iPhone Release Date in Canada

With the WWDC yesterday, Steve Jobs' keynote showed the new iPhone released. Though I didn't watch the keynote, nor do I really care much about it, the iPhone news was highly anticipated and well received [at least by me].

I have been waiting for the iPhone for a while now, and with the news last month about Rogers and Apple finally coming to terms with each other, it was just a matter of time until us canucks finally saw the iPhone. I talked to a rogers representative at the local cell phone store where I live, and they confirmed that they are indeed getting the iPhone version 2.0. What does that mean? When do we get it?

It means that we get the 3G iPhone which also has the built in GPS unit, which will be available July 16th of this year (though I read an article that it will be available July 11th, so I'm not sure which, but either way, five days isn't bad compared to a year since the iPhone has been on the market).

I do have some concerns though, that being what about data rates and data plans? Canadians have to pay a HUGE premium on data rates. Up here there is no "unlimited" data plan. Providers say there is, but it's limited to 100MB or something like that with charges of $0.15/Kb after or something ridiculous like that. I do a lot of texting, and the iPhone will be super nice for that, as well as the other apps that it comes with. Rogers has notes all over their websites that there are bundles you can get and NOT be charged if you use their installed software that only lets you surf certain websites (e.g. Facebook, MySpace, etc). But what about GMail for my email? What about other websites? Well, that means I gotta pay through the teeth.

It is good news that the iPhone is FINALLY released (and in black and white), but I've got mixed feelings about it (re: data rates/plans). That all being said, I'm number one on the pre-order list for a black 16GB version at my local cell phone shop.

Edit: the date is confirmed July 11, not sure where I got July 16 from.