Marc Saltzman
Sun

After playing around with a sleek iPhone 3G for eight days, I can confirm it lives up to its hype. But it’s not a flawless gadget, nor is it an inexpensive one when you factor in that the regular minimum investment is almost $2,500 over three years for the non-promotional data and voice plan.

What’s new? As the name suggests, the iPhone 3G takes advantage of Rogers‘ HSPA (“Vision”) 3G network for broadband-like cellphone speeds across Canada. This means you can surf and download without having to find a wireless hot spot at a cafe or airport lounge (though Wi-Fi is still included in the new iPhone, and is generally faster than 3G).

The 3G designation stands for third generation, a faster wireless network technology than the original model used. Built-in GPS technology and the Google Maps application mean the iPhone can help you get to where you’re going — even with satellite photo views on its bright 3.5-inch screen (measured diagonally). And it’s not just for navigation to your destination, but to spots in between such as restaurants, bank machines or gas stations. Feel like a cup of joe when you’re walking around town? Use your fingertip to type the word “coffee” in the search field and you’ll immediately see push-pins near your location on the overhead map, showing the closest cafes with turn-by-turn directions. There’s no audio, though, so it’s not ideal while driving.

For the mobile business person, the iPhone’s Mac-based operating system now supports Microsoft’s Exchange ActiveSync platform, allowing iPhone users to synchronize e-mail, calendars, tasks and contacts with their company’s secure Microsoft Exchange Server. Another major new feature — one we weren’t able to test-drive because it won’t be live until Friday — is the AppStore. Users will be able to download thousands of third-party applications to customize the iPhone’s functionality. Battery life is quite impressive on the iPhone 3G. I used the handset for four days straight without charging it once, and that included chatting, Wi-Fi web surfing and e-mail.

What’s not to love? With a reported 100 new features added to the original iPhone, the iPhone 3G (available in black or white) builds nicely on its mega-popular predecessor. But it’s still missing a few key features. There is still no video camera function in the iPhone 3G (something I enjoy using on my BlackBerry Curve) and the camera remains at two megapixels rather than matching the quality of those offered by other phone makers, such as Sony Ericsson and Nokia. Speaking of photos, you can e-mail a photo you’ve taken to someone but you can’t send it to another phone via MMS (multimedia messaging service), as you can with many other phones.

Curiously, the iPhone 3G also doesn’t have a voice recorder, nor does it offer voice-activated dialing. Other beefs include the inability to cut and paste text (say, from a website to a document) and you can’t access the wireless iTunes store over 3G (Wi-Fi only). Finally, the “soft” keyboard takes some time getting used to — especially for BlackBerry users — and it’s too bad you can’t turn the iPhone horizontally when typing an e-mail to make the keyboard bigger.

The biggest issue, though, has nothing to do with the iPhone itself. The main concern for many is the cost of the Rogers or Fido data plans and the limitations put on usage. Canadians won’t have an “unlimited” usage option with the iPhone 3G.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

Glenn Chapman
Sun

Computer industry heavyweights are hustling to fix a flaw in the foundation of the Internet that would let hackers control traffic on the World Wide Web.

Major software and hardware makers worked in secret for months to create a software “patch” released on Tuesday to repair the problem, which is in the way computers are routed to web page addresses.

“It’s a very fundamental issue with how the entire addressing scheme of the Internet works,” Securosis analyst Rich Mogul said in a media conference call.

“You’d have the Internet, but it wouldn’t be the Internet you expect. (Hackers) would control everything.”

The flaw would be a boon for “phishing” cons that involve leading people to imitation web pages of businesses such as bank or credit card companies to trick them into disclosing account numbers, passwords and other information.

Attackers could use the vulnerability to route Internet users wherever they wanted no matter what website address is typed into a web browser.

Security researcher Dan Kaminsky of IOActive stumbled upon the Domain Name System (DNS) vulnerability about six months ago and reached out to industry giants including Microsoft, Sun and Cisco to collaborate on a solution.

DNS is used by every computer that links to the Internet and works similar to a telephone system routing calls to proper numbers, in this case the online numerical addresses of websites.

