Bill-McMinn.com Blog

When Will The Hopper Come To Bell

2012-01-11T07:35:00.001-08:00

Right from the start of the 2012 edition of the Consumer Electronics Show, one of the first product announcements right after the giant screen OLED TV's was a new Satellite receiver with personal video recorder from Dish Network, dubbed the hopper. The Hopper is the first Multi-room PVR on Dish Network. Up to three remote access units dubbbed Joey's by Dish Network connect the TV's in other rooms by regular coaxial cable to the main receiver. With 6 tuners the Hopper can record three shows while watching three other shows. With support for IPTV the Hopper isn't just another satellite TV receiver. Hooking up the Hopper to a broadband connection provides access to Dish Network's Blockbuster on demand service, although there an alternative non broadband version that allows up to ten movies to be downloaded from the downstream from satellite and stored on the Hopper.

Just like other hardware built by echostar for Dish Network the Hopper is expected to be available to Bell TV Satellite subscribers. It's a question of when, not if the hopper will be available to Bell TV dish heads. For Bell launching the hopper in Canada bring multi-room PVR ahead of Shaw Direct. As well the IPTV support will allow Bell to offer the interactive features that are available on their Fibe IPTV service offered in parts of Ontario and Quebec. From the early announcement the hopper satellite receiver PVR is already one of the coolest gadgets to come out this year. It will come North of the border Bell is certain of it.

Geek Predictions For 2012

2011-12-29T08:09:00.001-08:00

2011 is now just a distant memory, which means it's time to once again for that look into my geek crystal ball to see what lies ahead for 2012 in the world of technology.

1. DVD's fade to black: No other consumer video format was adopted by consumers like DVD was in the late 1990's. In just a few years after introduction in 1997, VHS was a chapter in the history of consumer electronics. Like VHS before, DVD's are already getting pushed aside by Blu-Ray, video on demand, and Netflix. Disney already re-releases many of their classic animated films on BluRay a month to six weeks before DVD. Many retail have more shelf space devoted to BluRay than DVD. 2012 this won't just continue but accelerate.

2. Cellular startups consolidate: After a year an a half after launching, Wind Mobile, Mobilicity, and Public Mobile have not seen the subscriber growth that the fledgling cellular carriers were expecting, and now mounting debt have lead to rumours that start up carriers were negotiating a merger deal. To build their networks to bring their services to more potential subscribers, the upstart carriers will need to secure more financing
If the current startup cellular carriers hope to secure any of the recently opened 700 MHz band they will need access to even more money, to bid in the upcoming auctions. Currently Wind Mobile and Mobilicity don't have access to that much money without merging.

3. RIM merges or sings their swan song: As 2011 draws to a close runours abound that Research In Motion is a candidate to be bought out or at the very least merging with another handset maker. Declining marketshare, failures of their popular messaging products and threats by foreign governments to shut down access to RIM's popular messaging services have taken their toll on RIM

4. Windows Phone finally grows their audience: Microsoft's struggle to get market share for Windows Phone 7 comes to an end in 2012 when smartphones running Windows Phone 7 for next generation LTE cellular networks debut early in the year. While Android powered the first LTE smartphones many were watching the race for second place. With no LTE iPhones or Blackberries anywhere in sight Microsoft has an opportunity to break into mobile that they never had before. Microsoft's has credibility in the corporate world that Google simply doesn't have

5. Android tablets start gaining market share: In just a couple years Apple's iPad has dominated the tablet market they created. HP's touch pad was discontinued and remaining stock was sold off at a fire sale price less than two months after introduction. RIM's playbook hasn't fared much better. Tablets running Google's Android from dozens of manufacturers have come into the market for half of the price of an iPad. The lower price hasn't translated into a competitive advantage for the Android tablets. With Apple sticking to LCD based display technology, manufacturers of Android tablets will need to look OLED screen technology to bring better battery life and a thiner tablet to provide that competitive advantage that they need. With Apple continuing pass on LTE, Faster 4G cellular Internet access could provide that competitive advantage that gives the Android tablets a bigger piece of the tablet market pie.

If The AT&T Merger Collapses, What's Next For T-Mobile

2011-11-27T12:50:00.001-08:00

Facing stiff opposition from the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Department of Justice the planned 39 billion dollar merger of T-Mobile and AT&T is likely to fall apart within the next few weeks. Regardless if the merger goes through or not, Deutsche Telekom T-Mobile's German parent company will continue to unload T-Mobile any way they can.

The first alternative to merging with AT&T would be a merger with another wireless carrier. A previously planned merger with Sprint could pass anti-trust scrutiny in this case because joining the third and fourth place carriers would create a stronger third carrier the would better able to compete with Verizon and AT&T. Although such a merger would create a convoluted patchwork of CDMA and HSPA coverage areas. For T-Mobile subscribers this wold mean getting the iPhone within a year.

A similar alternative would be a merger with one of the super regional carriers such as Metro PCS. Merging with T-mobile would allow the a super regional to expand into a national carrier that could challenge Sprint as the third largest national carrier. While a merged carrier would also face the complication of running two networks using different technologies, but both T-Mobile and the super regional carriers intend to migrate to LTE for their next generation high speed wireless networks. For T-Mobile customers this would mean another two years before getting an iPhone.

Another alternative that Deutsche Telekom could consider would be spinning off T-Mobile into a separate independent company. This may not be the preferred way to unload T-Mobile but won't be any anti-trust concerns for US regulators. For T-Mobile subscribers there would not much difference in the service they get now but very little chance of ever getting the iPhone.

Why Doesn't Bell Media Give a Number 2 About Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec?

2011-10-17T11:25:00.000-07:00

That change in the TV landscape that happened at the end of the summer of 2011, that didn't involve trips to dozens of stores in the mad search for digital converter boxes, the rebranding of the A Channel stations as CTV 2 left what what was a semi autonomous mini network under the ownership of Bell Media into a dumping ground of shows that didn't make it onto the main CTV network. In some areas of the country that didn't have an A Channel station, some shows from America's emerging networks that are not often carried on basic cable such as America's Next Top Model, Nikita, and The Vampire Diaries could be hard to find since, they are aired exclusively on CTV 2. Since some Cable systems in areas where CTV 2 is not available over the air stick CTV 2 on a digital tier or don't even carry it at all makes access to these shows harder for potential viewers.

In the Provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Quebec CTV 2 is not available over the air, but at least CTV 2 that serves Alberta is carried on Shaw, and Telus, the former Alberta Access stations that were converted to CTV 2 but the transmitters were shut down rather than converted to digital. In Saskatchewan CTV 2 is available on Shaw in Moose Jaw, Swift Current and Assiniboia on basic cable. On Access CTV 2 is available on the Coast to Coast timeshifting digital tier. Sasktel Max doesn't offer CTV 2 at all. In Manitoba Shaw and MTS doesn't carry CTV 2. Meanwhile Viewers in Outaouais are the only Videotron subscribers that have access to CTV 2 on basic cable since it is also available over the air from the re-broadcast transmitter outside of Ottawa.

Limited access to CTV 2 on cable and telco television services will help drive subscribers to switch Bell's satellite TV services. Since the CRTC is directive that broadcast distributors that own the television networks not to give their own channels preferential placement would give Bell Media incentive to get CTV 2 on basic packages offered by cable and telco TV services. The only places that CTV 2 is available on basic cable is in areas that it is also available over the air since cable operators are mandated to carry all over the air stations on the most basic package. Bell Media can make CTV 2 available over the air without having to build a single transmitter at very little cost. ATSC offers TV stations the ability to transmit two or more different signals from a single transmitter a feature called mulitcasting. Through the use of multicasting CTV 2 would be available over the air which would make it mandatory for cable companies to send it on basic.

CBC Transmitters Get Stay Of Execution

2011-08-17T07:54:00.001-07:00

Canadians using antennas to receive over the air television signals in certain cities that were threatened with losing CBC television on August 31st can relax because an application for an extension for one year was approved by the CRTC to allow CBC transmitters that were slated to shut down to operate in analog until August 31, 2012 to allow CBC to make 'alternative arrangements' for OTA viewers that would be adversely affected by CBC shutting down transmitters. 
The CBC has not announced what alternate arrangements they would make with OTA TV viewers.  Would CBC buy cable TV subscriptions for any CBC watchers that would lose in any community where CBC is unwilling to upgrade their transmitters?  The only 'alternative arrangement' that the CBC should get is any transmitters that the CBC doesn't upgrade to digital should be sold to community groups and private companies that would upgrade and operate these stations as CBC affiliates. 
CBC's license from the CRTC is up for renewal within the one year analog stay of execution.  If the CRTC and the elected officials the CRTC answers to hear from enough Canadians that, letting CBC shut down transmitters is unacceptable and doing such is a failure of the CBC's mandate of universal accessibility to all Canadians.  The only alternative arrangement that CRTC would have is revoking the license for the CBC to operate their network.
An addendum to the story, the proposed upgrade the transmitter of CBAT, the CBC station that serves Fredriction and Saint John, New Brunswick was finally approved by the CRTC.  CBC's original application was rejected by the CRTC back in January because CBC proposed installing a digital transmitter to serve Fredricton leaving viewers who rely on over the air signals in Saint John stuck with analog. As much as it should be said that a better proposal came from the CBC that would provide digital OTA service to both Fredricton and Saint John, it's not. The application to operate the digital transmitter is the same as the application that the CRTC rejected. Saint John TV viewers will get the same analog service after August 31st. For a public broadcaster with a mandate to serve all Canadians, the actions of the CBC have been running quite contrary to that mandate.

How The TV Networks Underestimate OTA Viewership

2011-08-14T00:58:00.001-07:00

With a few weeks remaining until free over the air TV goes digital in Canada's major cities. Unlike the American digital TV transition two years ago, the conversion to digital TV is much more low key. Canada's television broadcasting industry claims that because higher usage of cable and satellite television services is the reason for the much less than enthusiastic approach to the change over to digital TV. Canada's 30 top media markets will get digital and high definition TV over the air for free after August 31st. Residents in small towns and rural areas who watch over the air TV from rebroadcast relay transmitters will remain stuck with analog service for the next few years.

Canada's private television networks have found themselves getting bought out by the companies that distribute their programming through wires or by satellite. Many blame this ownership as the sole reason that television networks down play the role of over the air transmission as part of their business. It is estimated by the TV networks 9 percent of viewers receive their programming by over the air signals. The estimate by the television broadcasting industry only takes viewers who use antennas as their only means of television reception. Friends of Canadian. Broadcasting estimates that 30 percent of Canadian households have at least one TV set with an antenna.

There are many viewers of over the air signals that are not counted by any of the estimates, long haul truckers with small TV's in their rigs using just an antenna to receive TV programming during overnight stays at truck stops. While some who tour across the country in their recreational vehicles have satellite TV service the majority of RVer's just raise their TV antenna on the roof of their unit to catch the news or favorite shows after parking at a campground for the evening. Even a significant number of those whose second recreational home is in a fixed location such as a cottage or cabin get their television signals with an antenna.

While Canada's private television networks are only upgrading transmitters that serve the CRTC mandated markets by the August 31st deadline, both CTV and Global are going to upgrade all their rebroadcast transmitters by 2016. Despite the high cost of replacing transmitters is pretty high, It is in the economical interest of TV stations to upgrade to digital due to the lower operating cost through lower power consumption of digital transmitters. Only one tenth of the wattage is required for digital broadcast compared with the analog counterpart.

While most who are dependent on over the air TV will have a few years to wait for digital broadcasts, Global and CTV will be doing a lot more than CBC. The public broadcaster whose mandate to be available over the air to all Canadians is staying analog in all areas that are not mandated by the CRTC until the analog transmitters reach the end of their lifespan and die and then no new transmitters will be installed. It's surprising unexpected that the profit motivated private networks have a stronger commitment to over the air viewers than the network owned by the people for the people.

