Last summer when the iphone went on sale in the U.S. consumers were loving the visual voice mail feature that allowed people to see who called and what was said as an email or SMS message from their device.

This also means you can check your vmail as text in noisy places, or if you are out of country and don’t want to check your messages and incur hundreds or $$$ in fees.

What I didn’t realize is that Telus also offers this service and was the first one to do so in Canada. Check out their press release here.  The Telus service also allows you to get an audio recording of the message as an attachment to your email.

Unfortunately I couldn’t find any rate information on their website- but this is a feature worth investigating if you want the benefits of visual voice mail without having to switch to Rogers to get it on the iphone.

The CWTA released their quarterly report last week and highlights are consistent with year long trends.

More Canadians are texting more often.

It will be interesting to see if proposed new charges for incoming texting as announced last week by Bell and Telus will impact overall numbers. It will also be neat to see the impact of the iphone…  will Canadians text even more or will they simply migrate to mobile instant messaging (MIM), Twitter, and other mobile web based communication options?

I know – it’s not just about the iphone – super awesome third generation mobile devices from Blackberry (Bold), Palm (Centro) and Samsung (Instinct) promise to make the next quarter an exciting one for our market.

Here are some highlights to the report:

• 4.1 billion messages were sent peer to peer in Q1 (note messages related to mobile marketing campaigns are not counted). Note that 10.1 billion were sent in all of 2007
• 1.4 billion messages were sent in March 2008 alone
• 42% of Canadian mobile subscribers sent at least one peer-to-peer message in March 2008. Imagine what that number would if your friends who return your text with a phone call because they don’t know how to text… figured it out?
• MMS-capable common short codes were made available for the first time
• As of May 14th, North America’s first user-generated mobile picture messaging service on broadcast television was launched in Canada
• There are 25 active mobile micro-payments (m-commerce) applications approved in Canada

For those who have been following my blog for a while will recognize this phrase “user experience will trump superior technology – every time.”

Apple has proven this again and again… and this past week as the world rushed to get their second generation or 3G iphone (and crashing Apple’s itunes server in the process!) it will again be the user experience not the technology that will give this device staying power.

Don’t get me wrong – a thinner version with better reception and real GPS is super awesome – but it’s what comes with the new software OS that really makes this device a consumer’s (and potentially a marketer’s) dream.

The 2.0 OS software on the iphone is backwards compatible with your first generation iphone – so the 200,000 or so first generation iphones in Canada will be able to upgrade and enjoy many of the benefits of the second generation device.

Specifically as a marketer, I’m most excited about the App store – think of it as itunes for software designed specifically for your iphone. No longer will you have to jailbreak your iphone to customize and personalize it to meet your needs. Like itunes, you’ll be able to select what apps (games, productivity software etc…) you want and let the app store do the rest.

iphone apps are like widgets for your blackberry – but far easier to download

Smart marketers will also leverage the localization capabilities of the device to bring you a mashup of something truly useful.

Marketers who think mobile marketing is all about text to win campaigns are missing out on the r/evolution of interactivity.  If you’ve hired one such company to work with your brand or agency, you need to rethink your strategy before submitting those 2009 budgets which are due shortly…

With yesterday’s report from the Globe and Mail that both Bell and Telus would start charging 15 cents for incoming SMS messages for customers who are not locked into an SMS plan and Roger’s announcement of a data plan for the new iphone that was widely seen as uncompetitive and unfair to consumers, I figured the future of mobile as a mass marketing medium would be still-born until new carriers enter the market next year.

All may not be lost

In reaction to all the negative press received over their original iphone plan, Rogers / Fido this morning announced a new data plan for the new 3G iphone to be released Friday of this week.  Here are some details:

Effective July 11, and as a limited time promotional offer for customers who activate until August 31, 2008 on a three year contract, a data-only offering of 6GB of data for $30 per month is being made available that can be added to any in-market voice plan. For example, with 6GB of data, iPhone 3G
users can visit 35,952 web pages, or send and receive 157,286 emails, or watch 6,292 minutes of YouTube videos each and every month.

You can read the full news release here.  Rogers has also indicated that they will not charge for incoming SMS messages either – making them appear far more pro-consumer than they did just a week ago.

Per my earlier post this week, I still wouldn’t rush to buy that new iphone. Rates and plans are bound to only get better from here.

What was cause for celebration a few weeks ago has turned into a national embarrassment and another reminder that the Canadian mobile marketplace is not yet a very competitive one.

