If you’ve ever been on the fence about whether or not to buy a particular book or rent a certain movie, you will thank the creators of TXTREVIEW, a new messaging service which allows you to instantaneously receive reviews (provided by partner Amazon) and user comments about any book or movie via your mobile device. Simply text the title of a movie or the ISBN of a book to TXTREVIEW’s number, and soon you will know whether or not you need to put that book or movie back on the shelf and keep on looking.
The service is completely free of charge, but currently only functions for mobile devices operating through Canadian carriers.
TXTREVIEWS.com In Their Own Words
“TXTREVIEWS is a service that allows you to get free reviews instantly via text messaging. We currently offer movie and book reviews through our use of Amazon.com web services.”
Why TXTREVIEWS.com It Might Be A Killer
TXTREVIEWS is an incredibly easy and hassle-free way to get movie and book information fast and free-of-charge. Because the service’s reviews are sponsored by Amazon, chances are the information you want will be in their database.
Some Questions About TXTREVIEWS.com
Now that many bookstores offer free internet access, why pay your carrier’s charge for sending a text message if you can simply look up a review for a given book? How does the site plan to generate a profit if there is no advertising space and the service is free? Are there plans to expand this service beyond Canada?
Updates
* In answer to your questions*
– Chapters/Indigo currently offers ‘Internet’ but you can only browse their internal catalogue. They would never let you check the Amazon price from their store otherwise you would realize how much cheaper it is to go home and buy it online.
– The service will be free for end users, but there will be advertising within the body of the text message response. It will be targeted and useful for the users. i.e. a movie review could come with ‘$4.99 lrg w/ txt. call Mr. Pizza’
– For now, we will be focusing on Canada and increasing the types of reviews – hotels, restaurants, nightclubs… Once this service is successful in Canada, we will expand to the US. 
