What is iCloud?

iCloud is Apple’s new cloud service, which stores your music, photos, apps, calendars, documents, and more, and wirelessly pushes them to all devices. iCloud is integrated with your apps, so everything happens automatically. You get instant access to your music, apps, and latest photos, and iCloud keeps email, contacts, and calendars up to date across all of your devices.

iCloud is free with iOS 5 and OS X Lion. It comes with unlimited free storage for purchased music, TV shows, books, and apps. You also get 5GB of free storage for email, documents, and backup. If you need more, you can easily purchase a storage upgrade right from their device.

iTunes in the Cloud

With iTunes in the Cloud, any new music you buy is downloaded to all your iOS devices over Wi-Fi or 3G. You can even go back to songs, albums, or TV shows were purchased in the iTunes Store and download them again at no additional cost to your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC.

And if you have music you’ve ripped from CDs or purchased somewhere other than iTunes, you can get the same benefits of iTunes in the Cloud with iTunes Match. 

Photo Stream

If you have taken a photo on your iPhone and want to view it later on another device—only to realize you haven’t synced your photos—you will appreciate Photo Stream. When you take a photo on one device, it’s automatically sent to iCloud and pushed to your other devices. So you don’t have to sync photos to view them on another device or computer—the photos are just there.

Documents in the Cloud

If you are working on a document on your iPad and have the same app on another device, Cloud can keep your documents up to date across all devices. And all of this happens automatically, without any effort from you.

Apps and books

When you find an app you like on your iPhone, you may want to have the same app on your iPad. And if you purchase a book on your iPad, you may want it on your iPhone. iCloud makes sure all your iOS devices have the same apps and books.

Contacts, Calendar, and Mail

iCloud stores your contacts, calendars, and email and automatically pushes them to all devices. So you can switch from one device to another and still get email, stay in touch, and keep your calendar up to date.

Find My Friends

The Find My Friends app is a great way for you to share your location with people who are important to you. With Find My Friends, you can share your locations for a limited time and easily locate your friends and family from your iPhone, iPad or, iPod touch. Find My Friends is a free app available on the App Store. *

Find My iPhone

The Find My iPhone app can help you find a missing iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac. Just by opening the app and signing in with an Apple ID, you can see your device’s location on a map and have it display a message or play a sound, remotely lock the device, or wipe it to permanently delete all of your data.

Backup

Your carry important information on your iOS devices. If something happens to your device, Backup can help you get your information back. iCloud automatically backs up your iOS devices daily over Wi-Fi. And if you buy a new iOS device or need to restore information to one you already have, iCloud does all the work.

What does iCloud back up?

• Purchased music, apps, and books
• Photos and video in the Camera Roll
• Device settings
• App data
• Home screen and app organization
• Messages (iMessage, SMS, and MMS)
• Ringtones

Getting an iCloud account - http://www.apple.com/icloud/

Transitioning MobileMe Customers

Customers with MobileMe may be wondering what iCloud means for their MobileMe account. 

• http://www.apple.com/mobileme/transition.html
• If you had a MobileMe account as of June 6, 2011, service has been extended through June 30, 2012
• MobileMe members can move their me.com and mac.com email address, and their email messages, contacts, calendars, and bookmarks to iCloud.
• After moving, customers can continue to use iWeb publishing, Gallery, and iDisk, through June 30, 2012. After that date, these services will no longer be available.

You will receive an email from Apple about how to move to iCloud.

National Reservation System - iPhone 4S

In order to better service our customers, Rogers has announced the activation of a National Reservation System that allows existing customers to reserve new iPhone 4S hardware. Through this system, a device specifically named for the customer is sent directly to the store of their choice, and is either upgraded or activated for the customer once in store.

To reserve your Apple iPhone 4S, please follow these steps:

1. Visit www.rogers.com
2. Sign into My Rogers (right side of the page)
3. Once logged in, access the Reservation System by clicking "Reserve Now"
4. Choose the phone number you wish to reserve your device under (this does not complete any transactions – it is so that the reservation fee can be applied to the correct existing Rogers account)
5. Select the device you wish to reserve and ensure that your account and contact information is correct
6. Choose the location you wish to pick your device up from:
   
   CELLWORKS BC STORE LOCATIONS:
   
   Henning                            101 – 3855 Henning Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5C 6N3
   UBC                                  2160 Western Parkway, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1V6
   Burrard                             103 – 1807 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, V6j 3G9
   Tsawwassen                      150 – 1169 56^th Street, Tsawwassen, BC, V4L 2A2
   Ladner                              5180 48^th Avenue, Ladner, BC, V4K 1W3
   
