If you're ready, willing, and able to sign up for a new three-year agreement on Rogers, HTC's two inaugural Android sets just got a good deal cheaper for you. Originally priced at $149.99 on contract, both phones are now down to $99.99 -- a stellar deal, we think, considering you're getting 7.2Mbps HSDPA, capacitive touch, 3.2 megapixel autofocus cameras with video capture, and HTC-customized Android ROMs. Maybe Rogers is discounting so quickly because they figure the phones aren't quite as appealing in light of the recent Hero announcement -- or, more intriguingly, maybe they're prepping for an actual Hero launch of their own now that we know there's an 850 / 1900 3G version in the mix.

[Via Boy Genius Report]

Read - Dream (Black)
Read - Dream (White)
Read - Magic

Details are scarce, but it seems that this blurry, partial photo of an unknown QWERTY Samsung might be the "Link," a smartphone destined for Bell -- allegedly as soon as July 15. Seeing that it's being described as a smartphone, that virtually guarantees that it'll be running Windows Mobile, and from the look of it, we'd probably have to expect WinMo 6.1 Standard. Technically, S60 is a remote possibility -- Samsung is an S60 licensee, after all -- but the company has yet to release S60 gear on North American soil, so why start now?

[Via Unwired View]

In North America, Rogers has a reputation for getting the most cool GSM handsets the quickest (that's not the only reputation it has, but we won't go there right this second) -- but this is one case where T-Mobile USA beat 'em to the punch by a mile. The Canadian carrier is adding the Nokia 7510 to its TalkSpot-compatible lineup, meaning you'll be able to offload calls to WiFi when you're within range of a hotspot and transfer seamlessly to and from GSM. There's no 3G, but the colorful flip does come with changeable faceplates, a concealed secondary display, 2 megapixel camera with flash, and microSD expansion. Look for it for CAD $49.99 (about $43) on a three-year deal.

[Via Unwired View]

Better late than never, right? Some sixteen excruciating months after its announcement, Sony Ericsson's WinMo superphone -- the mighty XPERIA X1 -- has finally come to Rogers as expected. Considering that the X1 is still very much one of the world's premier smartphones (on paper, anyhow), the on-contract promotional price of CAD $249.99 after discounts seems reasonable enough -- of course, whether you feel the same way after three years of mobile marriage is another story altogether. Staying within the Sony Ericsson realm, the C510 has also launched, an attractive candybar with 7.2Mbps / 2Mbps HSPA and a 3.2 megapixel cam; it's all yours for CAD $79.99 on contract.

[Via Howard Chui]

Read - X1
Read - C510

Rogers must know a good thing when it sees it, because it's essentially copied AT&T's modified plans for providing deeper subsidies to more customers looking to upgrade to an iPhone 3G S in the next few weeks. The details are just a little bit different though: with Rogers, the new deal is that anyone who bought an iPhone 3G between July 11 and September 30 of 2008 -- and has averaged CAD $100 or more a month on their bill -- will be able to nab the 16GB or 32GB for $199 and $299, respectively, on a three-year contract. Buyers between July 11 and December 31 of last year or who didn't manage to average $100 a month will get the less heavily-discounted prices of $449 and $549, while any customer will be able to waltz in and spend $699 or $799, a princely sum indeed.

Didja hear the news? There's a new iPhone coming out tomorrow! Okay, snark aside, we know there's still a good number of you who want to brave the weather and grab yourself a brand spanking new 3G S, but for whatever reason didn't pre-order ahead of time. Not to worry, we're here to help!

United States

If you pre-ordered the phone in-store from AT&T, you can pick it up tomorrow at 7:00AM from that same retail outlet. Everyone else will have to wait until the normal business hours, and from there it's first come, first serve. If you're wanting to head to an Apple store, be sure to set your alarms for the right time: each one is opening at 7:00AM local time. Apple's online site has a field to let you complete pre-authorization ahead of time, but that won't guarantee you availability so still plan on waiting outside before sunrise. You can also try your luck at Best Buy and Walmart, which should be receiving some stock for each store. As for online pre-orders from either AT&T or Apple, well, just go with whatever the shipping date currently says.

United Kingdom

O2 customers can get their 3G S starting at 8:02AM -- yes, that's the official time, and not a minute sooner, we suspect -- from O2, Apple, and Carphone Warehouse stores. Prices vary based on a variety of 18 and 24 month plans, as well as Pay & Go plans.

Canada

Unsurprisingly, Rogers and subsidiary Fido will be handling your iPhone fix. Also, for the first time, you can also drop by an Apple retail store, which should open around 8:00AM local time. From what we can tell, the Rogers / Fido stores aren't opening early, but just to be safe, you might wanna call tonight or plan on showing up an hour before the usual time.

Obviously, there's more than a few countries we're not covering here, so hit up the read link to check out Apple's official site for details by region, and feel free to share your own tips in the comments below!

We're hearing that Telus is primed to pick up the BlackBerry Tour right alongside -- if not before -- its US counterparts, getting real for customers on July 15. Pricing will come in at CAD $249.99 (about $220) on a promotional three-year deal, meaning that you need to be agreeing to a new contract on a voice plan of $20 or greater with a data package of $15 or greater. Otherwise you'll pay a whopping CAD $449.99 on a three-year all the way up to $649.99 contract-free. Of course, we suspect the Tour is so much better than the Curve and the 8800 series that people will be paying in droves at any price, but still, it's pretty painful to get in on this thing without springing for the promo.

