Calling all iPhone 3G fans!

Select Rogers Plus stores to open early coast-to-coast on July 11 Launch promotions to include limited time 6GB data offer

TORONTO, July 9 /CNW/ - In anticipation of iPhone 3G launch on July 11, Rogers Wireless today announced plans to open the doors of select Rogers Plus retail stores across Canada in advance of regular hours. Starting at 8:00 am July 11, Canadians will be able to purchase the new iPhone 3G at special launch day events to be held at six Rogers Plus stores across the country. Be among the first in Canada to get the next generation iPhone 3G and have the choice of a 6GB data plan through a limited time promotional price offer. "As Canada's leading wireless carrier, Rogers is excited to bring iPhone 3G to Canadians even sooner, allowing our customers to be amongst the first in the world to experience this amazing mobile innovation," says John Boynton, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Rogers Wireless. "To celebrate its launch on Canada's fastest wireless network, we're rolling out the red carpet with special events at six Rogers Plus stores and a limited time price promotional data offer from coast-to-coast." iPhone 3G combines all the revolutionary features of iPhone with 3G networking that is twice as fast(*) as the first generation iPhone, built-in GPS for expanded location based mobile services, and iPhone 2.0 software which includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and runs the hundreds of third party applications already built with the recently released iPhone SDK.

Rogers Launch Promotions —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—- The following Rogers Plus stores in these cities will open their doors at 8:00 a.m. (all times local) on Friday, July 11 for advance purchases of the Apple iPhone 3G: Toronto: 112-10 Dundas Street East Montreal: 1015 rue St. Catherine Ouest Ottawa: 690 Bank Street Halifax: Unit 265, 7001 Mumford Road Calgary: 5244 Falsbridge Gate, NE Vancouver: 2097 West Broadway

Customers attending launch day events at these Rogers Plus stores will be treated to a free early bird breakfast and have a chance to win Rogers Wireless prizes. Effective July 11, and as a limited time promotional offer for customers who activate by August 31 on a three year contract, a data-only offering of 6GB of data for $30 per month is being made available that can be added to any in-market voice plan. For example, with 6GB of data, iPhone 3G users can visit 35,952 web pages, or send and receive 157,286 emails, or watch 6,292 minutes of YouTube videos each and every month.(xx) New Canadian iPhone 3G customers will also have the choice to select from Rogers Wireless' existing voice and smartphone data plans and/or additional features to best suit their needs, or from Rogers Wireless' value bundled plans specifically for iPhone 3G. Existing Rogers Wireless customers can keep their current voice service plan and select a separate data plan to meet their needs or choose from other plans after checking their individual upgrade eligibility. Starting July 11, iPhone 3G will be available at participating locations across Canada, including select Rogers Plus, Rogers Video, and Rogers Wireless retail locations and at the following specially selected authorized Rogers Wireless dealers: WirelessWave, TBooth and Wireless etc. iPhone 3G can also be purchased online at www.rogers.com and through Rogers' customer service at 1-888-764-3771. For a complete store listing, visit http://your.rogers.com/mq/mqlocator.asp. Due to anticipated high demand, there is a maximum purchase of two iPhone 3G per customer.

(*) Based on 3G and EDGE testing. Actual speeds may vary due to a variety of factors. (xx) Based on live trials of iPhone 3G on Rogers HSPA network, July 2008

Canada doesn't produce its own electronics. “But Dan,” some defensive, annoying nationalist might say, “what about all those semiconductor plants in Southeast Ontario?” Well, Antagonist I Just Created, you're a nitpicker and totally missed my point. Consumer electronics brands are almost exclusively imports from the States and various Asian countries. Update: RIM is obviously the one significant exception. What that means is that Canada imposes duties on pretty much everything, driving the retail prices up. I won't even go into the 15% 12.5% sales tax. (Yes, shut up about taxes, America, you're a bunch of whiners.) But even worse, Canada is currently cursed with a horribly strong dollar, leading to damnable economic benefits across the nation. Yet they have not adjusted to the temporary economic downturn (don't say recession, don't say recession) in the Greatest Country on Earth.

