Bell bringing Samsung Instinct to Canada on August 8
By Will Park on Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 at 11:32 AM PST In Announcements, Bell Mobility, Devices, Samsung
It’s no surprise that Sprint (NYSE: S)’s hottest-selling smartphone would eventually make it to the Great White North. The Samsung Instinct’s GPS and mobile TV-laden feature-set is a sure-fire hit that’s not going to be satisfied with just blowing the doors off the US CDMA market.
Bell Mobility has just confirmed that our friends to the North will be getting their iPhone-fighting fix soon enough. With the launch of the Bell Samsung Instinct on-track for an A
ugust 8th release, the Samsung Instinct is poised to go up against GSM heavyweights like the iPhone 3G and BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Bold 9000. Bell will be offering the Samsung Instinct at a subsidized price-point similar to what we see here in The States – $149.95 with a three-year contract, $249.95 on a two-year contract or $399.95 with a one-year contract. Of course, Canadians with deeper pockets and a more significant aversion to contracts can get their Samsung Instinct free and clear for the retail price of $449.95.
The full-body touchscreen and and full-HTML web browser, not to mention the integrated GPS hardware, are likely to be key selling points as the Bell-branded Samsung Instinct gets ready to take on the touchscreen competition.
Adel Bazerghi, Vice President, Products for Bell Mobility said, “We are thrilled to offer Canadians this beautifully designed and intelligent device. Accessing the Internet, listening to downloaded music or satellite radio, watching TV or using it as a GPS system… Data pricing plans available with the Samsung Instinct will offer also exceptional value and let clients take full advantage of Bell Mobility’s wide range of data services.”
It sure is good to see at least one Canadian wireless carrier offering decent data rates on a handset that’s meant to surf the web with abandon. Bell Mobility is offering a $10 Unlimited Mobile Browser add-on to any qualifying voice plan. While Rogers (NYSE: RCI)’ customers will be forking over upwards of $115 for a combined voice and data plan with unjust data transfer caps, Bell subscribers will no doubt be surfing those intertubes without a care for data limits.
[Via: MobileSyrup]
OMG, wow. I just typed in Bell Canada in google news, and it just came up with all this bad publicity and news for it. Hey Brandon, you thinking about quiting your job pretty soon. lol. Cause from what ive read about Bell, they are going to be worse than Rogers. Man, more people are now praising Rogers and buying Rogers phones over anything Bell. this is not a good sign, for people people who want to the new instinct and have to go through bell to get it. Also, lol, i found it funny, the day the Instinct is released in Canada, ans thats the day you guys start charging 15cents per every message. Wow, and I thought Rogers was bad in July, this is just as worse.
The company just had some big changes made to it and August 8th is a big day for us. There are about 5 new phones launching, new plans, etc. The new leadership has a plan in place to basically turn the entire company around and go after the number 1 spot in Canada. I’ve read alot about this big outrage about the text messaging changes and I just laugh. The only people effected by the change are those that DO NOT text. Everyone that does text has some sort of package and therefore is not affected by the change. As well as Bell is the only carrier (that I have seen in both Canada and the US that gives it’s clients Canada and US texting free as part of their package. Therefore, no roaming or long distance for text messages!
As far as us going back to the inferior gsm network…no. We used that network a long time ago and upgraded to CDMA. The network has better capabilities then gsm can handle, not to mention the vastly superior internet speeds. 3G gsm networks top out at about 512kbps, CDMA in Canada currently tops out at 3.1mbps.
Hope that helps.
Hi Brandon
So it’s almost finally here, the day the instinct launches. After much consideration, I think I’m going to go with the Curve….Although the new samsung sounds great, I’m a much bigger fan of buttons, rather then a touch screen, and the push email. I just noticed that the current promotion for the BB ends today. Just wondering if any of those plans/promotions you mentioned may benefit me if I wait untill tomorrow to purchase it? I’ve yet to “play” with one yet…I’m really curious to see what the web looks like on it, especially facebook, as my home computer is on the fritz…But I’ll more then likely be going with the BB. If only the Instinct had push email….I’d be all over it!!!
Facebook looks pretty good on a Blackberry. You scroll the pages with the track ball so it’ like having a mouse. I’m not aware of changing Blackberry promos, however our systems at my store have also been on the fritz so something might end. I do not know if something better will start tomorrow as everything is under lock and key and no one will see it until tomorrow morning bright and early. You can’t go wrong with a Blackberry, they are the leaders for a reason and have been in the “data” game a long time. There is no wider supported device on the market. Applications for whatever floats your boat so to speak.
Awesome, Thanks Brandon. I think I’ll wait it out and hopefully it won’t change or something better will come along, savings wise. So you work in a store eh? Any chance you’re in Atlantic Canada? LOL I don’t know if you work on commission or not, but if so, you defintley should get credit for selling me my BB. I was actually considering switching to another provider, just b/c I thought I could get a better deal elsewhere. But you’ve reminded me why I’ve been with Aliant all these years. You guys really know your stuff!! Thanks for all your help!
anytime, we are the best for a reason and no i am not from atlantic canada. I work for actual bell in ontario. good luck with everything, i’m sure you will love your new toy.