling that the Canadian launch of the iPhone 4 might have been pushed back. While checking out Apple’s Canadian website earlier on in the day, we couldn’t help but notice that “Coming in July” had been replaced with “Coming Soon.” There’s no way that Apple would change that unless something was up, and when you take into consideration the insane amount of p...

We interrupt our regular programming to bring you this late breaking bulleting: Fido will be launching the LG Gossip on June 1st. One of those quick messaging devices the kids are always going on about, the Gossip will retail for $90 off-contract/pre-paidand $0 on a 2-year deal. It’s definitely not an expensive phone, and for that reason the noteable specs are as follows: full-QWERTY keypad, 2.0 megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.1, FM radio, 3.5mm headphone jack and quad-band EDGE. Sure, the lack of 3G kin...

With the iPad’s Canadian launch delayed until the end of May, we thought we’d give those with glowing hearts who made the trek into the home of the brave a hand in getting their new gadget up and running on one of Canada’s four HSPA+ carriers. A lot of people have written in and put in requests for help — and with the dollar basically on par we’re sure that we’re going to get even more before the official Canadian launch — so we thought we’d do our part and hel...

It looks like Fido’s corporate security team isn’t having its best month because someone aptly nicknamed “FidoMarketing” has leaked the details of its Q2 handset and price plans. There’s not a heck of a lot of exciting things here, although the BlackBerry Pearl 9100 is listed and is apparently coming very soon:BlackBerry Pearl 9100 – May 4thLG GW300 – April 13thNokia 3710 – May 18thNokia X3 – May 18thNovatel Wireless MC988DF – May (singled out for be...

Google finally jumped over whatever hurdles were holding it back from offering paid apps in the Canadian Android Market, as all of a sudden, they just started showing up on some Canadian devices. Sadly, however, it seems the love is not being evenly distributed as the majority of the Bell and TELUS customers we spoke to have not yet had paid apps show up on their end. Nonetheless, we have verified with customers of both Rogers and Fido that they have been able to purchase paid apps using carrier locked and un...

Hear that noise? That’s Fido saying goodbye to 2006 and hello to… 2009? Fido has finally caved in and introduced a modern-ish BlackBerry with today’s release of the Curve 8520. Attractively priced at $50 with a 3-year voice and data contract, the 8520 is also available to pre-paid customers for the one-time cost of $400. Throw in a CityFido plan and data add-on and you really can’t argue against this device if you’re in the market for an affordable smartphone. You know, unless yo...

Canadians with a serious need for speed might want to pack their bags and move to one of Canada’s five largest cities — Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal — as today Rogers announced that its 21Mbps HSPA+ network upgrade has gone live and is ripe for the picking. Almost. No current Rogers handsets are capable of reaching such speeds, but if mobile internet is something you’re absolutely smitten with then you should definitely consider pre-ordering the new 21Mbps HSPA+ Mob...

A day we thought would never come is upon us as the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, whose members include all of the major Canadian telcos and their subsidiaries (including all new entrants other than DAVE Wireless), have agreed to a code of conduct that benefits not themselves but their customers. Just like in the US, Canadians will now be able to walk away from their contracts penalty free if a carrier makes material changes to the terms of the contract. If the customer doesn’t wish ...

We here at BGR know how difficult it’s been for Canadians to secure an iPhone 3GS due to low levels of inventory, so we thought we’d pass along some good news for those of you who are still waiting. The discount promotions for original Rogers/Fido iPhone 3G owners as well as the 6GB/$30 data plan has been extended. The details are exactly the same as they were the first time around except now the entire deal stays alive through September 15th. For those of you who are still waiting on your iPhone ...

Do you see anyone you know standing in that line? Today is the day to pack up your toys, gadgets and snacks, and head out to Apple/AT&T/Rogers/Fido/Carphone Warehouse or wherever else if you didn’t order your iPhone online to be shipped. After all, it’s either lines today or a test of patience down the road. Be sure you are well prepared and are up to date on pricing and details on grabbing your iPhone; we wouldn’t want to see anyone turned away after spending an entire morning or aftern...

Over the past few weeks we at BGR have been pestering the folks at Rogers and Fido for information on their iPhone 3G S pricing and policies. Well guess what — they’ve just given us the goods. Hit the jump, because we’re pretty damn sure that you’ll like what you see. (more…)

Quite a few people were outraged by the $699 and $799 no-contract prices we listed for perspective iPhone 3G S buyers on Rogers and Fido, and understandably so. Some questioned whether or not pricing would be the same directly from Apple and Rogers/Fido however, and thanks to some fine-print on Apple.ca we have been able to confirm that the 16GB iPhone 3G S will go for $699 and the 32GB model will go for $799 — identical to Best Buy Mobile’s pricing:For non-qualified customers, including existing ...

When Apple announced the upcoming iPhone 3G S earlier this month, we posted a quick little synopsis of info available to would-be 3G S owners up in Canada. Our Canadian readers thanked us, and then promptly threatened violence lest we do everything in our power to dig up contract-free pricing on Apple’s new kit. Not wanting to anger the Canadian people we got to digging and thankfully, one of our ninjas just came through with some tasty screen shots from Best Buy. According to the major retailer’s...