HTC Raider 4G LTE available on Rogers today, Bell’s version coming soon

Now that both Rogers and Bell have alive and kickin’ LTE networks, it’s high time we see a full lineup on them, right? HTC’s doing its part, at least, by offering the Raider 4G LTE (aka Holiday), a device we’ve seen announced in Korea and Australia so far. Curiously, Rogers lists the device as having a 1.2GHz dual-core CPU, a downtick from its Asian counterpart, though everything else appears to be the same: it offers a 4.5-inch qHD (960 x 540) display, a full gigabyte of RAM, an 8MP rear camera with LED flash and 1080p video capture, a 1.3MP front-facing cam for video chat and runs with Android 2.3.4 and HTC Sense 3.0 installed. Rogers will be the first in Canada to get the phone out the door, since it’s available in stores and online today for $150 with a three-year commitment, whereas Bell has it listed as “coming soon” on its official site with no actual pricing indicated (MobileSyrup says it will likely be sold for $170). If your heart goes pitter-patter for this Raider, go ahead and pick one up — just keep in mind that the lost ark is not included.

HTC Raider 4G LTE available on Rogers today, Bell’s version coming soon originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Pro+ 4G rides into Canada November 7th, will kick off shoes and stay a while


We knew it was planning to grace Europe and Asia with its presence this month, but now we’re hearing the Motorola Pro+ 4G is ready to make its North American debut at Bell Canada. We’re not seeing any large differences here compared to the overseas model, though the addition of “4G” to the title is an obvious exception. The device offers a 1GHz CPU, 512MB of RAM, Android 2.3, a 5MP camera, 3.1-inch VGA (640 x 480) display with Gorilla Glass, HSPA 14.4 (hence the “4G” name) and a lot of Enterprise-friendly security features. We know it’ll be hitting shelves on November 7th, but no price has been announced so far. To find out the full shebang, head south for the press release.

Update: We’ve confirmed with an inside source that it’ll sell for $349.95, but there’s no word on whether subsidies will apply for long-term contracts.

Continue reading Motorola Pro+ 4G rides into Canada November 7th, will kick off shoes and stay a while

Motorola Pro+ 4G rides into Canada November 7th, will kick off shoes and stay a while originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 06:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG Optimus Eye: LTE smartphone renamed with a view to landing in Canada

LG’s biggest, fastest phone to date, previously known as the Optimus LTE, has made its first landing outside of Korea. In a not-so-thinly-veiled reference to the retina display-beating resolution density, it’s now answering to the name, Optimus Eye. The smartphone’s been leaked in a preview video from The Source, a Canadian retailer which is owned by Bell — who’ll evidently be making the phone available on their network. We also get to see LG’s latest AH-IPS display technology in action, alongside a dual-core 1.5GHz processor and the increasingly standard eight megapixel shooter. No whisperings just yet on pricing or a launch date, but we’d expect these top-drawer specifications to be matched with an appropriately top-drawer price tag when it does arrive. You can eye it up for yourself after the break.

Continue reading LG Optimus Eye: LTE smartphone renamed with a view to landing in Canada

LG Optimus Eye: LTE smartphone renamed with a view to landing in Canada originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIM clarifies global service outage, doesn’t provide ETA for restore

If you don’t own a BlackBerry yourself, chances are you know somebody who does. And if that person lives in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America or South America, they’re probably quite unhappy with RIM at the moment. This week’s service outage began with a server failure in the UK, and spread like wildfire to Africa and the Middle East, before continuing on to parts of Asia, the US, Canada and a good portion of South America. This is only the latest BlackBerry service outage for RIM, bringing email, BBM and web browsing services to a halt. But with BlackBerry services playing a critical role in real-time business and government communications, any interruption is unacceptable, and costly for all.

RIM CTO David Yach responded to questions during a press conference this afternoon, explaining the original cause of the outage (that UK server failure, along with a series of failed redundancies), and how that grew into the global outage we’re experiencing now:

“It’s a backlog issue. Clearly we have a backlog in Europe, based on the initial outage and the time it’s taken to stabilize that. At this point, we have not throttled the other regions, but as you can imagine, with the global reach of BlackBerry, people using it to contact others around the world, there’s a lot of messages coming to Europe from Asia and the Americas, and those would be backed up on the other system. It’s looking like over time that backlog built, and started impacting those other systems.”

The obvious solution would be to clear the backlog and restore service, but in doing so, RIM would purge any undelivered messages. Yach said that all emails will eventually be delivered, however, so you shouldn’t have anything to worry about there (there was no related comment regarding BBM messages). When asked what the company would be doing to “make right” by way of its customers, Yach emphasized that his focus was only on restoring service at this point, and made no promises of restitution.

Is the BlackBerry outage affecting you? Let us know by voting in our poll, or leaving a comment after the break.

