Wind, the first of the new Canadian wireless entrants is here.
Before I start I just want to remind you all that Wind uses AWS frequencies. So unless you have an unlocked AWS phone (or buy one from Wind) it won’t work on in HSPA mode on Wind. AWS is the same frequency T-Mobile uses in the States for their HSPA service. Basically none of the phones from Rogers/Bell/TELUS will work on Wind’s 3G- even if you unlock them. Note, if you bought a Nokia N900 and have been using it on EDGE, well now you can pop a Wind SIM in and use it on HSPA. You can use a phone in EDGE mode with Wind but it will be in roaming mode ($0.25 a minute).
They have 3 phones at launch and 1 USB modem; The Blackberry Bold 9700 is $450, HTC Maple $300 (WinMo), Huawei U7519 $130 (a non-smartphone) ; Samsung Gravity 2 $150 (a non-smartphone) and the Huawei E181 USB modem $150. Note that the modem is 7.2mbps only.
There are 3 plans; Chat, Always Talk and Always Shout. All 3 plans coming with unlimited incoming text and Wind to Wind calling. You also get calling waiting, caller ID, call forwarding, conference calling, call hold and missed caller alerts.
Also, included minutes/unlimited minutes are only when you’re in areas with Wind (as opposed to roaming) coverage. Roaming costs $0.25 a minute.
Chat is $15 a month (no extra fees besides taxes) and includes 50 outgoing texts and 100 in province minutes.
Always Talk is $35, you get unlimited in province minutes, unlimited incoming calls and 50 outgoing texts.
Always Shout is $45, you get Canada wide calling, voice mail and unlimited texts.
Unlimited text and voice mail are $5 (included on Always Shout).
Unlimited calling to the States or unlimited calling within Canada is $10.
Blackberry add-ons are $10 and $35. For $10 you get access to Facebook, MySpace, BlackBerry Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, Google Talk, and AIM. For $35 you get everything else (including browsing, email and tethering).
Data is $35 if you have a voice plan and $55 if you just use a modem. You get 5GB of data, after that Wind can throttle your service if they choose to.
Bell just annouced that they’ll be carrying the Samsung Galaxy. The Galaxy is Bell’s first Android powered device. It’s as low as $99.99 on a 3yr with data.
Besides Android it has an 3.2″ OLED display made from scratch resistant tempered glass, 8GB of storage and a 5 megapixel camera.
I recently had a chance to play with the LG IQ aka the Monaco. Here’s the vitals: 1Ghz Snapdragon processor, WinMo 6.5, 3.2″ WVGA screen, 5 megapixel camera, slide out QWERTY keyboard, finger print reader, HSPA and an optional projector that mounts on the back. It also has LG’s S-class UI. If you don’t like it you can also use the WinMo 6.5 UI.
I didn’t really play with it enough to form a lot of opinions on it but here are some:
WVGA on a 3.2″ display is really crisp but it’s also pushing it unless you have a stylus (sort of like on the Xperia)
The projector is really cool. While not cheap at ~$150 it’s not horribly expensive either. I can see kids buying them and projecting ‘kick me’ on each other with it.
I’m not a fan of the S-class UI nor am I crazy about the LG apps. S-class is just weird and the LG apps (such as the phonebook, media player, photo app, etc) look kind of cheesy. That said they generally have nice big text which is good if you don’t like small text.
The 1Ghz Snapdragon processor is snappy.
I played with the LG Xenon a while back (a feature phone) and it had an excellent keyboard – the IQ also has an excellent keyboard.
