Welcome, to another Edition of our weekly roundup of Canadian Android News. This is the biggest and most relevant Android stories to come out over the past week, handpick just for you Canadians! How about that eh?! This week saw Amazon send some love Canada’s way and there’s going to be a shake up with the acquisition of Mobilicity by TELUS.
Google Hit with Another Antitrust Investigation
According to the Financial Post, the Canadian Competition Bureau has informed Google that they intend to launch an investigation of their operations in Canada. Apparently, the bureau has yet to request any related documents or information despite announcing their intentions to Google.
Leslie Church, Google Canada’s head of communications and public affairs said:
“We will work co-operatively with the Competition Bureau to answer any questions they may have.”
While that’s not the most brilliant response you’ll ever see, it’s good to see Google is willing to work with the bureau, not that they have any real choice in the matter.
Rogers Announced New International Roaming Packages
Rogers recently updated their monthly international roaming packages, and while the prices remain the same the data increments have increased a bit. For good measure, the new package listings have been included below.
Sony Xperia Tablet Z Shipments Delayed Until June 3rd
Not much to report on this one, except that shipments have been pushed back from May 22nd to June 3rd. This is all despite the fact that the tablet is already shipping in the US. Sony attributes this madness to some of the largest tablet pre-order figures in the company’s history.
As a refresher the Xperia Tablet Z is packing a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 processor, 2GB of RAM and comes in two variants priced at $499 (16GB) and $599 (32GB).
The Amazon Appstore for Android is Now Available in Canada
The Amazon Appstore is now available in Canada, just as the title of this section implies. To install, you’ll have to have ‘allow unknown sources’ checked in the Android developer settings, and you’ll also have to download the app from Amazon’s site. While the Amazon Appstore offers a lot less than Google, it does provide a paid app for free every day. We’re talking about premium apps too, not some useless freemium offering.
Get it now while it’s still hot!
Wind Offers to Save Mobilicity Customers from Acquisition Woes, Mobilicity CEO Fires Back
The wireless war is really heating up in Canada! Okay, so maybe it’s not all that exciting but wireless carriers sure are fighting for those extra customers. Wind offered defecting Mobilicity clients a one month free port-in credit.
“Mobilicity clients, don’t sweat the future of your plans & services. Switch to WIND & receive up to $365 in savings.”
Unsurprisingly, the promotion ends on June 10th which it the closing date of the TELUS/Mobilicity acquisition.
Mobilicity’s CEO, Stewart Lyons took to Twitter to fire back at WIND with this lovely jab:
“Really? Did you forget to mention your company is for sale?”
Touche Lyons. Touche.
Mobilicity Debtholders Say ‘Aye’ to $380 Million TELUS Acquisition
Speaking of Mobilicity, company debtholders have voted in favor of the $380 million pending acquisition that would see TELUS taking over the company and all 250,000 customers and 150 employees. Stewart Lyons (hopefully you already know he’s the CEO of Mobilicity), released the following statement on the news:
“This is a significant step towards final approval of the Plan through which the business, combined with the financial strength of TELUS, can be continued in a way that will benefit our customers and employees.”
In order for the deal to finalize, TELUS has to gain the approval from the Competition Bureau and Industry Canada.
‘One Phone, One Weekend, Premium Upgrade’ for the HTC One in Canada, Need I Say More?
HTC Canada reintroduced the successful trade-in offer for their Canadian customers. They can trade in “yesterday’s technology” for a new HTC One, and will receive between CA $100 and CA $300 depending on the device.
“We’ve had excellent feedback from media and consumers on the HTC One since it was unveiled in New York City and London in February,” said Jennifer Safruk, general manager, Canada, HTC Corporation. “Thousands of Canadians took advantage of our first trade-in offer and because of the high demand, we are pleased to bring it back giving more Canadians a chance to step up to the new HTC One.”
The offer started May 23rd and will run until May 27th. It’s active for all Canadian carriers that carry the HTC One, including Bell, Rogers, SaskTel, TELUS and Virgin Mobile. To get the deal, use the promotion code “HTC100” so that you’ll receive at least CA $100 for an old trade-in.
System Enhancement Update Released May 23rd for Bell, Virgin, TELUS and Rogers HTC One
The new update has a build number of 1.29.666.17 up from 1.29.666.17.5, and it introduces “system enhancements and bug fixes” for affected HTC One models. The update fixes a sensitivity issue with the capacitive buttons and also apparently makes the device more responsive. If you already have the update let us know how everything works in the comments below!
Amazon Kindle Tablets Launching in Canada June 13th
To go along with the recent Amazon Appstore release, Amazon will also be launching the Kindle Fire HD and the Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ in Canada on June 13th. The 16GB 7-inch Kindle will be $214, while the 8.9-inch 32GB version will be $314. As you can see they’re priced slightly higher than Amazon’s tablets in the US.
In addition, they will be relatively limited in functionality at launch. The Canadian Kindle Fire tablets will not support the Amazon Prime video streaming service, nor will the company offer MP3s through the music store. It looks like you will have access to Amazon books, apps and magazines, though.
The devices may ship out to customers on June 13th, but you can pre-order them now. What do you think? Are there better offerings out there (I know the answer already)?