Get touchy feely with the LG Bliss™. The 3-inch full-colour touch screen lets you control all your multimedia features with the tap of a finger. Surf the mobile web, connect wirelessly with Stereo Bluetooth® 2.1, snap pics and shoot vids with the 2.0 megapixel camera, listen to your fave full-length tracks, and stream video and radio straight to your phone no matter where you are. Ultra slim and light, you can pump up your phone with 8GB of expandable memory and make it your own with 4 customizable home screens. Find true phone happiness with the LG Bliss™.

2 year-$29.99
prepaid-$149.99

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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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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.

Effective August 21, 2009, a minimum tenure of 24 months since initial activation or last upgrade will be required before a customer is eligible to participate in the hardware upgrade program.  This change aligns all upgrades (voice, voice to data and data to data) with the current data to data HUP policy.

According to the internal bulletin, Rogers is implementing the change to the HUP for two reasons.

I always love reading companies internal documentations as there is always a few sentences that give you a good chuckle.  Take this one from the Rogers’ bulletin for example.

This change also reinforces the importance of explaining to customers that HUP eligibility and quoted hardware/plan pricing are subject to change without notice and cannot be guaranteed beyond the time of quotation.

To me that paragraph means that Rogers’ is implementing the new HUP policy to remind consumers who is in charge.  The change has nothing to do with devices costing more or the “longer hardware lifespan” it is just another way Rogers can make an easy buck.

As mentioned earlier in the post, the updated HUP upgrade policy is effective August 21st and will only apply to regular consumers, business accounts will not be affected.  I recommend if you are considering upgrading you current Rogers’ device you do so before August 21st because even though you may have been eligible for an upgrade you may no longer be able to under the new policy.

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Virgin Mobile myPlan rates still feature no System Access Fee (SAF), no 911 fee, free plan switching, and no incoming text message charge.

Click the “more” link to view the new plans.

$15
50 anytime minutes
50 text messages

$22
100 anytime minutes
unlimited evening and weekends
250 text messages

$25
100 anytime minutes
unlimited evening and weekends
myPlan feature

$35
200 anytime minutes
unlimited evening and weekends
myPlan feature

$45
400 anytime minutes
unlimited evening and weekends
myPlan feature

$60
600 minutes
unlimited evening and weekends
myPlan feature

myPlan Features
myCrew: text and talk to 5 buddies
myTime: 6 hour unlimited weekday calling block
myTalk&Text: unlimited text messages
myCalls: 500 anytime incoming local minutes

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Looks like Virgin Mobile has added a new plan their prepaid offerings.  The Text Maniac Plan is aimed at teens, or those who mostly text, which is perfect for Back-to-School.  As you can see from the image, $20/month will get you unlimited texting and a low per-minute rate of $0.10.  Voicemail and Call Display are included with all prepaid plans along with no SAF (System Access Fee), 911 charges, or incoming text message charge.

Head over to your local Virgin Mobile kiosk, your favorite electronics store, the VMC website to learn more, or VMC customer care (1-888-999-2321) to learn more.

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Slim and stylish, the ultra-convenient Handy Flip phone, at only 95 grams, packs a bunch of good stuff into one of the lightest phones around. Sleek on the outside, flip it open and you can snap pics on the go with the digital camera, connect wirelessly with Bluetooth®, and the advanced voice dial lets you make a call without having to lift a finger.

2 year term: $29.99
30 day term: $49.99
no term: $49.99

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The Samsung Link (r3511) features a full QWERTY keyboard, 1.3 MP camera, Bluetooth, and built-in MP3 player. Current pricing below:

3 year term: $29.99
2 year term: $49.99
1 year term: $99.99
no contract: $99.99

Head over to the Virgin Mobile Canada website to learn more or to purchase.

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From the Virgin branded image found on their website it appears they will be launching a blue and white version of the Link.  The full QWERTY device is expected to launch for $29.99 on a 3 year term.

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No word on a launch date or pricing for the other contract terms, image reveals 3 year pricing is $29.99.  Stay tuned to details when the Samsung Link launches.

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