The new plans announced by Rogers are not consistent with plans being offered south of the border by AT&T or in other countries where plans include unlimited data for around $30/month.

The Rogers iphone plan starts around $60 before system charges and other fees. It does include talk time… but only 150 minutes.  You also have a data limit of 400 megs of data… which is not a lot considering the iphone is heavily dependant on data for all their widgets and the average iphone user uses 8 of them on a regular basis.  

Americans on AT&T get 3 times more talk time and unlimited data for about the same price 

Even the Rogers heavy usage plan doesn’t offer unlimited data. Since the announcement and subsequent consumer backlash, they have now indicated that customers can use other “smartphone” plans instead of the announced iphone plans. For example, I could transfer my blackberry rates (~$100/month for data alone) to the iphone. Again, no big deal and still substantially more expensive than other iphone plans offered in other countries.

Wait at least a month if you still really want one and here’s why…

Bell just announced that they will be releasing the new Samsung Instinct on August 8th which will include an unlimited data plan. The Instinct is a touch-based phone like the iphone and offers many of the same features. The user experience isn’t quite as great as the iphone… but it’s a great alternative. Thanks to Kate for sending a tweet on that announcement yesterday!

I wouldn’t be surprised if Telus came out with a similar data plan for their HTC or other smartphone products too… which means Rogers will likely update their plans if they don’t reach their targets with the iphone.

There are two more reasons to wait to buy that iphone…

1. The Rogers deal to sell the iphone isn’t exclusive – which means another GSM provider can sell it. With at least one new carrier coming to Canada after the current spectrum auction finishes up in the next few weeks, it’s almost a certainty that they’ll be GSM based. Expect them to be in market later this year or early next
2. The iphone is a great device… but what makes it really super awesome are all the utilities, enhancements, and UI hacks available for those who were brave enough to jailbreak it.  As of today, there is no jailbreaking solution for the new 3G iphone… but it’s only a matter of time

If you haven’t made the dash to Buffalo or some other U.S. border town already to buy a first generation iphone, you can probably stand to wait a month or two for better rates and more flexibility in customizing & personalizing it.

In the meantime, feel free to join the following online petitions against the new Rogers plans:

• 
• Petitiononline.com

Finally the wait is over.

Your new iphone is coming July 11th and it’s twice as fast as the one you bought in Buffalo a year ago and half the price – making this a device made for the masses.

It’s also coming with pretty much everything we were hoping for. My predictions were mostly right – 7.5 out of 9. The .5 was for saying the new phone would look different… I guessed that the new battery for 3G would make it a thicker device and we now know it will be thinner!

Some are disappointed that the new iphone isn’t coming with a front facing camera (for video chat), or a flash – or even a better camera. Nokia has a 5 meg camera with the N95… couldn’t we at least have a 3 meg camera?

Mobileme is a new feature that looks really interesting. Similar to other services i’ve seen such as SugarSync, Mobile me essentially allows you to synchronize your email, contacts, calendar and documents across multiple computers and your iphone. It also comes with push email – so like the blackberry, you will be instantly notified when email comes in. You even get your own login at me.com (I wonder how much they paid for that domain!) where you can access all your info through a web interface – much like MS Exchange today if you are on a corporate infrastructure.

Besides the business / enterprise updates, there wasn’t much to get excited about on the software front – but that’s ok. The official and non-official developer communities will fill in any missing pieces like they did with the first generation phone.

Having said that, it’s very cool that loopt is now part of the iphone 2.0 platform. Loopt is a mobile social networking platform that incorporates location. I blogged about this months ago here when i said the future of social networking is creepy. At the time i was more jazzed about a similar product from Alcatel called geopepper.

What is interesting is that Steve Jobs used the Treo 750 and Nokia N95 as comparison devices for loading webpages. It’s interesting because he didn’t mention 2 new products that will challenge Apple for downloading speed; the new blackberry bold and thunder (expected to be out this fall) as well as the new Nokia N96 which is a faster & updated version of the N95.

The new iphone, or iphone 2.0 or 3G iphone is a huge leap forward from the first version released over a year ago, but it’s still not the mostly technically advanced or sophisticated when compared to devices that are already on the market.

Having said that, who cares.

It’s not about the technology, it’s about the experience. Like I’ve said before, a great user experience will trump great technology and Apple has improved on something that was already pretty super awesome.

Why is that good news for Marketers?

