A new law in Ontario, Canada has banned the use of handheld devices while driving. This includes cellphones, GPS devices, MP3 players, etc. Slight problem: the law is broad enough that you can construe it to include doing things like changing the radio station or reaching for a cup of coffee.

Someone caught breaking the law faces up to a C$500 fine. And this isn’t 15 years ago: C$500 is about $460 right now. Pretty serious money to lose because you need to text your friend WTF.

As for that cup of coffee gimmick that Slashdot originally brought up, I sincerely doubt a police officer is going to waste his time and pull you over for sipping a cup of coffee at the traffic light. Unless, of course, Canadian cops are like their American counterparts and have unofficial quotas to meet at the end of the month.

That’s it, really. Don’t text and drive, friends. It’s not safe, no sir.

via Slashdot

You know what Canada looks like? It looks like the best part of town – where everyone is cool and gets drunk all the time without hangovers and where you used to go to raves when you were like 16 and now when you go back the rave places have grown up with you and become chocolate shops and classic book stores – but it looks like that all over the country.

Anyway, this commercial for the Palm Pre in Canadia (in order of importance) shows roller derby, some kind of old persons ball game, and the Palm Pre. The resulting footing, led by an amiable guy in a tie, tells me more about the Pre than Ms. Freakyhead ever did. Good job, Canada! Too bad you’re monarchist communards or I’d totally be living up there.

via Giz

Charlie Sobcov, an eight grader from Canada fell in love with birds on a trip to Costa Rica four years ago. He learned about decreasing bird populations due to global warming and another killer: windows. He found out that 500 million birds are killed by impact with windows annually in the US, Canada and Mexico.

He researched bird vision and learned that they can see ultraviolet light, something we can’t. He then developed a decal in the shape of a flying falcon to stop birds from flying into windows. The decal is covered in fluorescent ultraviolet paint that makes it invisible to humans but visible to birds.

He has already tested it with 40 volunteers from around his city. When asked if he would make and sell it as a product, he said that he’ll consider it once he turns in the science fair project due February.

[CBC via Make]

The good ‘ol United States of America is going to employ Predator drones on the US Canada border within a few days. The unmanned arial drones have been used for years on the southern Mexican border, but they are now needed to keep a watchful eye on Canadians seeing that the US has a booming jobs market. After all, we need to keep Canadians from defecting as it’s common knowledge that Americans enjoy better health care, hockey, and maple syrup than our friendly, northern neighbors.

We spend most of our time searching for the ultimate convergence devices and I truly believe that I’ve found the one to beat. It’s the Pomegranate NS08 from Nova Scotia, of all places. The millimeters-thin touchscreen phone handles voice, web browsing, and e-mail with ease but also tackles tough tasks that no phone to date has attempted.

After checking your e-mail in the morning, the Pomegranate can brew coffee by using special single-serve coffee pods. There are currently four flavors available (Hazelnut, Columbian, French Vanilla, and Sumatran), which is a nice start.

Once you’ve gotten your first cup of coffee in your system, the NS08 features an electric razor for trimming on the go. It’s suitable for stubborn leg hair, too, so ladies and competitive swimmers take notice.

For entertainment, the phone features a high-definition projector for movies and the thing will even turn into a harmonica: “You can play along with preset beats or go freestyle. No other phone in the world plays like the Pomegranate,” according to the NS08 website.

The only areas where the Pomegranate seems to fall short would be that the keyboard looks like it’d be almost impossible to use if you have big fingers and that the phone isn’t real. It’s just a shill for Nova Scotia tourism, the idea that “Someday you’ll be able to get everything you want in one device” but “Today you can get everything you want in one place” – well played, Nova Scotia. Well played indeed.

Pomegranate Phone [via Single Serve Coffee]

If you’re the type of person who lives in Europe (a “European”), you can always go with the E63, although the performance problems I encountered in the E71 would be exacerbated in that little guy.

[Mobilesyrup via Uber, Unwired]

Fresh off the his and hers Dodge Rams CrunchDeal comes a similar deal for his and hers Microsoft Zune players – if you live in Canada, that is. Pick up a manly 16GB Zune at $179 from Best Buy Canada (online only) and you’ll have a soft and sensual 4GB lady Zune added to your cart for free. Not bad… not bad at all.

