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The Apple iPhone arrived in Toronto this week to a Beatles-like reception

It’s arguably the most-hyped consumer electronics gadget in history and Apple’s iPhone is finally available in Canada through Rogers Wireless. With all the media hoopla surrounding this sexy smartphone there’s probably very little you don’t already know about it.

Here are the things people are saying they love about the iPhone 3G, and the things they don’t, as compiled by the Toronto Star last week:

What people love

1. It’s so wireless. Ten different radios are under the hood of the iPhone 3G, including Wi-Fi (to surf the Net while on a wireless network), Bluetooth (for hands-free headsets), GPS (to navigate to a destination) and 3G connectivity for high-speed wireless connectivity through Rogers’ HSPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) network.

2. The display. The 3.5-inch multi-touch screen makes it a breeze to navigate through the phone’s features. Use your fingertip to flick down your contacts like a digital Rolodex. Pinch and expand to zoom into your photos. Tap to preview and play music via the iTunes Wi-Fi store.

3. Shhh, it’s really a computer. You haven’t surfed the Net on a phone until you’ve used an iPhone, thanks to a real HTML-based Safari browser with support for photos and some videos (such as QuickTime). Turn the iPhone sideways and the built-in accelerometer automatically flips the screen horizontally.

4. It’s an iPod. Store up to 8GB or 16GB (depending on the model) of music, podcasts, audio books, photos and videos – all copied over when synched with your iTunes software. But unlike any previous iPod, the iPhone also has a built-in speaker so you don’t need ear buds if you don’t want to wear them.

5. Programs galore. Apple opened up the platform for third-party developers. The AppStore means you can download thousands of applications to run on the iPhone, ranging from 3-D video games and song-writing software (think GarageBand for your pocket) to medical encyclopaedias and digital cookbooks with video tutorials.

6. It’s stable. The operating system is rock solid. We haven’t experienced a crash once. Any time you want to get out of a program you don’t have to look for an “X” to tap in order to close it – simply tap the solitary “Home” button at the bottom of the iPhone. It might not be a sexy feature, but there’s nothing more un-sexy than a crashing OS with a complicated interface.

7. Coffee is close by. Type in something you’re looking for in the Google Maps search field – such as “coffee,” “gas station,” “Indian food,” “CIBC” or “hotel” – and you’ll immediately see pushpins fall onto the satellite image. Tap the closest “point of interest” and it will present the phone number (tap to call), website, address and directions.

What don’t people love about the iPhone 3G?

1. The soft QWERTY keyboard takes some getting used to – especially for those with fat thumbs. And while you can hold it horizontally while surfing the web (to make the keyboard bigger), emails must be typed on the vertical layout.

2. No video recording. What gives? Plus, the 2-megapixel camera is the same as last year’s model (5 megapixels would’ve been nice).

3. No MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) support. You can take a photo and email it to someone but you can’t send it to a friend’s phone with a message.

4. No voice-activated dialling (e.g. “Call Home”), as you can with most other phones. On a related note, there is no voice recording feature (an invaluable tool as a journalist).

5. Google Maps doesn’t give you audio-based turn-by-turn instructions, so it’s basically useless while driving.

6. You can’t copy and paste text on the iPhone, such as a copying some words from a website to the Notes section. With any luck this oversight will be fixed with a firmware update.

7. More memory, please. Rumour has it a 32GB version is in the works. At the very least offer support for expandable memory cards, no?

– Compiled by Marc Saltzman, special to the Toronto Star

Viva la Vida, although darker, still retains Coldplay’s signature sound

MiltonSearch.com Album Review:

(3 out of 4 stars)

The cumbersomely titled Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends marks the Oxford quartet’s most public effort yet at contributing some serious substance to their discography, enlisting the help of Brian Eno to put a bit of an unconventional spin on the band’s stadium-filling ruminations on love, death and religion.

The album comes with a few conservative risks that may please the critics, but for longtime, hardcore fans of the band, it’s not the total sonic overhaul that was feared. To me, it proves the band does have some interesting, if not earth-shattering, ideas up its sleeve.

After conveniently downloading the album from Apple’s iTunes (now without the maximum security digital encoding features to allow easier copying between computers and burning to CD’s I should add), my new preferred way to purchase music (life with a busy work schedule and two young children doesn’t often permit time to even make it out to the local music store for such hedonistic purchases) and putting the album through it’s paces, here are my thoughts:

Viva la Vida begins with the tasty intstrumental “Life in Technicolor”, before “Cemeteries of London” provides a little mood with some “Edge-like” guitars, reminiscent of U2’s “The Unforgettable Fire” album.

