One more tidbit of Canadian mobile news before I take a breather over here. Best Buy Mobile has confirmed that the TELUS (NYSE: TU) HTC Snap and HTC Touch Pro2 are ‘coming soon’. Rumored pricing to purchase the HTC Snap outright is sitting at $449.99, while the Touch Pro2 is coming in at $549.99.

No launch details for the Snap or Touch Pro2 were revealed, but in the flyer above, all details within are ‘good until July 30th’. So, chances are we’ll see all 3 of these devices before then. In fact, the TELUS BlackBerry Tour is scheduled to drop on July 15th (starting at $249.99 on a 3-year contract), so we could very well see all three devices launched on that date. That said, I’d lean more towards a solo Tour launch on the 15th, with the Snap and Touch Pro2 coming sometime between the 16th and the 31st. We’ll see!

[Via: MobileSyrup]

The last time we heard about Bell and Telus (NYSE: TU)’ plans to jump over to HSPA (3G) before moving to LTE (4G),  the two Canadian carriers were eyeballing a 2010 switch, but rumour has it they’re trying to get onto the GSM bus this fall in order to support the iPhone as soon as possible. A Telus spokesperson stuck to their guns for 2010, and given it’s generally prudent to adopt a “later than sooner” outlook for release dates of this magnitude, I’d tend to agree with the date. Still, wishful thinking and Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s ability to light a fire under a carrier’s ass dictates the sooner Telus and Bell can pick up the iPhone, the better. We had heard Rogers (NYSE: RCI) and Apple weren’t on what you’d call friendly terms lately, so it’s entirely possible that the iPhone is looking to spread out its wings a little bit, even if it’s only out of spite.

[via The Star]

It’s only a matter of time now… You know, when you start hearing about dummy units and promo materials shipping to stores… it’s only a matter of weeks before the device pops up in-store. This time around I’m talking about the Bell BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Tour 9630, and thanks to BGR’s ‘ninjas’, we’ve got some pictures to backup the claim.

Dummy devices have arrived and promotional materials are all set to go at Bell. Mark your calendars, as the same ninjas put the Bell BlackBerry Tour 9630 available for general consumption on Friday, July 17th.

It’s looking to be a very interesting (and busy) summer surrounding the BlackBerry Tour. The Sprint version could be hitting us by July 20th… Plus, I’ve read rumors that the Verizon edition could be launching the device around the same time as Bell. Finally, Telus is squaring up to launch the Tour on the 15th… Yikes… Did I miss any carriers here?

[Via: BGR]

Nothing earth-shattering here, but still, whenever a new device is launched I feel it’s worth a mention. In this case, TELUS has launched the very entry level Samsung M220 on their network. The M220 is a flip phone that weighs in at 88 grams, packs 2 screens (one external, one internal), speakerphone, plus all of the typical apps you’d expect including an alarm clock, contacts and more.

The Samsung M220 will set you back $29.99 on a 3-year deal, $129.99 on a 2-year, $179.99 on a 1-year and $229.99 outright.

For more information hit up TELUS.

[Via: MobileSyrup]

Canadian iPhone fans that are pining for the new iPhone 3GS, but are locked in over at TELUS (NYSE: TU) with no desire to make a switch to Rogers (NYSE: RCI) (heck, who needs another monthly bill, right?)… Good news may be coming your way. A shiny-new rumor has surfaced detailing that TELUS might be getting the iPhone 3GS this October, making them the second carrier to push the iPhone in Canada. Mmmmmm, competition!

This could be a bit of a shocker to say the least, because we all thought Rogers had that whole exclusivity thing down-pat… But again, chalk this up to rumor and nothing else. The information comes to us via a reliable tipster over at HowardForums, but tipsters are often wrong.

For what it’s worth, the rumor has TELUS picking up the iPhone 3GS this October once they get their HSPA network up. At the moment, TELUS is a CDMA-only carrier.

Again, this is very much a rumor. Chalk it up as speculation at best, but it sure would be nice to see some competition against Rogers on the iPhone scene. Might help drive down those crazy monthly rates, no?

[Via: BGR]

The ‘net was all a buzz yesterday with the BlackBerry Tour 9630 Announcement from RIM. Sprint and Verizon let their presence be known by launching mini-sites for the BlackBerry Tour, with email sign-ups for instant notifications when the device becomes available on their networks.

Today, north of the border, Telus (NYSE: TU) has gone ahead and set a launch date and pricing for the much anticipated device. Telus will launch the BlackBerry Tour 9630 on July 15th, at the following price points:

• 3-year promo price: $249.99
• 3-year: $449.99
• 2-year: $549.99
• 1-year: $599.99
• No contract: $649.99

This is awesome news. Now, I suppose it’s only a matter of time until we hear from Bell!?