On Tuesday the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT), a joint government-private sector security partnership, issued a warning to underscore the serious of so-called DNS “cache poisoning attacks” the vulnerability could allow.

“An attacker with the ability to conduct a successful cache poisoning attack can cause a nameserver’s clients to contact the incorrect, and possibly malicious, hosts for particular services,” CERT said.

“Consequently, web traffic, email, and other important network data can be redirected to systems under the attacker’s control.”

“People should be concerned but they should not be panicking,” Kaminsky said. “We have bought you as much time as possible to test and apply the patch. Something of this scale has not happened before.”

Kaminsky built a web page, www.doxpara.com, where people can find out whether their computers have the DNS vulnerability.

Kaminsky was among about 16 researchers from around the world who met in March at Microsoft’s campus in Redmond, Washington, to figure out what to do about the flaw.

“I found it completely by accident,” Kaminsky said. “I was looking at something that had nothing to do with security. This one issue affected not just Microsoft and Cisco, but everybody.”

The cadre of software wizards charted an unprecedented course, creating a patch to release simultaneously across all computer software platforms.

“This hasn’t been done before and it is a massive undertaking,” Kaminsky said.

“A lot of people really stepped up and showed how collaboration can protect customers.”

Automated updating should protect most personal computers. Microsoft released the fix in a software update package Tuesday.

A push is on to make sure company networks and Internet service providers make certain their computer servers are impervious to web traffic hijackings using the DNS attack.

The patch can’t be “reverse engineered” by hackers interested in figuring out how to take advantage of the flaw, technical details of which are being kept secret for a month to give companies time to update computers.

“This is a pretty important day,” said Jeff Moss, founder of a premier Black Hat computer security conference held annually in Las Vegas.

“We are seeing a massive multi-vendor patch for the entire addressing scheme for the internet – the kind of a flaw that would let someone trying to go to Google.com be directed to wherever an attacker wanted.”

Hackers using the vulnerability to attack company computer networks would also be able to capture email and other business data.

Kaminsky alerted US national security agencies to the crack in cyber warfare defenses.

“This really shows the value-add of independent security researchers,” said former Department of Homeland Security National Cyber Security Division director Jerry Dixon.

© AFP 2008

Khettiya Jittapong and Sophie Taylor
Sun

BANGKOK/SHANGHAI – The new iPhone looks set to be a huge hit in Asia countries where it goes on sale on Friday, but the sleek smartphone is already in high demand in black markets from Shanghai to Bangkok.

In Thailand, a Southeast Asian hub for pirated goods where Apple Inc’s iPhone is not officially for sale, dealers boast they only need a few weeks to smuggle in the trendy phones and “unlock” them for use on local mobile networks.

“I’m taking orders this weekend and you’ll get it by the end of July. We can sign a contract guaranteeing you will get it,” Toew, a phone dealer who is offering 8 gigabyte 3G iPhones for 29,000 baht ($860) on the Internet, told Reuters.

At Bangkok‘s MBK centre — a treasure trove of pirated DVDs, clothing and luxury goods — many shops are advertising hacked iPhones with signs that read: “Good price, we unlock very fast.”

Trading iPhones via the Internet has become more popular in recent months, with prices for the current iPhone soaring 25-30 percent due to tight supply and rumors that the 3G iPhone cannot be hacked despite the claims of online shops.

An old iPhone with 8-gigabytes of memory now costs 22,000-24,500 baht, up from 16,500-18,500. A model with twice the memory fetches 25,000-28,000 baht, up around 5,000 baht from a few months ago.

“I’m an iPhone addict now. I’m going to sell the old one and buy the 3G phone. No matter what the price is, I’ll get one,” said Tana Tanaraugsachock, a 41-year old financial executive, who bought her first iPhone during a trip to the United States.

A poll by a local website showed more than 77 percent of 2,000 respondents want to buy the new phone, which Apple says has faster Web links faster than the old version and supports third-party software like games.

“It’s fashion and technology that attract mobile users to the iPhone. They are using more data services to surf the Internet,” said Prattana Leelapanang, an executive at Thailand‘s leading mobile operator, Advanced Info Service . AIS estimates there are 140,000 users of the old iPhone in Thailand, where a 3G network is only in the testing stage for now.