[Thanks, Riley Freeman and Pirate]

We figure that the Sony Ericsson X1 is destined for Rogers any day now -- just around the same time that we suspect the X2 will be announced, ironically -- and now we're starting to get an idea on pricing. A tipster writes in to tell us that this CAD $499.99 you're seeing here is for an upgrade customer with no data plan, which would be crazy high for a new lad coming in off the street and signing up for a three-year deal, we hope, but it gives us a good picture of what current customers might have to gear up for. Excessive, perhaps -- but then again, some of us will go to the ends of the Earth for WVGA.

[Thanks, cell143]

It'd take a really acutely developed talent for shutting oneself off from news to not know how much the iPhone 3G S is going to run on AT&T -- $199 and $299 for the 16GB and 32GB models on contract, just in case you've forgotten -- but what about some of the other countries that are destined to be launching the new model alongside the US on the same day? Up north, we've been told by a company spokesman that Apple partner Rogers will be pricing them at CAD $199 and $299 on three-year contracts, which works out to about $177 and $266; the old 3G, meanwhile, will be sold for (you guessed it) CAD $99. Tethering will be available and there will be no-contract pricing, but details haven't yet been announced there. Meanwhile, O2 over in the UK has dropped details on its site that put both the 3G S 16GB and 32GB as cheap as free if you sign up for a rich-enough two-year deal. Must be nice, eh?

[Thanks to everyone who sent these in]

Most of the specs printed on this leaked sheet provided to MobileSyrup about the upcoming BlackBerry Tour were either known or could've been easily deduced, but a couple line items in here stand out: EV-DO plus HSPA 2100, 256MB of onboard storage, 3.2 megapixel AF camera, and an 480 x 360 display are all confirmed one more time as this thing trudges toward release. If we had our druthers, this would already be available on Verizon by now -- but current rumors have it pegged for a mid-summer release, which would line it up with where MobileSyrup says the 9630 will launch on Bell in the middle of July. In the meantime, those dang 8830s certainly aren't getting any younger.

A dude with access to the ROM Rogers is using on its just-launched Dream and Magic Android sets has posted a truly epic, comprehensive set screenshots on Flickr, showing off some of the features unique to these particular versions of the phones. Examples include a highly-customized HTC virtual keyboard with XT9 support reminiscent of its modern WinMo keyboards, Exchange support, integrated Quickoffice, and an all-important PDF reader. It's a nice little journey into the heart of Canada's first Android sets -- unless you're jealous, in which case it's an emotionally draining nightmare.

[Via Android and Me]

It's not on Rogers' site yet, but Sony Ericsson's Canadian site proudly proclaims the C905 as "Now available" -- and MobileSyrup backs up the claim with reports coming in from stores that the device is in stock and ready to go. For interested parties, this probably comes as no surprise seeing how the device has been well-pimped by Rogers itself in UR Magazine, bringing an 8.1 megapixel camera with xenon flash (always a plus), HSDPA, and GPS; a 2GB Memory Stick M2 comes as a pack-in, but odds are you'll want to upgrade closer to the device's max of 8GB if you intend to use that cam on a regular basis. There's a promo running that lets you nab it for CAD $249.99 (about $223) when purchased with a qualifying data plan, otherwise you'll be paying anywhere between CAD $299.99 up to $474.99 on a three-year contract to contract-free, respectively. Not the cheapest phone in the world, but if it can take the place of a basic point-and-shoot, you can look at it as a money-saving opportunity by combining two devices into one. Yeah, that's it.

[Via MobileSyrup]

So there's this awesome new LG handset in the works for Vodafone and T-Mobile (probably Europe, but we're not sure) -- we haven't seen it, but from LG's published specs, we know it's got a whopper 800 x 345 display, HSDPA, and likely a 5 megapixel camera. That's really nothing to write home about by 2009 high-end LG standards, but the mayhem begins when you realize that there's also a version of this sucker specified for Telus. Yes, Telus -- the Canadian CDMA carrier that is currently in the process of building out its HSPA network but doesn't have any commercial markets live yet. With HSDPA in tow, could the BL40 (which we still haven't seen, by the way) be one of the carrier's inaugural GSM devices? Seems likely, and with 800 x 345 pixels front and center, we're cautiously optimistic that it's a strong choice.

[Via MobileSyrup]

MSRPs of phones ultimately don't mean a whole hell of a lot to consumers; carriers can play with rebates, instant discounts, and subsidies on an almost daily basis, and a $600 phone can end up ringing up at $300, $150, a big fat zilch, or anywhere in between depending on how things work out. That said, it's interesting to see that the upcoming -- and wildly-anticipated, may we add -- BlackBerry Tour 9630 has apparently been priced at CAD $599.95 (about $511) for launch on Canada's Bell. Thing is, we still don't know when it's going down; it could be before, after, or at the same time as Verizon, but we don't even know with certainty when Big Red's launching yet, so this is all still shrouded in some of the best mystery Waterloo has to offer. Hurry up, guys -- goodness knows you've got some anxious fans with plastic ready to swipe in their outstretched hands.

In what has become an all-too-common theme across the telecom and wireless industries -- and just about every industry, for that matter -- Telus cut 1,160 employees from its payroll in the first quarter, a move that it says cost it roughly $28 million in restructuring fees. If it's any consolation, though, the reduction's being offset by capital investment in excess of CAD $2 billion this year to ramp up its 3G infrastructure buildout that'll ultimately see Rogers-fighting HSPA spectrum go live as an interim step on the way to LTE. With $700 million getting spent in Alberta, $500 million in British Columbia, and $300 million in Ontario, that work will undoubtedly create some jobs, so there's your silver lining right there.

[Via MobileSyrup]