Continue reading RIM clarifies global service outage, doesn’t provide ETA for restore

RIM clarifies global service outage, doesn’t provide ETA for restore originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BlackBerry outage spreads to US and Canada, continues in Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, South America (update: RIM confirms)

It’s day three of RIM’s BlackBerry service outage in much of the world, including Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, Brazil and Chile. But now the problem appears to have spread into Canada — RIM’s home turf — and we’re even hearing reports of some service issues in the US as well. We’ve reached out to RIM for comment, but we’d like to hear from you. Let us know whether or not you’re having issues in the poll below, and jump past the break to sound off in the comments.

View Poll

Update: RIM has posted the following statement to its BlackBerry Service Update page:

BlackBerry subscribers in the Americas may be experiencing intermittent service delays this morning. We are working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible and we apologize to our customers for any inconvenience. We will provide a further update as soon as more information is available.

Update 2: RIM UK has also posted a statement:

We know that many of you are still experiencing service problems. The resolution of this service issue is our Number One priority right now and we are working night and day to restore all BlackBerry services to normal levels.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

BlackBerry outage spreads to US and Canada, continues in Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, South America (update: RIM confirms) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Oct 2011 09:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TomTom extends Live service and HD Traffic to Canada with Go Live 1535M nav unit

Satisfying your poutine craving just got easier as TomTom extends its internet-enabled Live service and HD Traffic to nav systems up north. Using the Go Live 1535M portable GPS unit, Canadian drivers can now access the company’s signature HD Traffic feature to get real-time routing based on current congestion. Another perk of being connected is the suite of apps that gives adventurers access to Yelp, TripAdvisor, Expedia, Twitter and local search from the dash — making it easy to find that perfectly crafted caribou jerky and brag about it on social networks. Starting in October, Canucks can cop the system for around $269 with a free 12-month starter subscription to Live offerings. Check out the full PR after the break.

Continue reading TomTom extends Live service and HD Traffic to Canada with Go Live 1535M nav unit

TomTom extends Live service and HD Traffic to Canada with Go Live 1535M nav unit originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CRTC won’t regulate Netflix as a broadcaster in Canada

Netflix may be a streaming company, but that doesn’t make it a broadcaster — at least, not in Canada, and not according to the CRTC. Despite calls from existing broadcasters to the contrary, the agency today opted not to regulate Netflix and other so-called “over-the-top” services — which would have, among other things, made them subject to the same Canadian content requirements that broadcasters must comply with. While it hasn’t completely closed the door on changing its tune in the future, at the moment the CRTC says that there’s no evidence the services are harming traditional broadcasters, and that regulating them could in fact discourage innovation and make it difficult for Canadian companies to compete outside of the country.

CRTC won’t regulate Netflix as a broadcaster in Canada originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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White Galaxy S II gets not-so-festive October launch in Canada

Smartphone obsessives in Canada will be getting their hands on some snowy Galaxy S II goodness sooner rather than later. Yes, Samsung’s dual-core bestseller has been leaked with an October 7th launch date on Bell, with prices matching the dark original: CAD$599.95 off-contract or CAD$149.95 for three years. And we know all phones look better in white, right?

White Galaxy S II gets not-so-festive October launch in Canada originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft announces new $10 Zune Music Pass, expands service to Canada

It may not enjoy quite the same level of buzz that the likes of Spotify, Rdio and MOG have been basking in lately, but Microsoft’s Zune service is still kicking, and the company’s now working to make it a bit more appealing and more widely available. For folks in the US, the big change today is a new $10 per month Zune Music Pass, which is identical to the existing $15 service with the notable exception that you no longer get to keep ten free MP3s each month (that $15 option remains available to existing subscribers, though). Elsewhere, Microsoft has also now finally brought the Zune Marketplace and Zune Pass to Canada — it opens up on October 3rd, with the Zune Pass running the same $10/month (or $100 for a year of service).

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Microsoft announces new $10 Zune Music Pass, expands service to Canada originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rogers getting Samsung Galaxy S Glide in time for the holidays

Sure, Rogers will soon be launching its flagship Samsung Galaxy S II LTE, but sometimes you just gotta have a tangible keyboard. That’s where the Galaxy S Glide comes in: the folks at MobileSyrup were able to take a brief tour of the device, and discovered that this previously unannounced phone has a four-row QWERTY with a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, 1.2GHz dual-core CPU and 8MP rear / 1.2MP front-facing cameras. Not quite up to par with its 4G-equipped older brother, but anyone not needing the fanciest toy on the market but craving high performance may find this option particularly intriguing. It’s expected to show up sometime between now and the end of the year (that narrows down the timeframe quite a bit) and has no established price point as of yet. We could see the device hovering around the mid-range for now, at least, and will likely be much more popular than the tragically-unrelated Samsung Glyde.

[Thanks, TheMetrix]

Rogers getting Samsung Galaxy S Glide in time for the holidays originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 25 Sep 2011 19:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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