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Canadian cell phone consumers aren’t too happy about the data plans Rogers has introduced for the iPhone. And with good reason. The data rates are, as per norm in Canada, highly restrictive and expensive. They might be better than they were a year ago, but they’re still nowhere near the kind of service we get in the U.S. They’ve even go so far as to create a petition to Rogers, though it only had 10,400 signatures yesterday. Still, 600 minutes and just a gig of data for $100?

Read the rest of Mobile Notes: iPhone Canada, Textiest state, Essay contest…

During the CTIA convention, we at Going Cellular paid particular attention to a seminar on mobile music. We can easily see music thriving in a mobile environment — just imagine being able to download that song you just heard right to your phone. Yet, there are some serious issues holding back this development. One such aspect is digital rights management, or DRM. This morning, we find out that Verizon is teaming with Rhapsody for DRM-free music downloads.

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A couple friends of mine, way back in the day, received laptop computers upon entering their freshman year of college. It’s a neat idea, and I was clearly jealous, since my school had 30,000 people and there wasn’t a chance of them ponying up for that many laptops. Abilene Christian University in Texas has a new idea, though. Since most students come to school already armed with a computer, they’re giving their students iPhones. Crazy, right? But kinda cool at the same time. You know, if you’re into that whole iPhone thing.

Read the rest of Mobile Notes: Alltel, iPhone, PSP phone…

This story comes up every so often, and obviously nothing has come of it yet. It’s easy to associate Verizon Wireless with Verizon Communications, the company that got big in the landline business a decade or two ago. That’s only 55 percent correct, though. The other 45 percent of Verizon Wireless is owned by Vodafone Group, the European cellular provider. Once again, Verizon has expressed interest in buying Vodafone out of their share, according to Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg. He thinks that Verizon does all the work in the wireless division, and would like to start seeing all of the profits.

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How many of you share your media files in a peer to peer environment? Considering it accounts for roughly 70 percent of Internet traffic, it’s safe to say that a healthy population of ‘net users love them some P2P. It has become one of the most efficient forms of mass content distribution over the past few years, and is showing no signs of slowing down. Except, of course, when Comcast throttles BitTorrent, or ACTA tries to outlaw P2P altogether. Where we should see P2P really start to expand is on mobile phones.

Read the rest of What everyone ought to know about sharing mobile content…

Will the T-Mobile Shadow II be a Hotspot @Home phone? If so, it would be the first HTC handset and the first Windows Mobile handset to be so. Adding more Hotspot devices is only going to make T-Mobile’s service more popular, so it’s easy to believe these rumors. But don’t get your hopes up. These are from “market sources,” and we know what it means to believe an anonymous source. Beware, I suppose, with the excitement. We’ll wait for an official announcement. (But it would be so awesome if it were true!)

Read the rest of Mobile Notes: T-Mobile Shadow II, Driving, Instinct…

When T-Mobile introduced prorated ETFs on Monday, they became the third of the Big Four to reduce the fees over time. True, their plan isn’t quite as nice as those offered by AT&T and Verizon. But it’s better than paying $200 four months before your contract is up. Still, it could be worse. It could always be worse, because you can be Sprint. The nation’s No. 3 wireless carrier still hasn’t introduced its own early termination fee policy. They plan to during 2008, as they said last november and reiterated recently.

Read the rest of Sprint still lagging on prorated ETFs…

In Mobile Notes earlier this week, we came across an item saying Sprint was trying to attract customers with their phone selection. A company rep gave quick reasons why people choose the other carriers, and said that no on really gives much consideration to Sprint. So they’re looking to grab the device market. Kind of tough to do without the iPhone and its endless hype, but give them some credit for trying.

Meanwhile, it can make you wonder: Why do people choose certain carriers? Clearly, local coverage is an enormous consideration. But what if all of the top six U.S. carriers are available, or at least a few of them? So let’s dig into this and see where each carrier has an advantage.

Read the rest of What the major carriers bring to the table…

Starting on Wednesday, July 2, T-Mobile’s Hotspot @Home will be available to subscribers nationwide. Hotspot has been in testing stages in Seattle and Dallas for a while, and now is the time to introduce it to the rest of the country. We’ve talked about it plenty, but just to go over the specs again, it’s $10 per month if you have an individual plan over $39.99 or a family plan over $49.99. You can port in your home number and plug your phone into the $50 router (one-time fee). Alternatively, you can get a new number for your house line. The linked review from CrunchGear advertises it as being similar to other VoIP providers like Vonage and Lingo, only better.

Read the rest of Mobile Notes: T-Mobile Hotspot @Home, SMS, Traffic, iPhone…

Since December, 2007, Luke Barrett has been living on the roof of a T-Mobile store in Boulder, Colorado. Well, had been living, since police caught him last Friday. Told to “stop and place his hands in the air,” Barrett ran, though was ultimately detained at the scene. He was charged with and convicted of trespassing and obstructing an officer. His seven-day sentence finishes on Thursday. As you might imagine, Barrett is homeless.

Read the rest of Man lives on roof of T-Mobile store…