Olympic Games are always a great way to spread your marketing message to a wide audience. Bell and Samsung know that, hence we have Bell’s Omnia II being unveiled as the official mobile phone of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

The announcement came just in time to celebrate the carrier’s newly rolled out HSPA network and should certainly help Bell get some love (and new subscribers) from around the country.

You know all about the Omnia II, so I won’t repeat its specs here. I’ll only add that those who own Samsung’s Windows Mobile smartphone will be able to download Samsung’s Wireless Olympic Works (WOW) application, which is used to keep track of the latest news and happenings during the Olympics. Cool for both Bell and Samsung!

[Via: SamsungHub]

Bell has today gone ahead and flipped the switch on their brand new HSPA network. Coupled with telus (NYSE: TU) launching their own tomorrow, Rogers (NYSE: RCI) will no longer have a lockdown on hot GSM handsets like the iPhone, and Canadians will get some much-needed choice in service providers. The only devices Bell was forthcoming about before today’s announcement were an HSPA+ internet stick, and MiFi mobile hotspot, but they have really opened up both barrels with their full HSPA family. Earlier today, you might have heard about the Bell BlackBerry Bold 9700, but there’s also the original Bold 9000 for $249.95 on contract, the LG Xenon (simple, full-QWERTY slider; $89.95 on contract), the Nokia 2730 (standard candybar; $29.95 on contract), the Samsung omnia II (touchscreen slate running Windows Mobile with TouchWiz 2.0; $199.95 on contract), Samsung Impact (A.K.A Highlight, touchscreen slate with voice and motion-controlled UI; $79.95 on contract), and of course, the beloved iPhone 3GS.

On top of devices, Bell is also announcing a new HSPA video calling service available on the omnia II and Xenon that not only works with other capable phones, but also through a Facebook app. Overall, this is a huge step for Bell and Canadian wireless overall, and it’s not over yet – we’ll be hearing more about telus‘ HSPA  grand opening tomorrow. For a closer look at Bell’s full lineup, check their online store, or their HSPA landing page for more info on the new network.

[via Bell]

Ah, we enjoyed some Bold 9700 love on Rogers yesterday, and now, this morning I stumbled across this one while checking out the new pricing on the Bell Palm Pre! Bell has launched the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Bold 9700 for $229.95 on a 3-year contract.

If you’d prefer to stay away from a 3-year deal, you can pick one up for 2-years at $449.95, 1-year at $549.95, or with no contract for $599.95.

To pick one up, head on over to Bell >

So, the Bold 9700 is now available at Rogers (NYSE: RCI) AND Bell. Gotta love the Canadian born and bread RIM sharing the BlackBerry love with Canadians (as they should!). Would love to hear some initial impressions on the 9700 from those that have one in-hand! T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) customers, I can hear you tapping your fingers, waiting patiently…

Well they’ve gone and done did it. I heard some rumblings yesterday that Bell may drop the price of the Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre to $99.95 from $149.95… and what to you know… the rumors were true! If you hit up Bell’s website, you’ll clearly notice that the webOS-powered beauty is available for $99.95.

If you’ve been holding off on picking up that Pre, and are of the true north strong and free in Bell’s coverage area… now is a great time to pick it up. Of course, $99.95 is the locked-in 3-year contract price, so if you’re not a fan of long ‘Canadian style’ contracts, you may want to leave this be.

Check out all the details at Bell >

Just a quickie here for all of those awaiting the iPhone 3GS and 3G in Bell’s coverage area. They’ve sent out an email this morning reminding us that the iPhone is indeed arriving on their network November 4th. That’s tomorrow. Yeehaw!

Pricing? Expect the iPhone 3GS 16GB model to come in at $199.00 on a 3-year contract… with the 32GB version dropping at $299.00 on the same 3-year term. If the iPhone 3G is more your style the 8GB will run you $99.00 on a 3-year deal, with the 16GB version coming at $149.00.

For more information about the iPhone on Bell, you can sign up for their email notification service.

telus (NYSE: TU) announced yesterday a flurry of handsets (including the iPhone 3GS) to launch alongside their brand spanking new HSPA network, leaving a lot of people wondering what Bell will have to offer. Today, they’re only announcing the Novatel MiFi portable hotspot and an HSPA+ capable U998 Turbo Stick, though we have an inkling they’ll also end up getting the iPhone, among other things. If you haven’t seen our review of the MiFi, check it out – it’s essentially a portable Wi-Fi hotspot that shares a 3G cellular connection with 5 other devices. The U998 is an exclusive with Bell, and should rock the 7.2 Mbps wireless internet connection that HSPA+ has to offer. Keep an eye out for both of these, and presumably a batch of new phones, from Bell in November.

