Zoompass, that mobile payment service that enables users to send, receive and request money, is making the rounds on BlackBerry devices in Canada. It first made its service available permanently on BlackBerry devices with Telus and is now doing the same with Bell Canada. It is only a matter of time before Zoompass, a joint venture between Rogers, Bell and Telus, makes its way on to Rogers’ BlackBerry devices.

Zoompass, according to their website, “an be used by anyone on the Bell Mobility, Rogers, and TELUS networks as well as customers of their respective affiliates including Fido, PC Mobile, Solo Mobile and Virgin Mobile.”

It is operated by a group called EnStream, a company that is a joint venture of Canada’s Big Three carriers.

Zoompass is an awful lot like PayPal in that it lets users send money quickly without having to stop off at the bank. One wonders how much longer this sort of common service is going to be a selling feature for companies like Zoompass, however, as online and fast payment options seem to be the norm in business and not the exception.

In other words, it’s hard to discern if Zoompass is actually selling a product that is unique or if it’s simply blowing smoke about older technological advances. The main draw is supposed to be that users can use Zoompass anywhere, but it seems, again, that this type of service is fairly common.

Users of Rogers, Telus and Bell BlackBerry devices will be using Zoompass with the click of an icon that will magically appear. It is assumed that the Big Three are hoping Zoompass can present another revenue stream, as it costs around 50 cents a transaction to move money on the service.

When CBC’s Wendy Mesley took to the streets to find Canada’s worst cell phone bill, she discovered a whole pile of trouble. The Marketplace program took in bills and stories from several Canadians and learned about astronomical rates and customer service horror stories in the process.

The experience illuminates that there is indeed a problem with Canada’s cell phone industry. Indeed, it turns out that the worst cell phone bill in Canada could not be measured by price alone. Customer service has an awful lot to do with how bad things are in Canada and the strangehold by Rogers, Telus and Bell has a lot to do with that.

Customers don’t feel that they have a lot of choice in where they can go as cell phone consumers, so that presses them into contracts that are unreasonable and unclear. From there, bills skyrocket and credit gets bad, leading the customer into a problematic spiral caused largely by purposefully confusing bills and contracts from Canada’s cell phone carriers.

The story from the CBC is, of course, just one example of the types of trouble people feel from their cell phone companies. After sifting through several stories and several confusing bills, Mesley and her team came up with three finalists that were put into an Angus Reid-sponsored poll for voting. One thousand Canadians voted for the worst cell phone bill in the country and the results can be found on CBC’s website.

The documentary piece, which runs just a bit over 20 minutes, can be viewed here.

The stories in the video clip are, unfortunately, quite common among Canadians. Most of us have had bad experiences with cell phone carriers and this is largely due to an overall lack of competency and consumer respect. Rogers, Bell and Telus simply feel that they have the pick of the litter over the Canadian consumer, so they feel free to do whatever they like because we have nowhere else to go.

Perhaps the changes to foreign ownership laws in Canada will change how this all plays out, but for now it’s still down to the Big Three to screw us over collectively as Canadian cell phone company consumers.

It looks like Windows 7 won’t be available on all Windows phones, even the newest and fastest of them. Apparently current phones running Windows Mobile 6.5 OS will be granted “incremental” updates but they won’t be able to be upgraded entirely to Windows Mobile 7.

Users who purchased the brand spanking new HTC HD2 will be out of luck in terms of getting Windows Mobile 7, for instance, and that has got to be a bit of a problem for those customers. The thing is, too, that Windows Mobile 7 would fit the HTC HD2 because it matches most of the spec requirements. The only problem is that it has five buttons instead of the three buttons that Windows 7 requires.

So even with the 1GHz Qualcomm processor, high-res capacitive touch display, 5 megapixel camera and 3.5mm headphone jack, users of the HTC HD2 will just have to deal with the older Windows OS when the use their phones. The upgrades may be soft consolation when they consider what might have been.

The Windows Phone 7 Series was introduced in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress last month and has since revved up considerably positive press regarding its simple design and easy-to-use interface.

But getting exact specifications about what Windows 7 takes to run or how it will operate on what phones is a bit tricky, at least for now. There are expected to be three different types of Windows 7 designed to run on three different types of phones, too, so that makes a lot of room for development possibilities.

While there is a good amount of obscurity regarding what exactly Windows is doing with Windows 7 on its mobile devices, it’s clear that there are a number of options and possibilities for both developers and consumers to consider.

Calgary’s emergency call centre is changing its policy regarding 911 calls after homicide investigators found startling information regarding a woman’s murder.

