Merely hours after getting up close and personal with press shots of Sanyo's Katana Eclipse, folks up in Canada can now reach out and grab their own. Bell Mobility is offering said flip phone for $49.95 on a tear-jerking 3-year contract, $99.95 on a 2-year plan, $224.95 on a 1-year plan or $274.95 sans an agreement. Specs wise, you're looking at a 1.3-megapixel camera, 10MB of internal memory, integrated MP3 player, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, a 2-inch internal display (complemented by a 1-inch screen on the outside) and a 2-way speakerphone to boot. So, does simple do it for ya?

[Via mobilesyrup]

MobiTV has been around for quite awhile, and although it has seen its fair share of ups and downs, today's a day for celebration in the offices that remain. After hitting the 3 million mark in February, the company is now claiming that its benefiting from some 4 million subscriptions. Charlie Nooney, MobiTV's CEO, was quoted as saying that the firm was "thrilled to be on the cusp of mass market acceptance for mobile entertainment in North America." We don't know if we'd go that far just yet, but here's a tip of the hat to you anyway.

[Via RCRWireless, image courtesy of PDAsNews]

We've heard various whispers that Bell Canada is expected to release its own HTC Touch midway through the month of November to keep up with the Joneses, aka Rogers and Telus. We're fine with that and at a rumored $449 off contract, $399 one year, $299 two year, and $249 three year deals, Bell seems mostly inline with the other major's thinking. While we like the Touch, the more interesting rumor in this news lies in Bell's apparent decision to consider the Touch a normal cell phone -- and not a PDA -- thereby enabling it to use a $7 unlimited data plan. Of course, some traffic and usage exceptions will apparently apply, like no tethering, streaming, and the like, but seven bones for unlimited data! This is game changing in Canada's savagely priced data market and we're decidedly envious if this really comes to pass. Go Bell, go Canada!

[Thanks, RileyFreeman]

Somehow Bell Canada missed the boat yesterday when Sprint and Verizon announced the BlackBerry 8830 (or we missed it) but we have it today, and Bell should have it this summer. Sporting the same features as we mentioned in a small pile of lead up articles, Bell customers will now have the luxury of wandering the world while staying connected to mail from home. Nothing is up on the site yet as far as pricing and plans go, but they will definitely appear between now and release day X.

So, is Bell Canada ready for a buyout? Yep. Bell Canada's corporate baby daddy, BCE Inc., has announced that it's in talks with four companies -- three Canadian and one US -- to sell out in a deal that could ultimately fetch as much as $40 CDN (about $35) for a company that's currently trading in the $38.50 CDN range. Of course, this all runs counter to the firm denials Bell was issuing just a couple weeks back (no surprise there). Current indications are that none of the firms involved in buyout discussions are already in the wireless carrier biz, so our hopes (read: fears) of a US-Canadian supercarrier are, at least for the moment, dashed.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Whoa -- Bell Canada is looking for a buyout partner? The larger-than-life private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company is rumored to be possibly looking at taking the Canadian telecom into a buyout situation. Most likely, Bell Canada wold go private and be taken off the public market completely (at least for the time being). Although current Canadian regulations may make it difficult for KKR to get its equity mitts on Bell Canada (and its wireless arm, Bell Mobility), KKR may be talking to the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan -- since that entity holds a 5% stake in Bell Canada at the moment. The number? How about $30 billion -- that is how much the deal would be roughly worth to a buyout firm. Bell Canada responded by officially stating that "there are no ongoing discussions being held with any private equity investor...and there are no plans to pursue such discussions."

[Thanks, Kevin]

What's a surefire way to revive a smartphone when it starts to get a little long in the tooth? Why, pull a Nokia: bundle it with some relevant accessories and rebrand it as a "Music Edition," of course! To be perfectly clear, this here Q is the same old Q we know and love; Bell's simply given it a new face by throwing in a 2GB miniSD card, stereo 'phones, and a $25 (CDN, we're assuming) gift card redeemable through the MSN Music Store. Get it by signing up for a three-year contract on a voice / data combo plan -- if you dare -- for $130.

[Thanks, Terry]

Well folks, it appears that our friends to the north have greased Motorola's palms with a few extra loonies, eh. Indeed, the northerly division of Motorola will be the first company to launch the new Moto Q in Black, available exclusively from Bell Canada. This new piece of ebony elegance comes with all the same features you'd expect from the previous Q: EV-DO, 2.4-inch screen, 65,000 colors, 64MB RAM / 128MB ROM, and a 1.3 megapixel camera. It's basically the same as the old Q, except that it's black (duh), with a soft touch finish. It's available for C$150 ($132) with a new voice plan, and minimum C$60 ($53) data package on a three-year contract. To our American countrymen and countrywomen who are already making a run for the border, a word of advice: that same trick with the loonies probably won't work with US Customs when you try to smuggle it into the lower 48. Instead, just sit tight and wait until this handset hits Verizon -- sometime soon, we hope.

Telus may have already had the Motorola Q for a couple of months now, but it's no longer the only carrier in Canada to offer the EV-DO smartphone, with Bell now jumping in to give them a little competition. Bell's deal looks to be a tad less attractive than Telus' though -- the Q will cost you the same $249 with a three-year contract, but you'll need to get a minimum $60 data plan, as opposed to just $45 with Telus. Unfortunately, not all Bell customers can get their hands on one right away, with folks in B.C. and Alberta having to wait until October 16th to get theirs, while customers in Ontario and Quebec can get their QWERTY kicks right now.

[Via Smartphone Thoughts]