Michael Geist on Rogers' iPhone Plans

I'm travelling this week, but want to blog this story. I have specific thoughts about the real threat that wireless pricing and Bill C-61 have for Canadian industry, but for now, Michael Geist has written a great piece on Rogers' plans...

Michael Geist - Canadians Face Triple Lock on Apple iPhone

Michael Geist on Canada's Wireless Crisis

Michael Geist's most excellent blog elucidates a point I made in a previous posting here; Namely, that the state of the wireless industry in Canada is a sad one, and that the lack of competition in the country is hurting our ability to innovate and compete on the world stage.

"In many ways, the iPhone saga merely confirmed what many Canadian consumers and businesses have known for some time. Mobile data pricing in Canada is among the highest in the world, creating a significant barrier to the introduction of new mobile services and causing many consumers to carefully ration their mobile use for fear of being hit with a hefty bill at the end of the month."

I was VERY surprised (and disappointed) to learn the following:

"The impact of uncompetitive pricing is felt beyond the consumer market. Last month, the World Economic Forum pointed to problems in the wireless market as a key reason for Canada's slipping global ranking for "network readiness" (Canada has moved from 6th worldwide in 2005 to 13th today). Canada ranked 75th in the number of mobile subscribers, trailing countries such as El Salvador, Kazahkstan, and Libya. It also lagged behind countries such as the United Kingdom, Singapore, Italy, Sweden, and Norway on mobile pricing."

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Flashing The Flash: Adobe Opens Up

h/t to Slashdot on this one:

Adobe has opened up their proprietary Flash formats - SWF & FLV to the developer community, removed licensing restrictions for the playback, and is making the mobile player available for free. They are doing to Macromedia's flagship product (since having acquired it 3 short years ago) what they were able to successfully do with PDF.

The Open Screen Project is dedicated to driving consistent rich Internet experiences across televisions, personal computers, mobile devices, and consumer electronics. The Open Screen Project is supported by technology leaders, including Adobe, ARM, Chunghwa Telecom, Cisco, Intel, LG Electronics Inc., Marvell, Motorola, Nokia, NTT DoCoMo, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics Co., Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Verizon Wireless, and leading content providers, including BBC, MTV Networks, and NBC Universal, who want to deliver rich Web and video experiences, live and on-demand across a variety of devices.

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