Apple is rolling out the new iPhone in more than 20 countries — including New Zealand, Japan and Hong Kong — but AIS has not yet reached a deal for Thailand, Prattana said.

“WE HACKED IT”

In Hong Kong, Hutchison Telecommunications <2332.HK> has been flooded with online applications from eager buyers, but retailers in the rest of China — where the iPhone is not officially offered — are also gearing up to sell hacked phones.

On Shanghai‘s posh Huaihai Road, a merchant at Cybermart mall said an unlocked iPhone is priced at 3,000 yuan ($437), while a Chinese copy would cost 1,000 yuan.

“As soon as we get it from Hong Kong and bring it over and unlock it, you should be able to buy it here by the end of July at the latest,” said Zhang, whose shop is at two floor above an authorized Apple reseller.

Asked about claims that the new iPhones could not be hacked, he replied: “The Chinese are very quick at unlocking iPhones.” “They used to say that the PSP couldn’t be hacked as well, but we hacked it.”

Inside the bustling Cybermart are rows of stalls bearing neon signs with local and global brands. No iPhones were actually exhibited in displays, but when asked repeatedly, merchants would sometimes offer to bring out hacked handsets from the back.

Another shopkeeper said most customers prefer the unlocked versions, rather than Chinese copies, which she added were sometimes not of very good quality.

“If you look at where a lot of those unlocked phones were going a lot were going to Hong Kong and China…that’s a sign of a very big demand,” Chris Whitmore of Deutsche Bank said.

($1 = 33.70 Baht) ($1=6.857 Yuan)

© Reuters 2008

 

Only an authorized carrier can sell it here

Gillian Shaw
Sun

If you want to buy one of the new 3G iPhones this Friday, don’t bother going to an Apple store.

Unlike the United States where consumers could buy iPhones at Apple retailers as well as through the wireless carrier AT&T that carries the phones, in Canada consumers will have to buy from a Rogers Wireless or Fido retailer or one of the company’s authorized resellers.

“Unfortunately we won’t be selling it,” said Jamie Kerr, at Vancouver’s Simply Computing, an Apple retailer that has stores in six locations in British Columbia. “It’s because we are not an authorized cellphone carrier like Rogers or Fido.”

Future Shop, which sells cellphones and accompanying wireless plans, said it would like to carry the new iPhone but so far the answer from Rogers is no.

“It is part of Rogers’ retail strategy for the iPhone launch,” said Susan Kirk, spokesperson for Future Shop. “We are continuing to be in discussions with them.

“Our customer base is obviously tech savvy and would like to see it, so we are continuing to discuss it with them.”

Kerr said “tons of people” have been calling to see if the store will stock the iPhone.

“You can’t actually buy the phone without purchasing the plan,” she said. “This is kind of new — in the States where it was originally released you were able to go out and buy the iPhone on its own.”

Rogers, which also has the Fido brand, is the only network in Canada on which the iPhone can function. Many Canadians bought iPhones in the U.S. when there was no sign of their arrival in Canada and unlocked them for use on the Rogers or Fido network.

In the wake of the consumer backlash over Rogers’ pricing plans, online rumours suggest Apple is cutting shipments of iPhones to Canada and instead diverting them to Europe. Rogers has denied the rumour and said inventory has not changed since it announced the iPhone launch.

Meanwhile, Russell Gordon, a high school mathematics and computer science teacher in Ontario who launched the website www.getthefactsonrogersiphone.com, has launched a “lost customer” campaign.

His website has a coupon that he is urging consumers to fill out and drop off at a Rogers or Fido outlet on Friday.

It reads: “This slip represents one lost customer. I would have purchased an iPhone. I changed my mind due to the poor value of the Rogers/Fido voice and data plans.”

Another website attracting attention from disgruntled Rogers’ subscribers and would-be iPhone users, ruinediphone.com, has chalked up almost 700 Rogers customers who say they are abandoning the wireless carrier.

