Mobile – rgbFilter

HP TouchPad tablet coming to Canada on July 15th

June 14, 2011June 15, 2011 drsquid Android, canada, Flash, google, Honeycomb, HP, iPad, iPad 2, Jon Rubinstein, launch, Mobile, palm, Pre, pre-order, Qualcomm, release, Samsung, smartphone, Synergy, tablet, TouchPad, Touchstone, video, webOS, Xoom0 comment

While the iPad and its successor, the iPad 2, are still the gold-standard for tablets, 2011 has already seen the release of a number of challengers for its throne. Both the recently released Motorola XOOM and RIM Playbook have some features that are better than the iPad, but neither of them has managed to recreate the “magic” that Apple infuses the iPad with. While most of the tablets still to come this year are going to Android Honeycomb based – Samsung, Toshiba, Dell, HTC, Lenovo, LG all have new models…

Best Buy Canada’s Free Phone Fridays – more killer (on contract) deals including the Xperia PLAY

May 27, 2011 drsquid Android, Atrix, Bell, Best Buy, Blackberry, canada, Free, Gaming, google, HTC, Incredible S, Mobile, Motorola, Nexus S, PLAY, Rogers, Samsung, smartphone, Sony, Sony Ericsson, superphone, Telus, Torch, Virgin Mobile, Xperia1 Comment

Best Buy Canada’s Free Phone Fridays returns with some killer deals – if you sign a new 3yr contact. This week’s deals include the Nexus S, ATRIX & Xperia PLAY for $0. With the announcement that the mobile version Minecraft is coming exclusively (at first) to the PLAY perhaps it’s time to consider getting a 2nd phone? Also if you are on the fence about the PLAY we should have some videos posted later today of it in action – it is, IMO, hands-down the best mobile gaming experience you…

It Gets Thinner: The PaperPhone

May 4, 2011May 15, 2011 Pete Chapman flexible display, Human Media Lab, Mobile, PaperPhone0 comment

It’s called the PaperPhone and its creator Roel Vertegaal, the director of Queen’s University Human Media Lab, says, “This computer looks, feels and operates like a small sheet of interactive paper. You interact with it by bending it into a cell phone, flipping the corner to turn pages, or writing on it with a pen.” Dr. Vertegaal will present his “paper” computer on May 10 at 2 pm at the Association of Computing Machinery’s CHI 2011 (Computer Human Interaction) conference in Vancouver. Here are two videos from an article at…

BlackBerry PlayBook hits retailers tomorrow

April 18, 2011May 15, 2011 Doug Groves 7 inch tablet, Blackberry, Mobile, PlayBook, QNX, RIM, tablet2 Comments

After a long wait, RIM is finally launching its BlackBerry PlayBook across Canada tomorrow, and can be found at all the usual suspects, as well as less tech oriented retailers such as Sears. The latter went so far as to put out a press release suggesting that they would be the best way to buy RIMs 7 inch tablet running the new QNX based OS, offering a “15 day no hassle” return policy.

Google Maps 5.3 for Android is fascinating slash creepy

April 6, 2011April 7, 2011 Doug Groves Android, app, google, Google Maps, Google Places, Location History, Mobile7 Comments

Google has added a new Location History feature to its Google Maps 5.3 for Android. The Location History feature is an opt-in decision, and once you do you’ll be treated to a personal dashboard that will give you all kinds of stats like Distance Traveled, Hours At Work, Hours At Home, and weekly averages. With its ability to rate locations using the Google Places feature, it also appears to be laying the groundwork to compete with FourSquare, Facebook Places and other location based services such as Yelp.