Why Canadians Won't Be Able To Go Diamond on Xbox Live

2011-06-11T00:21:00.000-07:00

One of the main highlights at the recent 2011 E3 trade show was the announcement by Microsoft to turn Xbox live into a subscription television service that would compete against cable and satellite TV companies. The new service dubbed as Xbox Live Diamond by video game gossip web sites will feature dozens of channels of streaming video content which includes many shows that appear on broadcast networks, cable channels and premium channels was well as shows made for the service.

For in Canada hoping to subscribe to the service as an alternative to existing cable or satellite TV will be sitting there hoping for a very long time. As many know online video services get held up at the border for years at a time as companies that hold Canadian broadcast and Internet streaming rights refuse to reliquinish those rights to sites as Hulu, and as a result some of those sites have never launched in Canada and don't plan to ether. One exeception is Netflix which is available in Canada but with a line up that is far more limited than the Netflix offering in the United States.

Even for a deep pocketed company such as Microsoft, launching any online video service north of the 49th parallel will be a nearly impossible task, given recent history with Canadian rights holders in the past. When Microsoft launched the Zune music player in Canada in 2008 it was without access to the Zune Marketplace online music store. Canada's music industry wouldn't make a deal with Microsoft to sell music downloads to Canadians. When Microsoft added subscription service with Zune Pass, Canada's music industry still didn't budge and Canadians were left without all you can eat music downloads for one monthly price.

Since most of Canada's media is owned by cable and telephone companies that are the companies that most Canadians buy Internet service from. Since online video has the potential poach cable and satellite TV viewership, Bell, Rogers, Telus, and Shaw are doing everything they can to protect cable and satellite TV business. Since Bell, Rogers and Shaw are the Canadian rights holders to most video programming from the United States, they are highly unlikely to resell Internet streaming rights to Microsoft no matter how much money big M brings to the table. For Canadian gamers Xbox live will continue to be just for online gaming and won't be the reason to kiss their traditional cable or satellite TV provider good bye.

Are Saskatoonians Uninterested In Saving Their CBC Stations?

2011-05-30T09:47:00.000-07:00

As previously announced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Saskatoon along with Moncton, New Brunswick, London, Ontario, and Lethbridge, Alberta are going to be losing CBC televison stations (Both English and French) on August 31st. It is mandatory in these cities for television stations to turn off existing analog transmitters and start up digital transmitters or go off the air forever. Minority language over the air broadcasting is also scheduled to get deep cuts as French language stations in English Canada and English language CBC stations in Quebec will cut to static.

Many in affected communites are taking action to keep CBC available for free to all viewers. Protest rallies have already taken place in London and Moncton. Municipal politicians are lobbying CBC executives and federal politicans to get digital transmitters built rather than the planned end of over the air broadcasting by the CBC when August draws a close.

Although there is activity in affected communites, in Saskatoon however there has not been any rallies, no lobbying federal politicans, there hasn't even been a single mention in the media about the digital TV transition or that CBC television will soon get the ax. While it may seem that there is a slim chance to save the over the air broadcast from CBC stations in the affected communities, if Saskatoonians don't do anything to try to save their local CBC station, then they won't get get anything when trying to turn on CBC television on September 1st.

CPCC Demands Right To Pick Canadian Pockets Even Further

2011-05-17T15:30:00.001-07:00

The Canadian Private Copying Collective, the non government agency that makes Canadians pay 21 cents every time they burn CD's is asking the Copyright Board to charge a levy on the memory cards that Canadians use in their digital cameras and distribute the money raised to the recording industry.

While memory cards are often used in cell phones that can play MP3 files, the majority of memory cards are used in digital cameras, devices used for the creation of intellectual property. Even though memory cards can be used to store music files even those that are bought and paid for legally, USB flash drives are more often used to copy music between computers, the CPCC proposal does not mention USB flash drives just memory cards.

This isn't the first time that the CPCC proposed charging a levy on memory cards. About five years ago after the CPCC's levy on iPods and other MP3 players was dumped into the grave by the federal appeal court the CPCC sought to have levies charged on blank DVD's and memory cards. Now that the Copyright Board is now comprised by more Conservative leaning bureaucrats, the Canadian Private Copying Collective will most likely be sent packing, as they should be for good.

Sasktel joins 4G Flim Flam

2011-04-28T00:30:00.001-07:00

Just before the announcement of the mega merger south of the 49th, cellular carriers T-Mobile and AT&T started questionable advertising that touts their current HSPA networks as '4G' Even though Neither company has turned on any towers that have been upgraded to LTE a true fourth generation cellular network technology.

Now just eight months after introducing 3G, Sasktel is promoting their HSPA network as being 4G. Actual true 4G service in Canada is still a couple of years away, one of the frequency bands required for LTE, the 700 MHz band doesn't officially available until after August 31st when the television broadcasting industry requinishes that frequency band.

The first LTE 4G services in Canada ared going to come from the big three carriers Telus, Rogers, and Bell that will be a few years. LTE service from the regional carriers are several years away. Even Sasktel isn't planning a network upgrade to LTE until 2015 - 2018.
Word coming through the grapevine is that Rogers is planning to start offering LTE in Saskatchewan by 2012. Despite bashing Rogers gets in Saskatchewan that is unjustified, stupid, and just plain wrong. It's real 4G and not the same 3G with a 4G label that's dishonestly slapped on.

Dual Mode iPhone 5? Potentially Yes

2011-04-21T13:08:00.000-07:00

Just a couple of months out of the gate the CDMA based iPhone 4, is going to be supplanted by an iPhone 5 as early as September an early sign that there will be a single model iPhone 5 that supports both CDMA and HSPA networks comes from an announcement from the Chief Financial Officer, Fran Shammo of Verizon Communications that next iPhone will be a Global model that would support both CDMA for Verizon's network and GSM for roaming outside of North America.

Would it make sense to make a iPhone CDMA/GSM hybrid for Verizon and a HSPA only version for AT&T? Would it make more sense to make a single model that supports both CDMA and HSPA to sell to all carriers that sell iPhones? It would be cheaper for Apple's manufacturing partners though.

A hybrid CDMA/HSPA iPhone would be beneficial to Canadian subscribers on Telus and Bell that still have some parts of their networks in remote areas that have not been upgraded to HSPA that are still CDMA only. For smaller Canadian carriers MTS, Sasktel and TbayTel that launching the iPhone on April 26th, they still have large portions of their networks that will be CDMA only for a year or two to come.

CBC Television in Saskatoon To Be Eliminated

2011-04-12T00:18:00.001-07:00

After television transmitters move from analog to to digital on August 31st, over the air TV viewers in Saskatoon will find the number of stations picked up with antennas has gone from four down to just two. CBC is going to shut down the analog transmitters sending out the signals from CBKST (English television) and CBKFT-1 as mandated but will not be replaced with digital transmitters to take their place. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation considers the Saskatoon transmitters as rebroadcasting the signals that originate from CBKT and CBKFT from Regina and not actual TV stations as the reason for eliminating the Saskatoon transmitters. That will leave CFQC (CTV) and CFSK (Global) as the only two over the air TV stations that serve the Saskatoon market.

Cable providers that will mean making arrangements to bring in an alternative CBC feeds to replace the English and French channels that are being terminated. Most likely that will mean bringing in CBKT and CBKFT from Regina. For the homes that only use over the air signals for television programming, even though it's a small percentage in a coverage area of over 300,000 people that means 20,000 or more will not have access to CBC's most popular programming, Hockey Night in Canada. Is that something the National Hockey League would care about?

The cost of upgrading would be high, that cost would be recovered quickly due to the lower power requirements of digital television broadcasting. Any attempt to blame the elimination of CBC television in Saskatoon on not getting the carriage fees from cable and satellite providers is yet another red herring, since CBC television gets both advertising revenue and taxpayer support. Losing CBC television has nothing to with funding, it's all politics.

CBC's official announcement: "CBC will not be installing a digital transmitter in Saskatoon"

How Will Geeks Vote This Election

2011-03-31T12:31:00.000-07:00

The fall of the Government and the call of the election on May 2 has made Canadians grumble about having to go through another campaign and voting for the fourth time since 2004. For the few, the proud, the geeky dissolving parliament for an election comes just in time to kill yet another copyright bill that was nothing but a DMCA clone just weeks before it was due to become law.

In previous elections, I personally voted Conservative partly because they were the only party that stood opposed to the blank media levy administered by the Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) which is nothing but corporate welfare for the recording industry. Making people pay the levies on blank media is making people pay a fine even if they do not do the crime.

Under the Liberals the television broadcasting industry was allowed to take a we'll get to it when we feel like it attitude towards the transition to digital broadcasting. It was chairman of the CRTC that was appointed by prime minister Stephen Harper that took a hard line position and told the TV industry August, 31 is the day that TV stations will go digital or go off the air.

Unlike the blank media levy where the federal parties took sides both for and against, many tech related issues that matter to geeks have gone ignored by the federal parties. Has any of the political parties come out and said, "Yes, we support net neutrality!", sadly not that I've heard. Has any of the federal parties stated any opposition to usage based billing for broadband service? Again not to be found.

Technology has become a big part of the lives of Canadians issues relating to technology require strong leadership to help Canadians who use and enjoy technology come to decision they can be comfortable about when they vote on May 2.

AT&T Buying T-Mobile, What It Means For The Rest Of Us

2011-03-21T12:21:00.000-07:00

Fending off a potentially suicidal buyout from Sprint, the German parent of T-Mobile USA has sold off all their American holdings to AT&T for 39 billion dollars. After the joining together T-Mobile's 35 million subscribers to AT&T 95 million subscribers the combined company will have 125 million subscribers putting they way ahead of Verizon's 96 million subscribers. Obtaining control of T-Mobile's infrastructure, AT&T could potentially ease some of the congestion on their wireless network in America's five largest cities.

Of course current T-Mobile subscribers will get the iPhone when the acquisition completes and become AT&T subscribers. Current AT&T subscribers will get access to AWS network and in preparation current AT&T hardware will needed to by upgraded to support AWS. That will give subscribers on Wind Mobile and Mobilicity a greater range hardware including the iPhone if Apple chooses support AWS. Wind Mobile and Mobilicity subscribers will get better US roaming when AT&T upgrades their own towers to add AWS capability.

It's possible that subscribers on T-Mobile's subscribers on low priced plans will have to upgrade to a more expensive plan on AT&T, since it will be several more months before the acquisition gets approval by the FCC and FTC it maybe a good idea to sign on to a contract renewal before the approvals come.

A Eulogy For The Zune

2011-03-16T08:11:00.001-07:00

After a long battle with public apathy Microsoft's portable media player the Zune passed away quietly. Zune came to marker late in 2006 and attracted a small but very loyal fanbase. Zune offered unlimited music by subscription an FM radio and WiFi sync, features that Zune's arch nemesis iPod lacked. iPod's better music store and less restrictive DRM won people over.

Early in life Zune suffered from ugly device syndrome, looking like a brick with a screen, and brown as you know what. After a while more models in different colours came out but after the ugly device syndrome was treated, poor marketing lead consumer apathy had set in which would turn out to be terminal.

Zune was predecased by Plays For Sure and Windows media player. Left to mourn Zune's passing are Xbox 360 and Windows Phone 7.

Canada Will Not Become A Nation of 'Cord Cutters'

2011-02-23T21:50:00.001-08:00

The biggest trend in the United States after the rise of Online video sites Netflix and Hulu, thousands have left their cable, satellite and telco subscription television services behind. Video game consoles and devices such as Rockzz and Boxee box have moved online video from the computer to the living room TV.

