Wanting to get as many new (almost in stock) devices launched before Telus and Bell turn on their new HSPA network, Rogers Wireless has launched the LG Eve.  The LG Eve is currently listed on the Rogers website as “out of stock” but will retail for $49.99 on a 3 year term, $299.99 on a 2 year term, $349.99 on a 1 year term, and $399.99 without an agreement.

The Eves slick S-class interface lets you navigate your social networks, contacts, multimedia and Android Market apps seamlessly. Link your Facebook™ and Twitter™ accounts with your contact list so you can manage your social networks quickly and easily. The integrated 5.0 MP camera combines with a gorgeous media gallery and video editor to provide an unprecedented multimedia experience from your smartphone. Once youve discovered all the great features that come with the Eve, explore the Android Market for new and exciting apps to customize your LG Eve.

Head to you local Rogers dealer to purchase the LG Eve.

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The BlackBerry Bold 9700 offers sophisticated design coupled with high-performance features to offer users a premium smartphone experience. This 3G smartphone ensures you will receive your emails quickly and reliably. The new optical trackpad ensures easy navigation and the multimedia capabilities mean you can have fun and stay connected to the office. The Bold 9700 allows users to live their personal and professional lives to the fullest through power and performance.

Despite what the marketing team at Rogers tells us, the 9700 is commonly referred to as the “Bold” or “Bold 2″ and not the “Curve”.  With that cleared up, lets look at the key features of the device. 

Prepaid

Virgin Mobile: 752
Fido: 654
Telus Mobility: 653
industry average: 662

Postpaid

Virgin Mobile: 758
Koodo Mobile: 755
SaskTel: 716
industry average: 642

Read the complete press release on the J.D. Power website.

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The 9700 features a 2.44″ screen, 3.2 MP camera, wifi, and GPS.  In addition to the previous mentioned features, the 9700 replaces the roller ball with a track pad.

The Bold 2 will be  in the starting lineup for Bell and Telus’ new HSPA network, which should be ready for use in November.  The 9700 should be up for sale in November in around the $300 price mark on a 3 year term with data.

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Research in Motion (RIM), the makers of the BlackBerry, and Rogers Wireless are pleased to announce the launching of the BlackBerry 8520 Curve.  The all new BlackBerry Curve features:

•Trackpad–The first Blackberry with an optical trackpad, the Curve 8520 makes navigation easy
•Dedicated external media keys -access your multimedia easily and instantly
•Social Networking –If you prefer Facebook®, Flickr, Twitter or love them all, the Curve 8520 will keep you connected to all your social networks
•2.0 MP camera with video capture
•Large, Colorful Screen –Your life on-the-go –the way it was meant to be seen
•Out of the Box Mac Computer Support –Make the Mac connection
•Built-in Wi-Fi(Supports TalkSpot™)
•World Phone –Quad Band EDGE with Stereo Bluetooth™

The BlackBerry Curve 8520 is launching at the following price points:

3 year: $99.99 (voice and data)
3 year: $349.99
2 year: $399.99
1 year: $399.99
no term: $449.99

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While it’s a nice offer remember that there’s new competition around the corner in Wind Mobile, DAVE and Public Mobile.

• The fee is charged to “cover costs associated with standard operations, maintenance, and network upgrades”.
• New activations and account migrations onto new plans will be SAF and 9-1-1 fee free.
  • These new plans will be launching October 5, 2009.
• Like the System Access Fee and 9-1-1 Fee the Government Regulatory Recovery Fee will be charged on a per line, not per account basis.
• Rogers is not required by the Canadian Government or any regulatory body to charge this fee.
• Money collected by the GRRF will be put towards recovering the costs associated with:
  • 9-1-1 fees
  • spectrum acquisition
  • licensing charges
  • help subsidize telephone service in rural/remote areas

The rate of the GRRF depends on two factors: the province where you account originates from and what service you have with Rogers.

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Instead of a $6.95 SAF customers will now see something called ‘Government Regulatory Recovery Fee’ . It varies based on the government fees where customers live. Apparently this isn’t really a new fee – Rogers is saying they’re just being more transparent about it now.

Rogers is saying that your total bill will remain about the same after these changes.

Rogers has just announced that their 21Mbps HSPA+ network is now live in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. There will be a USB modem which supports this speed that you can pre-order for as low as $75.

The 21Mbps stick the ZTE 668, a triband HSPA (850/1900/2100Mhz) USB modem that can do 21.6Mbps down 5.76Mbps up. It has a retractable USB connector and a micro SDHC card slot. You have to remove the SIM card slot cover to access the SDHC card slot.

At 21Mbps it would take just under 40 minutes to go through Rogers 6GB data plan. No word on whether there will be any special data plans for the 21Mbps USB modem.

I’m at the launch right now and am observing speeds of around 16Mbps down and 2.8Mbps up from speedtest.net – nice. Keep in mind these modems aren’t widely available so it remains to be seen what speed will be like later.

The netbook market has been pretty saturated for for sometime now. Prices have come down to the point that you can pick some up for around $200 if not less. So I was surprised when Nokia toss their hat into the crowded netbook market. Still, their entry has some interesting specs (which may or may not be interesting depending on how long it takes Nokia to ship the product):

one piece aluminum body – nice

Atom 1.6Ghz Z530 processor -most netbooks ship with either a 1.6Ghz N270, 1.66Ghz N280 or 1.3Ghz Z520

1GB 533Mhz DDR2 RAM – status quo, I wonder if you can easily upgrade this to 2GB

120GB, 1.8″ 4200RPM hard drive – most ship with a 5400RPM hard drive or slow SSD. A 4200RPM hard drive will kill the performance and make the Booklet 3G feel much slower than it’s piers. The 4200RPM hard drive is a real deal breaker, I’d skip this one till Nokia puts something faster in.

10.1″ 1280×720 display – Some may find 1280×720 on a 10″ display to be too small but if you can handle it, it’s a good thing.

HDMI output – neat

1.3 megapixel camera – status quo

HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth – built in 3G is always a nice thing, it’s optional if you don’t want it.

264×195x19.9mm, 1.25kg – nice

16 cell LiIon battery good for up to 12hrs – 16 cells, damn! Still, you’re going to need all that battery life because you’ll be waiting forever for the 4200rpm hard drive.

Windows 7

comes in black, white or blue