And in further bleak news, analysts at UBS Securities Canada lowered their target price for Rogers stock to $51 from $54 and for Telus from $46 to $43 as a result of the current wireless spectrum auction, which could see new competition in the wireless market in Canada. The analysts’ report said the lowered targets reflect the potential impact of an Ontario new entrant targeting the wireless consumer market and the increased risk of a “quasi-national new entrant anchored by Globalive, on its own or through possible partnerships with other new entrant license holders.”

The report has short-term sell ratings for Rogers and Telus, but the 12-month ratings remain unchanged for those companies.

“Short-term catalyst: we expect the near-term news flow after the auction could cause further downside for Rogers and Telus shares. Once the new entrant strategies are known and the partnership announcements are behind us, the focus will likely then turn to the new entrants’ progress and the challenges that the incumbents will create ahead of the new entrants, which may then help the shares recover,” the report said.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

Sun

Google has rolled out a challenge to virtual world giant Second Life with free software that lets people create their own online 3D worlds that can be embedded on websites and melded with other online functions.

Lively by Google lets people place virtual “rooms” on websites, customize “avatars” to be online proxies, and decorate their fantasy worlds with photos or streaming videos from YouTube, Picasa or other online sources.

The offering is a challenge to Second Life and other animated online worlds that require memberships and don’t let people take their creations elsewhere on the Internet.

“I’m wondering if this isn’t a bridge too far,” analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group said of Google expanding into virtual worlds.

“They are facing an awful lot of competition. It could be Google is anticipating the next wave on the Internet. We are not in the place where 3D is the way to render web pages, but we are heading there.”

With Lively, a user can adapt his personal online realm to his own imagination. Examples shown include hip flats, sprawling ranches, and rooftops backed by cityscapes.

Lively users can invite friends’ avatars over for visits by sending them online room addresses via email or instant messages, according to Google engineering manager Niniane Wang.

“If you enter a Lively room embedded on your favorite blog or website, you can immediately get a sense of the room creator’s interests, just by looking at the furniture and environment they chose,” Wang wrote in an online posting.

“You can also express your own personality by customizing your avatar’s look, showing people who you are without having to say a word. Of course, you can chat with each other, and you can also interact through animated actions.”

Lively code is available at www.lively.com and an application has been customized for the social-networking website Facebook.

© AFP 2008

 

Wojtek Dabrowski
Sun

TORONTO – Following criticism that its prices were too high for service plans for the eagerly anticipated Apple iPhone 3G, Canada‘s Rogers Communications Inc has rolled out a promotional six-gigabyte data plan for C$30.

Rogers said on Wednesday the plan will be available to those who activate by August 31 on a three-year contract and can be added to any voice plans currently available. Rogers also said it will limit purchases of Apple Inc’s iPhone 3G, available Friday, to two per customer “due to anticipated high demand.”

Rogers‘ earlier announced iPhone plans for voice and data ranged from $60 to $115 and unleashed a barrage of complaints from across the country.

A Web site set up to protest the costs attracted thousands of signatures to its online petition, which was to be presented to Rogers on Friday.

Rogers spokeswoman Elizabeth Hamilton said the company heard the feedback from Canadians excited about the arrival of the iPhone, but turned off by the billing plans.

“We listen to customers. They’re exited about wireless. They’re excited about 3G devices. We heard them,” she said.

© Reuters 2008

 

Customers steamed, but companies say they need more money to provide service

Andy Ivens
Province

Cellphone users are about to be hit with new fees as two of Canada‘s telecommunications giants bring in a levy on incoming text messages.

Bell Mobility will begin charging 15 cents per incoming text message on Aug. 8. Telus Mobility will do the same from Aug. 24.

Until now, their pay-per-use customers who send messages have been charged 15 cents per message, but it hasn’t cost anything to receive them.

Shawn Hall of Telus in Vancouver said the cost of accommodating text messaging has ballooned in recent years.

“Canadians send 45 million text messages a day,” said Hall. “That has created a tremendous strain on our network and we can no longer afford to provide the service for free.”

He said that, for $30 a month, customers can buy a cellphone plan that gives them unlimited sending and receiving of text messages, Internet access and e-mail.

