canada

Canadian carrier WIND is set to launch the Lumia 710 tomorrow, May 3rd. We previously covered the rumours pointing to an early May release for the Windows Phone, and now those who have been waiting eagerly will be able to pick one up. The Lumia 710 is to be priced at a reasonable $259 without contract, or for $99 on the WINDtab with the WIND25 and $0 on the WINDtab with the WIND40 monthly plan. 

Emails have been sent out to early ordering customers with information detailing the upcoming launch, including the above pricing.

The Lumia 710 (see our in-depth review) packs a 1.4GHz CPU, a 3.7" ClearBlack screen and a 5MP camera - perfect for anyone who requires a budget Windows Phone.

Source: MobileSyrup, WIND

Canadian carriers have been pleased with how the Lumia Windows Phones have been selling, according to a report by MobileSyrup. While carriers aren't known to reveal negative sales publicly often, TELUS and Rogers have both stated that they are happy with their Lumia handsets, and that customers share this satisfaction.

Reade Barber, Senior Director Data Product Management at Rogers, had the following to say:

"Rogers is proud to have the widest selection of choice for our customers. The Lumia 710 is proving to be a customer favourite and has been a great addition to our Smartphone Lite lineup. We're also very excited to be the exclusive carrier of the Lumia 900, Canada’s first Windows Phone LTE smartphone."

Rogers packs the inexpensive, but highly rated Lumia 710. MobileSyrup spoke with a number of sale staff from Rogers and the majority were pleased with how the Windows Phone sold in-store. The carrier has the device priced at $29.99 on a 3-year contract, or $255 SIM-free.

Brent Johnston, VP of Mobility Solutions at TELUS, mentioned the Lumia 800 (currently on sale for $25) has met the company's expectations:

"We are very pleased with the sales performance thus far, with Lumia sales meeting our expectations."

Unfortunately, it's impossible to judge how positive this response is due to not knowing how high / low expectations were to begin with. Then again, should the handset be exceeding low expectations would also be on the right path with TELUS then able to be more confident with future Nokia handsets.

With how competitively Nokia is pricing the Lumia handsets, and how dissatisfied many Android users are with low-end hardware, it should be comfortable to assume the Lumia 710 will start to pick up speed while the 800 is available at a reasonable price for those requiring that little bit more (or an award winning design).

Good news is good news, nonetheless.

Source: MobileSyrup; thanks bilzkh for the heads up!

On the heels of Nokia announcing that the Lumia 900 Windows Phone would be headed to Rogers, the Canadian wireless provider announced a bit of news themselves. Rogers launched their LTE Network to St. John's being the first to provide LTE speeds to Newfoundland.

John Boynton, Rogers Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer stated,

"We are proud to be the first carrier to bring our LTE network to St. John's. With Rogers LTE wireless network coverage, customers have access to speeds similar to broadband connections, making it easier for people to use their mobile devices to download apps, stream HD videos and music or play on-line games, with virtually no delays or buffering."

Rogers was the first to launch an LTE Network in Canada last summer in Ottawa followed closely by Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver last fall. LTE expansion doesn't stop with St. Johns. Rogers plans to double its LTE coverage later this year expanding to more than twenty five cities including Atlantic Canada and Halifax.

LTE Network expansion and the Lumia 900. Sounds like good times are in store for Rogers' customers.  You can catch the full presser after the break.

TELUS has been listing the Lumia 800 as "coming soon" since mid January so it only makes sense that we start hearing about it launching soon. Rogers already has the Lumia 710 which went on sale last week but Nokia's other Windows Phone needs to get into some hands and hopefully soon.

Mobile Syrup is reporting that launch events are now being scheduled (see above) and employees are being trained on Windows Phone--meaning a release is immenent. Some dates tossed around include March 9th or at least during that week.

That gives you folks just a few weeks to start saving for that phone, which hopefully won't be priced too high.

Source: Mobile Syrup; Thanks, Jesse B., for the heads up

Attention all Canadians who are still after a second generation Windows Phone. The Nokia Lumia 710, which is coming to Rogers, is set to launch on February 6th (or there about) - just two weeks away. So what's the pricing like for the contract and SIM-free options?

• $49.99: 3-Year contract
• $99.99: 2-Year contract
• $149.99: 1-Year contract
• $254:99: SIM-free

Not bad for a second generation handset with the listed specifications. Be sure to read up on our review as well.

Source: MobileSyrup

We just saw Telus begin promoting the Lumia 800 and now Nokia Canada themselves are showing that phone and Roger's Lumia 710 off on their front page. Canada: your time has come!

Regarding Rogers, they have a "In stores this February" which gives you a pretty good idea of when to expect that. For Telus, they just have "coming soon" which is a bit too vague for our likes, but we're thinking that too is just a few weeks.

In fact, we have a tip stating that in Canada, February 6th is the day for a launch party for so-called "Generation 2" devices, which includes Nokia's and who knows what else at this point. We can't verify that date ourselves, but the tipster said they confirmed it with their local Bell and Rogers stores--so take that as you will. Seeing as Nokia is listing the 710 as February, it seems to coincide nicely. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Source: Nokia.ca; Thanks, Ryan L. and Juan C., for the tips!

If you are a Bell customer in Canada and use a LG Optimus Quantum or HTC HD7, you have reason to rejoice.  Starting tomorrow, Microsoft will start pushing out its 8107 update (7.10.8107.79), which most notably, fixes the "vanishing keyboard" issue on said devices amongst other fixes.  A leaked internal Bell Mobility document shows that the rollout will occur in two waves.  The first will come tomorrow, followed by wave 2 on January 25.

In addition to the keyboard bug, 8107 also addresses the following:

• Email. Fixes a Google mail syncing issue.
• Location. Fixes a location access issue. With this fix, the Me feature in the People Hub sends anonymous information about nearby Wi-Fi access points and cell towers to Microsoft only if you agree to allow the Check In function to access and use location information.
• Security. Revokes digital certificates from DigiCert Sdn Bhd to address an encryption issue.
• Email threads. Fixes an email issue related to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. With this fix, when you reply to or forward a message, the original message is now included in your response.
• Voicemail. Fixes a voicemail notification display issue that occurs on some European and Asian networks under certain conditions.
• There's no word on how the waves of updates get divvied up, so no telling who will get it when.

Source: MobileSyrup

We've continuously received complaints from residents who live in Canada for the lack of Windows Phone presence in the country compared to Europe (and the U.S. to an extent). This news will please some however, particularly potential buyers. Should you pick up a LG Optimus 7 before January 31st, you'll receive a free 12 month Gold subscription to the Xbox Live service (worth £40).

The offer (and handset) is available at Telus and Future Shop. Do hurry should you wish to take advantage of this offer as there are only 1250 codes being distributed. After you've made the purchase, head on over to the promotion website to enter your details and receive your code.

Source: Microsoft; thanks, Matthew for the tip!

For those with an extra $689 CAD ($682 US) to spare, you can pick up the Nokia Lumia 800 unlocked from NCIX. The phone is normally $50 more but there's a special web-only deal till December 14th. For those curious on the bands:

GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz; HSPA/WCDMA: 850/900/1900/2100 MHz.

What makes that cool is even folks here on AT&T can pick up this bad boy and get HSPA+ due to the inclusion of their 1900MHz WCDMA frequency--just something to think about.

The only bad thing about this is the color: black. Sure, black is always awesome but we wouldn't mind picking up this guy in Cyan at all--stand out a little, you know? Still, we'll take what we can so head on over to NCIX to place your order.

Source: NCIX; Thanks, Baljinder, for the tip!