Industry watchers also say news that the iPhone will be available sometime later this year indicates the company is staking its claim ahead of possible competition that could arise from Ottawa’s upcoming wireless spectrum auction.

“The really dramatic development wasn′t this sleek phone, it was this radical pricing change that AT&T introduced with this phone - they introduced the first truly flat-rate, all-you-can-eat data plan in the United States,” said Lawrence Surtees, telecommunications analyst for technology research firm IDC Canada. “[Apple CEO Steve] Jobs wasn′t going to do the deal in Canada if it was going to be priced as usual, because he knew the iPhone wouldn′t sell.”

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In shades of the Tom Cruise movie Minority Report, it could be the Bluetooth-enabled advertising display in the shop or bistro you’ve just passed recognizing your Bluetooth wireless phone and beaming you a message: Would like to receive an advertising offer?

You then have take a couple of seconds to decide whether you think it is mobile spam to delete, or a cool new way for businesses to tell you about deals.

Vancouver-based iSign Media is betting it will be the latter. iSign sells the advertising system, called Bluetooth proximity messaging, as an add-on to the flat-panel advertising displays it has around the city.

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