“For customers who don’t do a lot of text messaging, they have the option of paying this 15 cents,” he said.

“As for unwanted text messages, consumers have nothing to worry about.

“We have had, for a number of years, really robust security filters in place that block millions of spam text messages a month.

“Generally speaking, our customers don’t receive text spam.”

And, he said, if you do receive text spam, “we’ll take the charge off your bill, no problem.”

The new charge has sparked outrage on blogs.

“This charge is unbelievable. If someone sends me spam on my Bell phone, I have to pay for it? I made the mistake of giving my cellphone number to a car rental agency and now I get spam text messages,” a Bell customer ranted on a technology blog.

“I actually work for Bell and I think this incoming text messages being charged is bogus!” posted another.

Bell and Telus customers can avoid the charge by switching to Rogers, which says it has no plans to institute a fee to receive a text message. But Bell and Telus charge penalties of up to $400 if customers break their contracts.

Elizabeth Hamilton, Rogers spokeswoman, said: “We just don’t charge for it, and have no plans to. Now it’s a unique differentiator for Rogers.”

Matt Jenkins, 25, of Vancouver, isn’t impressed by the text-messaging charges.

“Oh, painful,” he groaned. “Information is supposed to be free.”

Said Jennifer Woodroff, 47, of Vancouver: “That’s ridiculous. It’s like another tax.

“[Friends] text you constantly with stupid things like, ‘What RU doin‘?’ “

Chris Mack, 26, a Bell customer, is not relishing the prospect of paying the new charge: “I’m not happy with that.”

But the new fees don’t bother Ken Nam of Vancouver.

“I bought the Fun Bundle and pay a few bucks every month for unlimited text messaging. It costs about $5,” said Nam, 26. “I’m quite happy with Telus.”

Allen Mendez of Coquitlam said the new charges are reasonable.

“I think a lot of people use text messaging more than talking [on their cellphones] anyway,” said Mendez, 26.

Mendez said the fee might prompt people to think twice before giving a stranger their cellphone number.

“The only people who have my number are the people who I want to [receive] text messages from.”

© The Vancouver Province 2008

 

Anger fuels rumours that Apple is reducing the number of phones it plans to send to Canada

Gillian Shaw
Sun

The imminent arrival of the iPhone in Canada has unleashed a storm of controversy over the country’s high wireless data rates and left consumers bewildered by an array of offerings which, if mishandled, could leave them with a monthly phone bill higher than the price of a house in Saskatchewan.

iPhone fever has given way to iPhone fury with almost 50,000 people signing a petition slated to go to Rogers this Friday, the day Apple’s new iPhone is released.

As well, a new list was launched Monday of people planning to cancel their Rogers service. Within hours of its launch at www.ruinediphone.com, the list had 100 Rogers customers and growing saying they would quit Rogers.

“Rogers is not only ripping you off with the iPhone plans, but also with their regular ‘mega value’ plans,” wrote one participant, Justin Giles. “I would have liked to get an iPhone, but that dream is now ruined. Too bad, because I’ve been a Rogers customer for over eight years, and now I will never go back unless something drastic changes!”

The situation is fuelling online rumours, such as that Apple is reducing the number of iPhones it plans to ship to Canada. Apple didn’t return calls.

Alberta oilfield worker Piotr Staniaszek, a pre-iPhone victim of wireless data limits, probably could have picked up a couple of real estate properties in some parts of the country for a bill that reached almost $60,000 one month, climbing to $85,000 by the next.

That was last December and Staniaszek and his wireless carrier, Bell Mobility, later negotiated the killer bill down to $3,000-plus. But critics say the current hodgepodge of data pricing, plagued by small print and unexpected charges, can only lead to more such digital disasters.

“We’re getting piles of complaints,” said Bruce Cran, president of the Consumers’ Association of Canada. “We’re classifying this as another rip-off of Canadian consumers.

“Why we are getting this totally inferior deal to what they are getting in the United States doesn’t make sense.”

Both Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility appear ready to capitalize on the proposed boycott of the iPhone and Rogers with rival offerings that come with flat-rate, unlimited Web browsing and

e-mail. The only company apparently unmoved by the consumer revolt is Rogers, with company spokeswoman Liz Hamilton saying Monday there are no plans to include an unlimited data service for the iPhone.