What does that mean to a young, naïve Pennsylvanian just trying to figure out how to make his Benjamins last? When I went looking for a new laptop, I found something fascinating: the same HP model, from Best Buy's online sites, costs $649 in the States, and a whopping $799 in Canada. Going by exchange rate, that computer should actually have cost $654 at Bestbuy.ca—that's $150 less I could spend on still deliriously expensive Canadian beer!

I'm a particular kind of gadget nerd. I don't go crazy over Linux or cell phones or overclocking or whatever. I'm a media nerd, and I have the debt and unhealthy pallor to prove it. Trust me, normal people don't stockpile PMPs or set up a Netflix account at a new apartment before introducing himself to his roommates.

Media is where Canada takes a big ungainly flop on its face. I lived in Montreal, a thriving artistic city with an unparalleled music scene and multiple international film festivals, a city that is very much in the here and now. Yet there is absolutely no legal way to watch Top Chef as it airs, forcing poor deprived Canadian children to wait for months to get their culinary-based reality competition fix. This year the show began June 24th in Canada, after the whole season had already ended in the Land of the Free.

Besides delays, Canada's version of the FCC, the CRTC, has very strict rules about the percentage of “cancon,” or Canadian content, that must be played. A whopping 60% of television programming between the hours of 6 AM and midnight has to be homegrown. Now, that's mostly taken up by filler like daytime talk shows and local news, but an awful lot of solid entertainment falls to the wayside to make room. There's a very long and boring debate about consumer freedom vs. preservation of Canadian culture, but the discussion's been going on for decades and Top Chef doesn't wait for parliamentary consensus.

On the same note, any Canadians who have ever tried to stream US television episodes legally over the web will be familiar with that ever-present message of rejection: “This video is not available in your region or location.” The CRTC refuses to allow the lovely Padma Lakshmi to appear on my computer, even in a low-res, three-inch popup window. So forget about Hulu or any other legit way to watch those shows; Canadians are forced into less savo(u)ry Internet back alleys like BitTorrent as a matter of course.

This epic struggle doesn't only apply to television, but gadgets as well. Canada has been without the JesusPhone for so long that they've reverted to a culture of hunter-gatherers. Even when it finally arrives later this month, it won't be readily available to all: The cost of the phone and its monthly plan is so high that the Canadians who do opt for it will have to forswear store-bought food and live off the land to save money. Even TiVo only landed in Canada in late 2007, although seriously guys, you don't need to record Corner Gas and all that other cancon. It's really not very good.

Selection of consumer electronics in Canadian brick-and-mortar stores is depressingly limited, with few non-mainstream products and long delays on others. The hilariously-named Best-Buy-equivalent “Future Shop” seems to be staffed with people chosen only for their ability to turn customers purple with rage. So you'd think Canadians would just turn to online shopping for their nerd needs, right? Well, Amazon only exists in Canada as a shadow of its true self, selling nothing but books, DVDs, music, and video games. Newegg? Forget about it. Woot for electronics? Not a chance. If you're lucky enough to find some misguided online retailer willing to ship you some gadgetry, you'll enjoy the lovable quirks of the Canadian postal service. Canadapost does deliver mail occasionally, but most of the time they indulge in their hobby of losing shit, charging more than my monthly rent in duties, and hoarding packages for weeks just for fun.

I like making fun of Canada, like any other red-blooded, God-fearing American citizen. For a gadget nerd, it's frustrating. The cost of our favo(u)rite toys is upsettingly high, the selection far too meager. Shipping is expensive, unreliable, and slow, and there's not even much good TV to watch while you wait for your imported gadget to arrive. On the other hand, if you're a functioning member of society who prefers sensible politics and beneficent social values to slightly more convenient electronics purchasing, Canada's pretty great. Just get ready to pay up for the ridiculous Canadian iPhone plans when you flee northward to avoid the next war. Happy Canada Day—or Bonne Fete du Canada—everybody!

