The Lumia 710 is the smaller brother to Nokia’s Lumia 800 and 900 models. The 710 has a lot of goodness in that small footprint. It sports a 5 megapixel camera (without the Carl Zeiss lens), a 3.7 inch touch screen, 8GB of storage, and weighs in at 125.5 grams. As well, the 710 comes loaded with the latest version of Windows Phone (7.5 / Mango). The phone is labeled as a “4G” HSPA phone with download speeds up to 14.4 Mbps.

Nokia has been having a lot of success with the Lumia line of devices. It’s nice to see Rogers offering the 710 at an affordable price. We’re working on our review now and should have more details on exactly what you can expect from the 710 in the not too distant future. In the meantime, please feel free to ask any questions you may have about the 710.

The 710 with Rogers will be available in February and have a price of $49.99 with a 3 year contract. I expect the full, non-subsidized price will be $349.99, but there is no confirmation of that at this point.

If you’re not familiar with the specs of the 710 and 800 models, you can check them out here. Basically the 710 is an entry level device that offers Nokia’s exceptional quality at an affordable price. The 800 takes it up a notch by adding a more unique design, and better camera optics with the Carl Ziess lens.

At this time Nokia had nothing to say in regards to the Lumia 900 device coming to Canada. This is the device that many are after as it has a larger screen and runs on the faster LTE network. Currently that is still just coming to AT&T. However, there is hope that it will come to Rogers to offset the entry level 710 with the high end 900. Or, perhaps Bell will pick it up. Either way, if it comes to Canada it would have to be on one of the carriers that support LTE.

More details on the 900, 800 for Telus, and 710 for Rogers when they become available. 

There’s no mention of which carrier this will be launching with, or at what price point. Both Bell and Telus have been very keen to offer Samsung tablets, so there’s a good chance that this will make it’s way to one of their networks. I’ve really enjoyed my 10.1 inch Tab. The 8.9, being a little smaller, does have a certain appeal for travelling. I’ll have to keep my eye’s on this one.

UPDATE: Looks like I made a mistake on the processor. Thanks to Perry for enquiring, I’ve confirmed that it’s not a 1.5 GHz as I mentioned above. It is a 1.2 GHz Dual-Core processor. Still better than the US version, right?!

UPDATE #2: Pay no attention to the previous update. Samsung HQ has confirmed my original post was correct – the Galaxy Tab 8.9 coming to a Canadian carrier this holiday season will be running a 1.5 GHz dual core processor.

The tablet space it really heating up as of late and LG doesn’t want to be left out of the game. Last week they launched the new Optimus Pad with a 8.9 inch display, running the latest version of Google’s Android and the only official tablet version of the operating system – Android 3.0. The Optimus Pad is available exclusively from Rogers Wireless for $450 with a 3 year plan, or $650 without a plan.

The Optimus Pad is powered by NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 mobile processor. With 32GB of internal memory, a 3D camera that supports 5 megapixel images, WiFi, HDMI Out, GPS, Bluetooth, and support for up to 14.4 Mbps download over the Rogers network, making this one nicely tricked out tablet. It would be nice if it offered expandable storage by MicroSD slot, but perhaps it won’t be that big an issue with 32GB on board.

Overall, Rogers and LG are claiming a 15 day standby, or 40 hours of music playback, or 10 hours of video playback on a single charge of the battery – that’s pretty impressive. I can’t wait to get one in my hands and give it the once over to see if it really lasts as long as they claim.

If you’re interested, the full press release is below. Give it a read and let us know your thoughts on this new device. Will you be adding this to your gadget collection before the summer kicks into high gear?

LG OPTIMUS PAD – SETING NEW STANDARDS SO CANADIANS CAN WORK HARD AND PLAY HARD
The 4G Android 3.0 Honeycomb Tablet Brings Media to Life with 3D and HD Capture, Viewing and Sharing

Toronto, May 17, 2011 – LG is bringing media to life with the release of the Optimus Pad in Canada – the latest in tablet technology with a dual-core processor. With diverse multimedia and productivity features, the LG Optimus Pad features a unique 8.9-inch display for one-handed portability and uncompromising viewability, a variation from the 7 and 10 inch screens in market.

