As a quick refresher, this device comes with an extra large 5.3-inch WXGA HD Super AMOLED display backed with a 1.5GHz dual core processor.  It runs Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread and Samsung plans to update that to ICS later this quarter. A lot of the marketing asks you whether it’s a phone or a tablet, asserting that it’s really both. Holding the phablet (you like that?) in my hands, I did get the sense that it is a little too big, but I initially felt the same way about phones like the Galaxy S Captivate.

The build quality and industrial design is in line with the Galaxy S II and other phones in the Galaxy S smartphone series. Responsiveness was robust and using the stylus for sketching worked quite well too. I’m still not sold on the idea of a five-inch phone, but I think it’s starting to grow on me.

It’s been officially announced for AT&T in the United States and there was a big marketing campaign here in Las Vegas for the device, plastering on billboards and the sides of buses. The Samsung rep couldn’t officially say which carrier in Canada would get it (first), but he did confirm that it’s on its way to Canada too. My money’s on Bell, since they got the SII before anyone else, as well as the Galaxy Nexus.

You may already know Ooma from the VoIP services it has been offering in the United States for a number of years now, but now they’re expanding to Canada. The VoIP-in-a-box can be ordered as of today for $229 and that provides virtually unlimited calling to anyone in Canada. I say virtually, because any broadband overages you incur from your ISP are on you. That said, VoIP typically consumes very little data and won’t be nearly as much of a concern as, say, your Netflix subscription.

For an extra $9.99 a month, you can upgrade to the Premier service for call screening, three-way conferencing, ringtone options, and so on, but the basic telephony is “included” in the $229 purchase price. Ooma US Prime customers can now call Canada for free too.

I guess the idea is that not everyone wants the full functionality (and full price tag) of a real smartphone. Maybe they find Android too complex or the iPhone too expensive. Whatever the case, the Sony Ericsson txt pro handles most of the basic smartphone-like usage needs, like social networking by way of the unique Friends application. Your five favorite friends populate your homescreen, pulling in their tweets, Facebook updates, and text messages.

Other specs include the Wi-Fi and full QWERTY keyboard, as mentioned, as well as the multiple IM app, 3.2MP camera, media player, and FM radio. By far the biggest appeal of this device is the price. With no term, the txt pro sells for a paltry $125. That’s right around (or less than) the contract price you’d get with most smartphones these days.

Getting around the frozen tundra of the Great White North can be quite the challenge, especially when it comes to taking off and landing on the icy ground. Well, a British manufacturer is apparently working on some airships for Discovery Air of Yellowknife, supplying remote communities and enterprises in the less hospitable regions of the Canada’s Northwest Territories.

They call them airships, but in layman’s terms, they’re probably better described as futuristic blimps. Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) is the company behind the vision and they signed on with Discovery Air Innovations, based out of Quebec, to build the $40 million vehicles. Since it doesn’t need a conventional runway, the airship can land on just about any surface.

The fleet of airships are powered by non-flammable helium and air power, carrying up to 50 tonnes of cargo to remote mining communities, research stations, and other places that may not otherwise be accessible by other vehicles. That’s pretty important. And just because it’s a blimp, doesn’t mean that it’s slow either, traveling at up to 185 km/h (115mph). That’d beat a truck on an ice road any day.

It’s been almost a year since we learned about the American pricing for the Chevrolet Volt, but only now have they announced how much the electric car is going to cost when you buy in the Great White North. The Canadian MSRP on the Volt starts at $41,545.

Surprisingly enough, that’s almost on par with the American starting price of $41,000. However, the US Government is giving out a $7,500 credit on the greener vehicle, bringing the net price down to $33,500. Pricing on the Nissan Leaf is comparable. Do Canadians get the same kind of benefit? Well, it depends on where you live.

Chevy Volt Concept

Buyers in Quebec might be eligible for a $8,000 provincial rebate, while Ontario buyers can try to get their $8,500 rebate. There are no federal tax credits for EVs in Canada, so it’s being handled on a province-by-province basis.

Although I much preferred how the Volt looked in its concept stages versus how it looks today (the GM Prius) as a final production unit, I think it stands to make a statement for the industry… even if it doesn’t look all that special anymore. Find the Volt in Ottawa, Toronto, Oshawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Vancouver, and Victoria this fall (if you pre-order now).

WOLFE ISLAND, Ont. (12/11/2010) - Eleven of Wolfe Island's 86 windmills loom behind Keith Walton, who takes a break from plowing his field in the early evening hours of Friday, Nov. 12, 2010. Walton supports the local wind farms, the second largest turbine project in Canada. Although the wind farms have been controversial, the TransAlta project has brought a sizable amount of money to the community and has been embraced by most Wolfe Islanders. Photo by Galit Rodan.

A group of Ontario residents who live near wind turbines claim the turbines have caused health problems. The group spoke up against the Ontario government’s decision to give energy giant Suncor a licence to build an eight-turbine wind power project in the city of Chatham-Kent, Ontario. The group of Chatham-Kent citizens filed an appeal to Ontario’s Environmental Review Tribunal. This marks Canada’s first hearings examining the health effects of wind turbines.

According to the group of citizens, exposure to windmills can cause sleep problems, headaches, dizziness, nausea, exhaustion, anxiety, anger and even depression.

In 2009, the Canadian Wind Energy Association funded a study done by a panel of experts to determine whether windmills cause health problems. According to their report, there is no evidence that sounds emitted by the turbines cause physiological effects, and that the windmill’s vibrations are too weak to be detected by humans. The report claims people’s negative reactions to wind turbines are based on personality, “some may find this sound annoying, a reaction that depends primarily on personal characteristics as opposed to the intensity of the sound level.” Basically, they think people who have issues with wind turbines are people who are more easily annoyed than others.

