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Rogers officially released the long awaited BlackBerry Bold – A North American first and we were there to witness and video this event.

Started off with a video presentation of the Bold and its capabilities, then a short speech by John Boynton, Rogers Wireless Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, and RIM Vice President Patrick Spence. See it here:

The BlackBerry Bold is available at Rogers from $399.99 on a 3-year voice and data plan of $45 or more. More info at Rogers here.

We spoke with Mike Nykoluk from Unify4Life – the makers of the first BlackBerry Universal Remote. They just started their beta program and he is excited and ready for the October, early November release date. In our exclusive interview he gives us an insight into why Unify4Life was created, and what they are currently doing today will be the norm in 5 years. Listen here

This is messed up! As Canada patiently waits for the BlackBerry Bold, people are already taking the beast apart. Check out this video

The latest marketing tactic by Fido is to take over Toronto with 2 massive 4 storey dolls (one male and one female).  The dolls were placed at either end of Toronto and will eventually meet up on August 27th in conjunction with a new concept called “Fido Art Session.”  These new sessions feature quarterly events around art, culture, design and fashion.

HMV Canada and Bell have come to an agreement that starts today to offer cellphones in its retail locations (looks like only in southern Ontario so far). HMV will offer devices from Bell, Solo Mobile and Virgin Mobile at these outlets:

- The Holt Renfrew Centre, 50 Bloor St. West. Toronto.
- The HMV Super Store, 333 Yonge St. Toronto.
- Yonge and Eglinton, 2300 Yonge St. Toronto.
- Erin Mills Town Centre, 5100 Erin Mills Pkwy. Mississauga.
- Scarborough Town Centre, 300 Borough Dr. Scarborough.
- Square One Shopping Centre, 100 City Centre Dr. Mississauga.
- Fairview Mall, 1800 Sheppard Ave. E. North York.

Bell currently has its mobile phones available in Best Buy, Future Shop and Wal-Mart and this will simply extends its reach in the Canadian market. HMV is excited as this expands their market to offer more than just movies and music (which is hurting) and can offer their customers the latest phones that can do all the entertainment activities people want: games, music, movies… One of the phones that was notably mentioned that HMV will carry is the recently launched Samsung Instinct.

Humphrey Kadaner, President of HMV Canada said “We are thrilled to be partnering with Bell as part of our ongoing evolution as an entertainment retail destination. As part of that evolution, we believe that mobile media and mobile devices will play an ever-increasing role in the lives of our customers.

Wade Oosterman, President of Bell Mobility and Chief Brand Officer for Bell Canada said “By partnering with HMV, Bell reaches a client base that places high value on the multimedia capabilities offered by our mobile devices and services”

Rogers and Bell started planning two new 90-metres high towers in the Simcoe region back in July 2007. It has now made it to the forefront for residents, specifically Dennis Daigle. He told council Monday that his main issues are the “loss of enjoyment of rural lifestyle and a drop in property value. It’s simply an issue that we’d like to see the tower placed in a more prudent location” Read full story

We know this is only a glitch in the Fido matrix but it is kinda amusing. If you click on Fido.ca, then Phones & Accessories it will show you a list of phones they have for sale. Currently you can get the Apple iPhone 3G (16 GB) starting at “$730 with a monthly plan and a 3-year Fido Agreement”!!! We checked to see if there were any emeralds or diamonds encrusted around the hardware.. nothing, not even a single cubic zirconia! Good times. See it here

** UPDATE** The Fido site has now been fixed and the iPhone is back to its normal price.

Nokia and Lonely Planet have agreed to distribute Lonely Planet content via Nokia Maps. If you’re not feeling too spontaneous on your trip you might want to give this a shot, but it will cost you about $12.50 Canadian You can now download over 100 city guide destinations that give you area maps, restaurants, popular sites to see. Stephen Palmer, CEO, Lonely Planet Publications said “This is a genuinely transformational deal, which makes Lonely Planet content readily available regardless of time or place. It will help all those questions which travellers frequently have on the road such as ‘What should I explore today’ or ‘where should I go for dinner tonight?’

Rogers started to spread the Bold vibes around Canada and has offered up a contest to keep our anticipation high. The BlackBerry Bold will be available on Thursday for $399.99 on a 3-year plan. E-mails were sent out today with the link Rogers.com/Bold that asks you to submit your personal – if you do you are entered into the draw to win 1 of 10 BlackBerry Bold smartphones.

You have to be a resident of Canada (excluding Quebec) for your submission to be valid. Since they sent out the e-mail blast today the page has been down as I am sure their servers are going crazy.

Here is the link to the contest (**Update – it is now working**)

An update to the Apple iPhone (v2.0.2) is now now available through iTunes, this is the 2nd minor update released and this one says it contains “bug fixes” (no word on what the bugs actually are). To install, connect the iPhone to your iTunes follow the instructions