It'll appear a day early to the US/UK, but will actually be 'on time' for the NZ release. I'll let you figure out why.

Sure, Rogers "relented"... by proposing a limited-time special that allegedly runs out in 6 months anyway. In other words, maybe enough and long enough to perhaps stop the growing calls for reform at the sudden realization by many Canadians that they're getting utterly raped by their mobile phone companies.

Having seen 2 dead & crying iPhones on the cross already, I realize that they are not the sturdiest of devices. There is no way average device lifetime is even close to 2 years, much less 3. What will the punters replace the broken iPhone with when they are tied into a 3 year data plan? Androids ?

It'll be available a day early, but as always, apples update servers will be so overloaded the earliest anyone will actually be abe to install the update will be next week.

the battery is hard wired to the phone and only apple can change it

Not the UK (cos we just unlock them), not France,Belgium etc cos they sell them unlocked to start with.

Lichtenstein is my guess, maybe Monaco ?

What a bunch of greedy fucks! Really, they are fleecing the Canadians! its probably cheaper to buy a phone from O2 here and bring it over!

Someone should walk into a Rogers board meeting and call them all Americans.

Apple is not the only source to change the iPhone battery (incl. 3G). You'll need to make up a new excuse.

From macnn.com:

Milliamp has announced a battery replacement service for the new iPhone 3G. "Although the new iPhone won't hit the U.S. market until later this week, we wanted the world to know that we have the capability to replace the battery in the new iPhone 3G," said Anthony Magnabosco, the owner of the iPhone battery replacement service provider. Milliamp LTD has been offering battery replacement kits for practically every iPod model, as well as battery replacement services for the more difficult-to-open iPods for three years.

http://www.ipodjuice.com/iphone-battery-replacement-products.htm

"Canuck buyers can nab a 6GB data plan for only $30 a month. But that doesn't include phone service."

Is that just an "i" then?

For $30 a month and data only, isn't that just SCREAMING for people to unlock the phone and make it a VoIP phone?

Shooting themselves in the foot, non?

Chris - Is calling them Americans intended as an insult? This is an American product that the whole world is queueing up for and cell phones were invented in America in the first place - don't make the Gordo claim it's one of our products.

Go back to reading the Daily Mail, you have nothing of value to offer this discussion.

How long would Rogers' Ripoff last if no one signed up?

Most subscribers would already be mobile users looking for the latest greatest toy. Why shouldn't Rogers fleece them? They're lined up with their fists full of money begging for it.

As one of the protesters pointed out, it was cheaper for him to use Verizon as his cell phone provider and pay roaming charges in Canada than it was to get the same service in Canada.

SMS text messages to the US are to be raised 25% regardless of any packages covering text messaging. When I called to complain and threatened to go to another provider, Rogers invited me to read the fine print in the contract. It also doesn't help that Rogers are the only GSM provider in Ontario. We Canadians live in a wireless stone age.