[via Bell]

If $149.95 direct from Bell isn’t cheap enough for you, there’s another more affordable option for Canadian Palm Pre bargain hunters. The folks at WirelessWave currently have the Pre up for $99.95. Of course it goes without saying that you’ll need to sign your life away for 3 years and commit to a minimum $45/mth voice/data plan to get that price. For all the details you can pop on over to WirelessWave.

At the rate prices are dropping on the Pre up here in Canada, pretty soon the carriers will start paying YOU to pick up the webOS powered beauty, right? Oh, if only that were the case… I’d be so happy.

[Via: MobileSyrup]

RIM’s new flagship device, the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Bold 9700, has been officially announced. If you’ve been following the latest leaked videos and pictures, you’d already know a fair bit about this device (including that it’s coming to AT&T, T-Mobile, Vodafone, Bell, Rogers, telus and maybe even wind) but here’s a spec run-down anyway:

• 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, image stabilization, video recording, flash and 2 x zoom
• 122 g, 109mm x 60mm x 14.1mm
• 2.44″480 x 360 display
• New 624 Mhz processor, 256 MB of flash memory
• Wi-Fi with UMA support, A-GPS, Bluetooth (incl. A2DP)
• 3.5mm headphone jack, microUSB jack, and microSD memory card slot supporting up to 32 GB
• Optical trackpad
• 1500 mAh battery with 6 hours of talk time or 19/15 days standby (GSM and UMTS, respectively)
• 1900/1800/900/850 MHz on GSM, 2100/1900/850/800 Mhz or 2100/1700/900 Mhz on UMTS

For those currently rocking the original BlackBerry Bold 9000, upgrading to this bad boy would provide you not only with added application memory, processor speed, and an upgraded camera, but extra style by way of the optical trackpad, slimmer dimensions, and overall revamped style. Don’t worry, the keyboard you know and love has changed very little, and the leather backing is still there, if you’re into that kind of thing. Anyone who had passed up on the 9000 because it looked like a fatty next to the Curve will probably be reassessing their options this go-around.

OS 5.0 is also included in the new Bold, some of the improvements from which we’ve seen in the Storm2. A lot of the really cool enterprise stuff, like flags and remote e-mail lookup will be available for those companies who have upgraded their BES to 5.0 and have devices like the Storm2 9550 and Bold 9700 among their employees; in good time, though, OS 5.o will likely find its way to the most recent BlackBerry models.

There’s no official info on carriers or pricing, but they are expecting it to be picked up in November, just in time for Christmas.

[BlackBerry Bold 9700 Official Site]

UPDATE: Rogers (NYSE: RCI) has confirmed that they’ll be offering the 9700 for $299.99 on a three-year plan. T-Mobile and AT&T will both be selling the Bold for $199.99 on a two-year term. Bell and Telus have also confirmed the 9700; although with no price point, they’re saying November.

Ah, god bless Bell. Or, at least, give them a whopping high-five for this little bit of price-dropping goodness. For all of the Canadians that may have been on the fence about the Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre, Bell has dropped the price on the webOS marvel to $149.95 (on 3-year contract). At launch, the Pre was available for $199.95 on a 3-year contract. If this price sounds a little more digestible to you, head on over to Bell for all the details.

I have a sneaking suspicion we may see yet another price drop on the Pre before the holidays hit. I mean, with their new HSPA network coming shortly, plus no doubt a whackload of devices to go with it… Can I get a seconder? Of course, this is all just an educated guess… Hopefully I’m spot-on!

[Via: CellFanatic]

Canadian carriers Bell and Telus (NYSE: TU) have been preparing to flip on the GSM switch on their currently CDMA-only networks, but we’ve heard remarkably little about what exactly they’ll be offering when HSPA becomes an option for them.  Lucky for us, some generous tipsters have provided us with the list to date, along with associated price points, depending on your plan.

• LG Xenon: $89.95, $289.95
• Samsung Impact: $79.95, $279.95
• Samsung Omnia 2: $349.95, $549.95
• Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) iPhone 3G 8GB: $399.95, $599.95 — probably $149 after in store rebates
• Apple iPhone 3GS 16GB: $499.95, $699.95 — probably $199 after in store rebates
• Apple iPhone 3GS 32GB: $599.95, $799.95 — probably $299 after in store rebates
• BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Bold 9000: $399.95, $599.95 — probably $149-$199 after in store rebates
• BlackBerry 9700: $399.95, $599.95 — probably $249 after in store rebates
• Nokia (NYSE: NOK) 2730: $29.95, $119.95
• Nokia 6350: $49.95, $249.95
• 3 Novatel HSPA data cards: two HSPA+, one 7.2Mbps

Not a bad start – now, what will Telus have?

[via BGR]