Dan, our summer NYC area intern, just graduated from McGill in early June. Feel free to say hi to him. And in case you were wondering, he HAS already been hazed a bit. As he himself admits, he's the one with the beard.

The letter, which can be found on ruinediphone.com asks Apple's head honcho to “take a look at all these disappointed people” and do something! It also includes a petition, which has garnered over 10,600 signatures at last count. Do our friends to the North a favor and sign the fracking thing, eh?

Rogers has argued that its top data plan, 2GB a month for $115, is more than enough for most users and that an unlimited plan would “end up costing customers more for what they don't use.” Hmmm, sounds suspiciously like they're taking a page from the book of the cable industry over here. [Fortune]

Obviously, this report is not the last word on the subject and we will surely see more studies in the years to come. And my guess is most of these studies will be in conflict with one another. Hell, we have already seen one incident where a Taser may have helped someone with a heart condition. What's next? A study that finds Canadian criminals are more sensitive to electrocution than American criminals? [CBC News via Digg]

Mounties corporal Scott Wilson defended his colleague's grandad-bashing actions. "Whether the person is 80 or 20, we are dealing with a person who had a deadly weapon in their hand. We could not deploy our ... pepper spray, because we could potentially contaminate the entire hospital."

Lasser, a former prison guard, reckons they overdid it, claiming that, with three Mounties in the room, they could have overpowered him without using a Taser. Lasser said there were three RCMP officers in his hospital room and believes they could have easily handled him without the use of a Taser. "I was laying on the bed by then and the corporal came in, or the sergeant, and said to the guys, 'OK, get him because we got more important work to do on the street tonight,'" he said.

"And then, bang, bang, bang, three times with the laser, and I tell you, I never want that again." That'll teach him to bring a knife to hospital, then. [CBC News via Dvorak]

I guess we are coming to the end of the early iPhone era. But Coupland, the author of Microserfs and Generation X, moves onto another, more disturbing theory: that gadgets make morons of us all.

I remember in the 80s when cellphones first started to pop. I remember how, if you saw someone using a cellphone on a street, you immediately thought they were an asshole: gee, my phone call is so important I have to make it right here and right now! Twenty years later, we're all assholes. We're assholes at the supermarket's meat counter at 5:30pm, phoning home to ask if we need prosciutto; we're assholes driving in traffic; and we're assholes wandering down the streets. And with cellphones and handhelds, we collapse time and space and our perception of distance and intimacy.

The father-and-son team of George and Peter Bubenik used an artificial moose ear that had been created by TV special effects team, and mounted a pair of antlers on top of it. A microphone and sound meter were placed in the ear canal, and a speaker set up 30 feet from the ear, which was rotated into different positions.

When a sound was played through the speaker (something by The Rasmus springs to mind) the sound meter recorded 59.5 decibels when the ear was facing the source of the sound, and 57.5 decibels when it was facing backwards. But when it was moved into a sideways position, and where the antlers worked as an amp, the level came out at 61 decibels. [Daily Mail]

According to astronaut Richard M. Linnehan, one of the astronauts who readied Dextre in this mission, it's like "working with a Star Wars prop, but it isn't sci-fi, its reality, and it's happening up here right now." Actually, with its 12-foot-tall body and 11-foot-long arms capable of sensing movement and force, the $209-million Dextre looks more like some kind of Japanese battleoid, but we share the amazement.

Despite its menacing appearance and being capable of withstanding extreme conditions, Dextre is as precise and delicate as it is strong: it can manipulate big, server-rack-sized objects (to a maximum of 1,323 pounds,) as well as laptop-sized ones; all with a positioning accuracy relative to the target of a quarter of an inch (the incremental accuracy is 1/12th of an inch, 2 millimeters) and a force accuracy of 2.2 newtons.

