Google's Nexus One - Canadian Debut?

For the second year in a row the biggest hyped product is the Nexus One smartphone from Google.  The Nexus One is built by HTC but is sold to carriers by Google.  Buyers can buy a Nexus One unlocked for use on any GSM cellular network for $529.00.  T-Mobile USA offers a subidized version for $179.00 on a two year contract. 

For Canadians this means that the only way to get a Nexus One is to buy direct from Google.  For those who don't want to pony up six or seven Bordens once exchange rate and shipping are factored in. There maybe an agreement with a carrier coming soon.  Rogers, Fido, Bell and Telus are compatible with the Nexus One.  Koodo, Virgin Mobile, MTS and Sasktel are not compatible as the Nexus One is GSM only for now.  There is supposed to be a CDMA version of the Nexus One for Verizon Wireless stateside.  With Bell and Telus going GSM/HSPA it is unlikely that the CDMA Nexus One will make an appearance in Canada.

For Handset makers the Nexus One poses an interesting challenge, buying the Android operating system for their own smartphones which has to compete against the Nexus One.  For Google selling the Nexus One isn't so much about generating a revenue stream from something other than online advertising.  Perhaps it's to show handset makers, cellular carriers and consumers what Android can really do.

Samsung Google Android Phone Brings New Hope To Canadians

According to a story on CNET News article, Samsung will be the second company to bring an Android based smartphone to market. The Samsung Android based phone hardware will be similar to Samsung's Instinct. The Samsung Android smartphone will be available as a GSM version on T-Mobile, and CDMA on Sprint.

Now that there's a CDMA Android smartphone coming, new hope comes to Canadian cell subscribers that they will finally get a chance to have an Android based phone. It's almost certain that Bell or Telus will try to get Samsung into an exclusivity agreement. For Bell it would help bring high end subscribers that are signing up with Rogers just to get an iPhone.

For Telus getting a smartphone running Android would help Telus gain market share in Ontario where Bell and Rogers already own the market. In Western Canada carrying an Android based smartphone will help Telus gain market share against the regional carriers like MTS which have tremendous customer loyality. With Shaw communications possibly entering the cell phone market after winning spectrum auctions in 2008, being the exclusive carrier of such smartphones will help keep any current Telus cellular subscribers who could possibily defect to Shaw.

Why Won't The CAB Won't Answer Questions About DTV?

A month ago I e-mailed the Canadian Association of Broadcasters with a few questions about the transition to digital television broadcasting coming in August 2011. After that month, still no reply.

The Questions I put to them were:


1.) The deadline for over the air television stations to convert their over the air transmissions from analog to digital is in 2011, but in the United States the deadline for making the same transition is on February 17 2009, less than two months from now. Why is it taking an extra two years to make the transition in Canada?

2.) In Regina the local over the air television stations haven't even started transmitting digital signals along side their analog transmissions. When can I expect to see local digital over the air signals in Regina?

3.) With millions of TV sets with analog tuners still being used with over the air as the sole source of programming. Will the converter boxes that are on the market in the United States that receive digital over the air TV signals and converts them to analog be available in Canada, and if so when will the be available in stores.

4.) Many households where over the air is the only source of television programming fall under the poverty line. For many those who fit in to this category, buying a television set with a digital tuner or subscribing to cable or satellite service isn't an option. Will there be a voucher program similar to that in the United States that subsidizes the cost of converter boxes be offered in Canada?

These questions simple, not critical of the broadcasting industry, so why didn't they answer? Their silence has already said so much!

My Original Article about DTV in Canada

Regulate and Tax the Internet? Only in Canada

About a decade ago, Canadian government regulator of the broadcasting and telecommunications industries, the CRTC dismissed the possibility of regulating the Internet as too big and virtually impossible. According to a CBC News story the idea of the Canadian government regulating and putting special taxes on Internet access is again rearing it's ugly head.

The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission is going to review the regulation of "New Media". Eli Noam, drector of the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information is recommending that Internet should regulated but special taxes should be collected to put more Canadian content on the Internet.

If the past decade of the web as mass media has shown anything, it's that having the Internet unregulated has helped Canadian content not hurt it. A decade ago the .ca subdomain was heavily regulated and as a result only goverment and academic web sites domain names ended in .ca. It was only when regulations were broken down that thousands of .ca websites appeared.

As if the idea of putting Canadian content regulations on the Internet is height of delusion, the Idea taxing Internet access takes the height of delusion into the stratosphere. If a Canadian content tax goes onto Internet access, then a tax for the recording industry and movie studios wouldn't be too far behind.

Such abusrd ideas usually don't come to light during an election campaign, let's just hope that those seeking elected office see these crazy ideas as insane as they are.

Canada Needs Election to Kill Copywrong Bill

If an expected Canadian election gets called at the end of the week it will kill one of the worst pieces of legislation on the order paper. Bill C-61 the bill to "reform" Canada's copyright act which has been stuck having only made it past first reading won't even make it past parliament.

This hasn't been the first time that a bill dealing with copyright legislation was lost due to an election. When the Liberal minority government was toppled in 2005, there was a copyright bill that died on the order paper.

Like the previous bill this copyright bill contains provisions that would create a clone of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the highly unpopular legislation in the United States. A ban on circumventing Digital Rights Management (DRM) is one of the provisions that is contained in both the DMCA and C-61. This ban on removing DRM is considered by many to strip citizens of their right to fair use of copyrighted works that they own. Ripping movies off of DVD's onto a computer for viewing in another location at another time will become illegal in Canada as it is now in the United States.

Bill C-61 also implements the use of the Broadcast flag technology which is supposed to prevent recording of television shows that are transmitted in a digital format be it Digital Cable or Satellite or OTA DTV. The use of the Broadcast Flag was banned in the United States because the supreme court felt that it violated fair use rights.

The cries of "I don't want another election" still ring out from citizens from coast to coast. To them and the politicians who represent us and potential politicians wanting to represent us, I've got three words for them "Bring it on"

New Copyright Law Proposed, Canadians Still Take It On The Chin

Thursday, June 12th Canada's government introduces new copyright law that despite claims that it's more balanced than previous proposed it's still a clone of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The only thing that is different fines for downloading from peer to peer networks is capped at 500 dollars. Bans on circumventing copy protection remain in place.

Recording content for the purpose of time shifting will remain legal,e but compiling personal libraries of recorded content will become illegal. This is absolutely absurd since many TV shows that people have archives TV shows that cannot be purchased on DVD.

Even among those who would ordinarily support the rights of creators there isn't wide support for the bill. Safwan Javed drummer of the Canadian rock band Wide Mouth Mason speaking on behalf of the Canadian Music Creators Coalition calls the proposed law an "American-style approach to copyright." He states that suing music fans is not going to prevent piracy.

The introduction of the bill comes just as the House of Commons is due to go into a summer break. If it fails to pass before the summer break it will die on the order paper just like the last few copyright bills even the bill the Liberals tried to pass before Paul Martin called the 2004 election.