As much as Canadians love to complain about Cable, satellite and telephone companies, canuck couch potatoes North of the 49th will not be quite so willing to follow their American counterparts who have left a traditional cable or satellite to watch Internet video exclusively.

Firstly Canadians don't have as many online video sources that are available stateside. Netflix one of the Internet's largest providers of movies and TV shows has been in Canada for just a few months. The selection available from netflix in Canada is just a fraction of what Netflix offers in the United States. The Internet's other alternative to network programming that specializes in delivering network programming online Hulu.com is still a forbidden fruit in Canada.

The biggest thorn in the side of all potential Canadian cord cutters is the current over usage based billing, where ISP's want to have through right to charge high bandwidth users (such as people watching HD programming from online sources). It doesn't help when the major broadband providers also are the cable and telephone companies that see services such as Netflix as a threat to the subscription television services they sell already.

One additional factor that is making cord cutting unattractive to Canadians is the lackluster commitment to high definition broadcasting on the part of Canada's broadcast networks. HD programming over the air is only available in about half a dozen markets. This is sure to improve after the deadline to switch to digital broadcasting on August 31st. Two of Canada's broadcast networks are owned by a cable company and a telephone company, there is a vested interest to keep over the air viewers watching snowy analog pictures.

The cord cutting trend is freeing people from the few large companies that control media and telecommunications. The problem in Canada is that these companies has so much control that it is practically impossible to experience the freedom to watch what you want to watch not what cable, satellite or telephone company will let you watch.

Should App Store Games Need ESRB Ratings?

2011-02-08T23:11:00.000-08:00

In just a couple of years Apple's app store grew to 300,000 programs, the most popular category is the games. Most of the games are created by people on their computers coding away, the major publishers such as Electronic Arts and Activision have versions of their most popular games for the home consoles and portable systems available for purchase on the App store that can be played on any iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. This has made Apple the third giant of handheld gaming.

All the games are easily accessible, but maybe a little too accessible, and that can be a problem for parents who are looking to keep inappropriate games away from younger players. Parents have had the ratings system put in place and administrated by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board to help parents make good choices about which games for home console, handheld systems and computer are appropriate for their children to play. Games on the App store do not carry ESRB ratings, which does not give parents any kind of guidelines about the contents of App store games.

Reviewing and rating all the games on the App store by ESRB may be a task too big to be realistic, however when major franchise games from the big publishers such as Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed can be downloaded without any sort of age restriction, that's something that will need to be addressed and soon. While a credit card is required to set up an iTunes account, all games, apps and songs can downloaded with pre-paid cards regardless of content.

If Apple wants to be a player in the video game industry then they will have to demand ESRB ratings from the Major game publishers. If not, game publishers as well as Apple itself can and will facing the legal reprisal from jurisdictions that mandate by law restricting the sales of games that carry the Mature rating to those over the age of seventeen.

What Needs To Be Known About NGP's 3G

2011-01-31T08:43:00.000-08:00

The much rumored follow up to the Playstation Portable codenamed the Next Generation Portable or NGP by been officially been announced by Sony. Sporting a screen that displays 720p high definition graphics and two analog thumb sticks, Sony promises the NGP will deliver a gaming experience only matched by the PS 3. One feature that surprised many analysts and journalists that follow the video game industry is the built in 3G capability.

Onboard 3G will bring online multiplayer gaming to anywhere there is 3G service available. What isn't known is if Sony will be selling the NGP using a business model similar to Apple's iPad making the end customer subscribe to 3G service on their own or will be more like Amazon's Kindle where the cost buying content pays for 3G service. Since the onboard 3G will be used for playing online, not just for downloading content it's extremely likely that Sony will choose the former rather than the latter.

Another of the first of the early questions about the NGP's 3G is going to be which carriers' networks are going to be compatible the NGP. If Sony chooses make the end user responsible for subscribing to their own 3G service it will be most likely that HSPA/UMTS/GSM networks will be compatible. American gamers will need to subscribe to data service from AT&T and possibly T-Mobile if Sony chooses to support Advanced Wireless Spectrum bands on the NGP.

Subscribers on Verizon and Sprint are once again SOL, Even though CDMA subscribers make up about half of the cell subscribers in all of North America, putting in CDMA would increase the cost and would be next to impossible to get service hooked up since both Verizon and Sprint don't activate devices they didn't originally sell through their authorized retail outlets.

For Canadian gamers, getting online through 3G will be pretty easy, since the NGP will be compatible with Rogers, Fido, Telus and Bell right out of the box. If the NGP comes compatible with AWS Wind Mobile and Mobilicity will also be compatible. MTS may also be compatible if they can get their HSPA network that they have been promising up and running before the NGP launches at the end of 2011. However subscribers on Sasktel may have problems getting an NGP online, not because of an incompatible network, just incompatible customer service. Sasktel even after switching to an HSPA network still refuses to activate unlocked devices on their network.

Putting 3G on the NGP will bring an online component that will help Sony compete against Nintendo's 3DS and will undoubtedly be game changing.

RIM Playbook 4G Could Be Rare In Canada

2011-01-25T08:32:00.000-08:00

At the recent Consumer Electronics Show, and just about everywhere else RIM has showed it, the Playbook RIM's answer to Apple's iPad is a surprise hit. The Playbook launches from their position as a maker of smartphones that have traditionally appealed to the corporate world into a company that makes general consumer electronics. Just like the iPad the entry level model will get online through WiFi only, but unlike Apple's high end iPad with 3G connectivity, RIM's upper end Playbook can get online there's a 4G connection through Sprint's WiMax network.

For the vast majority of potential users who do not yet have access to any 4G service the Playbook can be WiFi tethered to Blackberry smartphone or a MiFi personal hotspot to access 3G service. A rather cumbersome work around to get connected outside the limited areas covered by 4G service.

For those in the Great White North looking to get a Playbook, it's already looking like it will be a better idea to save your pennies and go with the WiFi only model. WiMax service only available in popular cottaging areas North of Toronto, and some ski resorts in Alberta and BC. WiMax provider Inukshuk Wireless, a partnership between Rogers & Bell hasn't built out into most densely populated areas, owing any WiMax device may make any buyer regret spending the money very quickly.

Now that Rogers and Bell have stated intentions of building LTE networks, the makes any expansion of Inukshuk unlikely at best. That will mean that waiting for a future Playbook with onboard 3G or LTE support for those Canadians, especially those in Manitoba (MTS) and Saskatchewan (Sasktel) who will not be getting WiMax at all, who don't wish to be bothered with tethering with a Blackberry.

Windows Phone 7: What's Next?

2011-01-24T11:48:00.000-08:00

In the past few months since Microsoft launched Windows Phone 7 all that has been seen is a bunch of ads promoting Windows Phone 7 as the smartphone for those who don't typically use smartphones. Despite the claim 1.5 million Windows Phone handsets have been sold to carriers, there has been no mention of how many Windows Phone 7 handsets have been sold to consumers. Undoubtedly there is so much more that can be done to sell Windows Phone 7. Microsoft to their credit, including access to Xbox live and allowing developers of games that play on Xbox 360 to develop games to run on Windows Phone 7 that integrate into Xbox live will most certainly appeal to gamers.

To those who would never buy a smartphone and video game players, Microsoft has those users covered but for any other smartphone user, does Windows Phone 7 offer anything better than what they get from iPhone, Android, or Blackberry? The answer is generally considered to be an overwhelming no. How can Microsoft turn things around before Windows Phone 7 ends up a lost cause, and not become another WebOS?

Firstly, the Big M will need to get Windows Phone 7 on every cell carrier they can. Leaving out CDMA in the initial release of Windows Phone 7 was a fatal flaw, Now that Verizon will be carrying the iPhone Microsoft kissed away one of largest groups of cell phone subscribers. That leaves Sprint's 45 million subscribers, may be the third largest carrier but still a large enough group of potential customers to make adding support for CDMA worthwhile for Microsoft. There are still many subscribers on regional cell carriers where the only smartphone they have access to is Blackberries. That's is starting to change though, Android phones are now starting to appear on smaller carriers.

Microsoft's long path to greater market share is not just getting Windows Phone 7 Handsets on more of today's wireless networks, but tomorrow's as well. Long Term Evolution or LTE currently being rolled out by Verizon, with deployment by AT&T next year and by T-Mobile to follow, getting Windows Phone 7 on LTE based smartphones will get Microsoft in ahead of most of the competition. The only operating system will be available in the short term is Android. Apple and Research In Motion have not yet even announced LTE iPhones or Blackberries.

Since Blackberry is widely considered to be in decline, and WebOS is considered to be a crash and burn, The smartphone OS market is shaping up to be a two horse race. It would not be impossible for Microsoft to come from behind and become the third major player in the market. They can do it, they have done so before in home video games.

Verizon's iPhone Is Going To Suck!!

2011-01-10T23:27:00.000-08:00

Three and a half years of pent up anticipation will come to an end when Verizon Wireless and Apple announce that Verizon will become the second carrier in the United States to carry the iPhone. Unlike in most countries where the iPhone is sold that a carrier's exclusivity ends and then every other carrier sell iPhones. It will be the first time that the iPhone hardware is engineered from the ground up for just one carrier. Unlike the GSM & UMTS technologies found in every iPhone sold to date, Verizon's CDMA network has limitations that will make the experience of using an iPhone running Verizon's network unlike the iPhone experience that people are used to.

Just about every criticism of AT&T's iPhone service comes from just two American cities - San Francisco and New York. Both cities restrict the number, placement, and height of cell phone towers. These restrictions have caused the dropped calls and slow data rates that iPhone users in these cities to complain about the service that AT&T provides. However all cell phone carriers operate under these restrictions including Verizon. If the subscribers who get iPhones from Verizon are defectors from AT&T there will be will be faster data rates and fewer dropped calls for iPhone users on both Verizon and AT&T. If however Verizon attracts new subscribers or their current subscribers upgrade to iPhones, Verizon's network will bog down in San Francisco and New York.

Despite the complaints in a few areas of slow data speed, AT&T can actually provide faster data connections due to their faster 3G HSPA technology, which can provide data speeds up to 7.2 Mbps, which is far greater than the EV-DO technology used by Verizon which tops just short of 1.0 Mbps. This ability for AT&T has been well promoted through their own commercials.

Another limitation of CDMA is that when data applications are unable to run while a call is connected. Another advantage of the iPhone that was advertised by both Apple and AT&T in the past. Apple has added more and more multitasking abilities into the iPhone over the past couple of years only to saddle themselves with a limitation like that for the Verizon iPhone, probably one of the reasons it took this long.

Users of smartphones know way too well the daily need to feed their phones power to charge their batteries. iPhones are no different, a voracious appetite for electricity which if it goes unfulfilled can leave an iPhone sitting with a dead battery. Using CDMA technology that appetite for power gets a lot larger. CDMA phones have always performed poorly when compared with GSM counterparts. Combining the already short battery life inherent to CDMA, with the battery gobbling tendencies of the iPhone means a good time for those selling iPhone charging products.

There has been a lot of excitement about the possibility that someday there would be an iPhone coming to Verizon, because of the limitations of CDMA hardware there are going to be a lot of disappointment when Verizon's iPhones don't provide the same experience that everybody else's iPhones have.

Are You Ready For Cell Phone Commerce?

2011-01-05T08:39:00.000-08:00

Just in the past couple of years advancements in payment processing have brought consumers from swiping the card and then signing the credit slip or keying in a pin for a debit transaction, to chip and pin on both debit and credit cards and now tap and go technology now found on both MasterCard and Visa cards. In the near term future technology that will even replace the plastic cards that consumers have loved (or hated) to make purchases with their own cell phones will emerge.

The idea of making purchases with a cell phone instead of cash has existed for several years. In some asian countries vending machines with text messaging ordering and payment has existed for some time. A customer sends a text message with the name of the product to be dispensed, the purchase price is then added to the customer's next cell phone bill or deducted from their pre-paid account.

