The BlackBerry Torch will finally be making its way to Canada on September 24th. Rogers announced the availability of the phone on its network today. The phone will be available online and at Rogers stores around Canada for $199 on a three-year contract. Miranda from Rogers teamed up with Michael McDowell, BlackBerry’s Director of Marketing, to show off the new cool features that the Torch has. Check out the video after the jump.

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We’ve been able to confirm with multiple sources at Target that the retailer will start carrying the Apple iPad tomorrow, September 1st. This will make Target the second reseller of the iPad, with the first being Best Buy. We don’t have the full details yet on the launch just yet, but the company has sent out an internal email to it’s store managers saying that the device will be launched tomorrow.

T-Mobile took to its Facebook page today to announce the upcoming availaibility of the BlackBerry Curve 3G. As you can probably gather from the name, this is a BlackBerry Curve that has 3G built into it. T-Mobile says to expect the phone to drop on September 8th for an affordable $79.99 on contract.

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Bluetooth headsets have come a long way since the technology was first introduced. Sound ID is proof of that with the introduction of its Sound ID 510 Bluetooth headset. The 510 has one button functionality, 3X NoiseNavigation (offering noise reduction capabilities with wind reduction) and our favorite feature, the EarPrint iPhone App. With its thin and lightweight design, the Sound ID 510 is easy to bring around with you and is not very clunky when on ear. Sound ID sent us a unit to review, check out our impressions after the jump.

The bluetooth headset itself is just a tad bit longer than 2-inches which makes it noticeable, but not so long that it takes up your face. Weighing in at less than .28 ounces, this bluetooth is very lightweight and easy to wear on your ear without it being annoying. The front of the bluetooth is a glossy black color with a single button and a call status LED. On one side there is the physical on/off switch, which we found to be much more useful than the single button on/off many other bluetooth headsets use. Turning the bluetooth to the other side will reveal the three microphones that are hidden under a metal piece. On the back end of the device there is the microUSB charging port.

There are three different earbud sizes for all different ears and an optional ear loop if that is your cup of tea. We are fans of the ear loop, but there is no problem keeping it in your ear without it.

The sound quality on the Sound ID 510 Bluetooth headset is fantastic. When using the microphone to talk to another party, they have no problem hearing what we are saying even when driving with the windows down. Hearing the other party sounds great through the earbud and there is no issue with volume.

The Sound ID 510 has 3X NoiseNavigation which has the purpose of noise reduction and wind reduction. We tested this feature in a few different loud places and found that it worked as promised. When the NoiseNavigation was turned on, people on the other end said they could hear us fine. When we turned NoiseNavigation off, they said there was much more background noise.

The thing that really makes the Sound ID 510 unique is the EarPrint iPhone App. This app allows iPhone users to make changes easily to their handset like turn on “Environmental Mode” which amplifies sounds around you when not being used in a phone call. It also allows you to check the battery life to see exactly how much battery you have left before the bluetooth is going to die. This app can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store for free and automatically finds the bluetooth headset when linked to your phone.

Users can also stream music and audio from their phones to the bluetooth headset. On our iPhone, we tested Pandora and the iPod app which both worked perfectly. We love seeing this feature on a bluetooth headset since it is not as widespread among bluetooth headsets as we’d like.

The Sound ID 510 headset can be paired up to two devices at once. This is useful for those who carry around a personal phone and business phone since you can have them both paired up to one headset.

The Sound ID 510 is available for purchase for $129.99. It is definitely considered a higher end bluetooth device and has the features to back up the high price.

Check out the Sound ID 510 here

Last week was an exciting week for us as we took a trip from Boston to Tampa. Instead of taking a plane down, we decided to do it the old fashion way with four wheels and eventually moved to the Amtrak auto-train. The two in party, including me, wondered what we would do to occupy ourselves over the three day trip. We figured what better way would there be to review a mobile hotspot than a long trip down the east coast. So we decided to get a Clear Spot 4G+ Mobile Hotspot and test it extensively over the period of a trip, with the majority of use during the three day trip.

Now you may be wondering, what is a Clear Spot 4G+ Mobile Hotspot? It is a small device that makes a Wi-Fi hotspot allowing up to five different devices to connect to it at one time. Using a mobile broadband connection, the Clear Spot 4G+ Mobile Hotspot allows users to access the internet anywhere there is 3G or 4G coverage. The default setting is 4G Preferred, meaning it will use 4G if there is coverage and 3G if there is no 4G. The switch between 4G and 3G is pretty seamless making it painless for the user.

A 4G connection allows for mobile internet speeds 4x as fast as 3G speeds. However, 4G coverage is still lacking for most markets. Clear uses WiMAX technology for its 4G network that has average speeds of 3 to 6 Mbps and can go as high a 10 Mbps. Power users will be happy to hear that Clear allows for unlimited data over the 4G network, while it still has a 5GB cap on its 3G network.

The Clear 4G coverage is definitely spotty, but this early into the start of the 4G boom we wouldn’t expect it to be rolled out in rural areas just yet. Clear claims to have 49 markets covered with 4G speeds, but we think that it may be more as we got 4G coverage in Natick, MA when it said there was absolutely no 4G coverage in MA. The company says that it plans to expand 4G coverage into Tampa, Orlando, and Daytona, FL by the end of this summer (which is rapidly coming to an end). By the end of 2010, Clear says it will have New York City, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, Denver, Minneapolis, Miami, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Pittsburgh covered.

