Yesterday I was contacted by Nestor Arellano from ITBusiness.ca to give my thoughts about what it would take to get Canadian Consumers to really latch on to the iPhone for an upcoming article. The resulting article can be read here (make sure to read all three pages... their links are not so clear).

The chat we had, and the resulting discussion that the article creates got me thinking about mobile data, and how it is used in Canada.

Currently, of my non-technology industry acquaintances, I can honestly say that not a single one uses any sort of data related service on their current cellular phones, except for SMS and MMS services. Of those in the tech industry, most are not using a smartphone, but those who are have for the most part, company funded BlackBerry devices, and they do not access the mobile web.

Why do I think this is? Lack of a really functional web experience or other software that they would find useful, as well as the exorbitant costs of a data plan.

The iPhone, and the media coverage it has and will receive, will help to eliminate the problem of regular every day users not having a need for data access on their phones, as at the very least most people would find the weather application and Google Maps handy!

A recent blog post on the Digital Copyright Canada Website pointed to another blog post on the creatorscopyright.ca website which suggests that Canadian Lawyer, and educator, Michael Geist is to blame for Hockey Night in Canada, failing to come to an agreement with the creator of their theme song.

There are a few things that bug me about this blog post, which I wish to share with the world...

I read in the paper this past weekend, that talks between the CBC and the original composer of the Hockey Night in Canada theme had broken down. At the time I thought that the demands of the 80 year old composer were probably a little steep, as a public broadcaster, CBC doesn't have an unlimited budget.

However I also felt that the theme which most young boys and many young Canadian girls had grown up with a part of their life, should remain with Hockey Night in Canada, as it is almost a part of our National Heritage.

When I read today that CTV, a rival network which owns TSN (the Sports Network) had purchased the rights to the song, at first I laughed and then thought how ridiculous that was.

Of course CTV is making it sound as though they have "saved" the song, and thus the entire country, but in reality they are just trying to win a marketing battle as they promote their coverage of Olympic and NHL hockey in the coming years.

The funny part of it all is the comments listed on that article on the TSN website are almost all negative against TSN and CTV using the song, that I wonder if perhaps their plan hasn't back-fired.

At the Apple World Wide Developer's Conference in San Francisco, Steve Jobs today confirmed that the rumors of a 3G iPhone are true.

Notable additions are the inclusion of GPS, a flush mounted headphone jack, 8GB and 16GB storage sizes, and the 16GB iPhone is now available in both black and white.

Steve jobs had a map which showed the iPhone coming to Canada as one of the 70 countries to get the 3G iPhone in 2008. Jobs mentioned that the 8GB phone would not cost more than $199 anywhere in the world, so I would assume Roger's would have to honor these prices, however at this time pricing on the Apple Store and on Roger's site has not been announced.

Rogers and Fido are listed on the "where to buy" pages for the iPhone, so likely this means Canada will be one of the launch countries on July 11th, 2008.

I wonder how many of my clients will also be looking for integration to Exchange on Launch day!

More info should be out in the days to follow.

UPDATE: Rogers confirms pricing of $199 and $299 for the two models of the 3G iPhone, in this press release. Unfortunately that pricing is said to be on a 3 year plan, which has yet to be released.