Paying for purchases could move from vending machines to the point of sale terminals in retail stores within the next couple of years. One such system backed by Google and potentially Apple known as Near Field Communication works exactly like PayPass enabled MasterCard or PayWave enabled Visa transactions, an RFID chip embedded in the phone would send it's information to the store's point of sale system. This could require the purchaser to key in a PIN into their phone in order allow a transaction to proceed. This could add a layer of security that current PayPass and PayWave systems being implemented by the credit card issuers don't have.

Another system being proposed is using a display screen on the point of sale terminal that shows a bar code that the customer takes a picture with their phone, an app on their phone would make the customer verify and authorize the purchase being made.

Canada's largest by volume payment processor, Interac has not stated any intent or interest in mobile commerce, If retail establishments implement cell phone payment processing, it could leave those who do not have credit cards on the outside looking in, similar to online shopping is now.

For every new technology, there are going to opportunities to exploit it to steal credit and debit card numbers along with PIN's assigned to cardholders. It would not be impossible for criminals to park a van in front of a store set up a completely open WiFi access point. Most smartphones have WiFi capability that automatically connects to open WiFi access points that would allow for sensitive data like credit card numbers and PIN's to be captured and allow potential identity theft.

For cell phone based payment systems to take hold and displace plastic cards security will have to be a major issue that needs to be addressed. Even when it's proven that mobile commerce can be secure it will be a hard sell to both retailers and consumers.

Digital Prognostications for 2011

2010-12-28T09:31:00.000-08:00

Now only days remain in 2010, the time has arrived to take a look ahead to what I think 2011 holds in the technology industry.

1. Digital Disaster August 31st: Now that the switch over from analog to digital is less than nine months away there still hasn't been much if any public education from television stations leaving those who use antennas to receive over the air broadcast television in the dark. Retailers selling electronics have plenty of television sets with digital tuners in stock, but converter boxes that are required for the millions of existing TV sets that are hooked to antennas are very few and far between on store shelves. Unless massive public education happens between now and the 31st of August many people who are dependent on over the air signals to get television will be staring at snow after the 31st.

2. No Installment of Call of Duty coming in 2011: In the past few years many gamers have picked an early Christmas present, the latest installment of Call of Duty. Early in November 2011 the shelves of retail stores will have a big hole on the shelves where a new installment should be. All this is because the gutting of executives and employees from Infinity Ward one of the developers of the Call of Duty games. As a response to controversy over the decision not to have dedicated servers CoD publisher Activision demanded changes at Infinity Ward, and most of the company tendered their resignations. While there is a Modern Warfare 3 already in development it's expected until 2012.

3. EA vs. Zynga: Let the legal b***h slapping begin: At the end of 2010 the surprise success story of social network gaming, Zynga launched Cityville a game where players build (or destroy) their own virtual city. If this sounds like a game you've probably played before that's because it is. Electronic Arts is probably watching Cityville very closely and getting their army of lawyers ready to launch lawsuit claiming that Cityville infringes on EA's SimCity patents and copyright.

4. Video Game Industry Downturn Becomes A Crash and Burn: Between mid 2009 and the present video game software sales have gotten soft so to speak. Most game publishers reporting sales down from a year ago which were down from the year before that. Most sales declines can probably be blamed on the excess of titles to choose from but a shortage of quality games in the market. Many games are launching at the average retail price only to fall to bargain bin prices in just weeks. Some games are rushed through development to get into stores, such as EA Sports MMA. Game publishers will need to cut down on the number of games being developed in order to get better games into stores. Otherwise the current downturn will turn into something we haven't seen since the video game crash of 1983.

5. If the Verizon iPhone launches it will be on LTE only: It has been rumoured since launch of the original iPhone in 2007, an iPhone that runs on Verizon Wireless. There were rumors that Apple was ordering chips from Qualcomm for a CDMA iPhone. However the iPhone for CDMA networks has not yet materialized. Now that Verizon now launched 4G LTE network Apple will be considering an iPhone for Verizon. While CDMA was a popular technology, it's now outdated. Cellular bandwidth on CDMA is limited to under 1 Mbps which was just not enough required for many Apps. As advertised by both Apple and AT&T making a call on a CDMA phone disables any ability to use any other data requiring application such as surfing the web or retrieving an e-mail. LTE does not have any of these constrictions. To make sure that the iPhone experience is the same for all users regardless of their cellular carrier (you know that Apple is all about the user experience.) That means that the dream of a CDMA iPhone will be a dream left in the past. If Apple announces a Verizon iPhone it will be announced at the start of the year but won't launch until the end of 2011 to give Verizon time to expand their LTE network coverage.

2011 Will Be The Year of The Handheld Gaming Wars (Again)

2010-12-22T09:52:00.000-08:00

2011 is now just less than two weeks away, and it’s already looking like new handheld systems are going to be the biggest sellers to come from the video game industry in the year ahead. There is already a new DS with 3D graphics coming from Nintendo. The retail release of the 3DS is scheduled January for Japan and March for North America.

Sony, still bruised from the thud made by the PSP Go when it hit the market at the end of 2009, will be looking for redemption from two new handheld systems. The first isn't exactly a Playstation Portable, It's a smartphone that runs Google's Android operating system with a PSP shoehorned into it. The controller slides out from the screen similar to the PSP Go. Like the PSP the games will delivered exclusively as digital downloads. What is not known is that the games downloaded for the PSP and PSP go will be the same game files that play on the PSP phone, or will the games for the PSP Phone be special versions for the PSP Phone.

Looking to launch their own next generation of handheld gaming the next system Sony is expected to launch the next system that is already dubbed PSP 2. Like the PSP Go and the expected PSP Phone the PSP 2 will only hold games downloaded from Playstation Network. Some circulating rumours state that the PSP 2 will have a touch screen, and virtual analog control, an where moving a thumb on the surface of the PSP 2 will have the same effect as moving an analog stick on a game console controller.

Sony has not yet announced if downloadable games that play on PSP and PSP Go will work on the PSP 2. It is highly likely that the PSP 2 will not have a UMD drive, which means games on disc will be stuck on the original Playstation Portable. Whatever the form the PSP 2 and PSP Phone take, Sony will need find their target audience in order to be successful with the new PSP systems. The youth market continued to be dominated by Nintendo and Panasonic targeting the hardcore gamers with their Jungle handheld system that could launch by the end of 2011, there could be little room for Sony if they don't stake their claim with gamers now. Nintendo, Sony, and Panasonic all have to compete against Apple's iOS based devices which Apple argues is the world's most popular handheld gaming platform.

Technology Predictions Revisited

2010-12-15T11:08:00.000-08:00

As another year draws to a close it's time to revisit the predictions made about a year ago on this blog. To review:

1. Beginning of the end of CDMA: Metro PCS, and Verizon launched LTE at the end of 2010, Sasktel turned on HSPA, leaving MTS as Canada's CDMA only carrier this on was right on the mark.

2. No iPhone on Verizon this year: While rumors ran rampant the whole year long there was no Verizon iPhone to be seen. Got this one right too.

3. Palm offers WebOS based GSM smartphones: Here's one I missed: Palm gets bought out by Hewlett Packard and is MIA ever since.

4. Facebook IPO: Got another one wrong, I guess Mark Zuckerberg already a billionaire, then the thought of making easy billions selling shares of Facebook on the stock market hasn't entered his mind.

2 wrong, 2 right, my geek crystal ball was a little cloudy after all, for a look ahead to 2011 stay tuned.

Canada's Long Term Wait for LTE

2010-12-13T09:51:00.000-08:00

Any Canadian cell phone junkie who watches any American television has undoubtedly has seen the commercials for Verizon's 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) network and is already is wishing that it was available in Canada. LTE is going to be one of those technologies that Canadians will get that familiar outside looking in feeling. Like Small dish satellite TV, Tivo's and iPhones Canadians will have years to wait until LTE will make it's way over the border.

The first barrier to getting LTE in Canada is the 700 MHz band needed for LTE is currently occupied by TV stations operating on channels 52-69. The 700 MHz band will be cleared when Canada's DTV transition happens on August 31st. All TV stations will have to move to lower channels, even the rebroadcast relays even though those will be allowed to stay on Analog will have to move to a lower channel. Once the spectrum is cleared, then Industry Canada in consultation will hold an auction to sell licences to operate LTE services in the 700 MHz band. The process of the Auction could last a year or more.

After the auction process, the carriers that won licenses have to upgrade their networks in the case of incumbent carriers or build their networks in the case of startup carriers. This could take another year or more. At minimum it will 2013 before any LTE 4G service can launch in Canada. Rogers and Bell are currently field testing LTE in Ontario but their networks are already traffic heavy with current HSPA traffic and legacy GSM and CDMA traffic which will remain on their networks for several years to come. The incumbent carriers will need to win some licenses in the 700 MHz band before they can roll out LTE service.

Shaw Communications already owns licenses to offer wireless communications services using the Advanced Wireless Spectrum (AWS) bands found at 1700 MHz and 2100 MHz. Shaw has stated that they intend to use LTE as the technology to deliver Wireless service to consumers. It will be advisable that Shaw will wait to bid on 700 MHz spectrum to supplement their existing licenses on AWS. Subscribers on Wind Mobile and Mobilicity have discovered AWS has proven to be notorious prone to dead sports in densely populated urban areas. Service on the 700 band will be less prone to dead spots.

Subscribers on regional carriers such as Sasktel and MTS, as well as subscribers on startup carriers Wind Mobile and Mobilicity will have a longer wait as financing network upgrades for LTE will be an additional issue that these carriers will have to face. Building or upgrading networks to support current HSPA has added an incredible debt load that these carriers will have to carry for many years to come. Upgrading to LTE will add to this existing debt which will lead to a couple more years of delay.

Long Term Evolution seems aptly named especially for Canadians, because we'll see LTE sometime- in the long term.

More information on Long Term Evolution (LTE)

CTV Globemedia Has To Put The Grey Cup On CTV

2010-11-22T09:29:00.000-08:00

My blog is about technology and impact it has in Canada, but I do write about technology and Canadian media. For once I will write about Canadian media and my weekend passion, football. For the forth year in a row many fans of the Canadian Football League, including my parents who only subscribe to a basic cable package which doesn't include TSN will not be able to watch the Grey Cup (or any other game from the previous four seasons). Despite owning both TSN and the CTV network, CTV Globemedia chooses to air the No Fun League from south of the border on CTV for all Canadians to see and punt the CFL onto their cable sports channel.

The nine percent of Canadian homes that use antennas as the only source of television signals combined with the larger proportion of homes that subscribe to cable and satellite packages that don't include TSN, leaves about one in five households with no access to the CFL on TV. The potential lost ratings and advertising revenue has to be something that somebody at CTV Globemedia or the Canadian Football League has to be at least aware of.

Undoubtedly CTV Globemedia would argue the carriage issue revolves around access to CFL games in High Definition, If Canadians from coast to coast with high definition service could watch on an HD feed from CTV (CFTO Toronto) through their digital cable or satellite service wouldn't generate as much revenue as viewership on TSN. Since cable and satellite providers pay for the TSN signal, versus not having to pay for CTV. It clear how much CTV Globemedia only sees revenue from the cable and satellite providers and not to mention the already big revenue TSN makes from advertisers, they don't see the 20 percent of Canadians who would watch CFL if they could. Including that 20 percent by moving the CFL to CTV would generate far greater advertising revenue for CTV Globemedia.