Microsoft Zune 16GB Portable Media Player [BestBuy.ca via Electronista]

We can jokingly say things like “buy a cellphone jammer to silence those annoying people on the bus” but that would be irresponsible. Quite irresponsible, it turns out, as criminals are now using such devices to impede law enforcement efforts.

It happened last month in Canada. Two Mounties had pulled over a car, and as they approached to car their radios went out. It turns out that the two guys inside the pulled over car had turned out one of those $200 eBay cellphone jammers, putting the officers at unnecessary risk.

This is a good time to remind y’all that using cellphone jammers is illegal in the U.S and most other places. In fact, a first time offender faces up to a $1,000 fine for using a jammer in the U.S.

Seems to me that an iPod is a much cheaper way to avoid hearing a fellow commuter’s conversation. And anyone who uses a cellphone at a restaurant should be promptly shown the door.

Even if you know this stuff already, it’s worth it to hear the kid at the end saying “Apple rules?!” [via Hack n Mod]

It’s part of a push on the PM’s part for consumer rights, an area sorely needing attention in the US, where frivolous claims are rewarded with millions while legitimate concerns like arbitrary bandwidth caps aren’t given a second look. Another reason to move to Canada — unless of course you have an iPhone.

Canadian travelers will soon be able to emulate their favorite CrunchGear blogger, Peter Ha, as they glom on to Aircell’s Gogo wireless internet service aboard their next international Air Canada flight. You’ll recall that Sweet Pete recently blogged from 37,000 feet using Gogo service aboard American Airlines. What fun we all had!

You’ll have to wait until at least spring of 2009, as that’s when Air Canada hopes to start rolling out the service on its fleet of Airbus A319 airplanes that fly between Canada and the United States.

Look. If I was an old Canadian playwright who couldn’t get on the Internet, I’d be mad too. People over 50 generally don’t understand the relationship between an Internet connection, a router, and an Ethernet port (or wireless connection). That is to say, when an old person’s connection goes down, they automatically just assume that it’s the ISP’s fault without realizing that it could be the router or the computer instead.

So Carol Sinclair, a 53-year-old playwright from Canada, couldn’t get on the Internet (see the full story here). She called her ISP (Aliant) a number of times and each time they diagnosed that the connection to her house was working just fine and that her computer must have been the problem. Says Sinclair:

"I was polite the first 20 times I talked to them, but each one gave me the same routine: ‘Is the modem connected. Are the lights blipping?’ And then each one would say, ‘It should be working, it should be working. The problem must be with your computer.’ "

I can understand calling back a few times, but if after 20 calls, each rep says that it’s a problem with your computer, maybe you ought to get your computer checked out. Instead, Sinclair called back and disguised her voice like a man’s and said that her connection was down and she needed to use her computer for work. Aliant sent someone out the next day. Well played, Carol. Well played indeed.

The problem, though, is that the tech that came out to the house found that the connection was, indeed, just fine and that Sinclair actually did have a problem with her computer. When the technician broke her the news, one of two things happened.

According to the technician, Ms. Sinclair went into a tirade and told him that she was holding him hostage until he got her Internet connection working, implying that she had a gun. The tech told Sinclair that he needed a disc from his van in order to fix the connection, at which point he ran from the house, jumped into his van, and sped off.

Sinclair’s version is that she asked the tech to call another tech and then said, "I don’t want to hold you hostage, but would you mind hanging around until the other technician arrives so that the two of you can sort it out." She then held the front door open while the tech went to get a disc out of his van, at which point he sped off.

Then, according to Sinclair, she went back inside and started drinking a vodka cooler, saying, "It was five hours earlier than I usually drink, but I was frankly a little frustrated." Shortly thereafter, five police officers showed up at her condo and arrested her. They didn’t find any guns in the house, although Sinclair had apparently implied to the technician that she did have a gun.

Sinclair was arraigned and is free on the condition that she not have any contact with the technician that came to her house or any other Aliant employees.

