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Canadians are about to see higher prices in the App Store
Dear Canadian readers of TUAW, if you were waiting to buy something in the App Store you might want to do it in the next day. The Vancouver Sun is reporting that software developers were recently sent an email from Apple informing them of impending price increases in the App Store. Norway and European Union countries will also see a price increase. The email sent to developers cites foreign exchange rates as the trigger for the price increases. At this time we do not know exactly how much prices will increase in the App Store. On Monday the Canadian loonie hit 85 cents below the US dollar due to the continuing drop in the price of oil and uncertainty in their markets. This marks a five year low for the loonie.
EnStream to bring mobile wallet to Canadians, make loonies obsolete (video)
A joint venture of Canadian carriers Rogers, Bell and Telus called EnStream is in final talks with the country's leading banks (likely CIBC, TD, RBC, Scotiabank and BMO) to bring a mobile wallet solution to the Great White North within six months. The system, which was demoed at the CWTA Wireless Showcase last September, enables mobile payments by storing a user's financial credentials on the SIM located inside their NFC-capable phone. It aims to replace credit and debit cards at first -- perhaps even driver's licenses and loyalty programs down the road. Carriers plan to charge banks a flat rate instead of a per-transaction fee. According to Almis Ledas, EnStream's COO, "banking machines will become the payphones of the future". While we command this attempt to standardize mobile payments in Canada, the time frame seems rather optimistic in light of the slow progress AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon have made with Isis in the US so far. Different countries, different rules of course -- still, we think it's going to take quite a while to make loonies obsolete. Maybe this is the perfect window of opportunity for Google Wallet and Square to jump across the border, eh? Time will tell. Check out EnStream's mobile wallet in action on video after the break.
