Today is the big day we’ve all been waiting for! The Rogers Revolution is here and Canada is going to finally get a taste of the Android OS through two phones: the HTC Magic and Dream.
Both of these phones are being offered exclusively by Rogers in Canada. The Magic is going to be priced at $149 (edit) on a 3 year contract, while the Dream (the original G1 from T-Mobile) will be $149 on a 3 year contract.
Since it is launch day, expect your local Rogers dealer/store to have limited availability. Don’t forget you can try calling Rogers Customer Service and order your Dream/Magic over the phone too.
If you’re lucky enough to get one on launch day, we would be happy to post your unboxing pictures on our blog! Send us some photos to androidincanada [at] gmail dot com!
New Value Pack Announced on Android Launch Day
Here is a new Value Pack announced by Rogers today that you can apply to your new Android account:
$20 Smartphone Value Pack (was $15)
- Caller Display with Name Display
- Enhanced Voicemail
- WhoCalled Service
- Unlimited sent/received Text Messages (was 2500)
- Unlimited sent/received Picture and Video Messages (was 1000)
What can we say folks, but our cellphone rates seem to be going up and up! I guess that is the price we pay when there is only one GSM carrier in this country. Please let us know what Android phone you bought, and your plan details!
Rogers Revolution Android Page–it’s a great resource, confirms 6GB/$30 data plan!
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Posted under: News, Rogers/Fido
I’m excited to see some reviews, come on guys!
PS: Does anyone have any idea if you could switch your Android phone to a voice family plan later on and add a seperate data plan to the Android phone?
Ok, I’m quite a bit miffed. There are no good data plans for this ‘net oriented phone. It makes no sense. Why is this device a second class citizen to the iPhone? Is this supposed to be a fair consumer offering?
I hear you.
As I posted on another article, it is exciting that the Android is finally here but the bad news is that Rogers is up to their shady games again. I managed to get the rep to give me some info on the data plans being offered and he said (”as far as he knew”), that the data rates will be similar to what is already being offered. That is:
Low end at $25 – 500MBs
High end at: $80 – 5GBs
That is right, that is EIGHTY DOLLARS for 5 Gigabytes! The iPhone was launched at $30/6GBs. Has someone at Rogers completely lost their minds? I know one can negotiate a better deal but to set that as the starting guideline is ridiculous.
Very disappointed with this. As a developer, I see Android having an amazing potential when one considers the way Google, and those involved, have approached the way developers will be building apps for this platform. It is miles ahead of iPhone’s closed environment – I believe Apple is making the same mistake as they did in the 80s. However, these lunatic data plan prices will only continue to cripple the advancement of mobile technology in Canada. Very sad and frustrating. Is the government watching this robbery?
When is Globalive set to launch?
There are *rumors that Rogers _will_ be bringing back the $30/6GB for this launch.
*http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1532908&page=1&pp=15
I shall wait and see…
Even though Android is on par with the iPhone, their presentation of it has nothing to do with our ideas of open source, developer friendly, etc. But in general it seems that Rogers is heavily favouring the iPhone.
How they can promote such a ‘net oriented phone without a decent data plan is beyond me. Believe me, after holding off so long and being an open source/java/internet focused person, I was quite excited about this launch, but now I”m going to wait and see. I just don’t like feeling like I’m being ripped off.
Before the corporate apologists step in (though I’m probably speaking to the converted here), since they are essentially a monopoly (which is made worse by the presence of Fido), Rogers does have to be responsive to perceptions of abuse and fairness towards the consumer, including even access to new products. So I hope that a $30/6gb plan does appear very soon, as rumours suggest.
It seems like the rumors have some truth behind them.
If you go through the Rogers (mighty complex) online ordering process for the phone, the $30/6GB plan is listed there as a limited time offer (until July 1st).
Hey guys, online the HTC magic is 149.99 from the rogers site, any confirmation on this? Not the 199.99 that’s quoted here.
Anybody here who already owns a G1 in Canada notice whether or not we can see paid apps yet in the market place? I have a G1 I bought on eBay and even after a reboot I don’t see paid apps.
Can you own switch your SIM card back and forth between the iphone and android if you own both?
Great news!! I just picked up my Magic from BestBuy at Metrotown in Burnaby. I bought it outright for the $600. I am a Fido customer though… The first thing I tried was to start the phone with my Fido sim card – It works!!
NO UNLOCKING REQUIRED TO USE ON FIDO
I have pictures – I will post link link when I have them uploaded to Picasa.
Just insert your sim and set up the APN:
apn: internet.fido.ca
user: fido
password: fido
That’s it! Enjoy!
@Steven.. really? oh man, now im tempted to buy just the phone (cuz i still have 2 years left on my Fido contract)..
please post link.. thanks!
@thesniperz…
I ended up putting the pics in a youtube video (more private than linking to my picasa gallery): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXPiMGZUcKE
It works perfectly on Fido. Its a great phone! I wish the battery lasted a bit longer, but I guess I have been using it non stop since I picked it up
… Love it!
Hi guys I recently got the Magic, and I noticed an odd thing, my magic’s status light, only the right one lights up! Although this is during charging so… well… can I just ask if it’s supposed to light up on both sides, or i’m just being silly.
Can anyone please help me on this?? I figured out how to sync my Outlook contact list but I cannot figure out how to sync the Outlook calendar. Sent off a message to HTC and their reply was that they only work with hardware not software and to ask Google about this. I can’t find any app on the android market that syncs calendars other than going through gmail or microsoft sync exchange.
Any help would be most appreciated.
thanks,
Bri
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