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Bell is looking to bang out a number of new phones in August: LG Wine, Samsung Instinct, BlackBerry Pearl in Titanium and White, HTC Victor, BlackBerry Curve in Red, Sanyo Eclipse and the HTC Touch Dual.

We’ve reported on basically all of the above except the HTC Touch Dual. The big difference between the Touch and the Dual is when you slide the phone up you will find a keypad. Very similar to the original Touch as it is 107 x 55 x 16  and comes in at 120g. This will be available at Bell for $399.95 with the $30 Unlimited Personal Email & Internet plan. Here are the features:

Touchscreen with TouchFLO technology, 20 key QWERTY keypad, GPS Nav with full audio and visual instructions, TV, video & radio, MicroSD Expandable Memory up to 8GB, 2 Megapixel Camera, Video, Stereo Bluetooth, Operates on EV-DO Rev.A network for data, HTML browsing with Opera Mini, Wireless Modem Capable, Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional with Windows Live Messenger and Email, travel adapter, standard lithium-ion battery, charging, data cable, stereo headset, holster, extra stylus, multi-function audio cable. (Join the conversation at HowardForums)

Check out this video review by Kevin over at CrackBerry.com of the highly leaked and not yet released BlackBerry 8220 flip phone called “Kickstart”

SaskTel has improved in-town cellular coverage in the Cabri, Antler and Hunting Lake areas. This brings the total investment to date over $170 million

MagicPad is “the first rich text editor for the iPhone”. When this application gets final approval for use on the iPhone this will be one of the most useful apps. MagicPad gives you the ability to Cut, Copy and Paste, change font styles, underline, bold, italics, and change colours. Check out the video

Best Buy Canada has come in way lower on pricing for a couple Rogers phones. You can pick up the Nokia N95 for $99.99 and the LG Vu for $29.99, both on a 3-year agreement.

Rogers reported its Q2 2008 results and it has been a stellar increase with overall revenues for all areas (Communications, Cable and Media) by 11% to $2.8 billion (net income being $301 million after adjustments).

Major highlights from Q2 are from the wireless business:

- Wireless subscriber postpaid net additions were 92,000, while postpaid subscriber monthly churn was reduced to 1.06% from 1.15% in the second quarter of 2007. Wireless postpaid monthly ARPU (average
revenue per user) increased 4% year-over-year to $75.48 driven in part by the 34% growth in data revenue to $224 million, representing 15.5% of network revenue.

- Wireless announced that it would launch the highly anticipated Apple iPhone 3G in Canada on July 11, 2008 under both its Rogers Wireless and Fido brands with a wide variety of service plans available for voice and data combined.

- Canada’s Advanced Wireless Services (“AWS”) wireless spectrum auction ended on July 21, 2008 following 39 days and 331 rounds of bidding with bids totalling $4.25 billion. Wireless acquired 20 MHz of spectrum across all 13 provinces/territories with winning bids that totalled approximately $1.0 billion representing approximately $1.67 per MHZ pop. Wireless is required to submit payment in full by September 3, 2008

- Wireless announced the launch of its Fido UNO and Rogers Home Calling Zone plans that allow customers to make unlimited calls within their home using their wireless phone via a home WiFi broadband connection.
This converged service utilizes technology known as Unlicensed Mobile Access (“UMA”) and provides Rogers customers the convenience of having one phone, one number, one address book and one voicemail
which they can use inside and outside of their home.

- Wireless data revenue increased by 34% and 40% over the corresponding periods of 2007, to $224 million and $431 million, respectively. This increase in data revenue reflects the continued growth of text and multimedia messaging services, wireless Internet access, BlackBerry and other PDA devices, downloadable ring tones, music and games, and other wireless data services. Data revenue represented approximately 15.5% and 15.3%, of total network revenue

Ted Rogers, President and CEO of Rogers Communications Inc. said “The results for the second quarter reflect a good balance of continued healthy subscriber growth, double-digit revenue and operating profit growth, with continued margin expansion. While the competitive landscapes in which our businesses operate are constantly evolving, our unique combination of leading networks, powerful brand and distribution, and leadership in service and bundling capabilities positions Rogers uniquely for continued growth and success well into the future.”

The picture below was found installed in the iPhone 3G.  It was supposedly taken by a factory worker in China who was “testing” the camera

Montreal law firm, Saint-Pierre Grenier, has filed a class action suit against both Bell Mobility Inc. and Telus Communications Inc. on behalf of Eric Cormier (a Bell Mobility subscriber). Cormier is saying “both companies are acting illegally by unilaterally changing the terms of cellular contracts with their clients”. Telus and Bell plan to charge customers $0.15 per incoming text messages (Bell starting Aug. 8th and Telus on Aug. 24th).

On July 11th, newly appointed President and CEO of BCE and Bell Canada, George Cope, announced his “100 day plan” to streamline management by saying “Bell’s goal is clear: to be recognized by customers as Canada’s leading communications company. I look forward to leading a unified, re-energized organization focused on attaining that goal by delivering a better customer experience at every level.”

Today, it seems like his first objective has been put into action as Bell announced the it will reduce the size of its management by 2,500 (6%) “as part of an organizational realignment focused on achieving a competitive cost structure”. In total this set of cutback are expected to save $300 million a year.

George Cope said today: “It is always difficult to see colleagues depart, but these changes are absolutely necessary. We are moving forward with a streamlined management structure that brings everyone at Bell closer to the customer and allows us to compete more effectively. This new structure positions us as a far more efficient and cost-effective operator in the intensely competitive Canadian communications marketplace.”

As the next stage in the 100-day plan is put into practice, Bell will continue investing to improve customer service.

RIM has issues a security warning for the BlackBerry Attachment Service component of BlackBerry Unite! Based on the urgency within an organization regarding this, Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) scores range from 0.0 (no vulnerability) to 10.0 (critical). This vulnerability has a CVSS score of 9.0. More at RIM