Rogers now has the option to buy spectrum holdings in Alberta, Manitoba, Northern Ontario, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan. This includes both 10MHz and 20MHz AWS spectrum holdings. If such buys do take place, they will be subject to review and approval by the Industry Canada and Competition Bureau.

TVtropolis is a Canadian TV network that offers high-demand shows. While Rogers will still have access to the network, per the deal, Shaw Communications now entirely owns it. Both the TVtropolis and Mountain Cableview deals are expected to close by this summer. Rogers was paid $59 million for TVtropolis as a deposit when the deal was signed.

Rogers’ President and CEO Nadir Mohamed offered this statement. “The agreements will benefit businesses and consumers across the country and fit squarely within our focused, strategic game plan. We’re investing in spectrum to ensure our customers continue to enjoy the incredibly fast speeds and throughput they crave, while ensuring our continued network leadership. We’re also strengthening our Cable portfolio by acquiring a valuable cable business which complements our existing Ontario cable system allowing us to deliver even more value for our customers and shareholders.”

[via Sacbee]

There’s also Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich along with the latest iteration of HTC’s Sense interface and app suite. As the top model in HTC’s 2012 line-up, the One X is targeting those who want big phones; there’s no word on whether Rogers customers will also get the option of the more compact HTC One S, with its somewhat more manageable 4.3-inch screen.

Plans in Canada for the One X kick off at $52.35 per month, which nets you 200 minutes, unlimited evening/weekend calls, and 500MB of data. Alternatively there’s a 1GB plan available, with the same talktime bundle, for an extra $10 a month.

There’s more on the One X – albeit in European Tegra 3 form, with no LTE connectivity – in our full review, while an overview of the sort of performance to be expected from the dual-core version is here. In the US, the One X will drop on May 6 priced at $199.99 with a new, two-year agreement.

That will change in time, and eventually all Windows Phones should be able to join in the fun. Still, it’s a sign that Nokia is playing things seriously with Lumia, not just treating Android and iOS as the competition but making an early play against others using Microsoft’s OS.

Joining the ESPN sports hub on Lumia devices will be the CNN App for Windows Phones – exclusive to Nokia users for 90 days – and the Univision App. That, too, will be exclusive to Nokia Lumia owners in the US and Puerto Rico, this time for 18 months, with Spanish-language content.

The Nokia Lumia 800 will be available on its own, and also in a bundle with the Nokia Play 360 Speakers and the Nokia Purity by Monster headset. The phone will be available in black, cyan and magenta, as in Europe. No word on pricing at this stage.

More on the Nokia Lumia 800 in our full review, and on the AT&T Lumia 900 LTE in our hands-on from CES.

Meanwhile, UK carriers have also piped up to plead their innocence. Vodafone UK has confirmed it is not collecting Carrier IQ information through handsets it sells, while O2 UK told mocoNews that it too “doesn’t collect” user data. According to the O2 spokesperson, any data collection would be the purview of handset manufacturers, not carriers, though Carrier IQ is known to have inked deals with operators as well.

The new denials join those of Nokia from earlier today, along with the insistence from a “trusted source” that none of Google’s official Nexus devices – the original Nexus One, follow-up Nexus S, or the most recent Galaxy Nexus – have Carrier IQ software loaded. The Motorola XOOM is also said to be clear.

The same can’t be said for the iPhone, however, with digging through iOS 3, 4 and 5 turning up evidence of partial monitoring abilities. However, it can apparently be turned off with a simple settings toggle, one which is set to ensure privacy by default.

Expect more announcements as carriers and manufacturers attempt to explain where, exactly, the extent of their involvement with Carrier IQ ends.

Those of you currently hanging out on Rogers will be glad to know that you’ll be able to grab your first LTE-able devices starting again inside 2011 on devices from HTC and Samsung. Whether or not these devices will be the same as those already released in US markets or not is yet to be seen. Also at the launch there’s the LTE Rocket stick, an LTE modem you’ll be able to use to access LTE speeds from your laptop of home computer. This stick will allow you a theoretical speed of up to 75 Mbps on the Rogers LTE network.