The LG Optimus Pad is powered by Google’s Android 3.0 Honeycomb platform and the NVIDIA Tegra 2 mobile processor. The world’s first tablet with a 3D camera, the LG Optimus Pad wraps users in an immersive multimedia environment with Full HD 1080p decoding.

“We are thrilled to set a new standard for tablets in the Canadian market with the launch of the Optimus Pad,” said Frank Lee, Senior Marketing Manager, LG Electronics Canada.   “Canadians are looking for exciting innovation with versatility for work and play and the Optimus Pad achieves the right blend of portability and viewability with no performance compromises.”

The LG Optimus Pad will be available in Canada exclusively through Rogers Communications.  It will be available with select three-year data plans at $449.99, a month-to-month plan for $649.99 or as a standalone purchase for $699.99.

Easy Portability, Ideal Viewability
Sized at 8.9-inch diagonally and 149.4-mm horizontally, the LG Optimus Pad offers a sensible solution to other tablets on the market that are either too large for comfortable portability or too small for ideal viewing. The conveniently-sized LG Optimus Pad fits comfortably in one hand, goes anywhere and slips easily into purses and slim briefcases. With 15:9 aspect ratio, the LG Optimus Pad allows users access to the full range of applications in Android Market and its 1280 x 768 WXGA resolution vividly displays multimedia content in full widescreen format.

Powerful, Fast and Versatile Platform
The LG Optimus Pad is powered by Android 3.0, Google’s latest platform optimized for tablets which supports larger display resolutions and applications specifically designed for tablets, including Google eBooks, Google Maps 5, Google Talk, Rogers urMusic, Rogers On Demand Online and the Macleans and Sportsnet widgets. Android 3.0 also makes the LG Optimus Pad easy to use with a more intuitive PC-like interface. The LG Optimus Pad fully utilizes the 1 GHz Dual Core CPU of NVIDIA Tegra 2 to deliver lag-free web browsing and quick app start up. The superb graphics and multitasking capabilities of NVIDIA Tegra 2 enables the LG Optimus Pad to run multiple apps simultaneously and handle rich multimedia with ease.

Haven for Multimedia Enthusiasts
As the world’s first tablet equipped with a 3D camera, users can capture vivid images and video with the LG Optimus Pad for viewing on 3D TVs using HDMI or on the web via YouTube 3D. Business users will also appreciate the built-in videocalling feature. With 1080p Full HD decoding, movie enthusiasts can transfer high quality content to their TVs without any loss in picture quality. Serious and casual gamers alike will delight in the wide collection of console-quality games available through the Tegra Zone app that runs seamlessly on the LG Optimus Pad.

While all of that is important, it’s the last one that really hits a cord with me, and I’m sure many other people. I’ve owned a great number of mobile devices over the years and I almost always pay full retail price for the device. After buying that phone at full price, it’s still locked to the carriers network which requires me to pay an additional fee for it to be unlocked. Not too long ago, I posted that the Big Three carriers will begin to charge a $50 fee to unlock any phone that is no longer bound by a contract – so once you’ve already paid full price for the phone and own it outright, you still need to pay them an additional fee to unlock it and use it on any network you choose. This bill, if passed would see that practice end. It’s bad enough that Canadians already pay more for cellular services, and we’re the only country that has 3 year contracts. Now the carriers want to take even more from you by charging you to use the phone you purchased on another network.

What can you do? Reach out to your local MPP (contact details here) and let them know that you support Bill 133 and you want to know that they support it as well. Tell them your tired of being gouged by the Big Three carriers. Tell them you want the mobile phone you own, either through the term of the contract, or by purchasing outright, to be accessible at no additional cost.