“We don’t believe an unlimited plan is the best value for our customers,” Hamilton said. “Other carriers have made other choices and you have to talk to them about what those choices are.”

Bell announced the Aug. 8 introduction of the Samsung Instinct smartphone. Instinct users can get a $10 unlimited mobile browser plan from Bell for Internet surfing and e-mail. With the Instinct selling for as low as $149.99 and customers able to get a voice package with unlimited data for as low as $40, Bell is aggressively undercutting Rogers’ iPhone offerings, which start at $75 for voice plan with 750 megabytes of data, and top out at the heftiest two-gigabyte-plus voice plan for $115.

Telus has weighed in with the promise of the HTC Diamond, to be released later this summer, also $149.99 with a three-year contract and the ability to use Telus‘ $15 data plan for unlimited e-mail and instant messaging or a $30 plan that adds Web browsing to that. Telus also plans to introduce Samsung’s Instinct.

But even Bell and Telus‘ unlimited plans come with conditions and fine print that could leave customers confused over whether they’ll pay extra for such services as streaming video, text messages and other features.

“They [wireless carriers] deliberately make it very difficult to make comparisons,” said Cran. “To be safe you really need to have an unlimited plan.”

In the U.S., where AT&T is the network that carries the iPhone, customers can get unlimited data at a flat rate with prices that vary depending on the number of voice minutes, starting at $70 with the top plan $110.

In Canada, iPhone users will have to know how many megabytes the websites they are cruising add up to, how much watching a one-minute YouTube video will cut into their data allotment or if those holiday snapshots from well-meaning relatives are going to put them over the edge.

Rogers will send users a message warning when they reach 80 per cent of their plans’ capacity and when they have used it up, but if iPhone buyers discover after a month that the cost is way too high to justify running their new phone, they’ll face hefty penalties if they want to get out of the three-year contracts.

Head out of the country and the surprises could be even more painful to the pocketbook.

“Substantial charges may be incurred if your iPhone is taken out of Canada, even if no services are intentionally used,” reads Rogers‘ fine print on the iPhone.

“People are going to have to be very cautious here,” Cran said.

At ruinediphone.com, which is gathering signatures for the petition being presented Friday, site founder James Hallen has been replaced by web designers and marketers Jamie Lynch and Robert Sheinbein, who said they stepped in when the site was overwhelmed by traffic.

The pair have put their money where their mouths are when it comes to their wireless accounts, using Verizon from the U.S. for their company BlackBerries in a move they said cut their monthly wireless bill from the average of $2,000-$2,500 a month they were paying Rogers to $700-$800 a month.

They said while individual consumers must be able to present a U.S. address to get the service, they were able to get it since they have business operations in the U.S. Unlimited long distance and unlimited roaming included in their service means they can use their BlackBerries in Canada without incurring extra costs.

With Canadian plans, however, “it just takes one bill to wipe your budget out,” Sheinbein said.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

Michael Geist
Sun

More than one year after the Apple iPhone hit store shelves in the United States, the hugely popular device makes its Canadian debut on Friday. The arrival of a Canadian iPhone is expected to generate long lines at Rogers Wireless stores, though the pre-launch publicity has not been particularly smooth for the company. Its announcement of iPhone service pricing set off a wave of online protest, as consumers noted the absence of an unlimited data plan, higher prices, and longer contractual commitments.

The Rogers offer is not particularly surprising. Canada ranks toward the very bottom among developed countries for cellphone usage as the lack of competition leaves Canadians with some of the highest prices for wireless services in the world. Indeed, Rogers has a monopoly on the iPhone, since it is the only Canadian carrier currently capable of carrying the device.

Most of the public criticism has focused on the uncompetitive data rates that render it difficult to maximize the iPhone’s potential. Yet the bigger story is how the Canadian version of the device features a triple lock that is the result of onerous contracts, technological locks, and a legislative proposal from Industry Minister Jim Prentice that simultaneously locks consumers in, while locking the competition out.