“Lost!” is a winner, employing a pipe organ and rhythmic percussion along with a signature Coldplay melody, despite it’s use of a lyric like: “You might be a big fish…. in a little pond”. The song also appears again at the end of the album with Martin singing solo on the piano. It’s a great version, but unless your name is Roger Waters or Neil Young, I’m against including songs twice on an album or cutting them in half etc. C’mon, save the solo version for concerts or a B-side album… geez.

Speaking of questionable lyrics, how about “those who are dead, are not dead, they’re just living in my head”? That beauty can be found on an otherwise solid “42″, the fourth track.

“Lovers in Japan” has a great energy and boucny, driving rhythm, followed up by “Reign of Love”, a slower, lower track – Martin has seriously toned down the “falsetto” vocals on their fourth studio album.

“Yes” is another solid, but darker song followed up by a great hidden track, mostly instrumental with a tight, driving beat and blaring guitars reminiscent of New Order which ends on a Neil Young-esque grungy, distorted chord (enough artist comparisons for you?).

“Viva la Vida” has the catchy, anthematic-sound Coldplay has become known for with a fresh twist – some nice violin work. From there, we jump into the first single, “Violet Hill”, an aggressive, head-pounding, fist-pumping tune.

“Strawberry Swing” brings out the “foot-stomping hillbilly” side of the band, while “Death and All His Friends” starts quietly before building into open-armed soccer-pitch anthemics.

Overall, a solid album from the British rockers. It doesn’t appear to be full of obvious smash radio hits for the masses like 2002’s “A Rush of Blood to the Head”, but it has a more refined, cohesive, moody feel, while again, retaining enough of the band’s loved (and criticized) signature sound.

Life-altering? No. Important? Not really. But it’ll do.

What do you think? We invite your comments below.

Waterloo, Ontario-based Research In Motion released information on its latest BlackBerry smartphone, its first 3G or third-generation GSM device, the Bold

In an effort to prove it’s more than just a multi-functional workhorse, BlackBerry is jazzing up its personal style.

Yesterday Research in Motion Ltd. launched the new BlackBerry Bold. And it was obvious from the moment the veil was lifted that the company is elevating its cool, urban style.

Through its various incarnations – first the Pearl, then the Curve – the BlackBerry has always been the serious, hard-working type. Particularly when compared to its main competitor in the U.S., Apple’s iPhone – the fun-loving party animal of the smart phone category.

And while BlackBerry still touts speed, power and functionality as its best assets, now it’s also what’s on the outside that counts.

The BlackBerry Bold, expected to hit the market this summer, has been enthusiastically described as elegant, dramatic and vivid, even confident.

The exterior is jet black with a satin chrome-finish frame and a leather-like backplate. Its QWERTY keyboard has also been redesigned. RIM is calling the BlackBerry Bold “a symbol of accomplishment and aspiration.”

The new BlackBerry marries the functional world of technology to the cool world of fashion.

Some, like Toronto realtor Kara Reed, rely on a BlackBerry for immediate access to the outside world and she’s unconcerned about its looks. But for Holt Renfrew’s Barbara Atkin, it’s important that the device look “fierce” when she sets it on a restaurant table.

RIM is banking on the Bold’s slick appearance, as much as its upgraded features, to win over style-conscious consumers.

“As a culture, we are into smart design. It has to work for us. But it also has to be sexy,” says Atkin, vice-president of fashion direction for Holt Renfrew.

Atkin’s Pearl is permanently welded to her hand. “It’s a live product. I am constantly communicating with it. So it should look good.”

Les Minion, president of Hugo Boss Canada, agrees. “There’s always a group of people looking for something more – more modern, sleeker.”

He believes men approach such devices the same way they approach cars and watches. “It’s not about the price. It’s about the innovation, the newness. It’s about people who are addicted to the specifics.”

Reed isn’t convinced new means better. The sales representative for Chestnut Park Real Estate Ltd. is brand-loyal. She has owned five BlackBerrys since they were first introduced.

“I’m a text-er,” she says. For Reed her BlackBerry does it all. “I don’t really care what it looks like as long as it does its job.”

Reed says she has closed a lot of deals with her BlackBerry. And that’s good enough.

For her, looks would never be a deal breaker.

– by David Graham of the Toronto Star

The recent announcement that the Apple iPhone will make its long-awaited Canadian debut later this year generated considerable excitement. While analysts focused on the bottom-line impact for Rogers Wireless, it may be that the most important impacts have already been felt in Canada.

The reason is that, more than any industry statistics or speeches, the iPhone’s slow entry into Canada has crystallized the view that the Canadian wireless market is hopelessly behind the rest of the world with limited competition, higher prices, and less choice.