[CB via HowardForums]

Canadians should now be able to send and receive money securely with their mobile devices. How? With a new money transfer service called Zoompass of course! The new service has been launched by mobile payment vendor EnStream.

EnStream is jointly owned by the ‘big 3′ in Canada; Rogers (NYSE: RCI), Bell and Telus (NYSE: TU). The companies wanted to collaborate to bring together a money transfer solution for customers on all networks (it will work on all sub-branded networks as well… I’m talking Fido, Solo and PC Mobile here).

President of EnStream Robin Dua commented:

The launch of Zoompass represents an important milestone in financial services that makes the mobile phone the central device consumers use to transfer money and make purchases. The Zoompass mobile service ushers in a new era in electronic payments that addresses a growing desire to move money quickly and easily between friends, family, and merchants. Zoompass makes it easy to split a lunch bill, request money from parents, collect sports team fees, solicit money for a co-worker’s gift, or even pay a babysitter - right from a mobile phone. With the groundbreaking launch of Zoompass, Canadians nationwide can expect to hear more people ask one another “Do you want me to Zoom you the money?”

Every Zoompass transaction will be PIN protected, and all sensitive information is stored on secure servers… so even if you’ve lost your mobile device, there is no need to worry about your critical financial info getting into the wrong hands.

Zoompass will be officially unveiled at the 2009 Canadian Telecom Summit in Toronto this week.

[Via: Cellular-News]

Canada’s three main operators: Bell, Rogers (NYSE: RCI) and Telus (NYSE: TU), are joing forces to launch a mobile payment system called Zoompass. It’s supposed to be launching on June 15th and will allow customers to send, receive and request money, with a $0.50 fee to send money and transfer funds from your Zoompass account to your bank account. Zoompass is built on EnStream software and that’s just about all the information we have. The website is blank.

Transactions from mobile devices are supposed to reach $1.6 billion this year according to ABI Research, but I have strong doubts about that claim. Paying with cash is easy, you take pieces of paper and metal out of your pocket, give it to someone, who in turn gives you a product. Credit cards are even easier. You give a piece of plastic to someone, they swipe it, in some countries you sign a piece of paper, in others you enter a pin code, and then bam, you get your product. How is something like Zoompass going to take off when you’re going to have people fumbling about, typing long strings of digits on a UI that will vary phone by phone? Grandma can’t even check her voicemail, how is she going to Zoompass Timmy $5 for candy?

Near Field Communication (NFC) needs to launch already. The GSMA approved the single wire protocol that can tie an NFC chip directly to the phone’s SIM card, so now we just have to sit patiently and wait until the software, hardware and infrastructure are rolled out that supports all of this.

I’ve never been more jealous of the Japanese.

[Via: Mobile Syrup, Unwired View]

TELUS customers have a new contest to take advantage of this summer. Together with Universal Music Canada, TELUS (NYSE: TU) is announcing the ‘Summer of Music with TELUS’ contest in an effort to promote the newly lowered prices in their music library. Over 1.4 million songs are available to download direct from any TELUS mobile device, for prices as low as $0.69 per song. Albums are typically $9.99.

Contest details include the following:

Hanging out with AKON

• Two tickets to see Akon live
• Trip for two (2) to Toronto

Dancing with Lady GaGa

• Two tickets to see Lady GaGa live & dance lessons with Lady GaGa’s dance crew
• Trip for two (2)  to a North American location

Blogging with The Tragically Hip

• Tickets to three Canadian tour dates
• Limo and accommodations
• Press accreditation to take photos and blog about The Hip experience

For more details and to enter, you can hit up Telus Mobility.

Thanks Sarah!

The only hint of a BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Tour coming to Telus (NYSE: TU) so far has been an accessory code found in its inventory database, but it seems like a launch is drawing closer as one lucky shmuck has a proper device in hand. Bell started getting their promo materials recently, so Telus isn’t the only one gearing up to get this thing out the door and we can only assume Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is making similar headway. All CDMA carriers must be pretty happy about getting the 9630, considering it’s the first “real” BlackBerry they’ve launched in awhile; the last full-QWERTY BlackBerry (i.e. not the Pearl Flip or Storm) to come their way was the 8330 Curve, or the push to talk 8350i in Telus’ case.  The Tour should definitely bring them all up to speed with GSM carriers who have been enjoying the likes of the Bold and Curve 8900 for awhile now.

[CBForums via BBSync]