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This is an important one. I mix it up with guest host Heather Gold on issues of privacy and the dangers of Google. And on the lighter side, I destroy the iPhone worship in the room with just a couple of apps and features available on any unlocked S60 device.

Definitely worth a listen!

P.S. Here’s that piece by Thomas Purves putting Canada behind third world countries for mobile data.

Episode 61 – Next Month the Olympics, This Week Gold | DyscultureD.

Look, let’s stop beating around the bush with this… It should be fairly obvious from the photo above who Nokia’s after with their flagship N97. It also can’t be denied that in North America, at least, Apple’s iPhone is everywhere.

My goal with this post is to highlight the key differences between the two and let you draw your own conclusions. Along the way, I’ll be pointing out what Nokia could have done (and can still do) better.

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As soon as Apple’s WWDC keynote wrapped up yesterday I started thinking about what I would write here.

First I was going to write about the new iPhone 3G S, and how the hardware doesn’t measure up to Nokia’s forthcoming flagship N97. But nobody in North America is likely to even blink at this; they’re too busy drooling over the new iPhone apps like the one for Zipcar, that lets you unlock a vehicle and honk the horn from your phone.

Then I thought about documenting how truly evil Apple is becoming, selling an entire line of notebooks with non-removable batteries while advertising how “green” they are.

I also considered writing about how Apple’s big innovation this summer is taking a cue from Acer, Asus and the like — not by releasing a cheap netbook (as many had hoped) but by slashing the price on their current iPhone and making it a commodity item, almost a disposable one like the lower end of their iPod line.

And then it struck me: I really don’t care.

Considering the behaviour of both Apple, Inc. and their unquestioning masses:

1. Greeting the announcement of voice dialing on their beloved iPhone with thunderous applause like it hasn’t been a feature on other handsets for the past five years;
2. Knowingly committing to a multi-year contract on a crap carrier for a locked handset;
3. Being so smug as to summarily dismiss the Ovi Store less than a month after its launch, and the Palm Pre after only a few days on the market…

… I realize that I can’t win — or more truthfully, I no longer have an interest in attempting to penetrate the overwhelming ignorance that is Apple’s reality distortion field.

So if you’re looking for advice on Apple products you should probably look elsewhere. I just can’t be bothered anymore.

My recent trip to Bermuda for their annual Film Festival may well have been my last (the family I have there might be moving off the island later this year). So now is as good a time as any to profile the mobile landscape on “The Rock”…

On my last stay in Bermuda I narrowly escaped the advancing hoardes of 3G iPhones. This time I wasn’t so lucky — Apple’s locked down JesusPhone arrived with complementary 3G service on Tuesday, March 26th.

The lucky exclusive carrier is M3 Wireless, appearing as “MOBILITY” on my handset. It works out nicely for me, as for some reason I can’t get a data connection at all using the island’s other GSM network, Digicel Bermuda (formerly AT&T).

And just like my experience in Tokyo last summer, the only iPhone I actually saw in the wild was in the window of a local shop. As Bermuda is populated largely by expat financial mucky mucks on work visas, BlackBerries are everywhere — though I did spy a native Bermudian with a Moto Ming a few years back.

Since Fido, my carrier here in Canada, charges 5¢/kB for international data I couldn’t really test the speed of Bermuda’s 3G network. Fortunately the diner down the road from my brother and sister in law’s place has free and ample WiFi, along with excellent banana pancakes.

If you can’t wait to see the new gear that Apple will be revealing at the MacWorld Keynote Tuesday morning, I can at least show you two products they probably won’t be announcing…

iPhone Mini

First up is the iPhone Mini, which I found on Apliu Street in Kowloon’s Sham Shui Po district. At about $100 CAD this little number doesn’t have 3G or WiFi, but it does sport an FM radio, apparently powered by Windows Media Player…?

iPod Shuffle with screen

And in the famous Temple Street Night Market I spotted these new iPod Shuffles, with screens! Code-named “MP3″, a 2GB model will only set you back about $15 CAD and comes in 5 colours and 2 screen orientations, apparently…

All kidding aside, that iPhone knock-off beats Apple’s official product with one killer feature — it’s 100% unlocked. While it’s technically true that Apple’s iPhone 3G is sold unlocked here, to actually buy one you need to meet the following criteria:

1. You must provide proof of Hong Kong citizenship;
2. You must be willing to sign up for a two-year contract with 3, the only carrier that sells it.

With such restrictions, I can’t really fault the local pirates for giving consumers an alternative, albeit an illegal one. And of course, you get what you pay for…