DTV Canada Transition Update: Saskatchewan

2010-11-16T10:58:00.000-08:00

Broadcast television is set to make the big switch from analog to digital in the Great White North in less than 10 months the stalling tactics on the part of the broadcasting industry are going to make the transition messy that will make the American version of the DTV transition a year and half ago organized and orderly. With rebroadcast relay transmitters staying on analog and some stations changing the channel they send out their signals on, without massive public education those who depend on over the air signals to get their television will wake up after the 31st of August and have nothing to watch. For my home province of Saskatchewan: here's how things will shake out on August 31st.

Regina:

CKCK (CTV) Analog on channel 2 ends, and digital on channel 8 begins
CFRE (Global) Analog on channel 11 ends, and digital 11 begins
CBKT (CBC English) Analog on channel 9, digital 9.1:
CBKFT (CBC French) Analog on channel 13, digital 13.1:

Saskatoon:

CFSK (Global) Analog on Channel 4 ends, and digital on channel 42 Begins
CFQC (CTV) Analog on Channel 8 ends, and digital on channel 8 begins
CBKST (CBC English) Analog on Channel 11 ends, station gets eliminated
CBKFT-1 (CBC French) Analog on Channel 13 Ends, station gets eliminated

CBC has stated that digital transmitters for Regina and Saskatoon will not be ready for the analog shutoff deadline on August 31st, 2011 because of a funding shortfall. CBC has August 31st 2012 as the target date to have digital transmitters operational. Under the current regulation that will leave over the air viewers without CBC service up to one year. While CBC has applied for an extension to keep the Analog transmitters operating it is unlikely that the CRTC will approve.

Why Does Sasktel Still Hate Android

2010-11-09T09:42:00.000-08:00

In a previous blog entry I pondered why Sasktel was apparently one of the last cell carriers (MTS being the other) not to offer Smartphones running Android. In one of the comments to that entry the commenter said that Sasktel couldn't offer Android phones because of operating a CDMA network at the time. Despite mentioning in the blog entry multiple times about the CDMA Android phones offered in the United States by Verizon and Sprint.

Since then Sasktel launched a new UMTS/HSPA network that will expand province wide and eventually will replace the older CDMA network. With a new network come new phones and one of them is the Samsung Galaxy S which does run Android, but that's the only Android phone they sell. Sasktel sells Blackberries for both UMTS and CDMA like they are going out of style (That's because Blackberries ARE going out of style)

Even MTS that telco to the east that still is CDMA only offers more Android Smartphones than Sasktel does. MTS offers the HTC 6250 and a CDMA version of Motorola's Milestone, the same one that Verizon calls the Droid. Not bad for a network "the couldn't support Android"

It's not just a surprising lack of hardware running Android that shows that the telco that believes that Saskatchewan is some kind of magic kingdom has some kind of chip on their shoulder towards Google and their smartphone operating system. Mobile Apps from Sasktel for looking up phone numbers are available for Blackberry and oddly enough the iPhone considering that Sasktel hasn't been able to sell iPhones because Apple won't sign a distribution deal with Sasktel which isn't expected to change anytime soon.

As Saskatchewanians start looking for alternatives to their Blackberries as cellular service contracts expire, they will start to look for Android phones, iPhones, and even Windows Phone 7 handsets, to get those phones they will start looking for an alternative to Sasktel

Why Gaming Advocates Are Way Off The Mark

2010-10-26T10:39:00.000-07:00

In an upcoming hearing by the Supreme Court of the United States California's video game sales law, the first of many state laws that ban the sales of Mature rated games to minors, will be ether upheld or struck down because it supposedly violates the right to freedom of speech. Two advocacy groups have sprung up to push the issue beyond the courts and into the legislative spotlight. The Entertainment Consumers' Association and the Video Game Voters' Network claim that making Mature rated video games is the same as censorship.

One big hole in the arguments that these groups make is that none of these laws dictate to game developers what they can or can't put into games. These laws make the voluntary guidelines set out by the ESRB that most retailers adhere to the law of the land. Those who argue that making little Johnny show some photo ID to buy the next Grand Theft Auto is some how unconstitutional, then that would make denying admission to an R rated move unconstitutional as well. Striking down any law restricting the sales of Mature rated games would mean that the law requiring TV sets to carry the 'V chip' would have to be struck down as well.

Selling video games at retail, I am required by provincial law to check photo ID to make sure that purchasers of Mature rated games are over the age of 17. It's no different than when I had to show my ID the first time I went to a R rated movie on my own. Was my right to freedom of speech violated? Without a doubt it wasn't so what's the big deal about restricting Mature rated games?

Windows Phone 7: When Can Canadians Get Theirs

2010-10-19T12:44:00.000-07:00

For those potential smartphone subscribers looking for an alternative to Blackberries, iPhones, and Android phones in the Great White North, Windows Phone 7 the smartphone operating system from Microsoft that is being watched with some interest by technology industry journalists and analysts launches on November 8th will be available in Canada on the Launch day through the big three cellco's Telus, Rogers, and Bell.

For subscribers on Wind Mobile and Mobilicity there will be a little bit of a wait, while the models launching on T-Mobile in the states will work on Wind and Mobilicity, the startup cell carriers will need to make deals with Microsoft and handset manufacturers before they can offer Windows phone 7.

For those on Sasktel there will be a wait for six months to a year, their new HSPA network supports the same Windows Phone 7 handsets that Telus, Rogers and Bell offer, the big national carriers will have short term exclusivity agreements with handset manufacturers to carry those phones.

Subscribers on MTS and Public Mobile are out of luck for a year or more. Microsoft has chosen not support CDMA in Windows Phone 7. Support for CDMA is supposed to be added sometime in the end of 2011, depending if handset manufacturers choose to make CDMA phones with Windows Phone 7 will remain to be seen.

Windows Phone 7 Not For Tablets: Microsoft

2010-10-18T11:24:00.000-07:00

Despite having a user interface and a low CPU and memory requirements that would make Windows Phone 7 perfect for tablets, Microsoft still insists that Windows tablets will be running the full Windows 7 Operating System. According to Microsoft's Senior Product Manager, Greg Sullivan "Windows 7 will provide a richer touch and applications experience and will be necessary on tablets." It maybe true that Windows 7 has large third party support from software developers, and Windows Phone 7 like Windows Mobile before it virtually none, it's not a good reason to burden a tablet with chore of running an Operating System designed for full sized PC's.

Even though Google's Chrome OS was designed to be lightweight for tablets, it's Android, that is becoming Operating System of choice for hardware manufacturers that are hoping to compete against Apple's iPad. It's unlike Microsoft to just let others take all the market share for something like an operating system for tablets. Google had the foresight to allow device manufacturers to allow Android to be put on tablets, Microsoft will need to do the same with Windows Phone 7 if it going to gain market share in both tablets and smartphones.

Any potential tablet OS war shouldn't be a two way fight between Apple and Google, with HP still going to wade into the water with a version of WebOS for tablet, it's foolishly unlike Microsoft to concede because they couldn't think outside of the box (PC's)

Could Handheld Gaming Get New Competition

2010-10-07T13:02:00.001-07:00

In the past decade the home console market has had three players that have done well in their own ways. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have made a lot of money selling consoles and games. The market for portable handheld has been much different though. Nintendo had been the 800 pound gorilla of the handheld gaming market. It has only been in the past few years that Sony's Playstation Portable has held it's own but the overwhelming majority of the market share has belonged to Nintendo's DS system.

While the market for portable handheld video games is so much smaller than the home console market, a third player wants to put their system into the hands of gamers. Rumours have surfaced that Panasonic is developing a handheld system called the Jungle. Any new system Panasonic wouldn't be their first entry into gaming, the often slagged and virtually forgotten 3DO back in 1993 was Panasonic's debut in the gaming market. The early online marketing material from Panasonic promoted the Jungle as a handheld system for online gaming.

Who exactly would be the target audience for the Jungle? Trying to go after gamers playing on existing handhelds is probably won't be the best way to get their foot in the door and establish market share. Going after the hard core home console gamers whose shooters have been poorly ported to handheld systems when attempts have been made to bring those games to handheld systems.

Even though Nintendo owns the market in handheld video games there is potential for Panasonic to do well simply through the multitude home console players whose games are unrepresented on handheld systems. Even though Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch have been seen as the third player in the handheld gaming market.

Zune Pass & Marketplace Content Coming To Canada (Some of it anyway)

2010-09-20T23:48:00.000-07:00

For some of those who were looking (in Canada) for a viable alternative to Apple's iPods and iTunes, who bought Microsoft's Zune media player only to find that the online music store, the Zune Marketplace wasn't available outside the United States. The only sources of legally obtained music was through importing songs from CD's or other online music stores such as puretracks.com that sell songs as regular .mp3 files without the restrictions imposed by digital rights management. Microsoft later introduced a music by subscription service called Zune Pass, again only available in the United States. It was not long after that Microsoft pulled the Zune players from the Canadian market.

It has finally come to pass that Zune Pass and Marketplace content will be available outside the United States. Just about all Zune content will be available across Europe, Zune Pass Music Subscription will not be available in Germany. Canada, Australia & New Zealand will get video rentals and purchases but no music. Looking on zune.ca shows that Microsoft is using Zune as a service for video rental and purchase on the Xbox 360. There is very little mentioned about the portable media players. Even then, wouldn't Zune Marketplace customers also want to buy the songs as well, without having to deal with a third party online music store? Some analysts no longer consider Microsoft to be a leading edge technology company, I wonder why?

When, Not If The Samsung Tab Comes To Canada

2010-09-20T12:07:00.000-07:00

Tablet computers designed to compete with Apple's iPad have been rumoured to be in development for months now, It appears that Samsung's Android powered Galaxy Tab will be the first to go head to head with the iPad. In a rare move for any manufacturer of devices that operate on cellular networks, the Galaxy Tab is compatible with both CDMA and GSM/HSPA networks. Samsung has already announced that the Galaxy Tab will be available through all four of the national carriers in the United States.

What will remain to be seen if the Galaxy Tab will be sold through the regional carriers as well as the big national carriers. Don't subscribers to MetroPCS, Cellular One and Cricket deserve access to the top devices just as Verizon or AT&T subscribers have.

For subscribers in Canada the big question is if not when the Galaxy Tab comes north of the border. There will be very little doubt that Bell, Telus, and Rogers will support the Galaxy Tab on their networks. One thing that cellular subscribers in Manitoba will want answered. Will it work on MTS? The short answer is Yes if they sell it directly. Canada's last CDMA only carrier will not activate any device they didn't originally sell. If the Tab is sold through general electronics retailers that don't sell or activate other MTS cellular products then it's highly unlikely that MTS would activate service on a Galaxy Tab.

For those in Saskatchewan wanting to use a Galaxy Tab on Sasktel, will be able to without any problem on the new HSPA network. For those who need data service on the older CDMA network because CDMA coverage is more expansive since HSPA covers the cities and the highway corridors could be out of luck unless the subscriber lives in a CDMA only coverage area.

Competition from Samsung is exactly what the tablet computing market needs right now, The cell phone industry's hardware subsidy business model may not appeal to some but it does make the cost of a tablet easier to take compared to the price that Apple charges to the iPad which will make Samsung's Galaxy Tab an even more compelling competitor in both the United States and in Canada.

Why Super WiFi Won't Fly In Canada

2010-09-17T11:15:00.000-07:00

South of the 49th parallel, the regulator of all things that transmits signals, the Federal Communications Commission is working on a new standard for wireless networking that promises faster speeds and greater range (up to 2 kilometres) and better able to penetrate through walls. Already dubbed 'Super WiFi' would abandon the 2.4 and 5.8 GHz bands that WiFi networks have traditionally used. SuperWiFi networks would be transmit in the 'white spaces' between TV stations created when America's television industry made the switch from analog to digital back in June of 2009.

Super WiFi will be something like Hulu in one way, it will only be available in the United States only. Canada's half hearted approach to switching broadcast TV from analog to digital means that there will be no white spaces opened up for Super WiFi or anything else that requires radio frequency spectrum that gets freed up from the DTV transition.