Netflix launches Canadian streaming package

September 22, 2010September 24, 2010 Doug Groves event, Mobile, Netflix, Netflix Canada, rental, streamning3 Comments

The long awaited Netflix Canada is now open for business. The service features a wide selection of movies and TV shows, accessible through a variety of devices. Unlike the disc based options available in the US, the Canadian service is unlimited streaming for $7.99 a month, and is available for viewing on a variety of platforms, including the PC, Wii, iPhone/iPad and PS3. Netflix for the Xbox 360, which was the first console to get the service in the US, won’t be available until later this fall. No doubt this…

At X’10 – Windows Phone 7 with Xbox Live

August 24, 2010September 20, 2010 Doug Groves hands-on, interview, Microsoft, Mobile, mobile gaming, smartphone, Windows Phone 7, WP7, x10, Xbox Live68 Comments

Alex and I attended Microsoft’s X’10 event in Toronto, and the first order of business was to get a look at Windows Phone 7 in action – actually, I played a little Fable 3 before Alex showed up, but that’s another interview in the pipeline, but I digress. Greg Milligan of Microsoft gave us a demonstration of the new mobile platform, and showed off some of the Xbox Live integration as well. All in all it looks pretty impressive, and the screen response, even on the LG prototype phone (which…

The State of Mobile Application Development

August 16, 2010November 6, 2020 Jason Android, developer, iPhone, Mobile, programming, Symbian, tools4 Comments

It is amazing to see the amount of enthusiasm people have for their smartphones. Many iphone users not only like their phone, but regularly put on a sales hat for Apple and convince others that the iphone stands alone in its awesomeness and to not have one is the same as losing a sense. Android too isn’t without it’s feverish supporters, though I think most are just happy to have a decent device that isn’t an iphone. It is fun to watch and participate in such meaningless fanfare, but it’s…

Rogers launches Chatr, Mobilicity pursuing legal action

July 29, 2010July 29, 2010 drsquid Bell, canada, Chat-r, Koodo, launch, Mobile, Mobilicity, Rogers, Solo, Star Wars, Telus, unlimited, Wind, Wireless6 Comments

Rogers officially launched their new discount mobile brand Chatr yesterday, after delaying the planned mid-July launch for unspecified reasons. Chatr, like the new Canadian wireless entrants (Mobilicity, Public Mobile and Wind Mobile), is a zone based unlimited cellphone service. The service will be available in in Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Vancouver, and will be expanding to Montreal in the fall. Rogers originally announced Chatr on June 30th, as a new brand to cater to customers looking for unlimited plans, with no contracts — the very same market that the…

Samsung Galaxy Spica Review

May 27, 2010May 27, 2010 Doug Groves Android, Galaxy, google, i5700, Mobile, review, Rogers, Samsung, Spica, urmusic1 Comment

The Spica is one of the most recent Android phones from Samsung, and has been released on Rogers in Canada. It seems pretty obvious that Samsung and Rogers are aiming this at the lower end market, as the Spica can be had, as of this writing, for as little as $29.95 on contract, which makes it a viable alternative to zero dollar ‘dumb phones’. Rogers was kind enough to send us a review unit to put it through the wringer, and I have to say the Spica is an odd…

Next is Now: Rogers branding video

April 29, 2010April 29, 2010 drsquid Android, brand, canada, Internet, iPad, Mobile, product, Rogers, smartphone, video6 Comments

Rogers held their annual shareholders meeting today, and like many of these types of meetings, there’s some slick, well-made corporate video to set the mood. I’ve been on the editing end of more than one of these, so I know how it works. The thing is, this one from Rogers, well, kind of works. Using stats projected in urban environments, it communicates the message that the future is here… or “Next is Now” if you will. Some of the stats are somewhat odd though. I did laugh a bit when…

Rightware unveils Kanzi 3D developers tool

February 2, 2010February 2, 2010 Doug Groves 3D, development tool, Kanzi, Mobile5 Comments

Late last year, upstart Rightware acquired futuremark’s Mobile and Embedded Business Unit, and out of that comes the Kanzi development platform. Aimed at providing a complete pipeline from 3D content creation to deployment to mobile and embedded devices that support OpenGL ES 2.x and 1.x, it looks to be very scalable. What also makes it very interesting is that the 3D format they support, COLLADA, is supported by just about every 3D animation and modeling application out there. Rightwave will unveil more about Kanzi during Mobile World Congress starting February…