(Source = SooToday, via MobileSyrup)

What has me concerned the most, is that the Venue Pro has been anything but successful. Dell has had problems with the WiFi radio, as well as issues around the battery. That’s not good for a new device running a new mobile operating system. If Dell manages to resolve those issues, the Venue Pro stands to be a killer in the smartphone market, the full QWERTY keyboard slides down from the screen instead of to the side like many other devices. Of course, the 4.1 inch AMOLED screen doesn’t hurt either.

I’m looking forward to hearing more about this upcoming device – and hopefully Dell will have fixes in place for this model when it starts shipping!

The Pre 2 is not just a reboot but…well, I suppose it is just a reboot, but a very welcome one! Anyone that has owned a previous Pre (oh brother…) has asked for a faster processor and higher res camera and the Pre 2 gives that and more. It’s actually a great phone to use, so let’s dig in and take a look.

Hardware
This new iteration of the Pre looks very much like the old at a quick glance but anyone that has used the original will spot the differences quickly.

The Original Pre(s) had a shiny plastic outer that looks great in PR shots but is covered in fingerprints within 20 seconds of use. Along with the aesthetic problem the shiny plastic makes you feel less secure holding the phone. With it’s river rock shape you feel at times it could squirt right out of your hand, mid call.

The Pre 2 has a rubberized feeling coating on it’s plastic and it feels MUCH better in the hand and you don’t have the same fingerprint problem. A much-welcomed change.

The screen on the Pre 2 has been changed as well to be all glass and flat. As well, the body of the phone creates a small bezel, ostensibly to protect the screen but I’m not sure that is needed. It is a Gorilla Glass screen, after all. It’s still a 3.1 inch TFT screen that works exceptionally well outdoors and has a resolution of 320×480. Yes, this is a much lower resolution that other phones but I don’t find it to be a problem at all; everything is very clear and easy to read.

The original Pre only had a 3MP camera but I have always liked how well images turned out. With the Pre 2 it’s been bumped up to 5MP and shots look great! There are still almost no settings you can change but for a quick and easy camera you can’t beat it.

Processor
The Pre 2 has a 1GHz processor, which is certainly standard fair with smartphones in general but it is very welcome in the Pre 2. Anyone that overclocked their original Pre knows how much of a drastic difference it made for everyday use. The Pre 2 is snappy enough that there is not much you have to wait for at all. Everything launches quickly and multitasking is wonderful with this beefier muscle.

Software
The Pre 2 comes with the long awaited WebOS 2 which is a real pleasure to use. I could go into a LOT of detail about the changes but I’m pretty sure I would lose most of you, so let me just summarize a few points.

WebOS has been one of my favourite mobile phone OS’ by far! It’s hard to properly describe how intuitive the multiple swiping gestures are and how well the card metaphor works for multitasking. You have to just spend time with it to understand. But it isn’t just these big points; Palm has done an excellent job of making WebOS very refined with a ton of little features that hides it’s complexity but really improves the user experience.

WebOS 2.0 builds on that experience very nicely. Added to the card metaphor is stacking, which will group apps and windows together to help keep things organized, especially with huge numbers of cards open. It’s a good way to keep cards organized if you have a lot of them open.

Palm has built on it’s original “Universal Search” and rebranded it “Just Type”. I have always liked this feature, and building on it is great. When you are at the main screen you can open the keyboard and start typing whatever it is you want to find; whether it’s a contact, an email or anything else. As you type any items that match are shown with additional, external sources for you to search such as Google, Wikipedia, the Palm App Catalog and more. You can also add to this list of services to search if that provider has added their own WebOS search hook. It all works VERY well and keeps you from having to launch an app first, find the search option and then look for something. MUCH easier.

There are a bunch of other changes, but these are the biggest ones.

Opinion
As mentioned, I have always liked WebOS and my Palm Pre. I didn’t really think there was going to be much about this new Palm Pre 2 that would make me want to upgrade, but I was wrong. With the speed increase, battery life improvements, better camera and feel of the phone it is a worthy successor. People seem to either love of hate the form factor of the Pre line-up but I happen to think it’s fantastic. While the screen is smaller than a lot of smartphones it just seems to work for WebOS.

The Palm Pre 2 is available from Rogers for $99 on a 3 year contract or $449 outright.