The main transmitters in the major cities will need to be switched from analog to digital but station relay re-transmitters that serve small towns and rural areas will be allowed operate in analog after August 31, 2011. All TV stations have been assigned alternative channel assignments by the CRTC to operate on if they are providing both digital and analog over the air signals between now and August, 31. 2011. Many stations will be moving to their assigned digital channels. Any transmitter operating on channel 52 or higher must be moved to channel 52 or lower regardless if it's a main station transmitter that will be switched to digital or a station relay re-transmitter that will continue to operate in analog. Stations operating on channels 2-6 are choosing to move due to the better performance on the VHF hi and UHF bands.

To illustrate how filled the TV bands will get even if just a few networks operate stations in any given area, Regina has CTV (CKCK-TV) on Channel 2, CBC (CBKT) on Channel 9 and Global (CFRE) on Channel 11. The CRTC has assigned channel 8 to CKCK-TV for digital broadcasting, it is expected that CKCK will move from channel 2 to 8 as part of the digital television transition. CBC is assigned channel 26 to operate CBKT-DT but have applied for a one year extension to complete their digital build out in smaller cities in Canada. If in the unlikely event this extension is granted there will be a digital station operating right next to an analog station. CFRE is likely to stay on channel 11 using their assigned digital channel 40 unused due to the lower operating cost of operating on VHF. That leaves very little room in the Hi VHF channels for everybody and their dog to operate a SuperWiFi network.

Complicating things even more moving out into areas away from the cities where station relay re-transmitters operate. In Moose Jaw CKCK operates a re-transmitter on channel 7, and CBKT operates a re-transmitter on channel 10 out of Willow bunch south of Moose Jaw. Moose Jaw lies in the fringe area of CBKT channel 9 expected fringe area of CKCK-DT channel 8. If the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation gets on year extension, channels 7,8,9,10,11 and 13 will be occupied. That's why there will be no SuperWiFi coming to Canada and all those wireless broadband services and cell phone bands probably won't be available here ether.

BCE buying CTV: The Demise of Net Neutrality in Canada

2010-09-13T11:26:00.000-07:00

For the past few years legislators in the United States have been debating how to ensure net neutrality for all Internet users south of the border. Net Neutrality ensures free access to all content or services available online regardless of the subscriber's Internet service provider. Meanwhile in Canada, Net Neutrality isn't being debated, it's not even being mentioned. Instead mergers between Shaw and Canwest Global and now CTV and Bell Canada are going to be rubber stamped.

Canadian Internet users will be steered towards content owned by their Internet service providers. Access to other sources of online video could potentially be inhibited. The big ISP's have been targeting bit torrent and other peer to peer networks for throttling because they can and do argue that most content peer to peer networks is pirated and uses a high amount of bandwidth that degrades performance of other users' broadband service. When Netflix launches in Canada within the next couple of months how will the big ISP's respond to that?

One of the effects that the merging the cable/telco/ISP's with broadcast networks is the apathetic attitude towards the transition to digital television that is now just eleven months away. Shaw built their business providing better picture and sound quality to broadcast television networks such as Canwest Global. The move to digital television will give over the air viewers the same sound and picture quality that cable and satellite subscribers get.

The DTV transition will also free up wireless spectrum required to open up the Canadian market to new competition for cell phone and wireless broadband service. Will Bell rush to convert transmitters of CTV stations to digital. Somehow I didn't think so.

The Growing Danger of 'Tap and Go' Credit Cards

2010-09-09T14:51:00.000-07:00

While this Blog covers technology, this is an entry about the technology behind how products and services are paid for. For the past few years Canada's banks and other credit card issuers have been issuing credit cards with smart chips in them where the card is inserted into a slot in point of sale terminals and the user keys in their PIN, this has made credit card transactions more convenient, more reliable and most importantly more secure than the older magnetic stripe technology that has been around since the late 1960's. For one step forward to making credit cards more secure the industry has taken two enormous steps backward.

Another new technology that has appeared called PayPass by MasterCard and PayWave by Visa allow card holders to pay for purchases without signing a credit card slip or punching in a PIN. Non contact payment systems use a technology called Radio Frequency Identification or RFID to store cardholder information on a microchip embedded in a credit card that can be called up by an RFID reader at a merchant's point of sale system.

The biggest downside to non-contact credit transaction systems is that there is no verification that the person making a purchase is the actual person that the credit card was issued to. While MasterCard puts a limit of fifty dollars on PayPass transactions and Visa has a twenty five dollar limit on PayWave transactions. The biggest fault isn't from the use of stolen or somebody's lost card that is found and used by somebody else, it's that RFID technology being in wide spread use. RFID card readers can be purchased easily and inexpensively. With minor modification RFID readers can capture information from cards as far as four feet away. The information from captured credit cards can be recorded and used to produce clone cards.

MasterCards issued through Bank of Montreal or a retail chain in Canada are PayPass enabled, but MasterCards issued through credit unions are not. Visa cards issued by RBC and TD have PayWave but ScotiaBank and CIBC do not have it. If you have a credit card that is due for renewal soon ask them for a card that doesn't have PayPass or PayWave. Some credit card issuers will issue a non RFID credit card upon request but some will not.

The potential for credit fraud from RFID harvesting has already spawned a cottage industry of companies providing metal protective sleeves to put credit cards in when they are not in use. The metal sleeve keeps the signals from the RFID reader from reaching the credit card.

Like some other technologies, Non contact credit card transaction were probably put out into the world without being thought out properly. Until RFID credit cards can be better protected then maybe cardholder should hold off getting RFID credit cards even if it means changing credit cards.

364 Days Until DTV Day Canada

2010-09-01T10:39:00.000-07:00

With the rise of the sun today, September 1st 2010 the day analog over the air television is now less than a year away. While for the most part Television stations have failed to provide transition simulcasts of their programming in both analog and digital instead opting for a flash cut on 11:59 PM on August 31st of next year. Television stations in the Great White North, who have done nothing to communicate that the change over is going to happen, now is the time to start.

For those using antennas for one or more TV sets, not too much is knows on what to expect. A few things are certain:

To keep receiving programming after August 31st older TV sets with analog tuners will need to be replaced with a set with a digital tuner or a digital converter box will need to be connected to between the antenna and the older TV set. The antenna may be replaced as well. Many areas especially in western Canada where for the most part TV signals have been exclusively been broadcast on VHF channels, Many TV stations will be switching from their current VHF channels to UHF channels.

The main transmitters for TV stations will be required to switch to digital, but station relays (retransmitters) will be allowed to remain analog provided that they are not using channel 52 or higher, any station relays using channels 53-69 will be moving to a lower channel to free up the 700 MHz band for public safety communications, cell phones and wireless broadband services.

For TV viewers there will be confusion in a year from now, both the CRTC and TV stations will have to clear up how people watch over the air TV and what channel to watch, stay tuned Canada, if you can.

Could Microsoft Get Shut Out Of Tablet Computing?

2010-08-26T12:28:00.000-07:00

The introduction of Apple's iPad earlier this year has made tablets the fastest growing segment of the computer industry. Multiple hardware manufacturers are said to be ready to launch competing tablet computing devices featuring Google's Android operating system by the end of the year. HP is working on a tablet of their own running WebOS, the operating system HP acquired when HP bought Palm last year. Research In Motion is also rumoured to be working on a BlackBerry tablet as well. With all these tablets about to go head to head with the iPad, running different operating systems, one question is top of mind. Where is Microsoft in all this? Where is their operating system for tablet computers?

Just before the announcement back in January when the iPad went from rumour to reality, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in his keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show, Ballmer announced that tablet computers running Windows 7 were on the way from HP, Dell, and other PC manufacturers. Since HP bought Palm all the talk of a Windows 7 based tablets have vanished. Potentially Microsoft could find themselves on the outside looking in if the tablet computer market takes off when more tablets from more manufacturers end up in consumers' hands.

Just shoehorning Windows 7 onto a tablet would be the wrong path to take to try to move into the tablet computing operating system market. Despite calls from many tech industry analysts and journalists to put a full version of OSX onto the iPad, and went with iOS instead because Apple understands that a full sized computer operating system is just unworkable on a tablet. The Windows Phone 7 OS and user interface would be much better suited for a tablet than a full version of Windows.

Could it be that Microsoft executives are asleep and are just not seeing the potential that the tablet market holds, or are they consciously forfeiting the tablet market to Apple, Google, HP, and Research In Motion?

Do Canada's New Cell Carriers Hate Android?

2010-08-16T11:15:00.000-07:00

Less than a year out of the gate Wind Mobile has announced that they have already attracted 100,000 subscribers. Mobilicity has just a couple months of service under their belt but have already signed up thousands of subscribers as well. Just like the launches of Fido and Clearnet over a decade ago, these new cell carriers using new technology, their selection of phones isn't that great right now.

Both Wind and Mobilicity both offer the Blackberry Bold 9700 and smartphones running Windows Mobile. Both carriers have networks that are not compatible with the iPhone. There are plenty of phones running Google's Android operating system that are compatible with the AWS networks operated by both Wind Mobile and Mobilicity neither one offers any Android based smartphones.

For incoming cell carriers who need to do everything they can to get cell phone subscribers to switch, it's a mystery to see potential customers looking for an Android based phone having to stay with Rogers, Telus or Bell. For the new carriers the price they have to pay for phones is much higher than what the incumbent carriers have to pay for similar phones. The incumbent carriers have to buy more phones which means they get lower prices from handset manufacturers. While that is big factor that determines which phones the new carriers sell, the cost of Android operating system isn't a factor. Google provides Android to handset manufacturers for free.

The only way for Wind Mobile and Mobilicity subscribers to get a phone running Andorid is to buy an unlocked phone off the shelf and put in their SIM card. T-Mobile runs their 3G using AWS bands. When hunting for an Andorid phone compatible with Wind Mobile or Mobilicity won an online classified or auction site, a phone has to be unlocked of course and will need to be compatible with Advanced Wireless Spectrum or AWS, if a listing says 1700/2100 MHz or 1.7/2.1 GHz then it is an AWS model of phone. The cost of buying an Android online for Wind Mobile or Mobilicity may be pretty high, but it's the price that needs to be paid, for now.

Call To Delay Canadian DTV Transition

2010-08-09T12:01:00.000-07:00

The transition to digital over the air broadcasting similar to what happened in the United States in June 2009 set to happen on August 31 2011, just a little more than one year away. While most Canadian viewers who use antennas to get TV signals haven't seen any difference yet, since only five of Canada's largest cities have digital TV signals available from broadcast stations.

Already one of Canada's broadcast networks is already claiming that they can't switch all their stations by the deadline. It's not the impoverished (yeah right) CTV or Global, it's network with big pockets of Canada's taxpayers funding it. CBC has announced that they won't get all their transmitters changed over to send out digital signals. CBC stations in Yellowknife, Regina, Winnipeg, Windsor, Saint John/Fredericton, Charlottetown, Halifax and St. John's will not be switched in time according to the CBC.

The current regulation as set out by the CRTC is that Analog broadcasting will end after 11:59 PM. While the CBC is asking for a one year extension to keep CBC broadcasts operating while they make the change over. Under the DTV transition regulations as they are today CBC broadcasts in those cities will cease on August 31, 2011 and will resume when Digital transmitters are in place.

Since Canada's private networks are able to make the deadline although probably just barely in some markets there is no reason that the CBC with all their access to taxpayer money can't make the switch on time as well. The CRTC should not give CBC any special treatment, giving the CBC an extension means that the private television broadcasters will want an extension as well. That could potentially snowball into years and years of delay before some areas of Canada will be switched over to digital TV.

When Will The Blackbery Torch Launch in Canada?

