Posts Tagged ‘Canada’

Twitter no longer to deliver outbound SMS to Canadian users

Friday, November 28th, 2008

The same thing that occurred to customers in the UK has now occurred to our friends over the water.  Full details are on the Twitter Blog, however I suspect this is due to the costs associated with maintaining the sms service as Canda, like Europe does not charge end users to recieve SMS.

However there may be some good news in the future on the twitter blog;

There is a realistic, scalable SMS solution for Canada (and the rest of the world.) We’re working on that and will post more details on the Twitter blog as we make progress.

UPDATE- Krystal (our resident Canadian) has informed me that you do pay to receive SMS in Canada

Samsung Cleo launches in Canada

Saturday, November 8th, 2008

Just got this in…

We heard a while back that the Samsung Cleo was on its way, and and
now it’s arrived — well, if you’re lucky enough to live in Canada,
anyway. It’s not the only square flip phone on the planet, but it’s
definitely the most fashion-conscious. As far as we can tell, specs
are pretty much beside the point, but it’s got a QWERTY keyboard,
color LCD screen, 1.3-megapixel camera, MP3 playback, and expandable
memory up to 8GB (we’re guessing in microSD format). More importantly,
this attractive little devil (it’s just over 2.5-inches wide and
3-inches tall) comes in pink, blue, and (our personal favorite)
champagne. Though it’s been officially launched, the Cleo’s not for
sale quite yet, and there’s no word on price. We also don’t know when
or if it’ll strut its way to the US, but we’ve got our fingers
crossed. We really do.

Hmmm, I’ll have to see it in person I think. (But I like being thought of as sassy & stylish!)

iPhone sales help Rogers’ profits rise 84%

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

Just recently, during the Q4 Conference Call, Apple announced that it had sold 6.9 million iPhones in Q4 of 2008. Today, Canada’s leading telecommunications operator Rogers has declared an 84% jump in the 3rd quarter profits.

Rogers has reported a net income of USD 386 million, compared to USD 210 a year ago and the operator is highly crediting this to the sales of Apple’s iPhone 3G and the subscriber growth to go along with it. While two-thirds of the total iPhone sales were to existing subscribers who upgraded to the iPhone with new contracts, Rogers sold around 85,000 iPhone 3Gs to new subscribers, selling a total of around 255,000 iPhone 3Gs. The revenues of the company climbed to US$2.34 billion, a staggering 14% rise.

Speaking on the announcement, President and CEO, Ted Rogers, said:

The results for the quarter also clearly reflect the substantial and very successful investment Rogers has made to bring Apple’s iPhone 3G to more than a quarter million Canadians over a very short period of time. While the upfront cost associated with adding this many iPhone subscribers so rapidly is high, it is an investment that we expect will provide considerable returns in the form of higher revenue per customer and lower churn in subsequent periods.

All this makes me wonder what the fuss was all about.

Blackberry Bold launches in Canada

Thursday, August 21st, 2008

My god, that’s almost like… current isn’t it?

Rogers set to unveil new data plans for Canada

Friday, June 20th, 2008

YES YES YES.

Thankyou.

Caught this on thestar.com

Bigger, more affordable buckets of data on offer for Web browsing, email
Jun 20, 2008 04:30 AM
CHRIS SORENSEN
BUSINESS REPORTER

There’s still no official word on the monthly cost to own an iPhone in Canada, but Rogers Wireless will today reveal a new data-pricing model that aims to make mobile email and Web browsing more affordable for average users.

Though still a far cry from American-style “unlimited” plans, the division of Rogers Communications Inc. is preparing to offer subscribers significantly bigger buckets of data at lower rates than previously.

The move follows comments made by COO Nadir Mohamed this week that Rogers’ wireless pricing would “evolve” to accommodate the rising popularity of smartphones, which offer mobile Internet access and multimedia functions in addition to voice calling.

“This is the right move and a bold move on their part,” said analyst Amit Kaminer of consulting firm The Seaboard Group. “I think they delivered what they promised. It’s good for (CEO) Ted Rogers and company and … for the users, too.”

Under the new model, smartphone users can choose between “flex” and “non-flex” plans with buckets of data that range in price from $60 for 1 gigabyte to $100 for 6 gigabytes. The plans are purchased in addition to a voice plan.

By contrast, BlackBerry users are currently paying about $100 for 1 gigabyte of data on Rogers.