Someone used the victim’s cell phone to call 911 15 hours before the woman’s death. 911 operators called the cell phone back later and heard a man and woman speaking. A woman was clearly in distress in the background, yet no police were dispatched to the location. Her husband was later charged with first degree murder.

What this lesson has taught the Calgary emergency call centre is that a new policy is needed regarding cell phones and 911 calls. A letter from the police chief said that there was a gap in the system and, upon investigation, that gap looks pretty darn significant.

The way the process stood before was that operators could use their discretion to dispatch emergency officials to calls. Calls coming in on cell phones would be returned to confirm that there was indeed an emergency, not unlike a pizza delivery joint calling back to confirm an order.

Calgary officials have now called for changes that implement new rules to suggest that emergency officials must be dispatched if it sounds like there is an emergency. The program is essentially operating under the “better safe than sorry” idea.

The changes couldn’t have come fast enough and one has to wonder how many lives could have been saved and how many incidents avoided had the emergency services department acted on a system instead of on discretion alone.

PocketGear has purchased Handango and in the process has created the biggest cross-platform mobile application store going right now.

PocketGear has said that the application store will feature more than 140,000 applications with cross-platform capabilities. Users of Android, Symbian, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Palm, Linux and Java phones will be able to get applications for their phones from the collaboration venture.

Interestingly, both PocketGear and Handango were companies that were making a go of it in the late 1990s. They were operating at a time when the idea of the mobile application was still somewhat of a fringe thing, but with the proliferation of Apple’s App Store and other smart phones, applications are back in a big way and people are yearning for them yet again.

PocketGear and Handango certainly will be entering into a bold new world of competition with Apple’s App Store, Google’s Android Market and the Marketplace offering from Microsoft.

In terms of developers, the PocketGear/Handango collaboration may not be the best deal for them. They take some 40% of revenue from software sales from the developers, while the other stores only take 30%.

Still, the PocketGear/Handango collaboration does offer users the option to surf through the applications on the website. Most other application stores don’t have similar options, so this allows users more room to check out the applications at their leisure.

In any event, it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. The PocketGear/Handango application store may well give the other app stores a run for their money on the level of sheer mass alone, as it’s really hard to compete with such an overwhelming number of apps.

We talked about Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 here a few days ago and unveiled some of the critical details of the O/S, but now it seems that the buzz is reaching epic levels and this O/S could well change the game for Microsoft’s rather bleak mobile showing thus far.

The main point of developing Windows Phone 7 in the first place was to help stop the bleeding creating by other lesser O/S versions for mobile devices. Microsoft had seen carriers and phones dropping its operating systems left and right, so it was about time to get back to the drawing board to come up with something fresh and simple.

With vendors dropping traditional Windows mobile operating systems in favour of Android operating systems and other contenders, Windows Phone 7 has a lot riding on it.

The first thing about Windows Phone 7 that appears to be getting the most attention is its user interface. Windows Phone 7 is designed for the touch screen, so a simple, sleek interface becomes a necessity. Early reviews are saying Phone 7 nailed it, with “live tiles” that help users navigate the system easily.

According to reports and reviews, there are “hubs” that can be navigated with these tiles. The hubs generate content from a host of user-friendly sources and help lead to the customization of your phone or mobile device. There are six hub categories: people, pictures, games, music + video, marketplace, and office.

Music, games and search functions are also racking up brownie points from the critics. Music and video is run with a full-version Zune player complete with video and FM radio. Games come with Xbox Live games capability and the search function uses Bing, of course, and allows users to search from just about any application on the phone.

Windows Phone 7 certainly sounds like an impressive O/S for mobile devices. It remains to be seen whether it can help Microsoft regain some credibility, however, and the actual sales of the O/S will be one of the biggest deciding factors in the product’s success. But things are looking good so far, that’s for sure, and the critical response could be an indication as to a comeback for Microsoft in the mobile sector.

Amazon.com has released a brand spanking new Kindle for BlackBerry applications and, best of all, it’s free!

Users of the BlackBerry can now get access to Amazon’s catalogue and more than 400,000 digital books to download and use on the Kindle e-reader. BlackBerry even lets users have access to their Kindle books if they don’t have their Kindle units online, marking a nice step in the right direction for accessibility and product cooperation.

The application also automatically synchronizes the last read page and carries over annotations between devices using a little piece of technology called “Whispersync.” Whispersync was developed by Amazon.

The accessibility is certainly a big time feature that will have a lot of people happy to use the application. Users can pretty much switch back and forth as they please and can take their reading materials just about anywhere, as the app lets users get at Kindle content with their PCs, BlackBerry units and Kindles.

