Apple opened a new retail store in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada this weekend, number six for The Great White North. As usual, we asked any TUAW readers who may have attended to share their reports and/or pictures. So, did you go, and if you did, how was it? Let us know in the comments. Here's hoping you scored a T-shirt!
Clear your calendars for Saturday, Edmonton Apple fans. Apple Store West Edmonton is set to open its doors at 10:00 AM. The store is located in the West Edmonton Mall, at 8882 - 170th Street, next to The Disney Store. You can get full travel directions here, but since the WEM is the largest shopping center in North America you shouldn't have too much trouble finding it.
When Rogers/Fido announced the iPhone voice/data plans a few days ago, the proposed rates were not received warmly. Over ten thousand people are letting their eDispleasure be heard on the "Rogers + iPhone3G == Ruined" protest website.
Canadian petitioners are unhappy with the high plan rates and the lack of affordable data. The site offers a list of Rogers/Fido contacts and suggests consumers take action, sending an email or letter, or calling.
The petition itself is full of impassioned feedback, suggesting that Rogers is killing a potential new market by exploiting demand with subpar overpriced service.
Are you Canadian? Let us know what you think of the the data rates in the comments.
Thanks, heath
UK readers aren't the only ones who can now purchase and rent movies via iTunes, Canadian readers will be happy to note they can get in on the fun as well. Interestingly the viewing period for rentals in Canada also lasts for 48 hours, which leads me to believe that the US window will also increase (though we have no information to confirm that).
An unusually-large shipment of 188 mysterious containers has arrived in North America from Apple's manufacturing partners in China. The contents? "Electric computers," a term that Apple has never before used on its customs declarations.
Additionally, 67 of the containers were destined for Canada, landing in Vancouver, BC.
These containers are not to be confused with Apple's regular flotilla of shipping destined for the west coast. Typically, those containers are labeled as having "desktop computers" inside on their customs forms.
ImportGenius.com speculates that each container could contain up to 40,000 units of new iPhones.
Either that, or the UNIVAC I ordered finally arrived.
Thanks, Ryan!
There's good news for our friends in British Columbia: Vancouver's Pacific Centre Mall is getting a brand-new Apple Store on the upper level.
The store will hold a grand opening celebration this Saturday, May 24, starting at 10 a.m. The first thousand customers will get a free Apple t-shirt.
Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
Only last month Rogers finally officially confirmed that the iPhone was Canada bound. Now electronista is reporting that sources inside the company are saying that the 3G iPhone will debut next month (presumably about the same time as the US launch) and will qualify for Rogers new reasonably priced $7 unlimited data plan. Rogers has long been notorious for high data costs, making the new plan particularly welcome for the data hungry iPhone.
Canadian owners of first-, second- or third-generation iPods may want to keep an eye on their email boxes (provided that they purchased said iPod(s) before June 24th, 2004). The Montreal Gazette is reporting that up to 80,000 Canadians (including 11,310 Québécois) could be eligible for a $45 credit from Apple as the result of two class action lawsuits. The suit involved the iPod battery's dramatic decrease in capacity after two years of use.
According to The Star, Canadian communications firm Rogers Wireless has finally announced plans to carry the iPhone. 
If you haven't tuned in yet for last week's talkcast, go check it out -- it's been up for a few days now, but the higher-quality version got lost on the way to TalkShoe's servers and I just got it re-uploaded. You can hear Mike Schramm and me talk football, MacBook Airs, and (with listener Tony Walla) discuss the prospects for WiMax on future Mac laptops. Download direct, or subscribe to the TalkShoe feed in iTunes. We are hoping to get the main iTunes feed back up and running shortly, just in time for some tasty screencasts now in the early stages of production.Continue reading Talkcast is back Sunday 10pm ET with special guest Tod Maffin
Here's a reason for our Canadian readers to rejoice (and no, I'm not talking about the weak dollar, but thanks for reminding me about that): a proposed levy against iPods and other MP3 players has been defeated. The levy, which was going to be anywhere from $5 to $75 depending on how many songs the device could hold, was meant to help the record industry recoup costs thanks to piracy. The levy was defeated because it assumed that every iPod was chock full of illegally acquired music, and we all know that's not the case. A similar levy that is raised against blank media is still in effect.
As predicted, the Candian iTunes TV store debuted today. The pickings are a little bit slim at the moment. NBC seems to be missing-in-action and I can't find episodes of Canada's Next Top Model (featuring my favorite small orange man). Still, you can pick up episodes of South Park, Little Mosque on the Prarie, South Park, Avatar, South Park, NHL matches, and South Park.
Shows cost $1.99, Canadian, each.
Canada's Best Buy* website has posted a page (littered with typographical and grammatical errors) that interested Canadian shoppers can use to sign up for email notification of iPhone availability. So, it looks like the iPhone will be available at Best Buy in Canada, once it launches.
Poor beleaguered iPhone fans in the Great White North are apparently in for a long wait. In a Globe and Mail article, the CFO of Canada's lone GSM provider Rogers Communications is quoted as saying: "The truth is we aren't very far with Apple.... They're concentrating on this launch and the U.S., and when they decide to turn their mind to other markets, we'll be in line."
Attention, west-coast Canadians! You no longer have to envy your brothers and sisters in Toronto, who have been flaunting their trio of Apple Stores. According to ifoAppleStore, Apple's Sr. V.P. of Retail in Canada, Ron Johnson, kind of spilled the beans when asked about Apple's retail plans at a recent stockholders meeting, saying,
| # | Blogger | Posts | Cmts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cory Bohon | 89 | 1 |
| 2 | Robert Palmer | 65 | 45 |
| 3 | Steven Sande | 59 | 22 |
| 4 | Scott McNulty | 40 | 0 |
| 5 | Mat Lu | 40 | 10 |
| 6 | Dave Caolo | 38 | 0 |
| 7 | Erica Sadun | 28 | 2 |
| 8 | Brett Terpstra | 24 | 0 |
| 9 | Mike Schramm | 20 | 1 |
| 10 | Michael Rose | 11 | 32 |
| 11 | Christina Warren | 10 | 38 |
| 12 | Joshua Ellis | 3 | 2 |
| 13 | Lisa Hoover | 2 | 6 |
| 14 | Chris Ullrich | 2 | 2 |
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