You can probably figure out the catch. In order to get your hands on teh touchscreen-only HTC Magic, you’ll need to latch onto a new three-year service agreement with Rogers Wireless and you probably need a data plan to qualify for that price too.

In case you didn’t catch it the first few times around, the HTC Magic smartphone gets a 528MHz processor, a 3.2-inch touchscreen display, microSD expansion, 3.2-megapixel camera, GPS with Google Maps, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, and integrated WiFi.

Yes, I know it’s not the Motorola Droid. It’s not the HTC Hero either, but the HTC Magic still seems like a pretty solid offering. Interestingly enough, I only see the $0 price point in the flyer. Looking at the product page itself, the phone is still listed at $79.99 with contract.

It’s not like this announcement came out of left field. Early last week, we caught a leak about some ultimate webphones from Rogers and now this is coming to fruition. The best part is that the Nokia N86 is going to be really affordable too.

Easily the single-biggest selling feature on this slider phone is the inclusion of the 8-megapixel camera. That looks like one truly outstanding camera, but since this is an N-series handset, you get all of that smartphone functionality too. YOu don’t get a touchscreen or a QWERTY keyboard, though, so typing might be a bit of a struggle.

There’s no specific word as to when Rogers Wireless will start selling the Nokia N86, but they do mention a $99.99 contract price and a release date in time for the holidays.

Source: Intomobile

This announcement didn’t exactly come out of left field, but it’s good to see an official unveiling of this handy little phone. In its closed position, you get the regular call and end keys, as well as the five-way navigator. However, it’s when you slide it open on its side that you get to see the Surge’s true prowess.

The placement of the screen makes a lot more sense in landscape position, since it is centered on the device as shown. You get the full QWERTY keyboard, the quick access buttons to the right, and the yellow highlights are for digits if you need them.

In terms of other features, you get a 2 megapixel camera, GPS, microSD expansion, the 2.4-inch QVGA display, and a slick black design scheme. Expect the Nokia Surge 6790 to sell for just $29.99 with a qualifying three-year contract.

Both Telus and Bell are going to be launching their HSPA networks very shortly and they’ve got quite a few fantastic handsets lined up for the launch, including the Bold 9700 and the iPhone 3GS. Let’s not forget about Dave Wireless and Wind Mobile too. Well, Rogers is fighting back with some more affordable options.

Some of these are new, some of them are not, but they’re all web-happy cell phones that will cost you less than $100 on a three-year contract. The smartphones “Webphones” are some pretty heavy hitters too.

The cheapest of the bunch is the LG Eve. Featuring a 3-inch touchscreen, a 5-megapixel camera, Google Android, GPS, and Wi-Fi, this phone is $49.99 on contract.

Other highlights include the white BlackBerry Bold 9000 ($99.99), Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 ($99.99), Nokia N86 with 8MP camera ($99.99), and the HTC Magic ($79.99).

Source: MobileSyrup

We’ve known about the existence of the BlackBerry Bold 9700 for some time, so the spec sheet doesn’t bring much in terms of surprises. The now-old trackball has been replaced with a trackpad and the overall form factor appears to be a little more compact.

Other highlights include a peppier 624MHz processor, 256MB Flash memroy, GPS, Wi-Fi, 3.2-megapixel camera, 2.44″ 480×360 light-sensing display, full QWERTY keyboard, chrome accents, 3G HSDPA, microSD/SDHC memory card slot, and a removable 1500 mAh battery.

From the Rogers side of the equation, you can expect to pay $299.99 with a qualifying ($45+) three-year voice and data contract.

If you’d prefer to go somewhere else, Wind Mobile sounds like it’s getting the Bold 9700 too, as are Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility. Canadians will be able to find this phone just about everywhere, eh?

Source: Rogers PR

During the Canadian Wireless Spectrum Auction, the investors behind DAVE Wireless invested over $200 million for 10 licenses and the focus will be on some major markets across the country. They’re well-prepared to handle customers in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, and Toronto, but what about the rest of the country?

