Hands down it looks like something for make up. But what it is - the Samsung Cleo. They say women can fit anything into their handbags so Samsung was consistent with this belief and crammed a QWERTY keyboard inside one of these things. Can you believe it, because I can’t!

The device comes with a 1.3MP camera and colored LCD screen. Samsung introduced this phone as part of their sponsorship for Desperately Different Spring/Summer 2009. The Samsung Cleo will be available through Bell in Canada. What, none in Asia?? What gives?!

[photo credit to IntoMobile and Gadgenista]

Steve Jobs is mad. He’s mad at Canada. Not at the Canadians in particular. but to Canadian telcos who are described to have the most horrid data plans, it makes the whole thing disgusting. Tris from Maple Leaf 2.0 has A LOT to say about this.

The 6 Apple Stores in Canada will demo the iPhone 3G but will not sell them. But this isn’t what’s appalling - Steve Jobs is diverting shipments of iPhone 3G to Europe. Rogers tries to defend their stand:

Rogers has historically been criticized for being the most reluctant of Canadian providers to decrease its data fees. A year ago, the company’s pricing for 500MB of data would have cost $295 per month, while Bell and Telus shortly afterwards began dropping the cost of data to where unlimited browsing would cost as little as $7 per month on Bell’s HTC Touch. Rogers has since responded by offering its own $7 plan for any device but limits it only to the default web browser.

The iPhone is unstoppable with 17 million in pre-orders from around the world (of course, we also have the perspective that whatever the iPhone sells in a month, Nokia sells in a week, but still…). Canadian telco Rogers has announced their rates at Canadian $60 to $115 per month. Sweden has pegged their rates at $50.00 and Norway at $80.00. In Asia, the rumored price of the iPhone is a $200.00 initial fee with about $50.00 in monthly.

[c/o Ubergizmo]

It’s been talked about how Rogers is going to be carrying the iPhone in Canada. If I were Rogers - or any telco for that matter competing against everyone else this year, I’d debut the iPhone not as a product in itself - but as an incentive to a new type of service that is friendly to consumers who consume heavy amounts of data.

Launching the iPhone as an “exclusive” item on your rack of mobile phone bundles doesn’t make you remarkable as a telco. Sure, you do get the subscribers signing up for the service, but there’s no revenue after that - a good number of these sign ups prolly would have hacked their iPhones.

Staking the claim to the “second coming of Jesus” or the 3G iPhone which is supposedly due in the next 90 days, telcos should concentrate more on launching excellent consumer plans for data using the iPhone as a springboard. Knock on wood, the iPhone may not always be the next big thing. But yet — in this moment that it is, the “Jesus Phone” will definitely be a springboard as well for mainstream consumers to start using their phones for data, more than calls or SMS.

So yes, have a good, solid, data plan that can’t be matched. That way, there will never be the temptation to switch to another telco provider because it all boils down to excellent service - and being the first.