This theoretical speed will include download speeds between 12 Mbps to 25 Mbps, while as the network evolves with better devices, max speeds will increase to 150 Mbps. Sound alright to you canucks? You’ll be able to pick up your first LTE-enabled devices, the LTE Rocket Stick from one of four Ottowa locations right away:

• Rogers Authorized Dealer – Wireless Express, 205 Richmond Rd.
• Rogers Authorized Dealer – Go Communications, 901 Carling Ave.
• Rogers Plus, 11 Selkirk St.
• Rogers Plus, 1379A Woodroffe Ave.

Last we spoke about this LTE rollout, it was April and the infrastructure was already well on its way to reality. Canada on the rise!

[via Rogers]

Meanwhile the Curve 9300 is accompanied by the Motorola FLIPOUT, also fresh to Rogers, and on sale in Canada now from $29.99 on new, three-year agreements.  That has a 2.8-inch touchscreen, MOTOBLUR and a rotating QWERTY keyboard; check out more details in our hands-on report here.

[via Unwired View]

The OS may be different, but otherwise much of the Liquid E we’ve seen before. You still get is a 3.5-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen, 5-megapixel autofocus camera (though lacking an LED flash), quadband GSM and triband 900/1900/2100 UMTS/HSPA. There’s also WiFi b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 and an FM radio, along with a microSD card slot, 3.5mm headphone socket and A-GPS.

At 4.53 x 2.46 x 0.49 inches it’s not the slimmest Android phone, and there are a few creaks if you squeeze the plastic casing too hard, but generally build quality feels reasonable and it’s surprisingly lightweight. The touch-sensitive keys underneath the display are responsive, while the power, volume and camera keys are tactile; we wish Acer hadn’t hidden their USB 2.0 port under an annoying little flap, however. Oft-overlooked but brilliant are the hidden LED icons integrated into the top edge of the Liquid E, which allow you to peer at the phone in your pocket and see whether you have new messages.

Despite the underclocked processor the Liquid E is reasonably swift in its navigation, helped no doubt by being a pretty much stock build of Android 2.1. That means you get the regular Android widgets and Live Wallpapers, but no complex widgets like HTC Sense or Motorola MOTOBLUR might offer. On the flip side, should Acer decide to publicly commit to an Android 2.2 Froyo upgrade, that should be a quick process; we’ve already seen unofficial Froyo ROMs for the phone.

Acer Liquid E hands-on:

Acer’s few personalisations basically amount to some preloaded software, itself of varying use. A custom Acer Settings page offers shortcuts to toggling wireless – 3G, WiFi, GPS, etc – and adjusting ringtones and backlighting, while there’s a JavaME app allowing you to play downloaded Java apps like mini-games. More useful are Documents To Go and RoadSync, for opening and editing Office files and for integrating with an Exchange server respectively. The latter is particularly handy; although Android 2.1 brought better Exchange support than previous versions, it still lacked niceties like server searches, calendar sync and peak/off-peak push-email scheduling.

Lurking at the very edges of the multi-pane homescreen is Acer’s wheel-like Acer Sync app, which offers internet bookmarks on one end and music/photo/video catalogs at the other. There’s also Acer Task, a very basic task management that lacks synchronisation support (though you can import task lists), and Acer Media Server. The latter is part of Acer’s new push to interlink their various product lines and make sharing multimedia between different devices more straightforward. You can select either all media, select folders, artists or albums, or only content taken with the Liquid E’s camera, and make them accessible via WiFi to any DLNA-compliant media player. It works well, and if you’ve a DLNA-capable TV it’s a quick way to show off your latest snaps.

The quality of those snaps varies depending on the lighting conditions, and without an LED flash – which, to be fair, often aren’t much cop either – you’ll want to look elsewhere if low-light photography is your priority. Images can be on the oversaturated side, and look a little over-sharpened at times. What’s significantly improved is the camera’s speed: unlike the laggy first-gen version of the phone, the Liquid E’s autofocus snaps in quickly, and photos are saved shortly after. We don’t know if that’s down to Google’s updated OS or something Acer themselves have done, but either way we’re pleased. That autofocus speed carries over into the camcorder function, though with resolution maxing out at 640 x 480 VGA the Liquid E falls well short of the 720p HD recording we’re seeing on rival devices. Image quality is on the gritty side, especially when played – via Media Server – on a bigger display.

Otherwise, this is Android 2.1 as it comes, which means you get Google’s regular Gmail, Google Maps (with turn-by-turn Navigation functionality) and YouTube apps, along with the Webkit-based browser. The latter supports multitouch pinch-zooming but not Flash or even Flash Lite. Still, pages render swiftly and pan with little lag or judder. The Android Market lacks the bulk of Apple’s App Store, but there are some gems to be found.