   CELLWORKS ONTARIO STORE LOCATIONS
   
   Dixie Road:                        Unit 1 – 6325 Dixie Road, Mississauga, ON, L5T 2E5
   Port Credit:                        153 Lakeshore Road East, Mississauga, ON, L5G 4T9
   Aurora:                               2B – 15483 Yonge Street, Aurora, ON, L4G 1P3
   Queens Quay:                     3 – 228 Queens Quay West, Toronto, ON, M5J 2X1
   Hazelton Lanes:                  158B – 87 Avenue Road, Toronto, ON, M5R 3L2
   
   
7. Select “Continue” and confirm your reservation and your agreement to the Terms & Conditions, as well as the $40 reservation fee (fully refundable deposit applied to your Rogers account)
8. Cellworks will call you when your device arrives in store, at which time your hardware upgrade / activation can be completed.

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Is a Family Plan right for us?

Family Plans are the name of the game at Rogers and Cellworks this quarter, and there are some amazing offers available to those who wish to get started with a new plan, whether voice or voice and data.


But many people don't realize the benefits of a Family Plan and what it can offer its users:

• Callers within the same Family Plan can call one another anywhere in Canada with no long distance charges at any time of the day, night, weekday or weekend - completely unlimited!
• Pooled minutes allow up to five users to take up airtime according to their usage - no need to worry about guessing how many minutes each person is going to need each month
• The option of additional features such as Unlimited Messaging or Unlimited Network Calling, for example, applies to all lines within the account - keeping things simple and streamlined
• Getting your teenagers started on a voice and data plan is extremely easy with the Family Voice & Data plans too, as everyone on the plan can share the data package - another way to simplify deciding on a plan
• If you find that the plan doesn't quite suit your needs, you can change it at any time without penalty or issue
• There are great offers on devices so that everyone can get a phone they love, whether it's a BlackBerry, iPhone, or a quick messaging device for those avid texters - some are even free!

And for ten more days (until June 30, 2011) any new Family Plan Voice & Data Activation gets you a Sony Playstation 3! 

Most Consumers Don't Know When Their Wireless Contract Ends

Originally posted October 1, 2010

A recent Best Buy Mobile Survey announced that more than half of US cellphone owners have no idea of the month and year when their wireless contract expires.

Only 40% of those surveyed received reminders as to when their contract was about to expire. This means that customers are mis-informed when it comes to upgrades and plan options available to them.

Shawn Score, Best Buy Mobile's president, comments "When it comes to mobile solutions available today, many consumers are not armed with the right information to truly get the most out of their mobile phone."

This is something that Canadian wireless providers see too. I have lost count of the number of people that have come into our locations, having purchased their phone elsewhere, with no idea how to use the phone, or even why they purchased it in the first place.

One suggestion is to have a customer loyalty program that provides them with information to stop them using devices that are years old, and moving them to something that is going to better suit their needs. And with the advent of so many different applications for the hundred of smartphones out there, wireless retailers can even create loyalty programs that work via text, email, mobile coupons or online apps. The key? Simply staying in touch with those customers.

Although the survey was conducted in the US, Canadian wireless providers are likely to see similar trends. Some other facts found include the following:

• 67% of consumers indicated “carriers” were their main influence when buying a phone
• 23% of respondents chose the phone they bought based on the device itself
• 10% chose a phone based on its operating platform (e.g. iPhone, Android, Windows Phone 7, etc.)
• Other phone purchasing priorities include: music, video and camera (45%), GPS navigation (32%), intent to replace landline phone (29%), social networking capability (26%), Wi-Fi (26%), e-commerce capability (15%), movie downloads (15%) and games (14%).

Thanks go to IQMetrix News & Views for the original story (http://tinyurl.com/2e8s5og).

Facebook Launches "Places" - Huge Impact for Wireless Users

Originally posted September 30, 2010


On August 19, Facebook created a new service through its site called Places. This pits the social networking giant against existing location-based applications such as FourSquare.


The new feature aims at helping existing users find friends and their locations in real time, and actually works with the existing services such as FourSquare. The advantage for Facebook is that is doesn't have to find new userts - it's 500 million users have access to this new option.


This is another addition to the social networking site's move to monetize its network usage, particularly among its mobile users. More than one quarter of Facebook users access the site from their Smartphones, and this allows the site to promote the use of mobile coupons for various services (as FourSquare currently does).


Facebook's Places essentially turns a user's Smartphone into a combination of GPS, social network (the world’s biggest), loyalty card, ad space and coupon dispenser - things that will potentially draw millions of retailers to start offering real-time, location based deals to users.


