Remember all the rumors we heard so far regarding the imminent arrival of Apple's smart phone in Canada? Now, although there isn't quite much information to hang on to, things are finally starting to become clear. No, it's not another rumor - the iPhone in Canada has been officially confirmed!


<-234x60 Half Banner - left->All that we know so far is that the carrier chosen by Apple for the iPhone in Canada is Rogers Mobile. Their statement is short and very clear:"We’re thrilled to announce that we have a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Canada later this year. We can’t tell you any more about it right now, but stay tuned."

Other than the above, we can't tell anything else yet. Anyway, it's good to see that the iPhone is finally on its way to Canada. I think the wait has been too long, but now I guess they'll have it by mid-June (it's just my opinion, I have no proof for that), if not even earlier.

At last, let's hope Canada will get some great deals for the iPhone, to compensate the delay... after all, they are only a few steps away from the US, and the iPhone is simply crawling to them.

Gadgets able to help your iPod extend its array of features are always welcomed by most iPod users, so I thought it would be a good idea to tell you about a dual alarm clock radio featuring an iPod dock. Sounds good enough? Well, if it does, don't hesitate to keep reading, I won't keep you distracted from your vital tasks for long, I promise!


Coming from iHome, the iH12BR, priced at $79.99, offers the following features:

- Dual Alarm for two individual wake times
- Wake or sleep to AM/FM radio or iPod with Programmable Sleep
- Scan tuning radio with up to 12 station presets
- Battery backup maintains clock and alarm settings in case of power failure
- Full-function Remote Control
- Aux/MP3 line-in
- DST switch for quick, easy Daylight Savings Time adjustment

Unfortunately for those that still have 3rd generation iPods or even older, the iH12 is not compatible with them. The rest can enjoy the sound provided by the full range Reson8 stereo speakers with passive subwoofer, and charging the iPod while enjoying your favorite music is now a child's play with the iH12 and its dock.

Other than that, I don't know what to say... there are so many accessories for iPods, so I can't claim this is "the best" one, but it's sure worth checking it out.

Apple reported record sales in the last quarter, with a net profit that exceeded $1 billion, but that's not as interesting as finding out that Belgium may soon receive the iPhone. Well, that's not such a big deal, after all, but if I say "unlocked iPhone," I am sure that makes a difference. A huge one!


After Italy, Belgium is going to receive the iPhone unlocked, but more expensive than iPhones purchased with a plan from Apple's chosen local carrier. Again, this is not official, since Astel.be is only a Belgian regional site, and not the official Apple Belgium one, obviously, so we'll keep this as a rumor for now.

Anyway, it seems this rumor is also backed up by facts, as it happens with Italy. While Italy is the largest consumer of prepaid wireless contracts, in Belgium there's a completely different thing. There, a law prevents carrier exclusivity, and since the result of a similar law lead to the unlocked iPhone available in France... the road has been opened already!

At last, the rumor says that Proximus, Mobistar and BASE, three Belgian carriers, are already working on setting up special data packages for the iPhone, with support for unlimited transfers and "visual messaging."

These being said, I'll close this article with the expected time of arrival of the 3G iPhone in Belgium - June, as it happens with Italy. There is also a very small chance to see "regular" unlocked iPhones arriving a bit earlier, but I wouldn't bet on that...

Would you like your gadget to stand out from the crowd? I am sure you would, and I don't see anything wrong with it. After all, there are millions of iPods in this world, and every user wants his to be different. Well, if you have any chance to pass through Japan these days, I got some really good news for you!


This time, it's more than just a souvenir - it's a limited edition case, sold only in Japan, and for a very short period(the quantity is also limited)! As you can see in the image above, there are 7 cases available - Ginza, Shibuya, Nagoya, Sendai, Sapporo, Fukuoka and Shinsaibashi, all made of hardened polycarbonate and coated in black rubber, featuring a special golden etching on the back.

If you are one of those avid collectors, then you may end up travelling all over Japan to get all 7 cases, because each golden etching belongs to the district where the Apple Store selling it is located...

These being said, I must also add that the Japanese limited edition cases are available for the iPod Nano and Touch, and the prices are 2,280 yen ($22) for the first one, and 2,680 yen ($26) for the last.

The fifth generation of iPods arrived in October 2005, and the second full redesign was made in September 2006. Pictured below, you can see the iPod 5G models available since then, having a slim case, and a large screen with video playback capabilities that the iPods released one year later didn't have. Considering the fact that these players are not that new on the market, it came as a shock to me finding out that some recent iTunes videos have problems when played on them. In fact, "problems" is not well said, because they simply won't work!


Sad but true, iPod 5G owners are complaining about the fact that many videos released on iTunes after the 10th of April have problems, for example a complete freeze, no image with sound, or no sound, and image playing right.

This is not just some rumor, or things I've heard from my friends that have iPods. It all started on the 14th of April, when a topic called "Certain iTunes Store Videos Don't Play On 5th Gen iPod" appeared on the official Apple Discussions forum. Since then, more than 160 replies were posted, many of them from users having the same problem as the topic starter, a user having the nickname "Rocky Pope."

Until now, nobody found a solution for this issue, and Apple didn't offer any official explanation to this. The good part is that Apple is working on this, because videos purchased in the last few days play properly, according to users. Anyway, it seems this is a problem that only 5G iPods have, because the new iPod classic and touch didn't encounter any problems so far.