Acer’s justification for underclocking the CPU was to ensure healthy battery life, and we’ve been reasonably impressed by the Liquid E’s longevity. Quoted runtimes are up to 5hrs of talktime or 400hrs of standby, and we managed to get through a full day of normal use (with push email turned on) between charges. Call quality is decent, with the speakerphone sounding crisp if lacking a little in top-end loudness.

In comparison to devices like the EVO 4G, the Nexus One and other high-end Android smartphones, the Acer Liquid E feels a little underwhelming. Still, it’s priced to move: $49.99 on a new Rogers Wireless contract (albeit with a lengthy three year agreement). That budget pricing goes a long way in offsetting any criticisms; all we need now is a public commitment from Acer to push out updated Android OS versions in a timely manner.

Update: Acer have been in contact to say that they do indeed plan to release an update to Android 2.2 “before the end of the year”.

That would be handy not only for AT&T in the US but Rogers, Bell and Telus in Canada, and we imagine all four carriers would quite like to get their hands on the Android 2.1 smartphone.  Of course, an FCC filing doesn’t have anything so useful as a release date attached, but we’re crossing our fingers that the US Legend arrives sooner rather than later.

HTC Legend hands-on:

[via Engadget]

The move will open up the market to more potential users, though so far there’s no sign of a subsidy option.  If $529 upfront is too rich for your wallet then the only option remains T-Mobile USA; it’s unknown whether AT&T or Rogers Wireless will be throwing their respective hats into the subsidy ring at some point.

Meanwhile, HTC are tipped to be shipping CDMA versions of the Nexus One in preparation for sales on the Verizon network, a move which should further increase sales figures.  Now, anyone tempted by a new Nexus One on AT&T or Rogers?

[via Android Community]

Buyers will get an 8.1-megapixel camera, WiFi, 3G/UMTS and Bluetooth, along with Sony Ericsson’s own custom applications for the Android platform.  Sony Ericsson Timescape funnels all social content – including SMS/MMS messages, IM, Twitter and Facebook updates and calls – into one timeline, while Sony Ericsson Mediascape attempts to do the same thing with local and internet video, images and music.

There’ll also be the regular Android apps, and access to more software in the Android Market.  More details in our hands-on report on the X10 here.  No news on Rogers Wireless’ pricing or availability, however; that’ll have to wait until the handset arrives in Q2 2010.

Sony Ericsson Timescape demo:

Sony Ericsson Mediascape demo:

Press Release:

World’s Premiere Social Networking and Entertainment Phone,The Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X10 Coming To Canada Exclusively At Rogers

January 05, 2010 @ 08:00AM

• The Xperia™ X10 introduces an open and integrated world of social media, communication and entertainment

• New UX (user experience) platform lets consumers organize everything and discover more with one of the most open, human and intuitive user experiences yet

• Rogers Wireless becomes exclusive Xperia ™ X10 Canadian carrier and first in North America ; extends leadership in Android device lineup

Toronto , January 5, 2010 – Canadians will be among the first in the world to experience open and integrated social media, communication and entertainment with the launch of the Sony Ericsson Xperia ™ X10 phone, which will make its North American debut first in Canada , exclusively from Rogers . The Xperia ™ X10 is expected to be available in the second quarter 2010.

“At Rogers , we have built our legacy on innovation, bringing the most exciting and exclusive handsets first to customers in Canada ,” said John Boynton , Executive Vice President, Marketing, Rogers Communications. “We are thrilled to be the exclusive Canadian carrier to offer this phenomenal mobile entertainment device.”

“Building on our entertainment heritage, the Xperia ™ X10 underpins our commitment to an open and multi-platform strategy that maximizes choice for the consumer and delivers the best possible entertainment experience,” said Andrea Gaal, General Manager, Sony Ericsson Canada . “This handset makes communications more fun and more playful while multiplying and enriching opportunities to connect.”