The 3,440-pound (1,560 kg.) robot would be extremely valuable for the activity of the space station, saving time and risky spacewalks to astronauts, who will be able to dedicate themselves to experiments rather than fixing the ISS. [NASA TV and Canadian Space Agency]

The emergency services were alerted by a professor and his eight students, who all reported they had seen a suspicious man carrying a "long, tubular object." Following a campus lockdown and a thorough two-hour search, nothing was found. Information incoming across the weekend has indicated a photographer with a tripod was the reason for the disturbance, though he has yet to be located and spanked for all the fuss he caused. Let this be a lesson to you camouflage-cargo pants-wearing weirdos; don't wear camouflage cargo pants. You're not in the army, you suck. Talking of things that suck, according to a satirical joke we are about to make, the NRA was said to be very disappointed about there being one less gun on the streets. We don't doubt it. [Globe and Mail via blogTO]

Bill appears and after a brief state-of-the-industry intro, notes that this is his final CES appearance. He'll look back on some of his previous experiences, noting how far we've progressed since he declared the "Digital Decade" in 2001 for three reasons:
1. The promulgation of lower-cost HD displays and soon interactive surfaces.
2. Mobile intelligence - cellular and GPS enabled products that help us get through the day
3. Interaction with technology increasingly mirroring the way we interact with people

First announcement: NBC Universal is making MSN the exclusive home for NBC's coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics in China. It's the first "long tail" Olympics: there will be thousands of hours of content available at nbcolympics.com, ranging from the most popular sports to the most obscure—from basketball to badminton. The video will be both live and on demand, with over 30 simultaneous live broadcasts; 2,200 hours of live broacasting and 3,000 hours of on-demand content. All of the video will be shared in Silverlight format in "near HD" quality.

Hands-on: Never-before-seen demo of the Surface table. In this demo, Bill designs a snowboard for himself—yes, a snowboard—using multitouch technology to try out different designs, then save them to his Windows Mobile phone and share with his friends. I only wonder what his insurance company thinks about his snowboarding plans.

Robbie Bach, Microsoft's President of Entertainment & Devices Division, will take the stage to cover the bulk of the presentation, talking about:

• Xbox's banner year - 17.7 million Xbox 360 units sold; 7 titles surpassing 1 million sales mark; U.S. users spent more on Xbox 360 in 2007 than more on any other game console ever

• TV show deal with ABC Television and Disney Channel for Xbox Live programming, available for direct download to Xbox 360. It includes 500 hours of content, in standard and high def, available at the end of the month, with shows such as Desperate Housewives, Lost, Grey's Anatomy, plus Disney shows including Hannah Montana.

• Movie deal with MGM - Xbox will offer MGM films in standard def and high def including the entire Rocky series, Terminator, Dances With Wolves, Silence of the Lambs, Legally Blond, Barber Shop and the Bond franchise.

• New application for Microsoft's Media Room IPTV, distributed by AT&T U-Verse: On TNT, NASCAR fans can choose a view of the race from the camera inside their favorite driver's car via their set-top box; Showtime boxing will let you choose camera angle and audio feeds from the trainer, ref, or the commentators; in CNN's coverage of US presidential campaign, viewers can vote on issues, gauging voter opinion in realtime.

• Media Center Extender support is growing in the consumer-electronics industry, led by Samsung, which will be working on a connected TV with MCE capability.

• Zune 2 off to a good start, with 1.5 million people starting Zune social fan pages since the service began in November. Bach will announce the availability of the Zune in Canada, the first distribution outside the US.

When Bill takes the stage again, he will demonstrate a "device of the future," something that won't necessarily become a product sold by Microsoft, but still a good glimpse of things to come. The device will ostensibly store and catalog all of Bill's memories so that he can pull up a reel of all his past CES keynotes. At one point, he will snap a picture of the Venetian auditorium and the gadget will recognize the venue, proposing various recreational activities he might enjoy after the keynote.