BTW, we are giving a Palm Pre 2 away!! Click here for details!

AT&T is selling the Focus for $499 without a contract, or $199 with a 2 year contract. On the other end, Rogers is selling the phone for $599 without a contract, $499 for a 2 year contract, or $149 with a 3 year contract! Now, I’m sure the conversion rate between the US and Canadian dollar plays a part in this pricing. So, let’s take the average conversion rate from October – $1.00 USD = $1.017975 CDN – and now our numbers are… pretty much unchanged. So why the big difference in price? If someone from Rogers is willing to answer this, please use our contact form to get in touch with me. To me, this just looks like more greed from the Canadian carriers.

If you are looking for a Samsung Focus, and you’re not willing to sign a 3 year contract with Rogers, I would recommend picking up a Focus from AT&T and using that with your carrier here in Canada. Of course, there is an extra hidden cost associated with this solution. First, you need to get to and from the US or pay to have the phone shipped here if you bought it off eBay. Or, stop in at an AT&T store on your next visit across the boarder. Second, you will need to unlock the device as it will be locked to the AT&T network. This shouldn’t cost you more than $20 or $30.

All things considered, you’re better off picking up a Focus from AT&T and unlocking it, versus paying an extra premium to Rogers.

I’ve unlocked many a device over the years and this is not a new process. You can typically unlock a device online for as low as $10 and as high as $30. It depends on the device and the carrier it’s locked with. So, where does this $50 fee come from? Who, in their right mind, creates a new product/offering and decides to charge MORE than the competition? And not just a little more, we’re talking about $20-$40 more. I’m sure they will sucker some people into paying that fee, but most people that know about unlocking the phone will know that they can get it cheaper elsewhere.

Sadly, this is just another example of how Canadian carriers are screwing over their customers. From 3 year contracts – not heard of anywhere else in the world, to overpriced services  that can be found elsewhere for less. I was really hoping that the entrance of new carriers would shake things up a little more than they have been able to do. While it has helped with a reduction in pricing, there is still a long way to go with their networks and therefore, they haven’t really been a serious threat to the big three.

It would be nice if we could see some governing body stand up for the consumer and show the big three that these tactics will not be tolerated. The CRTC would have been a good place for this, but they have already proven to the Canadian people that they are more interested in serving the views of big business and not of the Canadian people. With any luck, we’ll see the new additions applying more and more force on the big three and in a couple years time things may be different.

The winner will receive a brand new Palm Pre 2, a touchstone charger and a very nice leather case.

Be sure to follow our Palm Pre 2 coverage and reviews to learn more about this great little smartphone.  Detailed review will be coming soon and a video review shortly after.

This Palm Pre 2 is locked to the Rogers network and must be activated with them to use. The giveaway does not include any airtime. This contest is only open to Canadian residents and will only be shipped to a valid Canadian address.

This contest begins on December 25th, 2010 and will run until January 1st, 2011. A winner will be picked at random on January 2nd, 2011.

Rules: To qualify all you need to do is:

1. Follow us on twitter, @mobilejaw and RT the following:

I just entered to win a free Palm Pre 2 smartphone from @mobilejaw, open to all Canadians! http://bit.ly/gKbMOP

or…

2. Post on our facebook page wall at facebook.com/MobileJaw. Post the following:

Throwing my name into the hat for the Palm Pre 2 giveaway! [You can add anything else you want after this but keep it nice! ]

You can do either of these to be entered but doing both will enter your name twice! You can only enter once for this giveaway (from each of twitter and facebook), so don’t bother spamming it. If we suspect that the winner has acted fraudulently (posting multiple times from various accounts) we can, at our discretion choose a new winner. Before announcing the winner we will contact them either on twitter or facebook and they will have 48 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond in that time we will have to choose a new winner. If you have any questions about the contest please fill out our contact form here or simply reply to this thread and we’ll do our best to answer your questions.

We hope everyone is enjoying the Holiday Season. Stay safe, have fun and please share this giveaway with others.