Introducing signature applications like Sony Ericsson Mediascape and Timescape™, the Xperia™ X10 lets consumers organize everything in their phone and in an intuitive way:

• The Sony Ericsson Timescape™ application manages all your communication with one person in one place. Browse through your conversations and check out your Facebook™, Twitter™ and MySpace™ accounts 1 , photos, emails 1 , and texts 1 all in one seamless, easy to use interface

• Sony Ericsson Mediascape application is the smart way to get all the music, photos and videos you want from your favourite friends and artists. It accesses this content from just about everywhere – your phone or YouTube™ and Facebook™ services 1 and presents everything for you in an integrated way

Intelligence capabilities, integrated into Sony Ericsson Mediascape and Timescape™ applications, automatically recognizes connections between contacts, content and media. By recommending alternative ways to communicate or guiding to new media experiences, consumers can discover more in a truly open way. For example:

• Pressing the new “infinite button” guides you through the connected world, aggregating all your interactions with one person into one view

• Intelligent face recognition features recognize up to five faces in any picture, automatically connecting them with your social phonebook and all other related communications with that person. The X10 also features an 8.1 megapixel camera including 16X digital zoom.

The UX platform builds on top of the Open OS (Android) and creates a unique Sony Ericsson user experience by combining best-in-class entertainment features with signature applications, unrivalled integration of social media services and a rich graphical user interface. The Xperia™ X10 phone is the first mobile phone to truly humanize the way people interact with their phones.

Sony Ericsson’s open approach gives consumers maximum choice. Xperia X10 users can download any application they want directly from Android Market, creating an experience that is entirely unique to them.

Dig Deeper

For full specifications visit:

www.sonyericsson.ca

For further information visit:

www.rogers.com/x10

Developer Information:

http://developer.sonyericsson.com/site/global/home/p_home.jsp

Log on to The Sony Ericsson Product Blog for more information: http://blogs.sonyericsson.com/products

Follow Sony Ericsson Canada on Twitter :

http://www.twitter.com/SonyEricssonCA

Pricing and availability will be announced at launch. Any product features, specifications or statements in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual product features, specifications or forward-looking statements are subject to change.

There’s also a 3-inch resistive touchscreen of course, and a 5-row hardware keyboard, together with quadband GSM and triband HSPA connectivity (at least, according to the product page; the tech specs only list 850/1900 support).  The Eve gets WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and an accelerometer, together with a microSD slot and a 2GB card in the box.

Rogers are promoting the LG Eve as the “ultimate smartphone for social networking”, something we reckon Motorola and HTC might argue with, but we’ll have to wait until the first reviews in order to see whether that’s accurate or otherwise.  The LG Eve is on sale now at Rogers Wireless stores from $49.99 with a three-year agreement (voice and data); it’s currently listed as out of stock online.

Press Release:

Our Social Network Just Got Bigger: The LG Eve Makes Its Global Debut in Canada Exclusively at Rogers Wireless

LG and Rogers Launch the Ultimate Smartphone for Social Networking

MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO and TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – Nov. 3, 2009) – LG Electronics Canada and Rogers Wireless today announced a world first: the LG Eve, a new Android OS-based smartphone designed specifically for social networking, is now available exclusively at Rogers. The LG Eve provides customers with the freedom of mobile social networking, making it easier to stay connected anytime, anywhere.

The ultimate smartphone for social media enthusiasts, the LG Eve features a special application called Social Network Services (SNS) Manager, which brings together a user’s Facebook, Twitter and Bebo networks into one place, letting them check status updates in real time. The SNS Manager takes social networking to a new level by connecting the contact list to provide an easy to read log for each contact, so the user can see the contact for each friend, whether that be via SMS, email, Facebook, Twitter or on a call.

Additionally, the LG Eve features push email, which keeps users constantly in touch by alerting them if a new message arrives to a personal email account, such as Gmail.

“The LG Eve is the smartphone that social networking fans have been waiting for, and we’re so happy to bring it to Canadians before any other market,” said Colin Bettam, vice-president marketing, LG Electronics Canada. “Whether it’s managing your Facebook page or downloading one of the thousands of applications, the LG Eve lets you connect to your world, your way.”

“As a company with a long history of bringing best-in-class handsets to the Canadian market, Rogers is delighted to be the first carrier in the world to offer our customers the LG Eve,” said John Boynton, Executive Vice President, Marketing, Rogers Communications. “The LG Eve is a smartphone customized for people who love to social network and browse the web. Coupled with Rogers’ HSPA network, the LG delivers a truly phenomenal web experience. Another first, only from Rogers.”

The SNS Manager leverages social networking by putting a person’s address book contacts as the central reference and launching point for a variety of social media tools.

