Twitter and the Canadian Telcos

About a month ago, Twitter was forced to disable the ability for users to get updates on their mobile phones in Canada. According to Twitter, the Canadian carriers were effectively doubling their charges to Twitter every month. I don't blame Twitter for disabling this service due to the cost.

However, I think the move on the part of the Canadian wireless companies was a stupid and greedy one (do they make any type of moves?), especially in light of the recent news that text messages cost them pretty much nothing.

Anyone receiving an update from Twitter via text message on their phone (either an @ reply or direct message) would be much more likely to respond via their phone, being charged for an extra text message. The end result would probably be more text messages sent, and therefore more revenue for the phone companies.

It is unfortunate that something could not be worked out, but I look forward to the solution Twitter says it is working on.

-Parker

If Only Canadian Politicians Sent Interesting Txts

In two stories I read last week (both from Textually), it is revealed that the private lives of European politicians and their mobile phones are way more interesting than what we've got here in Canada. First, French President Nicholas Sarkozy ends things with his wife and shacks up with former model Carla Bruni. Then, he tries to get back together with his wife via text message 8 days before he is due to marry Bruni. If that isn't enough, someone has taken the last-minute txt and turned it into a song. (Have a listen on the singer's MySpace page - it's actually kind of beautiful) And in Finland, the current Prime Minister recently dumped a girlfriend (who he met online) via a txt message. Her response? To write a tell-all book and pose naked in a magazine.

Aren't Europeans (particularly the French) supposed to be suave ladies men? I mean, c'mon guys...these moves are amateur at best.

-Parker

Krazy Kiwis and Their Kash Konverting!

Well, maybe that isn't the most accurate title for a blog post but it got your attention. Anyways, according to Emily (my favorite cell phone geek) at Textually,  one New Zealand bank has developed a system that:

 "...lets customers use mobile phones to pay for services while on the move. Friends set up digital/virtual wallets, linked to their everyday bank accounts. They can then text cash to one another or to pago-linked businesses.

To launch the service, they offered the following campaign:

First, the bank placed peelable stickers showing highly pixilated images of Sir Ed over his regular portrait on 5,000 $5 bank notes. They seeded these stickered notes into circulation. When any curious member of the public peeled off a sticker, they found a message on its back promoting pago and directing them to the Web site, www.pago.co.nz."

First of all, I think that this method of paying things will be increasingly popular as mobile phones become so ubiquitous in our daily life. Congratulations to the Kiwis for being so confident about it.

Secondly, it seems like a pretty cool advertising campaign. Is this even legal in Canada? 

-Parker