Canadian Carriers Team Up To Offer Money Transfer Through Cellphones

The big 3 Canadian mobile phone carriers, Rogers, Bell, and Telus have collaborated to form a jointly owned company called EnStream LP. “The end vision is you can take your billfold or purse and stick it into your phone,” said David Robinson, vice-president of new business planning at Rogers Wireless.

According to the Globe and Mail, "The first step involves software called Zoompass, which customers can download from EnStream to their phones beginning Monday. It will let them draw up to $1,000 a day from their bank accounts and credit cards and send it to other individuals using the same software. Recipients will have instant access to the money, which will be held in trust by HSBC Bank Canada. Recipients will access funds by moving them to their own bank accounts or using a special MasterCard that will be credited instantaneously."

This type of transaction via mobile phones is not new globally, what appears to be new is the collaborative effort of the carriers which could, in my mind, have it's pro's and con's. Perhaps working together will keep the cost to consumers down, but we are talking about cell phone companies and banks here, neither of which have great reputations in that department...

Rogers Begins Sale of Android Phones

Rogers began sales of two android powered smartphones on Tuesday. The HTC Dream and the HTC Magic. The Dream is the same phone being sold in the US as the G1 while the Magic is a touch screen only version.

“They're just the vanguard of a gigantic army,” PC Magazine analyst Sascha Segan said from New York. “These are the little scouts who are coming in front of the massive infantry.”

On Tuesday, Acer also announced that it will be making netbooks with the Android mobile operating system, which would have Google competing squarely with Microsoft.

For the record I bought my Dream on day 1 and I'm lovin it.

Source: Globe and Mail

Wired Poll Finds Rogers 3G Network Amoung Fastest Globally

Canadians might not like the terms of their iPhone agreement with Rogers but a poll conducted by Wired Magazine suggests that Rogers 3G network is one of the fastest world wide. According to the CBC "Wired.com found that Rogers and Fido customers in Canada had an average download speed of 1,330 kilobits per second on their device. That ranked just behind the 1,822 kilobits experienced by T-Mobile subscribers in several European countries, including Germany and the Netherlands." iPhone users in the U.S. averaged speeds of 990 kilobits on AT&T's cellphone network, while the worst speeds were reported by Australians on the Optus and Virgin networks, coming in around 390 kilobits. "In our view, this data is a strong indicator that performance of the mobile carrier's network is affecting the iPhone 3G more than the handset itself," wrote Wired's Brian X. Chen. "Altogether, this furthers our thesis that it's highly unlikely that Apple is going to wave a magic wand and say, '3G problems, be gone,' with a software update."

Italian Researchers Identify Encrypted File Sharing Packets

For ISPs, like Bell and Rogers, who practice throttling techniques to discourage file sharing the results of some Italian research will be good news. Until now file sharing users could twart the throttling efforts of their ISP by encrypting the files they were sharing rendering them unrecognizable. A team of Italian researchers from the University of Brescia, has devised a method that they have demonstrated can catch these "hidden" file-sharing packets with up to 90 per cent accuracy. Their method "involves measuring the size and frequency of the discrete "packets" of data that a file-sharing program sends out over, and receives back from, the internet." The results of their experiments are impressive, if you are an ISP, "First and foremost, virtually no legitimate traffic is blocked by our mechanism," the Brescia engineers report. "Second, and equally important, the vast majority of [illegitimate] traffic is blocked by the mechanism." CBC Story here.

Rogers Announces 3G iPhone Packages For Canada

Weeks after the iPhone 3G was announced and we knew for sure that it was coming to Canada, Rogers Wireless has finally unveiled the voice and data packages associated with the phone. The packages come in 4 flavours ranging from $60 to $115 per month. $60 buys you 150 daytime minutes, 400 MB data transfer, and 75 sent text messages while at the upper end you get 800 day time minutes, 2 GB data transfer, and 300 sent text messages. Oh and did I mention you are required to sign up to a 3 year contract? My guess is Canadians will want to stick with their Blackberries.

Canadians Face Longest iPhone Contracts

Perhaps it's our reputation for being polite, or simply that Rogers Communications Inc. knows that we have no choice of carriers, but Canadians are facing the longest iPhone contracts anywhere in the world. In the U.S. and Japan you can lock yourself into a 2 year contract, in the U.K. 18 months, and in Australia you don't require a contract at all, but we here in the great white north are facing 3 year contracts under Roger's plan. "While I won't speak to our contractual agreement, all carriers are different," Elizabeth Hamilton a Rogers spokesperson said. As we all know 3 years is an eternity in the cellphone world but with Rogers being the only 3G game in town those lusting after the iPhone will have no choice in this country, legitimately anyway. CBC Story here.