This is a rough sketch of the proceedings, one that's bound to change considerably. I'm told there will be some surprises—maybe a celebrity guest or some farewell treat. Who knows? That's why we plan to catch the whole event, and fill in any gaps that may be missing from this otherwise thorough digest. (You're welcome.) [Microsoft at CES]

Previous messages beamed into deep space via radio-telescope by scientists have tried to demonstrate our intelligence by sending coded math problems, a bit of chemistry, physics and biology, some data on what we look like and even where we've come from. This may not, however, be good enough for their superior brains. Dutil and Dumas argue that if any alien does decode a message containing essentially trivial data, "after reading it, they will be none the wiser about us humans and our achievements."

The really difficult bit is, of course, trying to work out what would be interesting to an extraterrestrial. Dumas and Dutil suggest that we should try things that will be new and different to an alien, like Britney's last album Paris Hilton's sex tape "social features of our society," or economics or sociology problems. These can still be described mathematically, which neatly gets around the problem of which language to use.

Who knows, aliens may even be interested in our political issues, and so the starry-eyed Canadians have even begun trying to explain our electoral procedure in code: "We can explain our methods, and ask 'what do you use on your planet?'" You've got to hope that the answer is better than hanging chads.

As Dutil also points out, it might be handy to have a clever and interesting message to hand just in case an alien race ever tries to contact us "just to say 'we'll get back to you'"—followed presumably by "leave some math after the beep, and promise not to use your death-rays on us." – Kit Eaton
[New Scientist]

Bell Mobility has reduced the charges to $3,243 as gesture of goodwill, but they claim that Staniaszek should have known that using a cellphone as a modem fell outside the realm of normal usage. They also noted that the software he used for this purpose warned him that additional charges would apply. Still, Staniaszek plans of fighting the bill citing that Bell Mobility's policies were unclear. You would think that this would be pretty open and shut, but in a world where you can be rewarded a settlement for spilling hot coffee in your lap at McDonalds, I'm not so sure. [The Register]

Apple Announces Hit Television Programming Now Available on the iTunes Store in Canada

Programs from Canada's Top Networks, US Favorites & NHL Now Available on iTunes

CUPERTINO, California—December 12, 2007—Apple® today announced that hit television programming from Canada's top networks, US broadcasters and the National Hockey League (NHL) is now available for CAN$1.99 per episode from the iTunes® Store in Canada (www.itunes.ca). iTunes customers can choose from Canadian-produced favorites such as the top-rated, award-winning "Corner Gas" from CTV, smash hit comedy "Little Mosque on the Prairie" from CBC, Emmy and Peabody Award-winning "South Park" from Comedy Central and the NHL Games of the Year.

"We're thrilled to bring television programming to the iTunes Store in Canada in time for the holiday season," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of iTunes. "We're off to a great start with hit shows from CBC, CTV, Comedy Central and MTV Networks, along with the best of classic and current NHL action."

Television shows purchased and downloaded from the iTunes Store can be viewed on a PC or Mac®, iPod® nano with video, fifth generation iPod, iPod classic or on a widescreen TV with Apple TV™. Television programming on the iTunes Store in Canada includes:

• CBC's comedy programs "Little Mosque on the Prairie" and "The Rick Mercer Report," reality programming "No Opportunity Wasted" and "Dragon's Den;" • CTV's smash hit comedy "Corner Gas," dramas "Instant Star," "Degrassi: The Next Generation" and "Robson Arms;" • Comedy Central's "Drawn Together," "The Sarah Silverman Program" and Emmy and Peabody Award-winning "South Park;" • MTV Networks programs "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and "The Hills;" and • NHL Games of the Year, including top NHL games in their entirety for the 2007-2008 season, as well as Stanley Cup Classics, a five-game bundle of great Stanley Cup Final games.

