It has been long rumored that Apple was going to start selling a contract free version of the iPhone mobile device at list prices.  It appears as if these rumors have finally come true.  After confirming with several Apple stores it appears as if you can now pick up a contract free iPhone for $499 (3G), $599 or $699 (3GS).

 While these phones do not have a contract associated with them these devices are still carrier locked to AT&T so you do not have much freedom with the various plans you can purchase.  This is considerably different than many parts of Europe where you can get the devices without a specific carrier service attached to the device.  It would make much more sense for Apple to sell the iPhone unlocked without a contract agreement like they do over in Europe.

 The only benefit of purchasing the iPhone this way, without a contract agreement, is if you were planning on switching mobile devices before the 2 year contract was up.  Otherwise it would make much more sense for most mobile device consumers to sign up for the contract and get the iPhone at a much cheaper price.  With the contract you can usually get the 3G version for $199 and the 3GS for $299.  This is a significant savings when purchasing a new cell phone.  Esepcially when you are going to have to use AT&T as your service provider anyways.  Purchasing the phone with a contract might actually be cheaper in the long run even if you were to break the contract early if you wanted to purchase a new cell phone.  It might be worthwhile to look at the fine print associated with terminating your cell phone contract early with AT&T.  The price of terminating your contract might be less than the extra money you will have to spend on the iPhone without a contract to have that freedom of switching providers whenever you would like.

Good News! The 2 remaining major players in the Canadian mobile phone industry will carry the iPhone.  On October 6th 2009, Telus and Bell released information on their websites announcing they will carry the iPhone. In order to make this happen, the companies built a new 3G network which they will share and allow them to offer GSM related offerings. This announcement effectively changes that landscape of the industry in Canada and makes for a healthy competitive playing field. The best part of this announcement is that it probably means cheaper phone / data plans or more features for the price.

Most already know that Bell and Telus share the same network along with other smaller companies. Based on the current landscape, it is fair to say that eventually other companies on the Bell / Telus network may eventually carry the iPhone as well. The question must now be asked: What will happen to the marketplace given these announcements? Speculation has already started and no one really knows, but it should work out for customers as companies compete for your business.

[image courtesy: Mobiletor.com]

So in a late development last week Apple released an upgrade to all the iPhones.  This upgrade fixes the hack/exploit that was announced last week that could allow someone to take over your iPhone and send texts or even use it to control another iPhone.

If you haven’t upgraded already then do so now.  If you’ve been holding off because you are afraid of locking your unlocked iPhone, iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS then don’t worry thanks to BoyGeniusReport.com it looks like the unlock will work on the new version 3.01 since the update only fixes the patch it doesn’t make any changes to eliminate the unlocking tool.

So what are you waiting for go update you iPhone be safe

So it looks like someone, well actually a couple of someones are set to show a security exploit they have found in all versions of the Apple iPhone.  With this new exploit, according to Wired.com, “a hacker could control all the functions on the iPhone, such as e-mailing, dialing contacts — and, most alarmingly, sending more text messages to hijack even more iPhones.”  Basically they are almost in complete control of you phone and allowing them to send to your friends to control them.

There is “one giveaway is if you receive a text message containing a single square character. If that happens, [it's suggested] you immediately turn off your iPhone”.  Turning off the iPhone is currently the only method to stop the hack.  Obviously this isn’t the best option since you can’t do anything else at all.  The people who found the hack even say that someone malicious enough could take over all the iPhones in the worldvery quickly.

The two people have contact Apple about the exploit about a month ago but so far Apple has not issued any patches to fix the problem.

It should be noted that the two guys brought it to Forbes but they didn’t actually show them the exploit.  So until someone can see a real Apple iPhone or 3GS hacked we have to take this as a mild threat.

Alright so as the title mentions this is simply a rumor but according to sources at BoyGeniusReport.com Telus will be getting the iPhone in October.  This wil be just in time for the launching of their new HSDPA network that they wanted to have in place before the olympics.

If this rumors proves to be true it will a huge boost to the launch for Telus and definitely be competition for Rogers and Fido.  This will make 3 out of the 4 providers in Canada carrying the Apple iPhone 3Gs.

For now we will just have to wait patiently wait and see what happens with this.

Well it seems to follow up on our earlier posts we have received more information regarding the iPhone 3Gs coming to Canada.  According to a report over at BoyGeniusReport.com it seems that us in Canada will be able to get the new Apple iPhone 3Gs at the same pricing as in the US.   This means that as of June 19th the iPhone 3Gs will be available in Canada at both Rogers and Fido for the same pricing as the US.  The 16GB will be $199 (new activation) the 32GB will be $299 (new activation) and the 8GB iPhone 3G will be $99 (new activation).

Rogers will also be reactivating their 6GB for $30 plan for a limited time with the iPhone as of June 9th.  This is currently available but only for their new HTC Android phones.  You will be able to tether your iPhone to your laptop but your plan has to be a 1GB minimum plan.  The best news of all is if you want the new iPhone 3Gs but you aren’t eligible for an upgrade or don’t want a contract you will be able to buy the iPhone without a contract.

This seems to be validated by a Rogers spokeperson through twitter as was reported by the Globe and Mail.  I guess all anyone can do is wait until June 19th when the iPhone is released.