Need a cab? Dial #TAXI!

I do my best to fly the Canadian flag when I can, so here we go again.

Most of you would not be familiar with a Toronto-based company called Cellwand Communications. I've been working closely with them for years and happen to a shareholder. Ok, now that I've made myself totally transparent, let me get back to waving the flag. If it's not enough that our hockey Juniors won the Gold this with weekend, Cellwand finally has a U.S. story to tell.

They've been developing a suite of Location-Based Services for cellular carriers, and their flagship service is called #TAXI. Simply dial that on your cell phone, and their database will search and connect you to a taxi service that will get a taxi to you in minutes. This may not be an everyday problem for most people, but when you've been out clubbing and can't find a cab anywhere, the charge is money very well spent. Think of it as an intelligent 411 service where you only have to make that one call, and #TAXI does the rest.

Cellwand has been refining this service a while with all the major Canadian mobile operators, and now they are in the U.S. market, available today on AT&T and Alltel's networks. Other major mobile networks should also be on board fairly soon. I think that's great news, and it's what all Canadian startups dream about doing.

The story should only get better, as they have other services in the pipeline - which you can read about on their website - and represent exactly what all carriers are desperately seeking - new apps and new revenue streams. Winning the World Juniors is great, but I like this story just as much.

Right now, Cellwand is getting the word out virally, and I'm doing my part here to spread the news. Here's the news posted on Digg, and here's their PSA - Public Service Announcement - posted on YouTube.

Technorati tags: Cellwand Communications, Jon Arnold, #TAXI