[Globe and Mail via Slashdot]

If you live in Canada, have 11 friends, and like to play Xbox 360, then you’ve got what appears to be a dyn-o-mite formula for what I’m about to tell you. As of last Friday, Cineplex Entertainment, which owns 29 theaters across Canada, started renting out screen time for playing Xbox 360. The theaters have a library of games, too, so you don’t have to worry if you don’t own Halo 7 or whatever number sequel it’s up to now.

The theaters will rent out screen time mostly in the mornings – they have about 12 to 24 hours of downtime each week, according to CBC News. Up to 12 players can participate in each session and sessions cost $179 (Canadian) per two-hour block.

[via SlashGear]

Rogers has conceded that its pricing is a bit outlandish and is now offering a $30/6GB monthly plan for those who intent to download “105 hours of YouTube” or maybe 10 emails a day. No word on Visual Voicemail or whether Apple stores will carry the phones.

This “Apple hates Rogers” story is hotting up!

Now it looks like Apple won’t sell the iPhone 3G at its Canadian retail stores, leaving Rogers (and Fido, its partner is crime) flapping in the wind.

You can feel the annoyance in Apple’s voice in this quote:

We have nothing to do with the service plans. Those are Rogers’ plans

Hell hath no fury!

Keep bitching, Canadians. It looks like your complaints aren’t going unnoticed.

Attention Canada-

By now you’ve read that Rogers will be bending you over on data plans if the iPhone 3G is something you’re lusting after and you’re none to happy about it, so I suggest you look down a different path. Why not stick to a homegrown company like RIM and wait a couple weeks for the Bold?

The just-announced iPhone 3G pricing plan for Rogers in Canada isn’t going down too well. One intrepid Canadian started a Web site, RuinediPhone.com, that has a petition targeting the rather unfair prices. So far, more than 17,000 people have signed the petition, which is intended to make Rogers drop the price of the iPhone data plan.

The site’s creator has even written an open letter to Steve Jobs, asking him to do “something” about the unfair prices.

We applaud your struggle, Canada. There’s no reason for Rogers to charge what it wants to charge compared to what AT&T charges. Unless here’s some Canadian tax thing we’re not familiar with.

via iLounge

Take this with a grain of salt, but a user over on HowardForums who’s been known to leak credible information in the past has apparently leaked some pricing information about the iPhone 3G that’ll be heading to Canada on the Rogers network.

Here’s the short version:

• Pricing looks very similar to U.S. pricing in that the 8GB version will cost $199 and the 16GB version will cost $299
• The subsidized prices require a three year commitment instead of a two-year commitment. Can any of our Canadian readers comment on this? This seems to be a growing trend in Canada, huh? Three years instead of two?
• Data plans will be similarly priced at $30 for consumers and $45 for businesses. They’ll have to be added to qualifying voice plans, which will likely start at $40 per month.
• The device will be sold in Rogers, Fido, and Apple stores.

So basically it looks like everything’s about the same as it will be here in the states if this post over on HowardForums is legit, except for the contract length.

via Engadget Mobile

AT&T corporate is still telling their Fortune 500 customers that the Bold will launch in “July/August”.

I hope it’s not really August. It’s the one thing I’ve been looking forward to this year.

Now British and Canadian users can download moves from the iTunes Store. The UK Store has a selection of 700 movies from Disney, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, and so on. Most of the major studios, it looks like. Even nicer, more than 100 of these are available in HD. The Cousins pay £10.99 for a new movie download (£3.99 library) and £3.49 for a new rental (£2.49 library).

Canada has a little more to choose from, with 1,200 movies available from the same lot of studios. New movie downloads are Can$19.99 ($Can9.99 for library) and new movie rentals are Can$4.99 (Can$3.99).

Both countries’ rentals expire is 48 hours.

To our British and Canadian readers I ask, how much do you care? I haven’t a whole lot of commotion about not being able to download movies off iTunes or anything, and I wonder if this will even appear on your radar. You also seem to be screwed on the price, but I bet you’re used to that by now.

via iLounge