The year-long delay of the iPhone – Apple first launched the device last June in the United States followed by France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, and Austria – provided tangible evidence that the Canadian market desperately needs an injection of competition (as the sole GSM provider, Rogers was the only carrier capable of supporting the iPhone) and more competitive pricing (Canadian data prices are far above the U.S. offer of unlimited data for $20 per month).

As the country falls further behind the competition, it is time to acknowledge that market forces alone will not solve the issue. It therefore falls to policy makers to focus on developing a marketplace framework that encourages greater competition and innovation.

The first step in that direction came last fall when Industry Minister Jim Prentice announced a set-aside for new entrants in the forthcoming spectrum auction. The auction, which runs over the next few weeks, is expected to pave the way for several new wireless competitors, who may join forces to create a fourth national carrier.

While the spectrum set-aside was a good first step, more is needed. Prentice’s goal should be to create the world’s most flexible regulatory environment that encourages openness and interoperability. The next round of spectrum auctions, which involves the coveted 700MHz band, could include mandatory open access requirements that allow carriers, device manufacturers and service providers to use Canada as the sandbox for mobile innovation.

Many companies are also beginning to focus on the potential of “white spaces,” small bits of spectrum that exist between television frequencies. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is currently considering a proposal to make the white space home to unlicensed uses, thereby encouraging further experimentation. Assuming that potential frequency conflicts can be resolved, Canada should follow suit.

The emphasis on openness could also extend to telecommunications ownership where the current foreign ownership restrictions may artificially limit Canadian competition. There remains concern about completely opening up the Canadian market to foreign ownership, however, that may be a price worth paying to address the current malaise.

Prentice could also encourage competition by removing the barriers that consumers face in moving between providers. The introduction last year of wireless number portability, which allows consumers to retain their phone number when they change carriers, helps in this regard.

However, restrictive long-term contracts and government plans to introduce legislation that could prohibit consumers from unlocking their cellphones would represent a case of one step forward, two steps back.

Finally, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission may want to take a closer look at the mobile marketplace. The CRTC is committed to a de-regulatory approach and has for years largely left the mobile marketplace alone (with the exception of undue preferences and unjust discrimination), yet the regulatory hole has not served Canadians well.

Canadian iPhone fans may finally get their coveted device, but it is going to take more than a great phone to fix what ails the Canadian mobile marketplace.

Losing our Competitive Edge

In many ways, the iPhone saga merely confirmed what many Canadian consumers and businesses have known for some time.

Mobile data pricing in Canada is among the highest in the world, creating a significant barrier to the introduction of new mobile services and causing many consumers to carefully ration their mobile use for fear of being hit with a hefty bill at the end of the month.

The impact of uncompetitive pricing is felt beyond the consumer market. Last month, the World Economic Forum pointed to problems in the wireless market as a key reason for Canada’s slipping global ranking for “network readiness” (Canada has gone from 6th worldwide in 2005 to 13th today).

Canada ranked 75th in the number of mobile subscribers, trailing even El Salvador, Kazahkstan and Libya. It also lagged behind countries such as the United Kingdom, Singapore, Italy, Sweden, and Norway on mobile pricing.

Michael Geist holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law. He can reached at mgeist@uottawa.ca or online at www.michaelgeist.ca.

The $80 Radiohead box set features download, vinyl and CD versions of In Rainbows and a booklet of artwork by longtime Radiohead collaborator Stanley Donwood.

MiltonSearch.com Album Review

(3.5 stars out of 4)

We all hate hype, but Radiohead is one act absolutely deserving of the mass geek excitement its every move attracts.

Yes, the Oxfordshire quintet tends to inspire a bit of critical hyperbole, but there’s nothing “overrated” about it.

I’ve witnessed Radiohead live shows that reduced me to giggling awe, one at a small theatre in New York four years ago that reduced nearly an entire row of concertgoers to tears. Its first six studio recordings have traced an artful, if intermittently – and admirably – perplexing arc of dogged, self-conscious musical growth that few bands in rock history have attempted or attained, let alone translated into enormous commercial success. Kid A was the sound of a new-school prog-rock band taking the nattering experimental electronic of Aphex Twin and Autechre to the top of the Billboard album chart in 2000. And let’s not forget: this is a group that has actually shifted the mainstream forward. There aren’t many of ‘em out there.

In Rainbows, released in the wee hours Wednesday on a “pay what you can” download from www.radiohead.com – and, a couple of hours hence, every BitTorrent-esque file-sharing site on the planet for free – is the most hyped album of Radiohead’s career. One of the most-hyped albums ever, actually, given its industry-shaking means of delivery. (Watch for this procedure become commonplace once sales figures are released – Radiohead was keeping them secret yesterday – and In Rainbows, though ineligible for “official” chart rankings, becomes the smashing success today’s incessant online traffic suggests it is.)