The app is available for the BlackBerry Curve 8520 and 8900, Bold 9000 and 9700, Storm 9530/Storm2 9550 and the Tour 9630 currently. It also is said to work on all major carriers, but the downside is that there is no international version for the app as of yet. Keep waiting, though, it should be coming soon.

Despite what the rumours may say, Google’s CEO says the company has no plans to compete with network operators. While Google has made investments in wireless networks and is selling around 60,000 Android smartphones per day, Eric Schmidt told attendees at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that his company has no plans to compete with network operators.

“Google benefits from the adoption of broadband everywhere, in mobile networks and in fixed networks,” Schmidt said.

With a significant investment in WiMax network infrastructure and fiber-to-fiber trials, however, many think that Google is only biding its time before venturing into the fold.

But Google seems to know its limitations. “We are not going to be investing in broad-scale infrastructure,” Schmidt said. “It’s a very tough business and it’s not one for which we are very well optimized.”

The company still has it in mind to focus on its advertising business, says Schmidt, and that news comes as a relief to those challenged by the idea of Google as a competitor.

That’s not to say that Google’s activities, including their advertising business, aren’t going the mobile route. Virtually everything on the web must be optimized for mobile these days, so it does make sense that Google would spend time and money investigating that area. Schmidt said that more than half of all search queries are made from mobile devices.

With mobile representing such an incredible potential in the field, it shouldn’t be all that surprising that Google is heading into the area with an open mind. But, if you pay attention to the company’s current stance, that doesn’t mean that they’re ready to leap in with both feet - just yet.

Microsoft is gearing up to once again dip its proverbial feet in the mobile phone pool and hopes that this next foray will be more successful than the others.

The plan is to release Windows Phone 7 and the company has started from scratch in designing the operating system. This O/S, unveiled by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, is being seen as a revolutionary new smartphone O/S with a few borrowed bits and pieces from the Zune HD O/S.

For most users, however, using Windows Phone 7 will be a brand new adventure.

One of the first bits of news coming out from folks who’ve tried Windows Phone 7 is the smooth interface. It isn’t cluttered like other Windows Mobile O/S incarnations and it appears, by all accounts, to be a completely separate working entity to Windows 7. There is no “Start” button, for instance, and that has most users doing flips with joy.

Windows Phone 7 also integrates with Xbox Live, allowing the user to keep track of his or her buddy list and friends with the click of a button.

There are also features called “theme hubs,” allowing users different methods of grouping contacts and information.

The minimalism of the interface is turning the most heads, with a completely clutterless environment really making people think twice about Microsoft and the company’s capabilities when it comes to mobile software and mobile operating systems. The lack of extra bells and whistles appears to be what Microsoft is hoping to use as a defining feature for 2010 and Windows Phone 7 appears to be the best example of that approach yet.

In the end, Windows Phone 7 is getting an awful lot of attention right out of the gate. It may not be a revolutionary O/S for Windows on mobile phones, but it certainly is marking a sense of improvement in Microsoft and has people thinking that this company may actually be capable of designing worthwhile interfaces for mobile devices.

Location-aware smartphones may soon have GPS standalone units going extinct, as powerful navigation applications start to give these products the edge in terms of finding your way. A whole crop of location-aware smarthphones are out there to choose form, too, giving the consumer plenty of options for finding that little out-of-the-way place in a strange down or simply locating the train station.

TomTom for iPhone is one of the location-aware applications making the rounds. While there are a number of free applications for navigation available on the iPhone, TomTom offers up a couple of goodies that you might not find anywhere else.

TomTom helps to increase the sensitivity of the iPhone’s GPS, making it easier to track locations. There are also a number of cool voice choices, making it easy to find location information in clear language. Of course, at $120 for the dock and $100 for the application, TomTom isn’t exactly worth the cash you’ll have to part with.

The best option, it seems, is to pick up a Motorola Droid smartphone and launch the popular Google Maps application. At $200 for the Droid, it’s a pretty good price that still offers all the bells and whistles of a good smartphone. And the location-aware aspect is crisp, offering voice commands and a pretty darn intuitive search engine.

The software for Google Maps is actually free on 2.0 versions of the phone, too. All you have to do is plug in a destination - or even just a best guess at a destination - and the program and the phone will download the right maps and have you on your way to wherever it is you’re going.

The lesson here is to not waste money on high-priced applications when a perfectly good smartphone has all the location-aware software you need already on it. So check out your phone’s options before you go running off to some second-rate navigation program.