Also designed for easy social networking are the 5 MP camera for taking high quality pictures that you can view and edit on the LG Eve’s 3-inch touch screen, and the 5-line QWERTY keypad, which is ideal for email and messaging. Additionally, the LG Eve features a Face Recognition application which means that once a person is tagged in a saved photo, the device will automatically recognize the person’s face and tag him or her in other photos.

Once a person is tagged in a photo, a click on their photo will allow for instant communication with that person via text, email, phone or chat.

Other key features of the LG Eve include:
- Threaded SMS, which groups SMS texts by sender and displays them like a message board for easy-to-follow reading
- A 3D gallery for viewing and sorting photos, with the ability to quickly and easily find photos by tagging favourites or using the filtering tool to sort photos by tags, face recognition or date
- 5 line QWERTY keypad
- Advanced Video Recording and Playback, which allows a user to play videos or make their own videos using built-in editing tools, which can then be uploaded onto social networking sites or sent to friends via email.
– Video Recording: MPEG4,H263@QVGA24fps
– Video Playback: MPEG4, H264 @ HVGA 24fps, WMV, DviX
- Advanced Camera Features:
– 5 Mega Pixels AF (with LED Flash)
- Audio Codec:
– MP3, AMR, AAC, AAC+, WAV, WMA
- Data Connectivity
– USB 2.0 HS
– Micro USB
– Bluetooth 2.0 EDR

The LG Eve will officially launch at the newly opened LG Experience Zone at the Air Canada Centre on November 3rd, prior to the Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Tampa Bay Lightning hockey game. The LG Eve is available at Rogers for $49.99 with 3 year voice and data activations.

The 8GB iPhone 3GS was first tipped last week, when internal documents referring to the as-yet-unannounced device were leaked.  According to the internal memo, Rogers Wireless stores were being supplied with new entry-level iPhone 3GS models after having run out of iPhone 3G 8GB stock.

No official announcement from either the carrier or Apple has been made, and at present the iPhone 3G 8GB is still available to order from the Rogers’ site.  Unfortunately there’s also no indication of what sort of pricing we can expect from the new handset.

[via MacRumors]

Apple had kept the iPhone 3G 8GB on sale at a new $99 price point after announcing the iPhone 3GS (which began at $199 for the 16GB model and $299 for the 32GB version), bringing iPhone ownership to a new audience of budget-conscious would-be smartphone buyers.  These leaks seemingly confirm speculation that the move was in no small part intended to clear existing stock of the 8GB iPhone 3G, which had proved less popular than its 16GB counterpart.

Still unclear is what price Rogers – or other carriers – may be charging for the new 8GB 3GS mode, though it seems likely that Apple will want to preserve the $99 price-point.  Also unclear is when the new iPhone 3GS 8GB might make its way to the US, Europe and other countries in which the smartphone is officially available.

[via iPhone Buzz]

The existing MiFi 2352, which we reviewed back in June, supported the Euro-friendly 900/1900/2100MHz bands.  This new MiFi 2372, however, will seemingly not only support those bands but the AT&T/Rogers Wireless 850MHz band for high-speed connectivity in the US and Canada.

It also has an integrated GPS receiver, microSD card slot - the contents of which can be shared, NAS-style, among the multiple WiFi clients – and a separate app processor, ROM and RAM for running standalone programs as part of the MiFi SDK.  No word on when we could see AT&T or Rogers Wireless offering the MiFi 2372, but given the success of its MiFi 2200 CDMA counterpart on Sprint and Verizon it seems reasonable to think they’d want to launch it sooner rather than later.

Press Release:

Novatel Wireless Announces MiFi 2372 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot Optimized for North American HSPA Broadband Networks

Global HSPA Edition Brings Intelligent Mobile Hotspot Capability to Virtually Anywhere in the World

SAN DIEGO, Jul 28, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Novatel Wireless, Inc. (Nasdaq:NVTL), a provider of wireless broadband access solutions, today unveiled the MiFi 2372 HSPA, the newest version of its Intelligent Mobile Hotspot developed for use virtually anywhere in the world, with multi-mode operation, including HSPA, UMTS, EDGE and GPRS.