Well, DAVE has decided to sign a roaming agreement with Rogers Wireless. This way, DAVE customers will be able to have nationwide access to wireless voice and data services. For the five major markets, DAVE is doing some cell-site sharing with Bell.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that DAVE Wireless President Dave Dobbin made no mention of how much this roaming was going to cost his customers. Whenever you roam on another network, you can usually expect to pay quite a premium over your regular fees. Will DAVE work differently? I doubt it, but at least you’ll be covered.

Source: MobileSyrup

The Nokia E71 is already a pretty powerful phone with its full QWERTY keyboard, smartphone OS, and 3.2-megapixel camera, but the version being developed to help those with vision impairments is getting equipped with TALKS software from Nuance.

This software gives users the ability to have text messages, caller ID, or any other text content on the screen read to them as speech. This way, even if they cannot read the actual words on the screen, they can hear them.

It may seem like a nice gesture, but I’m not so convinced that the E71 is the best phone for the job. The screen can be a little on the cramped side, cramming a lot of information into that QVGA resolution, so reading the text can be even more challenging that it would be on another phone. The smaller buttons of the QWERTY keyboard can make for a challenge too.

Whatever the case, you can find the Nuance TALKS-equipped Nokia E71 through Rogers Wireless for $99.99 with a qualifying three-year voice and data service agreement.

Yes, it is true that Rogers Wireless will be scrapping its System Access Fee, but it is replacing it with a government regulatory recovery fee. Semantics? Surely. A bit of a workaround? Absolutely.

On the bright side, the new regulatory recovery fee will only be between $2.46 and $3.46 each month, depending on the region. That’s about four or five bucks less than the SAF, so you’d think that subscribers would then be saving that amount of money, right? Well, not exactly.

The new regulatory recovery fee (which is not a government-sanctioned tax) is only applicable to new plans effective October 5th, the same date that the new fees kicks in. If you’re on a plan from before that date, then you’re still on the hook for the SAF unless you switch over to a new plan. The trouble is that all of the new plans have a base rate of about $5 more than their pre-RRF counterparts.

The net result is that you will be paying about the same amount of money each month. That said, the new plans will include three “free” calling features in the form of call forwarding, WhoCalled, and Call Manager. Ironically, these features are already included in a number of plans and value packs, so most customers won’t be seeing much (if anything) in terms of savings.

Source: CBC

Whether you opt for the touchscreen-only HTC Magic or you go for the QWERTY keyboard-touting HTC Dream, you can expect to spend the exact same amount of money. Possibly targeting the back to school crowd, Rogers has reduced the price on both phones to just $79.99.

To get at that sub-$100 price point, you’ll need to sign your life away to Rogers. Well, not your entire life, but at least three years of it with a qualifying voice-and-data service agreement. If you’re not a fan of contracts, you won’t be getting anything out of this price cut. The sans-agreement price for either phone is staying put at $599.99.

What do you think? Can you be enticed to buy a new Google Android phone from Rogers for $79.99? Or would you rather wait it out just a little longer for a $99 iPhone 3GS?

Source: MobileSyrup

This comes from a leaked Rogers document that is pointing toward the imminent launch of the iPhone 3GS in 8GB Black (120080). Presumably, the 8GB iPhone 3GS will still get all the extra speed and features as its higher capacity cousins, but at a more affordable price point.

You’ll also notice that the leaked document mentions something about completing a smooth transition and something about running out of stock of an 8GB model. Based on this wording, I have a feeling that Rogers could be slowly phasing out the 8GB iPhone 3G in favor of the 8GB iPhone 3GS.

In this way, it sounds like the upcoming 8GB iPhone 3GS will take over the $99 (with contract) price point that is currently occupied by the 8GB iPhone 3G. How will Rogers entice you to buy the latter? Could we be looking at a $49 iPhone 3G? Maybe even a free-with-contract iPhone?

Source: Intomobile