Bloggers lost sleep to register their general approval for the record first, websites such as PitchforkMedia.com and NME.com were updating their thoughts on the album religiously throughout the day and, while the download process itself drew praise for being, as one Chicago Tribune columnist put it, “smooth as silk,” traffic through the Radiohead site to get to the record was enough to cripple it early in the day.

“A staggering system seems to be in operation, meaning most fans have been able to download the record without any problems,” NME reported. “However, those trying to get the album today are having more difficulties with Radiohead.com, the portal that takes you through to the album download site.”

An average tally of the price fans were putting forth in the band’s “honesty box” for In Rainbows was unavailable, but Billboard.com claimed “unofficial sources suggest most customers have chosen to pay around five pounds ($10.17) for the download edition.”

Interestingly, the $80 box set featuring download, vinyl and CD versions of the album and a lavish new booklet of artwork by longtime Radiohead collaborator Stanley Donwood had exceeded the digital file in pre-orders, according to the artist himself. With good reason, he added.

“The finished product is quite a lush thing. It’s the most over-the-top project I’ve done with (Radiohead),” he told The Scotsman. “It weighs about half a kilo.”

And what of In Rainbows itself? Will it be obscured by its news value?

Hell, no. This thing’s aces all the way, definitely better than 2003’s Hail to the Thief, which was the first Radiohead album since The Bends to sound mildly predictable.

In Rainbows is, admittedly, also kind of what we expect from Radiohead at this point, as it continues the rebalancing between the band’s heady OK-Computer era “rockist” side and the fractured electronics of Kid A that’s been going on since 2001’s highly underappreciated Amnesiac.

The synthesis is much more complete here, though, since the band road-tested these tunes on a short tour last year and drummer Phil Selway – who freakin’ owns the album – operates on an utterly inhuman level throughout, bringing captivatingly erratic, “organic” accompaniment to 10 songs that give Thom Yorke’s singular voice and warm instrumentation (acoustic guitars, strings, piano) played by human beings precedence over the machines. The songs seem to hit a bit harder than those on Thief, too, although I write this on only my third pass through the album.

Anyway, here’s how it breaks down on early approach, track by track:

“15 Step”
In Rainbows is all about rhythm. The frantic beats are broken from the British drum-and-bass template, with Jonny Greenwood’s guitar lines weaving tendril-like through the fray and the eerie atmospheres in the background setting the tone for what is – surprise, surprise – a pretty bleak, end-of-the-world sort of album. Yorke sounds glum. A stab of sampled children screaming “Yay!” is a nice touch.

“Bodysnatchers”
This one’s a beast. A gristled, punkish juggernaut shot through with Raw Power’s riveting, assembly-line punk. The rocking-est thing Radiohead’s done since “The National Anthem.”

“Nude”
Jazz guitar chords, nudgy bassline, more of those eerie crooner harmonies Yorke’s been employing since he got into the Ink Spots circa Amnesiac. Yes, Radiohead knows a thing or two about atmosphere.

“Weird Fishes / Arpeggi”
Reminiscent of Yorke’s excellent solo album from last year, The Eraser, in its faintly hopeful take on personal Armageddon. He imagines an “earth on fire” where “everybody’d leave if they had chance,” but finds bittersweet solace in knowing that once we die and are eaten by the worms and returned to the sea, “we’re fishes.” Gorgeous track, this one.

“All I Need”
“I’m a next step waiting in the wings / I’m an atom bomb trapped in your hard core.” A theme develops. Piano piled up against a snarling undertow. Pretty gripping.

“Faust Arp”
Elliott Smith with snaky “Eleanor Rigby” strings. Almost folky and quite atypical of later-period Radiohead.

“Reckoner”
Tell me the last time you heard percussion recorded this well. All hail Phil Selway!

“House of Cards”
Considerably less oppressive and more concerned with human matters (of lust) than its surroundings, it’s still got some terrific Greenwood feedback etchings strafing the distance.

“Jigsaw Falling Into Place”
Acoustic guitars weave into a streamlined rhythmic freefall. Reminiscent of both Sonic Youth and Dire Straits, if that’s possible. Cool, but it reminds me of something other than Radiohead.

“Videotape”
Well, you knew this had to end with a death march. Mostly ominous piano chords and machine-gun rattles with Yorke concluding: “I know I should be afraid / Because this has been the most perfect day I’ve ever seen.” Radiohead’s not optimistic about the future, then – has it ever been? – but it definitely leaves us optimistic about Radiohead’s future.

By Ben Rayner

Also Read:
Radiohead’s bold gambit: Don’t misunderstand Radiohead: It’s not out to smash the music industry, merely to force some adjustment and much-needed self-examination upon it.