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Wouldn’t this be done through Rogers? They are rogers/at&t right?

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You’re lucky: our contract expires in April. We’re on Verizon. I’m not sure what to do. I desperately need a cell phone, because my Treo cuts out on me 10 seconds into every phone call.

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The 4-11 on the iPhone, as far as I know.

- Some are being sent out to the famous people this week. So people like Sarah McLaughlin will have them this month.

- The delay until June is for FTC approval in the US. There’s not Canadian date but Europe will be the end of ’07.

- It’s always hard to tell how long we’ll have to wait until something from Apple arrives in Canada. The iPods hit the same time here as they did in the US, but things like the iTunes store came later (we still don’t have movies or TV shows in ours).

- It’s a GSM phone so that means you’ll have to pick between a Rogers or a Fido (owned by Rogers) plan. Telus has been considering (very quietly) going GSM at some point since CDMA is just a provincial frequency limited to Canada, the US and some latin American countries. GSM is the world standard, and that’s why Apple choose it.

- Apple will be selling the phones both through Cingular and it’s own stores / website. Whether the ones bought through Apple will be locked for use only with Cingular isn’t confirmed yet but it’s likely given their deal. There is a (slim) chance that it’ll also be sold in an unlocked variety through Apple as the Nokia N-Gage phone was.

The N-Gage was sold through EB stores, and was unlocked, giving a buyer the potential to go through any GSM carrier. The N-Gage tanked, so that’s one reason Apple went with a carrier alliance.

- Most GSM phones can be unlocked, and eBay will have unlocked iPhones probably very shortly after they hit the shelves in June. It’s possible to buy them unlocked from the US and use them on Rogers or Fido here in Canada.

- Using a grey market phone generally means the internet settings are not properly configured to the network. It’s not impossible to do, but it’ll be tricky. Also the visual voice mail component will most likely only work with supporting carriers.

- It sounds like iTunes songs will not be able to be used as ringtones. That’s a ridiculous example of cowtowing to Cingular who wants to sell $3 versions of songs for ringtones.

Unlike Europe and Asia in the US and Canada we’re used to getting really cheap phones on contract. Even with a 2 year deal the iPhone is going to be $499 US. That means I don’t think it’ll sell as well as you might think, since the best selling phones are always the free ones. The Motorola Razr didn’t start selling well until it came down to around $100.

Now the iPhone is far more than any phone I’ve seen. I want one really bad, but it’s success depends as much on how Apple can make the value versus cost argument to a population who equate cell phones with being free. It’s doable, the success of the BlackBerry Pearl proves it, but still you can get 2 Pearls for one iPhone. $499 (USD) is at the very high end of market. Apple’s priced themselves out of being competitive before, and I hope it doesn’t happen again.

Also I’m still not convinced that convergence is really a good thing. I’ve had MP3/camera phones for years now but never used them much as either. I like the fact that I have an iPod, and a phone. I like that I can leave my phone at home when I go out for a walk, and take my iPod.

I’m actually waiting until next Fall when the new round of iPods come out. Then hopefully a lot of the new design features will start appearing in the standard iPod line. A 100 gig iPod video with that touch screen is almost more interesting to me than the iPhone.

Having said that I’m still selling my mother to get one.

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Not wanting to be a curmudgeon, but I just can’t help but associate the Newton to the iPhone. I was the first non Apple employee to demo the Newton, I was an employee of Apple Computer Inc when Newton died it’s horrible little death, so clearly I’m still traumatized.

It’s just the touchscreen thing and “innovative” interfaces to make touchscreen less um touchscreenish.

I mean am I the only person who is on his fourth blackberry? Sure, one got run-over by a bus, and another dropped in a toilet, but at least two of them just didn’t last the wear and tear of daily, near-constant use.

And we all know that the iPod is already a delicate little darling, so I can’t imagine “rugged” will be a word used to describe it.

Again, not relishing my “wet blanket” post but feel it has to be made, at least until Rogers or Telus gets them in Canada.

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