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Well it seems Rogers Wireless shocked everyone in the country July 9, when it appeared to cave on its previously announced pricing plans for the Apple iPhone 3G. As a promotional offer from the July 11 launch date to Aug. 31, when you order your three-year plan, you can add six gigabytes of data transmission a month through the cellphone's 3G network (or "mobile Internet," as it's also called) for only $30, which could calm down some angry iPhonephiles. Although it's not technically an unlimited data plan, such as AT&T offers in the U.S., it would actually take a fair amount of downloading to reach that cap. It may seem this change of heart stems from the initial backlash from angry Apple fanatics on the Internet, such as on RuinediPhone.com. (Well actually, the original site had a far more incendiary anti-Rogers URL, but that address no longer redirects to the site.) That site posted an online petition for people to sign as a protest of Rogers' price plans. And although RuinediPhone.com seems to appreciate the new offer, the users may still be holding out for unlimited data. But I think the Rogers flip-flop is a result of pressure from Apple itself who allegedly threatened to cutback on Rogers iPhone shipments and refused to sell the carrier's price plan in its Apple Canada stores. Still, whatever the reason, now customers can get an iPhone and get a cheap, useful plan to go around with it, right? Well not exactly... Even if the three-year price plans, ranging from $60/month to $115/month, (not counting the $6.95/month system access fee on all Rogers phone accounts) aren't the greatest packages, but they are at least packages. With the $60/month plan you get 150 minutes of talk time with free evenings (starting at 9 p.m.) and weekends as well as visual voicemail, 75 text messages and 400 megabytes of data transmission. At the top end, the $115/month plan offers 800 minutes of talk time, free evenings, etc., 300 text messages and two gigabytes of data. The phones, with these plans, are $199 for one with eight gigabytes of memory and $299 for a 16-gigabyte version. Call display is not included and it seems it can only be purchased through a $15 or $20 value pack. These packs will also get you 2,500 and 10,000 sent text messages respectively, as well as 2,500 call forwarding minutes. But the $30 for six gigabytes of data a month is simply that. It doesn't include voicemail, texting or even a voice plan. You'll have to add everything on top of that individually or through another plan and you may end up with a much bigger bill than you were expecting. Essentially the $30 data offer is the same as the $100 data plan available for Rogers phones already. So I wonder if after the Aug. 31 deadline Rogers will automatically switch these customers to the $100 plan or downgrade them to 300 megabytes a month which is what $30 was previously worth. oh, well, at least, the iPhone has Wi-Fi too. Maybe you should just choose the $60 plan and vow to only surf through wireless access points, because at least using the phone at Rogers HotSpots or other places that offer wireless Internet won't drain from your bandwidth cap. Then again, maybe you'd be better off with an "iPhone killer" from another carrier. Bell, for example, is coming out with the Samsung Instinct on Aug. 8 with what sounds like much of the same specs as the iPhone. And Bell is offering a $10 unlimited data plan with that for mobile Internet. (Though, I don’t believe this includes texting or non-web-based e-mail, such as Outlook.) It also offers two- and one-year plans on top of the three year option. (And if you want a full-on Samsung Smartphone, you can try and hold out until someone offers the Omnia i900. Meanwhile, Telus has announced the HTC Touch Diamond, the top-of-the-line phone from High Tech Computer Corporation. This personally makes me jealous as I just got the best HTC phone available through Rogers - the two-year-old HTC TyTN and the Diamond puts my phone to shame. Telus is also offering it at $149.95 for a three-year plan, which is less than I paid for the TyTN. It also offers a $15/month unlimited data plan. Granted, Bell and Telus will screw you in another ways. On July 8, it came out both companies are going to start charging for incoming texts. Bell will start on Aug. 8 (the same day the Instinct comes out) whereas Telus will wait until Aug. 24. So at times, it's hard to keep track of which telecommunication company is violating which one of your orifices. So if you have your heart set on an iPhone, maybe Rogers is your best bet as it at least hasn't said it will charge for incoming texts. Or better yet you could pick up the A88 Hiphone, a Chinese clone of the iPhone which you can usually find unlocked on eBay for around $150 and then try and find a provider that won't take advantage of you. Incidentally, all the iPhone alternatives (save for the Instinct) run on Windows Mobile, which may be off-putting to you Apple lovers out there, but it does allow for more applications, as well as a tiny little program you may have heard of called Flash, which is used on probably about 80 per cent of the Internet. The iPhone, on the other hand, does not support Flash. So maybe you should just save your money for something more useful – a robot dog, perhaps.

 

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About G4 in Canada
G4 Canada (formerly TechTV Canada) launched in September 2001. G4 is the one and only television station that is plugged into every dimension of games, gear, gadgets and gigabytes. Owned Rogers Media Inc., the channel airs more than 24 original series. G4 is available on digital cable and satellite. For more information, see www.g4tv.ca.