With Apple's legendary ease of use, pioneering features such as integrated podcasting support, iMix playlist sharing, seamless integration with iPod and the ability to turn previously purchased songs into completed albums at a reduced price, the iTunes Store is the best way for PC and Mac users to legally discover, purchase and download music and video online.

Pricing & Availability
iTunes 7 for Mac and Windows includes the iTunes Store and is available as a free download from (www.itunes.ca). Purchase and download of songs and videos from the iTunes Store requires a valid credit card from a financial institution in the country of purchase. Television shows are available in the US, UK and Canada only, and video availability varies by country. Television shows are CAN$1.99 per episode in Canada. TV shows from the iTunes Store are downloaded in near-DVD quality at a resolution of 640x480 (up to 480, depending on the aspect ratio) and can be viewed on a PC or Mac, iPod nano with video, fifth generation iPod, iPod classic or on a widescreen TV with Apple TV.

TiVo(R) DVRs available at Best Buy and other major Canadian retailers in time for the holiday season

ALVISO, Calif., Nov. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq:
TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video
recorders (DVRs), announced today that TiVo DVRs will be available in
retail stores in Canada in time for the holidays. Canadian customers can
now enjoy the Emmy(R) award-winning TiVo user interface and exclusive
service features such as SeasonPass(TM) recordings, WishList(R) searches,
Online Scheduling, TiVoToGo(TM) transfers, Multi-Room viewing, and
TrickPlay functionality, which enables users to pause, rewind, instant
replay and slow-motion live TV. The TiVo Series2(TM) DT DVR, optimized for
cable households, holds up to 80 hours of standard-definition content and
allows consumers to record two shows at once.

"We've received overwhelming demand from Canadian consumers who want
access to TiVo's innovative products and services and we are extremely
excited to be able to deliver our highly-successful TiVo Series2 Dual Tuner
DVR to this key strategic marketplace — just in time for the holidays,"
said Joshua Danovitz, Vice President and GM of International at TiVo.
"TiVo's move into Canada represents a natural, important progression for
our business as we continue to make sustained progress across international
markets."

"We are committed to offering our customers with the most diverse
selection of leading, highly-demanded consumer electronics available
anywhere," said Grant McTaggart, Senior Director of Merchandising, Best Buy
Canada. "It is with great pleasure that we are teaming up with TiVo to
bring their innovative products and services to our Canadian customer
base."

The TiVo Series2 DT DVR will be available in early December at major
Canadian retailers including Best Buy, The Brick, London Drug and Future
Shop for just $199 CAD MSRP plus standard TiVo subscription fees. TiVo will
not be available in Quebec immediately. For more information on TiVo in
Canada visit http://www.TiVo.com/canada.

About TiVo Inc.

Founded in 1997, TiVo (Nasdaq: TIVO) pioneered a brand new category of
products with the development of the first commercially available digital
video recorder (DVR). Sold through leading consumer electronic retailers,
TiVo has developed a brand which resonates boldly with consumers as
providing a superior television experience. Through agreements with leading
satellite and cable providers, TiVo also integrates its full set of DVR
service features into the set-top boxes of mass distributors. TiVo's DVR
functionality and ease of use, with such features as Season Pass(TM)
recordings and WishList(R) searches and TiVo(R) KidZone have elevated its
popularity among consumers and have created a whole new way for viewers to
watch television. With a continued investment in its patented technologies,
TiVo is revolutionizing the way consumers watch and access home
entertainment. Rapidly becoming the focal point of the digital living room,
TiVo's DVR is at the center of experiencing new forms of content on the TV,
such as broadband delivered video, music and photos. With innovative
features, such as TiVoToGo(TM) transfers and online scheduling, TiVo is
expanding the notion of consumers experiencing "TiVo, TV your way.(R)" The
TiVo(R) service is also at the forefront of providing innovative marketing
solutions for the television industry, including a unique platform for
advertisers and audience measurement research. The company is based in
Alviso, Calif.