Of course, this comes with its fair share of concerns about privacy, but unlike the release of Places in other regions, such as the US, Facebook users have the option to turn this feature off if they don't wish to participate. It remains to be seen how successful this new feature will be, but with the increase in Smartphone users growing every day, it is only a matter of time before Places touches millions.

Start Your Car With Your Wireless Device

Originally posted July 16, 2010

It's definitely true that there is an app for everything.

Directed Electronics Canada and its Viper brand have come up with an app that starts your car using your wireless device. This does require the Viper product to be installed in your vehicle prior to using the app, but is still a very cool, updated version of a standar remote start.

Remote starts have always been popular with those living in colder provinces, as it means they don't have to crawl into a freezing car with icy fingers and wait for the car to warm up.

One main bonus to this new application is that it solves the problem of limited range that some remote key fobs experience. The range on the SmartStart is practically unlimited!

There are additional features within the application that can allow for remote truck unlocking, unlocking doors, finding the car in a parking lot, or arming the security system. It even allows control for multiple vehicles.

For more information, and to purchase the system, visit www.marketnews.ca and search news for smartstart.

New Contender in the Wireless Industry Space

Originally posted May 14, 2010
Apple announces the launch of the iPad...

...and Rogers Wireless is set to be the official carrier for the product.

Information appears to be limited to us at the Rogers end because there has been no word yet on whether our dealer locations will hold the product itself, or if we are just expected to provide the data activations for the device.

So far, two data plans have been announced for the iPad, and many of us are expecting customers to purchase the device at the Apple Stores, and then come to a Rogers location to activate or add their data plan to existing accounts:

• $15 for 250MB
• $35 for 5GB

And as with the release of the original iPhone, there are always the complaints that Rogers isn't providing an unlimited data plan. If you ask me 5GB is a serious amount of data!

In the past, responses to the lack of an "unlimited" data plan prompted Rogers to offer a 6GB data plan - an extremely popular plan with data users Canada-wide. And although the complaints continued, statistics show that the average user of an iPhone only needed about 500MB of data a month! So what's all the fuss about?! Especially when there is Wi-Fi built in.

And who's to say that things won't change as the iPad becomes a more substantial product within the Rogers Wireless space? Rogers has never carried a product quite like the iPad, and only time will tell as to how customers will react to it, purchase it, use it etc.

Experience with the iPhone might help our dedicated sales representatives to anticipate questions, concerns, and expectations for the iPad.

The iPad comes in two main specifications - Wi-Fi alone, and Wi-Fi with 3G - and has three sizes - 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. Pricing is likely to be similar to the US where the Wi-Fi 16GB model starts at $499.99.

It will be interesting to see how this new product impacts the wireless and notebook markets - Rogers already has their Netbook products out in the market, and the way I see it...the iPad is likely to blow all of them out of the water.

Watch out - the iPad will be here soon!

Wireless Wallet?

Originally posted March 16, 2010
Could this be the future of our wireless services? The inclusion of a "pay pass" style item that simply attaches to the bottom of your iPhone or iPod could further consolidate the number of items that we carry with us as we go about our daily tasks.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a newly emerging technology that many organizations are taking on in an effort to streamline inventory processes, tracking, payment, and overall logistics. These small chips are inserted or attached to specific items within the product line and are scanned via handheld scanners (by employees) or large scale industrial scanners (for items fixed to a pallet for transportation).

Near Field Communication (NFC) is a short range high frequency wireless communication technology that enables the exchange of data between devices within a range of about 4 inches.

Combined, these elements will work together to turn your iPhone or iPod into a payment device, much like the recent introduction of the MasterCard "Pay Pass".

These items come in the form of a small attachment, the iCarte, which connects to the bottom of your device, and has an embedded smart chip that configures the device to act like a debit card, credit card, pre-paid card, or even a loyalty card.

The information is then transferred to the iPhone or iPod to allow the user to complete secure transactions, download electronic coupons, tickets or receipts, check balances or connect with other NFC devices. Business iPhone users can use the iCarte for commercial applications such as asset tracking, document tracking and security.

Available in white or black, the iCarte will coordinate with whichever colour device you have, and will only extend the length of the device by about 16.5mm.

Will this eliminate the need for carrying a wallet too? So far, the iPhone 3GS, for example, has combined a phone, email device, media device (video, music) into one unit - with the potential addition of a credit card reader this phone could definitely become a lifeline.

So far, no word on whether there are talks for a BlackBerry or other Smartphone version of the iCarte, but we'll keep looking!