The effect of locking out the competition is particularly striking since recent Canadian policy has emphasized the need to provide consumers with greater mobility and choice.

The government has introduced wireless number portability that theoretically allows consumers to switch providers but retain their phone number. It has also conducted a successful spectrum auction that may yield future competitors. In spite of those efforts, the Rogers release of the iPhone is the poster child for how these policy initiatives have failed.

The first lock on the iPhone is the contractual lock-in that comes from a mandatory three-year contract. This is the longest mandatory contract in the world for the iPhone and it comes with huge penalties for consumers that seek early termination. While the contract guarantees Rogers a steady three-year revenue stream, it also means that for most consumers the actual cost of the iPhone is at least 10 times the $199 sticker price.

This contractual lock is a direct result of the absence of competition and government inaction. In the United States, AT&T (the exclusive iPhone carrier in that country) has announced plans to offer the option of purchasing an iPhone at a higher price with no long-term contract attached. South Africa has gone even further, recently enacting regulations that limit cellphone contracts to a maximum of two years.

The second lock is a technological lock that restricts the device to the Rogers network (and Rogers approved roaming partners). This provides Rogers with another guaranteed revenue stream for consumers who wish to use their device in other countries and effectively locks consumers out of wireless number portability should a GSM competitor enter the Canadian market. While Canadian law remains silent on this issue, other countries, including France and South Africa, have mandated that carriers offer consumers the option of an unlocked device.

The third lock involves a legal lock against unlocking cellphones. Ironically, while other countries use laws to unlock consumers, Prentice has proposed locking them in. Bill C-61 would make it a violation for Canadians to unlock their cellphones and bans the distribution of software programs that could be used to do so.

The United States has recognized the need to specifically exempt cellphones from locking provisions, yet months after claiming to prioritize consumers interests, Prentice’s bill is silent on the issue.

On Friday. many Canadian consumers will undoubtedly overcome the sticker shock that comes with a phone that requires a financial commitment that runs into the thousands of dollars. However, lurking behind the cost is a “made in Canada” triple lock that seems unlikely to be broken.

Michael Geist holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law. He can reached at [email protected] or online at www.michaelgeist.ca.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

Gillian Shaw
Sun

SP-T1200 Touch Speaker System, Genius, $100

The touch panel screen on this system lets you manage the volume, bass and treble and the function with a touch of the finger.

There’s an adjustable light for the slide bar that show any adjustments.

It’s compact, with 30-watt sound, so it fits with your notebook computer or any other spot where slick-looking speakers are in order (www.geniususa.com).

Wrist top computers, Suunto, prices vary with model

In Suunto’s new lineup of training accessories, the t6c is for the serious athlete measuring training progress and goals. It’s available in black, or black with red accents, and has a customizable screen layout to deliver information tailored to the individual.

It’s part of a lineup that includes a new women’s collection and the Suunto Cadence POD for cyclist that tells them how their heart rate is responding to the tempo of their legs.

For measuring everything from heart rate to calories burned, the lineup offers features useful for workouts of varying intensity (www.suunto.com/training).

FatMax Stud Sensor 400, Stanley Works, $40.

“Stud sensor” sounds like a pick-up line in a bar. But this gadget is all work, giving the home handyman or woman an easy way to centre on studs in the wall, and features two types of AC wire detection and a slide-out reference guide.

It will read through concrete, lattice, drywall and other wall material up to 3.8 centimetres (1.5 inches) on a first pass.

Once it determines the depth, it automatically recalibrates to the right depth level for the best detection. Save yourself the shock of running into unexpected wires or leaving your walls pockmarked with holes when you try to hang up a picture (www.stanleytools.com).

Studio notebook computers, Dell, from $800.

A jazzy consumer line that combines the ability to personalize your technology – not just in form and colour but in function as well. The new Studio line includes the Studio 15 and Studio 17.

For the truly tech-style conscious, the lineup has its own colour co-ordinated accessories and peripherals, from backpacks and slip covers to earbuds and mice. Now at www.dell.ca/studio with the Studio 15 at $799 and the 17 at $999.

Starting July 24 they’ll be available at Future Shop.

© CanWest News Service 2008