2010-08-03T11:31:00.000-07:00

Research In Motion, having just announced a new Blackberry, a new model called the Torch launching on AT&T on 12th, now technology analysts and journalists north of the border are wondering when the new Blackberry will be available in Canada and with which carrier.

The Torch is a GSM/UMTS/HSPA smartphone which means that it will not be available on MTS or Public Mobile. It doesn't support Advanced Wireless Spectrum so Wind Mobile and Mobilicity won't be able to offer the Torch ether. That leaves the incumbent national carriers, Rogers, Bell and Telus. For Bell and Telus offering the Torch would let both carriers to retire CDMA based blackberries such as the Storm and the Tour. For Rogers offering the Torch will help re-establish the reputation that Rogers had as Canada's Blackberry leader.

One of Canada's smaller regional carrier has a special interest in offering the Blackberry Torch, Sasktel will be relaunching their network using UMTS/HSPA about the time that the Blackberry Torch is going to launch. So far Sasktel's HSPA phone line up is pretty limited, With Blackberry Bold and Pearl that are the same that Rogers offers, There are a few Nokia models as well. That's about as interesting as Sasktel's CDMA phone linup which is limited and sucky at best.

The smart bet is that there will be at least two national carriers, I would suspect Telus and Rogers are the most likely to land the Torch. It would be highly unlikely that Research In Motion will enter into an exclusive agreement with a carrier. Learning the lession from how the Palm Pre died in Canada because of only being available on Bell. RIM needs to successful with the Blackberry Torch to claw back some market share lost to the iPhone and Android. Fragmenting down to subscribers of just one carrier would be counterproductive to that goal.

What RIM Will Need To Do To Sell The 'BlackPad'

2010-08-03T10:09:00.000-07:00

Research In Motion, Canada's smartphone pioneer and current market leader showing that they are not going to let Apple eat their lunch, is launching a new version of their operating system and launching new models of blackberries, and according to recent rumours preparing a tablet computer similar to the iPad. Already dubbed the 'BlackPad' the tablet from RIM will have a challenge ahead of it going head to head against Apple's iPad. The tablet market is pretty young which will make it easy for a RIM tablet to get a foothold with both businesses and consumers. There's a few things RIM can do to make the 'BlackPad' tablet a hit.

1. Price it below the competitor: While the iPad is the current tablet that is the hot gadget, it takes at least 550 dollars just to buy one. If RIM can get the price down under 400 dollars then that's what it could take to get consumers to rethink getting an iPad. In order to be a successful competitor to the iPad, the Blackpad will have to be the first competitor to the iPad. There are already are tablets running Google's Android operating system on the way to the market and their manufacturers will undercut the iPad, RIM will need to get in fast and inexpensive.

2. Embrace CDMA: Even though many consider CDMA to be a technology that has one foot in the grave, since Canada will only have cell carrier, MTS that will be CDMA only by the end of 2010. Stateside both Verizon and Sprint will be at least two years away from widespread deployments of their 4G technologies. Their combined base of 120 million subscribers have been green with Apple envy since the launch of the original iPhone. Being able to use a RIM tablet with the 3G service they already subscribe to makes the iPad less attractive to subscribers on Verizon or Sprint.

3. Do Flash: Apple's well known cat fight with Adobe over flash has left users of iPads, iPhones and iPod touches unable to use features on most web sites. If the 'BlackPad' does flash then that opens up all the videos on YouTube, all the shows on Hulu and just about every video and animation on the web.

4. Don't forget the corporate world: Blackberry has enjoyed a stranglehold in the corporate world, while the stranglehold has eroded somewhat since the introducion of the iPhone RIM can still use that stranglehold to sell the 'BlackPad' Features to make the Blackpad attractive to corporate users just have to be there.

Despite the popularity of the iPad, Research In Motion can and will find their place in the tablet market because of it's small size. The tablet market will be open to all players large and small. Apple was first RIM is coming in next.

Why Sasktel Will Keep Charging The System Access Fee

2010-07-20T11:57:00.000-07:00

The System Access Fee is as Canadian as maple syrup, beavers and lumberjacks. That extra fee 6.95 that gets charged on top of cell phone plans that Canadians know and hate is on it's way to becoming a part of history. It started when subsidiary brands such as Fide, Koodo and Solo from the national cellular carriers started dropping the fee. At the end of 2009 Rogers dropped the system access fee on new activations and contract renewals, Telus followed suit eventually Bell and MTS have done the same leaving Sasktel as the only carrier to charge the system access fee.

The revenue typically generated by the system access fee went to pay for the phones that carriers offered to subscribers for free or at a deep discount. Since Rogers, Bell and Telus are the large cell carriers they buy handsets in the largest volumes which allows them to get lower prices than smaller regional carriers such as Sasktel.

Sasktel operates a large number of towers in very sparsely populated areas of Saskatchewan which adds cost to operating their network, revenue from the system access fee charged to subscribers in more densely populated areas goes to subsidize the operation of cell towers in the middle of nowhere.

In order to update to newer technology so that Sasktel can offer phones that don't suck as bad as the phones they offer now is in the process of upgrading to a UMTS/HSPA network (sort of the son of GSM technology). The cost of this network upgrade is being financed on the open market and has put Sasktel in debt. The days of network upgrades paid by Saskatchewan taxpayers has come to an end under the Brad Wall government.

Cell phone subscribers in Saskatchewan who may find system access fee objectionable do have alternatives such as Rogers and Telus. There is word that Bell Mobility will be coming to the land of living skies within the next couple of years. Wind Mobile and Mobilicity are also going to be coming to Saskatchewan as well. Cheaper alternatives are here now with more on the way.

Guess Who Is Coming To Canada: NetFlix

2010-07-19T08:12:00.000-07:00

Being white and nerdy in the Great White North has always come with a downside: wanting technologies that Americans enjoy. One of the technologies that Canadian geeks have been coveting this past decade or so is Netflix the popular DVD & BluRay through the mail and video streaming service has announced their debut North of the 49th parallel this fall.

The announcement posted on www.netflix.ca only mentions online streaming service and not the discs through mail service that made NetFlix famous. That's a good thing for everybody who has had to go to the video store when it's -40 in the middle of January. For those hosers who are into high def, they'd better have a really good broadband service which is available in Ontario and Quebec for those who high speed connections top out at 5 megabits per second particularly in Western Canada, Netflix maybe should consider offering BluRay discs sent by Canada Post.

NetFlix entering Canada is an encouraging sign, and competition that cable and satellite companies need. No longer will Canadians be limited to the video on demand provided by the local cable company or the pay per view service provided by the national satellite carriers. Yes it is possible to cut through red tape to get the Canadian distribution rights and distribute video content online, so to Hulu I say, your turn now.

Notice To Sploggers:

2010-07-18T23:07:00.000-07:00

With the advent of instant online communication and publishing, there are those out there who look to use online media to advertise questionable products or online content without the permission of those who publish or communicate online. Most people are well aware of the menace of e-mail spam. As online communications and publishing had evolved, so too has spamming. The more people use instant messaging, blogs, social networking so do the spammers to sell questionable products or promote adult entertainment.

My blog which you are reading has been affected too by spammers who advertise through posting comments which contain links to adult web sites. I check my blog two or three times a day and remove these comments. The are not growing traffic to their web sites. They are not improving their page rank. They are just wasting their time.

A Preview of Apple's Next iPods

2010-07-13T09:53:00.000-07:00

Apple's annual revamp of their iPod product line is still a couple of months away but speculation about the next portable media devices from Cupertino that come with white earbuds is here now. Here's a few things that are likely to become the next iPods when they are announced in early September:

1. iPod Touch gets an A4 CPU update but no camera: After the introduction of iPad and the iPhone 4, the iPod Touch is next to get updated to Apple's A4 processor. Unifying all iOS devices on the A4 processor makes it easier Apple and developers. An iPod touch based on the A4 Processor would run Apps faster. It is likely to see the enhancement in screen technology introduced with the iPhone 4 to come to the iPod touch. The one thing that will not be coming to the iPod touch is the camera that is coveted by iPod touch owners. Not offering a camera on the iPod touch is one way that Apple gets iPod touch owners to upgrade to iPhones, Apple just won't sacrifice that by adding a camera to the iPod Touch.

2. iPod Nanos to get a memory upgrade and a price drop: In order to prop up waning sales of the iPod Nano Apple will be upgrading the Nano with a 16 GB model and possibly a 32 GB model as well. To counteract the tendency of consumers that choose between Shuffle and the Touch, expect a price drop down as low as 99 dollars.

3. iPod Classic to get SSD or go away: The traditional iPod classic have used regular laptop hard drives since the original 5gb first generation iPod, however the mechanical hard drive is the Achilles's Heel of the iPod Classic. Solid state storage has come down in price enough to produce iPod Classics. The iPod Classic sells such very low volumes Apple may just consider dumping the Classic altogether.

4. iPod Shuffle get a price drop: At the entry level Apple has to compete with every other entry level MP3 player on the market. With plenty of 2 GB mp3 players starting as low as 19 dollars, charging 60 dollars for a 2 GB iPod shuffle isn't the way to attract buyers of a basic music player. While the iPod shuffle has the same cool factor as every other iPod, Apple will still need to appeal to buyers of basic music players. Apple will need to bring down the price to at least 49 dollars and should at least consider the 39 dollar price point for the 2GB Shuffle.

How Can PC Manufacturers Compete With The iPad?

2010-07-05T23:57:00.000-07:00

Although Apple's iPad isn't the first attempt to create a segment of tablet computers within the computer industry, but so far it's been the most successful to date. With over two million iPads sold in just a few months since the introduction of the iPad, manufacturers of Windows PC's haven't even come close to selling a tablet computer that can come close to what the iPad can do. Is there anything PC manufacturers can do to get back into a game that so far they haven't even shown up to play yet?

1. Ditch Microsoft: So far the big boys from Redmond the only operating system for a tablet computer they have ever shipped was a version of Windows XP modified to be controlled by a stylus instead of a mouse and a keyboard. The sign that big M will be on the outside looking in is Hewlett Packard's purchase of Palm and rumours of a WebOS based tablet abound. Google's Android is another leading choice for an operating system for a tablet computer.

2. Let Users Choose Their 3G/4G Provider: While the iPad is great for AT&T it may not be so great for those who subscribe to AT&T's competitors. Any competing tablet computer had some kind of capability to insert a 3G or 4G modem into some kind of special slot would be an attractive feature for those who have aversion to AT&T.

3. Break down the Price Barrier: The iPad is a hot trendy gadget it also has a price tag to match. Smaller price tags have kept Windows PC's sales far and beyond Apple's Macintosh computers. PC manufacturers may be able to use price to steer people looking to buy an iPad to their products, but that won't be a guarantee of success. There are hundreds of models of MP3 players that are priced at a fraction of comparable iPod, but it's the iPods that remain the top selling portable music player.

4. Cash in on iPad's short comings: There are some who are still complaining about the features that the iPad lacks. If any potential iPad competitors come out with a 16:9 display or printing support, it will at least will appeal to the complainers.

Apple's iPad has been successful where others have tried and failed but Apple doesn't own the tablet computer market yet. There is still time for competitors make their mark on the industry but in order to do so they have to get it right given how huge a head start that the iPad has.

Nokia Introduces New Smartphone OS That Nobody Has Heard Of

2010-07-02T08:13:00.000-07:00

Worldwide leader in cheap basic cell phones, Nokia is introducing a new operating system for their higher end smartphones that doesn't replace but complements Symbian their other smartphone operating system that very few have heard of. MeeGo is being launched by Nokia on smartphones for the North American market. Nokia executive Anssi Vanjoki wrote on a company blog that "There is no denying, that as a challenger now, we have a fight on our hands. The first battle is to bring you products and services you will want to own and use."