While the new “flex” plans are slightly more expensive than “non-flex,” subscribers who use more than their monthly allotment are automatically bumped up to the next tier to “guarantee them the best rate,” whereas “non-flex” users are simply handed overage charges.

A Rogers spokesperson said the new data plans are meant to be “device-agnostic,” meaning they can be used with different smartphones.

Apple Inc.’s iPhone is an exception. There was no word from Rogers yesterday on pricing when it begins selling the iPhone on July 11, but Internet rumours said the cellphone, iPod and Web browsing device would be sold alongside a $30 “unlimited” data plan.

$60 for a gig, not bad, $100 for 6, not bad.

If they’re going to offer $30 unlimited with the iPhone…where do I sign?

Focus on Canada – Jambo Mobile

Monday, June 9th, 2008

This week we take a quick look at Jambo Mobile.

pic_jambo

Toronto based Jambo Mobile was founded in 2002, and have since built a reputation as one of Canada’s leading mobile aggregators by focusing on two critical components, the development of successful mobile media strategies and the technologies that power them.

Using mobile solutions that leverage SMS, MMS, WAP and IVR, Jambo Mobile provides their clients with the mobile expertise and insight to connect with the end user.

Jambo Mobile has won numerous accolades, most recently winning the Innovation Gold award at the 2007 Promo! Awards, as well as being chosen to power mobile initiatives for this years Virgin Festivals across Canada as well as handling a $1,000,000 contested features on Mastersgolf.ca

Major clients include:

logo_clients

They’ve come a long way since their First Canadian National SMS Entertainment Campaign in 2003, to being the Wireless Winner at the Digital Marketing Awards in 2006, and they’ve got a lot more up their sleeve.

Keep your eye on Jambo Mobile!

Focus on Canada – MyThum Interactive

Monday, June 2nd, 2008

Welcome to Focus on Canada, a new series on SMS Text News looking at what’s going on in the Canadian Mobile industry. For our first installment we are going to take a brief look at various mobile aggregators, starting with MyThum Interactive.


22

MyThum really seems to have their, pardon the pun, thumb on what’s going on in Canada. Since their startup in 2002, they’ve grown to become one of the leading mobile aggregators in the country, topped off by being named Company of the Year at the Canadian New Media awards in 2007. (Their third major award that year)

From being chosen to facilitate the text-to-vote system for Canadian Idol to managing MuchMusic’s popular PunchMunch system, MyThum has worked with numerous big clients including: Rogers, Corus, CBC, Molson, Global, Best Buy, Nike & more.

mythumpartners

Their focus: to help companies build a direct relationship with their consumers using their mobile phone by providing a comprehensive toolkit with features such as text, interactive TV, rich content and more.

At MyThum we believe the mobile device is much more than an advertising or marketing tool. It is about strategy, not tactics, consumer relationships not just engagement. It redefines experiential marketing. The mobile device presents an entirely new communication platform. It presents an opportunity for companies to interact with their target audiences wherever they are, whenever they want, no matter what they are doing. It is a remote control for how people experience and consume media, entertainment and their favourite brands on an ongoing basis. It is a unique platform that can enhance productivity and performance of employees, improving ROI along the way. Our focus with partners is to enable the use of this new utility as a means for creating and monetizing a lasting, ongoing relationship with target audiences.

Keep your eye on MyThum, you never know what they’ll do next.

Stay tuned for more in our Focus on Canada series coming soon.

Focus on Canada hitting SMS Text News shortly

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

I’ve had enough of hearing absolutely nothing from Canada in a mobile context.

The only memorable thing I can tell you about is RIM. And Rogers executives who knew nothing about mobile (this was, admittedly, a few years ago, I trust the situation has changed). And the enterprising chaps at Bell who introduced unlimited data recently (see our HTC Touch/Bell Unlimited Data experience).

Not good enough, eh? No! I know there’s a lot of good stuff happening in the country. We’ve had a lot of email in from readers suggesting companies to shine the SMS Text News light upon. Very encouraging.

As a result, our very own Krystal (an Ontario native) has started work on Focus on Canada. I want to start by looking at the country’s mobile aggregators. First up you can look forward to an array of profiles and then some interviews with leading executives making things happen in the industry. We’ll begin next week. Standby!

If you have some recommendations for who we should speak to, do let me know (ewan@smstextnews.com).


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