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A survey of 2,251 adult Canadians by RBC Insurance/Ipsos Reid between March 27 and April 10, 2008 shows “nine-in-ten Canadians drivers (86%) do not approve of using a cell phone when driving, almost all drivers (95%) report having seen other people talking on cell phones while on the road”.  Also, 97% say it’s “wrong” to e-mail and text while driving.

Francois Boulanger, president and CEO, RBC General Insurance Company said “Mobile technologies have dramatically increased our ability to multi-task at home and work and now unfortunately in our cars. And it’s happening despite clear evidence that most motor vehicle accidents are caused by driver error. Anything that takes away from one’s focus on safe driving should be avoided.”

What are your thoughts? Do you text or e-mail when you drive. I know I do, and also surf the web (they forgot to ask that question).

More here

Shaw Communications won 18 licences and spent $189 million during the Canadian Wireless Spectrum Auction has decided to hold off on entering into the wireless market.  Chief executive Jim Shaw said “We continue to review our wireless strategy and believe our entry in this new market should be measured and prudent in light of the developing competitive wireless market dynamics”. More here

Bell launched BlackBerry Unite back in May (free download that helps you “keep connected and organized, collaborate and share content, calendars, contacts, pictures and videos on your computer and sync it with your BlackBerry”). A new video have surfaced created by Blink Media Works – See it here

Vancouver-based Sierra Wireless is working with Telstra, Qualcomm, and Ericsson, to develop the first wireless data devices for the HSPA+ standard that have download speeds of 21 Mbps (3x faster than currently available). More here

The “Rick Mercer Report” has followed suit by his former TV show “This Hour has 22 minutes” by creating a skit out of something Rogers has done.

First, This Hour created this iPhone parody, now Rick Mercer has done his own with “fewest dropped calls” commercial where the 2 guys are stuck in an elevator – one guy is talking and the other guy is just staring at the guy who is talking.

First is the original, then the Rick Mercer version:

(Source)

*Update – the site is live again* You can file this under the Ted will not be happy! We went to check out Rogers website this morning (5:32am) and found that all the content was missing. I’m sure this is a glitch in the matrix but hopefully Ted doesn’t log into his account…  maybe they are gettting ready for a few phone launches today?

One step closer to Quebec seperating from Canada: Quebecor Media and Videotron confirmed they are investing between $800 million and $1 billion over the next four years to roll out their own High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) network in Québec.

This will create 1,000 jobs and Robert Dépatie, President and Chief Executive Officer of Videotron said: “True to its track record of bringing its customers the best in technology and entertainment, Videotron intends to launch an unprecedented offering of advanced wireless telecommunications services on the Québec market. It will be economical, simple and transparent, which is to say there will be no hidden fees. I can say without hesitation that at this time no other Canadian company is in a position to go as far as Videotron when it comes to integrating technology and content, for the benefit of local consumers and small businesses. There is a considerable advantage to being a new market entrant in this industry: our network will be  designed using the latest technology and it will be readily upgradeable, meaning a fast transition to 4G. We will therefore be equipped to offer consumers an unparalleled customer experience, with wireless Internet services at speeds of up to 3 mbps across Videotron’s service area.”

Read the press release here

Rogers has come to the table with its latest online promotion. This time it’s a $50 Canadian Tire Gift Card when you purchase a phone about the $49.99 mark (with a 2 or 3-year contract). You will also be credited with $10 for activation and they will ship it free for you. There is no end date yet to the offer so most likely it will be good for the big Q4 launches. More here here

Looks like the storm is brewing up between Telus and Bell for the upcoming launch of the BlackBerry Storm. Telus has now changed their website from “Coming Soon” to “Coming in time for the Holidays”.  See it here

TELUS has officially released the LG Dare for $99.99 on a 3-year plan. We first saw this on a leaked advertisement a couple weeks ago and now it has become reality.

The tagline is brilliant!  “If there’s a party, the LG Dare will be there…”. This comes loaded with up to 8GB of storage plus a 3.2 megapixel camera with flash, video capture, 3G full HTML Web browser. Dimensions are 104x56x13and weighs 107 grams with a 3.0” WQVGA touchscreen display that is 240×400 pixels.

There are other plans available such as: no contract for $349.99, 2-year for $199.99 and 1-year for 299.99.

Check it our here. We will have a video review shortly.