It has taken its good old time getting to Canada (or anywhere for that matter), but the new Google Nexus 6 has finally arrived on a few carriers. R Rogers, Bell and Videotron are all reporting having the device in stock. How many they consider ‘in stock’ may be subject to some interpretation. So we recommend if you have been waiting for a Nexus 6, you should pick it up as soon as possible – stock will be severely limited until, hopefully, next week. The pricing varies slightly with Bell and Videotron charging $299.95 and Rogers asking $299.99 – all pricing is on a two-year contract. To purchase the Nexus 6 off-contract, it will run you $749.99 at Rogers and $749.95 at Bell.
Many of you may have read about the French Canadian language snafu that seems to be occurring in the new Operating System, Android 5.0 (Lollipop). It seems to rear its ugly head only during the charging process. If you turn the device off to charge it, you will never notice it. However, if you have the device on and try to charge it, it will flash on/off, as if in a recycling reboot phase. Actually using the device with the French Canadian language selected seems to pose no issues. It is only during the charging phase with the device turned on. Because of this, TELUS said in a statement that they will delay the launch until Google fixes this issue. Stating that they want to sell a device that will work for all Canadians and not just some. While quite a noble gesture, it is strange that Videotron has chosen to release the Nexus 6 even though they have a predominantly French Canadian audience.
Motorola Canada has confirmed that all Nexus 6’s will ship unlocked to all carriers and it appears that Canadian carriers are selling it that way. Unlike AT&T in the U.S. who has not only branded the device, but also locked the device. You will have to look around for the Nexus 6, so call your local stores before you make the trip. For now, only the Midnight Blue version with 32GB is available…happy hunting! Please hit us up on our Google+ Page and let us know if you are picking up a new Nexus 6 for the holidays…as always, we would love to hear from you.