When we first got the device, made by Sierra Wireless, we were super excited to get it up and running. The first day we were able to catch 4G in Natick, MA. When connected to 4G the speeds were so fast that we were able to stream Netflix using Xbox Live in HD. We did not have the same luck with 3G. We experienced an activation error when trying to get the 3G working. We first used the online tech support chat. After one hour of talking to a “L1 Tech”, they told us that they have “very small training” and have higher tech agents that I can speak with if I called tech support via phone. So we called up tech support with using the support number and got the problem solved fast. Otherwise, setting up the device was as simple as turning it on and connecting your devices to it using the Wi-Fi network.

Our plan for the trip was to begin in Boston driving down to Virginia and catching the Amtrak auto-train from Virginia to Tampa, FL. Driving from Boston to Virginia took about 9 hours with traffic, so you could imagine how convenient the Clear Spot 4G+ Mobile Hotspot for whoever was in the passenger seat. During the car ride we used a Wi-Fi only iPad for entertainment and connected it to the Mobile Hotspot. The majority of our ride down we were using the 3G network which loaded web pages decently fast. There were a few instances, like in the Philadelphia and the Baltimore area, where we were able to catch 4G. However, we were greeted with a Sprint web page that asked us to test drive 4G for a charge of $9.99 for a 24 hour pass; we did not purchase a pass.

In Virginia we made the switch to the Amtrak auto-train that would bring us (and our car) to Florida. We knew from previous trips that the path used by the auto-train often has spotty coverage, so we knew that we wouldn’t have coverage the entire way down. We found that we got 3G coverage a lot of the time, but occasionally would pass by areas where there was absolutely no signal. When comparing the 3G coverage on Clear to the 3G coverage on our AT&T iPhone, we found that Clear was connected much more frequently than the iPhone.

The device itself is 3.15″ x 3.15″ so it isn’t too small like some of the broadband cards, but it still can fit in your pocket if you have the right jeans. Weighing in at 4.5 oz, the Clear Spot 4G+ Mobile Hotspot isn’t too heavy to bring around to different places of your choice. The device is black and glossy the whole way around. On the front of the device there is the power button and a screen that will display information like your battery status, network  name and password, and signal strength. The top bumped has a volume toggle that allows you to turn sound on or off. The bottom side has the microUSB charging port and a microSD card slot. We did notice that the device seemed to get very hot when there was a device connected to it. We aren’t talking like a little warm, we wouldn’t want this thing sitting on our lap because it gets so hot.

Clear lists the battery life to be about three hours on the Clear Spot 4G+. During our extensive testing, we found that the battery did realistically last about three hours. We found a car charger useful during long trips in the car.

Controlling the Clear Spot 4G+ is simple using the in-browser control panel. When connected to the mobile hotspot, you can get to the control panel by typing “clearspot” into the URL bar. The control panel will allow you to make changes and view information such as changing the network  name, password, 3G/4G preferences, battery options, and data transfer stats. We really like the control panel and how simple it is to use.

All in all, we really do love this device. The seemless switching over between 4G and 3G make the Clear Spot 4G+ Mobile Hotspot useful in the majority of the United States. Setting up the device is very simple with the control panel and the screen right on the device. When connected to 4G, we were impressed with the speeds we were getting. Clear is rapidly expanding the 4G coverage so most densely populated areas should have it in the next few years. The device itself costs $224.99 or it can be leased for $5.99 a month (two-year contract only). The monthly service charge on this device will run you $55 a month, which is still less than most of the major carriers in the States.

Check out the Clear Spot 4G+ Mobile Hotspot

The HTC DROID Incredible will be joining the DROID 2 tomorrow as a Verizon Android 2.2 phone. This update will add some great features like Flash, mobile hotspot, 720p video recording, and general improvements to the OS. Look for the update to start hitting DROID Incredibles tomorrow!

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Netflix announced the upcoming availability of its iPhone app back in June. Today, the company made the app available to everyone with an iPhone and a iPod Touch. The app is a free download, however it does require a subscription to Netflix to play videos. Videos from customer’s Instant Queue can be streamed right to their device over Wi-Fi or 3G. Check out the full press release after the jump.

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AT&T and Sony Ericsson announced the availability of the Sony Ericsson Vivaz in the United States exclusively on the AT&T network. Coming on September 5th, the Vivaz totes a 8.1 megapixel camera with HD video recording and a 3.2” nHD 16 million color touchscreen. The Vivaz runs the Symbian Series 60, 5th edition operating system which will allow for mutitasking and other features that most other smartphones have. Grab the Sony Ericsson Vivaz from AT&T for $79.99 on a two-year contract with a smartphone data plan.

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Amazon has lowered the price on the popular Samsung Captivate for AT&T. The Captivate is still going for a whopping $200 when bought from AT&T, but Amazon has dropped the price down to one cent for new individual accounts. The catch? You can only get it for a penny when opening up a new individual account, the price will jump up to $99.99 or above if upgrading or adding a line to an existing family plan. Either way it is cheaper than buying directly from AT&T.

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The Motorola DROID X has landed on Verizon and brings some impressive specifications packed into one big device. With a 4.3-inch touchscreen WVGA diplay, the DROID X is a pretty big phone with a massive screen. But nowadays, that is not necessarily a bad thing. Packed inside is a 1GHz processor, 8GB of internal memory, and Android 2.1 operating system. We have been testing this phone for a few weeks non-stop and have some impressions to share with you. Hit the jump for the full review.
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