Consider this… 98 percent of iphone users are browsing online, 94 percent are using email and 90 percent are texting. Approximately 80 percent are using 10 or more of the phone’s features.

For marketers who think mobile marketing is only about text 2 win campaigns, the introduction of the iphone and other competing products this year will make the mobile device a rich environment to acquire, retain, or grow customers beyond the 100,000 or so iphones that already migrated here in the last year.

Today Steve Jobs is expected to announced the new iphone which is rumoured to be 3G based – meaning it can take advantage of high speed mobile networks.

The Rogers 3G network covers all the major city centres and / or about 60% of the country. It’s expected that the new iphone will be made available to 50 new markets this year – including Canada.

Back in April when Rogers announced that they had an exclusive to sell the iphones in Canada I made some predictions on what to expect.

Read those here and let’s compare notes in a few hours after the announcement!

I’ve recently installed the Weather Network blackberry widget on my Blackberry 8800. One of the advantages of creating a device specific widget is that you can enrich the user experience beyond a typical mobile website.

The Weather Network is no exception – taking full advantage of the blackberry Java platform to delivery an intuitive and easy to manage widget.

Once you’ve downloaded the widget, you can select your city of choice for weather updates. Coming soon – the ability to add up to 5 more cities – although I believe there should be an unlimited city option like there is on the iphone weather widget by Yahoo.

The neat thing is that once your choice city has been selected, you can get the current temperature by just scrolling over the icon on your blackberry desktop. Clicking on the icon will give you a detailed forecast for that day. Using the options button, you can switch to short and long term forecasts too.

Want to try it out? Point your blackberry mobile web browser to: http://weyebb.pelmorex.com

[Read more →]

Ever since the return of my iphone from it’s odyssey in Vegas, I’ve been spending more time with the iphone installer to see how it can be better customized to my daily routine.

One of the most interesting applications I’ve installed so far is something called Twinkle. It’s Twitter with a nifty interface optimized for the iphone with location and picture capabilities.

The interfaced is optimized for the iphone – so i can check in my tweets easily throughout the day if i’m so inclined. I’ve included a screen capture from my iphone to the right (thanks to the iphone screenshot 1.2.1 app from robota)

The really interesting feature is the “near me” button which identifies other people in your area who are also on twinkle. You can follow their tweets and even send them private messages.

I also like the idea of taking a picture of where I am right now… and having that included as a tiny URL link in my tweet.

Twitter hasn’t taken up a lot of mind-share when i’m on my desktop(s) or laptop… but increasingly it’s getting a slice of my mobile time – and twinkle makes it that much more interesting.

I haven’t tested any twitter clients for my blackberry yet – but I’ll try and do so in the next few days and report back my thoughts.

How about you – do you tweet on mobile… or do you use something else – like mobile instant messaging (MIM)? MIM will also be the topic of my next post over at onedegree.ca 

Do you twitter? Follow me here.

Today Rogers made the long awaited announcement that the iphone was indeed coming to Canada to a Rogers store near you – sometime this year. No other details were made available. 

This is not great news for blackberry.

Since the iphone was launched last year, Apple has grabbed 27% of the North American PDA market while being available only in the U.S. and through att&t. Blackberry currently has about 42% market share in North America.

The fact that no set timeline has been set likely means that Rogers is waiting for the anticipated release of the second generation iphone which industry insiders say should be available around July of this year. 

It’s worth the wait.

Here’s what to expect: 

1. It will be a 3G phone – which means it will take advantage of third generation networks that are now widely available in Canada. This will be like going from the slow dial-up speeds we have today to near high speed. Think of it as broadband light. This will make browsing the mobile web a pleasant experience in Canada
2. It will have true GPS
3. It will look slightly different. I bit thicker to accommodate a bigger battery that is needed to support 3G and the back is rumored to be black instead of metallic – which should improve the range of the antenna
4. The headphone jack will no longer be recessed – so you can use any set of headphones now. Woo hoo!
5. New operating system that will come with new software. This will probably include new video editing / management software as well as GPS. 
6. Expect to pay around $500 for the new phone
7. No word on capacity – but it will be a minimum 16 gigs… although I wouldn’t be surprised if it comes with a 32 version too. 
8. All you can eat data plan should be made available for about $20
9. The iphone will be enterprise ready – which means many of the best features currently only available on blackberrys will be available for the iphone. The iphone will be secure enough and come with enough enterprise level management tools that there will be nothing preventing some corporations form switching from blackberry to iphones… or at least supporting both.