Other anti-wind advocates in Ontario are calling for more studies to be done on the effects of windmills on health before the government allows any more wind projects. One-third of Canada’s wind turbines are located in Ontario, and the wind industry is growing the fastest in the province out of all of Canada. The tribunal is expected to make a decision on the Chatham-Kent project sometime in May 2011.

Photo: Qnet

I’m partial to physical keyboards, because for the life of me, I just can’t achieve the same kind accuracy and speed on a virtual keyboard. That’s why I’m happy to hear Microsoft’s intent on bringing more QWERTY-packing Windows Phone 7 devices to the Canadian market.

Right now, the only Windows Phone 7 device officially available in Canada with a hardware keyboard is the LG Optimus Quantum (available through Bell Mobility). The other offerings, like the Samsung Focus and HTC Surround, are touchscreen-only affairs. Moving forward, Greg Milligan of Microsoft Canada says that “if you’re the type of person that loves a hardware keyboard, you’re going to see more phones like that coming out in the future.”

More specifically, he names Dell as a manufacturer coming to Canadian market in 2011. If that’s the case, then we should probably be expecting the Dell Venue Pro through a carrier in Canada in the coming months. I really like the idea of a portrait slider and while Windows Phone 7 isn’t quite “there” just yet, it’s showing a lot of potential to compete against its Android and iOS brethren.

The other major hardware keyboard-packing WP7 device is the HTC 7 Pro. That’s probably making its way to the Great White North too. “There’s a lot of excitement in this space,” says Milligan, “and we can’t wait to roll out more devices in the Canadian market.” [Redboard]

It used to be that Virgin Mobile was the cheap alternative and it was loaded up with all the cheap phones. That’s not the case anymore, because the carrier is getting just as many hot devices as its big brand counterparts. Looking at this leaked Q4 roadmap, there are more than a couple phones to catch your attention.

For the BlackBerry-touting folks in the audience, the two handsets that will likely catch your eye are the BlackBerry Bold 9780 and the BlackBerry Torch. The former is slated for release on October 21 and the Torch shouldn’t be that far off either. If Android is more your thing and the HTC Legend didn’t cut the mustard, you might want to take a look at the Samsung Galaxy S. It’s not entirely clear which version of the Galaxy S that Virgin will be getting, since there are so many, but it’s a reasonably safe bet that it’s the same as the one that Bell gets. Rounding out the list of new launches are the Samsung Gravity 2 messaging phone, LG Sway, and LG Flick. These aren’t as exciting as the smartphones, but they’re probably more affordable. The lines are blurring, my friends, between budget and mainstream brands.

SOURCE: Mobile Syrup

Netflix for Canada has launched today, giving access to unlimited movies and TV shows streamed right to your device for just $7.99 a month. The service is available to PCs, Macs, PS3, Wii, iOS devices (iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch) and even Samsung and Toshiba Blu-ray disc players. Netflix plans to add streaming support to XBOX 360 later this fall, VIZIO and Insignia Blu-ray players down the road, as well as Internet TVs from Samsung and Apple TV.

I had the chance to test the service on the iPad. The download takes a few minutes, you will ned a credit card to enable the trial. This will give you the first 30 days free, and billing will commence at $7.99 CAD a month thereafter. After your account is created and you login, Netflix asks you a series of questions to better know your “viewing interests”. This basically allows them to tailor the home screen to your liking. Not much use putting The Wolfman on your home page if you really don’t watch horror films.

The New Arrivals section is hardly new, it lists Memento (2000), An Education (2009), Pursuit of Happyness (2006), The Jane Austen Book Club (2007) and About a Boy (2002) under the first row of “New movies to watch instantly.” I’m not at all sure I understand this, as none of these titles are even new to Canada. Having a deeper look at all the new titles, show even more “new titles” according to Netflix’ availability. I’m assuming this is a licensing thing with the studios, so I wouldn’t expect it to change anytime soon.

Watching a film from your iPad is simple, just click “Play” from the Netflix menu and wait for it to buffer. This can take a few seconds to a few minutes, depending on the speed of your internet connection. For the iPad, Wi-Fi is the only supported internet connection. The picture is what you would expect, slightly compressed and a bit saturated. Letterbox films without a doubt will waste a couple inches on the top and bottom, but you do get the full width across. I must say the streaming quality is quite good, with only one Wi-Fi bar I was able to watch The Pursuit of Happiness with only a few hiccups.

There are no in-app brightness or contrast controls which would have been really nice, brightness at the least is important to control when watching compressed media. Tap the screen once when a film is playing and you will get “pause” or “rewind 30 seconds” buttons, volume control, and a slider.

The biggest drawback I can see at the moment is a slightly dated list of titles. There are sure to be “newer” titles added over time, and the current library is pretty massive in some areas: over 600 drama, 280 documentary, and 340 comedy. Action & adventure only has about 120, with Sci-Fi & Fantasy sitting at a meager 48 titles. The Television show offering has a good variety, although you can expect the same as the movies department, Monk Season 8 (2009), L.A. Ink: Season 1: Vol 1 (2007), Heroes: Season 2 (2007), Mad Men: Season 1 (2007), Future Weapons: Season 1 (2006) are some typical examples of “new arrivals.” Justified: Season 1 (2010) appears to be the most recent new arrival in TV shows.

If you’re looking for a simple way to load up movies and TV shows anytime, anywhere, on multiple devices (so long as they are connected to the internet), Netflix Canada for $7.99 is quite a steel. But don’t cut up that rental card just yet, you’ll still need it to get the latest titles.

Free download of Netflix for iPad

Apple starts shipping iPhone 4 orders to Canada [iPhone in Canada]