3G iPhone Comes To Canada July 11th

Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the coming of the new and improved iPhone 3G at the Apple Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco on Monday, and with this comes the release of the device in Canada. Apple plans on releasing the new iPhone in 22 of the biggest national markets worldwide on July 11th. In Canada the 3G will be offered on the Rogers Communications network, “Rogers has a long history of bringing Canadians the very best in wireless services, networks and handset innovations,” Rogers Wireless president Rob Bruce said in a statement. “With iPhone 3G, we will provide our customers with an amazing mobile experience over Canada’s fastest wireless network.”

The updated iPhone promises improved sound quality and better battery life, giving 300 standby hours, five hours talk time, seven hours of video or 24 hours of audio, according to this Globe and Mail article.

New iPhone On June 9th?

Gizmodo has posted that Apple will announce the second-generation iPhone at its Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco on June 9th, citing the ever popular "someone very, very close to the 3G iPhone launch,". According to this CBC article "Apple has sold more than 5 million iPhones so far and in the year since its U.S. launch has grabbed 28 per cent of the U.S. market in smartphones, or devices that offer data capabilities such as e-mail and web surfing." The launch of a next gen iPhone has long been expected and the rumors have been rampant with the recent news of first gen iPhone's being in short supply. We in Canada have suspected that the 3G iPhone was on it's way since Rogers announced a deal with Apple to finally bring the device north of the border.

Rogers Unveils Hybrid Phone

Rogers Communications Inc. is rolling out new phones to Canadians that are aimed squarely at freeing them from the land lines. The new dual mode phones "function as a regular cellphone outside the home, but also connect to the Internet through Wi-Fi when in range of the customer's home router" according to the CBC. Rogers chief marketing officer John Boynton tells CBCNews.ca that "It's a way for them to have just one phone period," and "This is one phone, one phone number, one voice mail, one caller ID." According to Statistics Canada about 6.4% of Canadians have already ditched land lines in favour of cell phones, a figure that lags behind other developed nations. The launch of this new product will likely help drive that figure up, at least this is what Rogers is counting on.

iPhone Coming To Canada This Year

A year after it's release in the US, the iPhone is finally coming to Canada. "We're thrilled to announce that we have a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Canada later this year," said Ted Rogers in a statement. "We can't tell you any more about it right now, but stay tuned." Rogers has long been reported as the likely candidate to provide iPhones to the Canadian market as it is the only carrier using GSM (Global System Mobile) communications protocol that the iPhone runs on, so it comes as no real surprise. The CBC has more here.

Rogers 'unlimited' Data Plan = iPhone Finally Coming To Canada?

Last week Rogers Communications Inc. rolled out an "unlimited" data service that offers Canadians a discounted rate on some, but not all, data related activities on most Roger's supported cell phones. The plan allows "unlimited" internet browsing on certain cellphones for $7 a month. Also introduced was a further package for $20 per month that bundles browsing, text messaging, voice mail and call display features. These plans have come under fire by some who claim the word 'unlimited' is deceptive because many common data features are not permitted, such as using your phone as a modem, using Google Maps, or Skype applications. Others however see the move as a precursor to the launch of the iPhone in Canada which has been stifled by high data rates, according to the CBC, under most Canadian data plans the iPhone would cost $300 per month! Whatever side you choose, I am just hoping that this is the sign of things to come. I for one have been holding back on using many of the features of my phone because of the outrageous cost of data usage. I even have a couple of small applications which I have developed and shelved because the cost of running them was too high... perhaps its time to dust off the code!

Intel promises WiMax embedded chips this summer

According to this CBC report, "Intel Corp. announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that it will ship computer chips embedded with WiMax receivers beginning this summer." The announcement was met with optimism by broadband provider Rogers, "That's a very favourable sign for WiMax," said David Robinson, vice-president of new business planning for Rogers Wireless. The article goes on to say "the technology is expected to be able to deliver Internet speeds of about 15 megabits per second within three kilometres of a transmitter." This sounds very promising, I hope the Disney folks invest in a few transmitters... my blogging was stymied last week by a bad NIC card and no WiFi, at least at Coronado Springs!

Rogers inserting it's own messages into pages you are viewing

Canadian cable giant and ISP (Internet Service Provider), Rogers, is testing a system that enables it to inject messages to Rogers subscribers regarding their bandwidth usage. The company offers a tiered service with different bandwidth limits, the messages are meant to inform subscribers when they are nearing their limit. The move is setting off alarm bells with net neutrality advocates as the potential for using such technology for other purposes is very real. According to ArsTechnica, a Rogers spokesperson says "This is a trial to make it easier for our customers to keep track of usage. There is no deep package inspection and there is no privacy issue."

CRTC changes "winback" legislation... ISP's can beg and bribe to keep your business

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) regulates the telephone, cable, and Internet companies in Canada, and until now your current ISP had to wait 90 days to try to woe you back when they received your notice that you were changing providers. The rule, which ended on Friday, was put in place to protect small ISP's and resellers from the likes of Rogers and Bell who obviously have more resources to throw around. All bets are off now, so expect the phones to start ringing and the begging to begin! Thanks CRTC.