The MiFi line of Intelligent Mobile Hotspots drives a new vision for personal broadband connectivity. The MiFi 2372 HSPA advances this even further by enabling not only access to connected devices, but also mobile access to new services, applications management and personalization:

Broadened Service Delivery. Like other models in the MiFi line of Intelligent Mobile Hotspots, the MiFi 2372 creates a personal cloud of high-speed Internet connectivity that can be easily shared between multiple users and Wi-Fi devices such as laptops, cameras, gaming devices, smartphones and portable multimedia players. With data speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps downlink and 5.76 Mbps uplink, the MiFi 2372 enables users to access high-speed Internet from anywhere there is a cellular connection, including moving vehicles where multiple passengers may need Internet access. The MiFi 2372 also comes with Novatel’s proprietary NovaSpeed technology, enhancing performance of video, online gaming, simultaneous uploads and downloads and large file transfers with minimal interruption or buffering.
Mobile Software Platform. The MiFi 2372 has a powerful on-board applications processor capable of delivering rich software applications and media. The combination of internal (ROM) storage, up to 16GB of expandable microSD memory and on-board GPS capabilities make MiFi 2372 a flexible and robust platform capable of running a variety of location-based applications and enabling the storage of personal content such as music, video and pictures.
Open Developer’s Community. Novatel has taken the first step in enabling developers to leverage the embedded processing capabilities of MiFi by opening the software interfaces to the developer community. Developers can download the MiFi applications programming interfaces and programmer guide from the Novatel Developer’s Lounge at www.novatelwireless.com/lounge.
Flexibility for Enterprise and Consumer Uses. The MiFi 2372 provides a flexible platform to address the evolution of mobile broadband for both enterprise and consumers. The MiFi 2372 enables IT managers to extend and enhance mobile workforce solutions and better secure, control and manage broadband connections, together with the ability to host vertical applications. Consumers can enjoy a vastly improved user experience, turn a Wi-Fi device into a mobile Internet device, and personalize cloud computing applications to seamlessly engage with the content they desire.

Operators launching MiFi have already experienced incremental revenue streams for mobile data by extending mobile capability to traditionally fixed Wi-Fi enabled devices.

“We are very pleased to announce the continued evolution of the MiFi Intelligent Mobile Hotspot product line,” said Peter Leparulo, chairman and CEO of Novatel Wireless. “The availability of the MiFi 2372 HSPA will significantly expand the addressable market for MiFi technology, as well as offering users unrivaled high speed access to multiple devices virtually anywhere they go around the globe.”

ABOUT NOVATEL WIRELESS

Novatel Wireless, Inc. is a leader in the design and development of innovative wireless broadband access solutions based on 3G and 4G WCDMA (HSPA & UMTS), CDMA and GSM technologies. Novatel Wireless’ USB modems, embedded modules, Intelligent Mobile Hotspot products and software enable high-speed wireless Internet access on leading wireless data networks. The Company delivers specialized wireless solutions to carriers, distributors, OEMs and vertical markets worldwide. Headquartered in San Diego, California, Novatel Wireless is listed on NASDAQ: NVTL. For more information please visit www.novatelwireless.com. (NVTLG)

The BlackBerry Storm 9550 will also have a 3.2-megapixel camera, 360 x 480 capacitive touchscreen and use BlackBerry OS 5.0.  GSM/EDGE support will be quadband.

As for the GSM version, contrary to original expectations it will be a counterpart to the new 9550 model rather than the original, more controversial Storm.  While there’s no release date for the Verizon handset, the GSM UMTS AT&T Storm 2 could arrive “relatively soon”.

[Image via Engadget]

In Japan, the handset currently on sale as the Vodafone HTC Magic in Europe will be known as the HT-03A.  We’re no news on whether the device’s specifications – particularly its 3G radio – will be changed before launch; NTT DoCoMo’s largest network uses the 3G/FOMA system, which is based on W-CDMA technology.

No such confusion for Rogers Wireless, who use a GSM 3G network on which the Dream and Magic will merely need to support the 850MHz band for their high-speed mobile connectivity.  Rogers have not confirmed pricing or specific details regarding the Android devices.

[via Android Community]

If a three-year agreement is too long for your tastes, Rogers will let you have a mere two-year contract in return for $499.99, again with voice and data packages.  Month-to-month buyers will need deep pockets: the Curve 8900 costs $549 without an ongoing contract.

Supplies of the smartphone are apparently already being distributed to Rogers stores, and they’re also in stock at the main distribution warehouse for telephone orders.  Initial predictions had claimed the Curve 8900 would only hit Rogers in January.