TiVo, Season Pass, WishList, Series2, TiVoToGo, 'TiVo, TV your way.'
and the TiVo Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of TiVo Inc. or
its subsidiaries worldwide. (C) 2007 TiVo Inc. All rights reserved. All
other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

The rationale proffered by the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada is that it'll help replenish artists' wallets raided by piracy and that "the right to copy a song from an online store demands the same sort of levy applied to copying a retail CD," according to Electronista. (Our eyes started bleeding halfway through the PDF.) Making legal downloads more expensive probably isn't going to boost sales—pissing people off with more taxes might even drive them right to The Pirate Bay, where artists will get zero compensation.

What would you guys do if your iTunes purchases started being taxed tomorrow? [Electronista]

I'm afraid you can't, became Okutta doesn't exist. It's all a figment of charity War Child Canada's imagination, who made the video to draw attention to the plight of the world's child soldiers who do end up in war training camps. [Camp Okuttavia Neatorama]

The refit, which costs more than $30,000 per vehicle, includes a specially designed air mattress that inflates beneath the patient to transfer him to the stretcher (reinforced and widened, natch) and a remote lift system that raises the stretcher into the ambulance.

Someone who may be cheering the arrival of Canada's ambulance for fatties is Calgary resident Chad Campbell. He described it as "a step in the right direction." However, it was not known how the four firemen and two paramedics that were previously needed to transport the 560-lb Mr Campbell to his hospital appointments had celebrated the news.

The 1000 lb ambulance [Medgadget]

The above ad is just a preview to the real one that will be airing during the commercial breaks (the only time the Colts are safe from being eaten alive by Brian Urlacher). –Travis Hudson

Apparently they need laws more like ours, where recording a movie in a theater nets you eight years of jail time on top of a $250k fine, making movie tickets in New York actually seem cheap. – Matt Buchanan

50% movie piracy from Canada: Hollywood [Canada.com via Slashdot]

Oh, and it also appears that they've removed all 20GB models from the Canadian market as well. Is there a more anti-consumer company than Sony out there? Seriously, it's like they're trying to agitate their customers. Next they'll announce that in order to buy a PS3 you need to submit to a solid kick to the balls before leaving the store. –Adam Frucci

GamersReports [via Digg]

Rogers is actively working with Apple to launch the iPhone in Canada as soon as possible and will be the exclusive provider of the iPhone in Canada.

iPhone [Gizmodo]

Next, XM and Suzuki Canada have sealed a deal to begin incorporating XM radios in select 2007 models. The 2007 XL-7 JLX will have a factory installed player. And the 2007 Grand Vitara and SX4 will offer a deal-installed option. Included with the purchase of a new Suzuki is free activation and three free months of all of the Canadian pop music that you can handle. – Travis Hudson

Pioneer Inno Press Release [Via Orbicast]
Suzuki Press Release [Also Via Orbicast]

Yeah, there is a downside. Roaming charges for EV-DO service will be around $2 per MB of data. That $300 porno download better be worth it. – Travis Hudson

Press Release [Via Gearlog]

While this "article" actually sounds like someone making something up, apparently Canada the Canadian AAA is trying to pass legislation against DWI (Driving While iPodding). I probably won't happen, but it will make for some great news affliate coverage ("Some people say that iPods are harmless fun, but our neighbors to the North think they're weapons of mass terror. More after the break.") – John Biggs

UPDATE - A reader writes:

About your article "No iPods While Driving says Canada" The original article states that "Canadian Automobile Association is urging all provinces to ban their use in cars.". CAA isn't a branch of the government, they aren't even a lobbyist group. Its a tow truck company, they offer yearly memberships for roadside assistance. Slightly less interesting story. But might as well help you get it right where I can. ^_^
No Driving While iPodding [TechDirt]