In the market dominated by iPhones, Blackberries and Android, Introducing another smartphone operating system is gamble at best. Palm originally and now HP has had an uphill climb getting WebOS a foothold in the market. Microsoft will have at best extreme difficulty getting Windows Phone 7 accepted by cellular carriers and consumers.

For cell phone carriers even the giants like Verizon and AT&T supporting an OS with such a small market share would take a lot of resources that would be far from worthwhile to support MeeGo. All isn't lost for Nokia though. Regional carriers such as Metro PCS, Cricket, MTS and Sasktel have only had Blackberries and Windows Mobile devices that consumers view the smartphones offered by these regional carriers as outdated and lame.

Executives at Nokia have reisisted Windows Mobile and Android opting to put out their own operating systems on their smartphones. For the North American market Nokia will have to get rid of this wanting to be their own product mentality, to get their smartphones available on a mainstream national carrier, Nokia will have to get onboard with an operating system that is accepted and supported by the mainstream national carriers. With Google's Android handset makers and cellular carriers are making customizations that make their smartphones stand out from other smartphones running Android. An example of this is Motorola's Motoblur which incorporates social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter, and backs up people's contacts to the cloud. Nokia has picked the path less traveled, the path that only Nokia has traveled, to get to acceptance and success in the North American market maybe they should try the paved highway.

Canadians Deserve a Price Break on Game Consoles

2010-06-28T15:28:00.000-07:00

One of the newest capabilities of new game consoles that has been talked about since the recent E3 convention isn't the new motion capture technologies from both Sony and Microsoft designed to compete to Nintendo's Wiimote and Nunchuk control system on the Wii. The attention of many in the video gaming speculators and analysts ability to watch Hulu on the Playstation 3.and Xbox 360. Hulu complementing the service for the consoles unveiled by online streaming video store Netflix last year.

This leaves Canadian Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 buyers paying the same price as American consoles but getting less functionality since both Netflix and Hulu have never been available in Canada. Could Sony and Microsoft recognize that and offer some kind of price break for Canadians, of course they can. Even a small price break even if it is five or ten dollars off the price of the systems would offer an olive branch to console buyers north of the 49th parallel.

Sony and/or Microsoft could work with content creators to secure the rights for streaming video content to create online stores to sell and rent online video and keep the profits for themselves instead of handing it over to Netflix and Hulu. That would mean treating Canadian consumers like intelligent people who understand watching online video through legitimate means is better pirating. Could Microsoft and Sony understand that? All signs are doubtful.

Related Content:
Connecting Classic Game Consoles
Choosing a Game Console
Collectible Classic Video Game Consoles

Three Good Reasons To Avoid Modems With Integrated Routers

2010-06-22T13:24:00.000-07:00

With the popularity of multiple and networked devices both wired and wireless Internet service providers are cashing in from those who want to hook up just about every device that they own to the Internet but who may not be technically adept to hook up, configure and secure a home network router. Devices known as a 'home gateway' combines a cable or DSL modem with a router that on the surface may look simple but maybe an option that is best avoided once some facts are known.

1. Upgradeability- Now that every 802.11N is a ratified standard, just about every WiFi device is 802.11N compatible except just about every integrated modem/router which still uses the older 802.11G standard. With a separate router upgrading from G to N only take disconnecting the old router and connecting a new router. Not so easy with these home gateways which requires waiting for 802.11G home gateways to get into the market and the ISP to start distributing the new gateways, and even then some ISP's probably won't upgrade existing customers with the new version of the home gateway.

2. Security- Wireless security with a standalone router lets the user choose the level of security required to access the wireless network which should always be set to WPA2 with AES authentication. With integrated home gateways, the wireless security is set by the manufacturer or the ISP. 2Wire, a brand integrated DSL modem and router used by Telco's as giant as AT&T to as tiny as Sasktel uses the weakest most easily wireless security, WEP. Home gateways can be remotely configured by the ISP or an outside hacker. This could allow a Telco to shut off access to Skype if they feel that their long distance revenue are being threatened. This isn't just a threat to security but net neutrality.

3. Cost- While 40.00 dollars or more is an up front cost that could be avoided by using a home gateway from an ISP, the home gateway might come with a rental fee which could cost a lot more over the long run. Even if an ISP charges five dollars a month that rental charge would pay for a basic router in under a year.

Despite the simpler process of just letting a technician from the cable or telephone company hook up a home gateway, it requires paying more for old technology that puts private data at risk. When signing up for Internet service just tell the ISP, to provide just a modem please.

Stop Annoying Telemarkers With A Fax Machine

2010-06-17T12:50:00.000-07:00

From the beginning of telephone service in the early 20th century there have been telemarketers to sell just about every product and service over the phone. In the past couple of years due mostly to the advent of VOIP services computer dialed telemarketing has been on the rise. A telephone call during a meal, while taking a shower or some other inopportune moment a recorded message trying to sell extended vehicle warranties, low interest rate credit cards, or some kind vacation that the recipient of the message supposedly won comes from the other end of the line.

Legislated measures have proven to be ineffective, tightening the laws on telemarketing and do not call registries have only chased the telemarketers off shore making healthy profits using inexpensive VOIP plans. Technological solutions such as the Telezapper helped for a while but the telemarketers got wise and ignored the tones generated by devices like the Telezapper designed to make them think that the numbers they are dialing are nonexistent or disconnected.

One device that can be attached to a phone line that can get the telemarketers to scatter like cockroaches when a light is turned on has been around for the last twenty five years but has fallen is less use in the age of e-mail, the fax machine. Using a fax machine to answer the line when no phone calls that are actually want, a telemarketer will call and get the screeching tones of a fax machine trying to make a connection to another fax machine. That will tell the telemarketers that your phone line may be active but there won't be a person to answer the call.

Why Nintendo Needs 'Grand Theft Auto' To Get Onto The Wii

2010-06-02T08:59:00.000-07:00

Prior to launching the Wii in 2006, Nintendo survived because of core of devotees to their systems. After gamers moved to the Playstation, the devotees bought Nintendo 64's and later Gamecubes. This brand loyalty to Nintendo systems has gone out of the window four years after the launch the Wii. A lot of kids in this generation of gaming have gotten their start on the Wii but as they have gotten older they are trading their Wii-motes for couch bound button mashing with a Playstation or Xbox controller.

Grand Theft Auto may be one of video gaming's most raunchy and controversial franchises but is also one of the most popular too. Grand Theft Auto is the polar opposite to the squeaky clean family friendly image that Nintendo has created for itself. GTA made it's debut on a Nintendo platform last year when GTA Chinatown Wars launched on the DS.

In order to stay in the leadership position the big N will need to keep the fourteen year olds on their systems. To do that Nintendo will need to attract the big franchise games to the Wii, including Grand Theft Auto. Nintendo may shun anything that carries the 'M' rating but was it not Resident Evil the most popular franchise back in the days of the Gamecube?

For Nintendo keeping the teenagers in the Nintendo camp will be a challenge but not one they can't overcome it will require loosing up on content restrictions. At one time the Mortal Kombat for the Super Nintendo had to be toned down and didn't have the blood and gore that Mortal Kombat for the Sega Genesis had, it wasn't the developer and publishers of Mortal Kombat that were hurt by it, it was Nintendo. There will be one thing that Nintendo can do to stop young adult gamers from fleeing to Playstations or Xboxes, drop the restrictions and let Grand Theft Auto on the Wii.

Related Articles:

The Next Generation of Next Generation Game Consoles
How to Connect Classic Game Systems to Modern TV's
Choosing A Game Console
Really Collectible Retro Game Consoles

Why Legalizing Internet Gambling Just Won't Work

2010-05-27T00:38:00.000-07:00

The battle over Internet gambling that has been taking place in the past fifteen years now even has legislators divided between both sides of the issue. On one side some elected officials see Internet gambling as an easy source of new tax revenue. On the opposing side are those legislators who still have concerns grave enough to keep existing bans on Internet gambling in place.

Surely enough most web sites that let people play poker for free wouldn't exist if there is at least some potential that they will some day be allowed to let people to play for real money. Despite the potential for new tax revenue and high paying IT jobs there would be more pitfalls than benefits from lifting bans on Internet gambling.

Games in real world casinos are tested by government regulators to ensure that players have a fair chance of winning. Their online counterparts are not scrutinized to ensure that odds are not unfairly tilted in favor of the house. The rigorous video security used in casinos doesn't just check for players who are cheating but dealers as well. It's this system of checks and balances insures that casino gaming is being played fairly, Internet gambling has no such system.

Casinos, Lotteries, Bingos, and Horse Racing are all regulated to prevent minors from partaking in gambling. Internet gambling has no definite way to ensure that all players are of legal age. While bets are made with a credit card which is a method of age restriction since one has to be eighteen to hold a credit card, but anybody who can get a hold of a credit card even if it's somebody else's credit card can make a bet. In most jurisdictions in the United States the legal age for gambling is 21 years of age. For those between 18-20 they can legally hold a credit card but legally cannot gamble makes using a credit card as a method of age verification ineffective.

The new tax revenue from Internet gambling that legislators want use to fill government coffers with may not be as generous source of new money that legislators make it out to be. Internet gambling companies like any other business can find the jurisdiction with the lowest tax rates, tax rates low enough to attract online gambling operators will probably be found in the island nations of the Caribbean or Eastern Europe where they operate from now.

Legalizing Internet gambling will open a Pandora's box of pitfalls both known and unknown. A decision to allow people to bet online must not be made blindly.

It's Your Fault if Google Spied on Your WiFi

2010-05-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

The gathering of WiFi network information by the vehicles that gather pictures that comprise the pictures that used in Google's street view feature on Google Maps has lead to the latest privacy furor Google faces. While driving through cities around the world the Street View cars gathered the SSID's and MAC addresses of every WiFi router found. Google originally claimed that they did not capture any WiFi network traffic, but a review of the captured data did contain data transferred from WiFi networks.

The only data that was captured that could be reassembled is data from WiFi networks that run totally in the clear with no encryption at all. Users of WiFi networks that run in the clear are just lazy or foolish not to set up good WiFi security. For those who insist on running their WiFi networks with no security on the public airwaves cannot expect data to remain private. The only way that keep computer network traffic private is to go to an exclusively hard wired Ethernet network or secure a WiFi network with WPA 2 encryption.

Keeping WiFi network traffic private or letting it go to everybody who can receive it is a conscious choice that WiFi network owners make. Keeping WiFi networks in the clear doesn't leave a person open to getting their Internet service mooched off of, but their other data to be collected by Google or anybody else. That's a choice people made to keep their WiFi in the clear, they only have themselves to blame how their data is used.

Shaw's Wireless Wait And See Game - Redux

2010-05-18T01:03:00.000-07:00

In a previous entry to this blog I speculated about when and why Shaw Communications is waiting until next year to launch their own cell phone service. I thought that Shaw was going to buy up another emerging cell carrier Wind Mobile or Mobilicity at a bargain basement price when one of those new service providers crumbles when the debt stacks up. Other industry analysts believe the Shaw is going to be using Long Term Evolution technology for their wireless network. Shaw is waiting the year to let that technology mature and to let LTE wireless products come to market.

LTE based networks have so much bandwidth that client connections can move so much more data than what is needed for cell phone calls and mobile Internet use. Internet access using LTE is fast enough to challenge other ISP's using hardwired infrastructure. In areas where Shaw isn't an incumbent ISP, that could give them a foothold in those markets. Using an LTE network to deliver IPTV television service in areas where Shaw isn't the local cable company would give Shaw access to subscribers to TV service with on demand programming, something that even Shaw's own satellite TV service can't deliver.

It may seem like a year is a long time to wait to launch a wireless network especially given how much Shaw had to pay to get the license from the CRTC, it may be a small price to pay to build a network that has potential to go beyond cell phones.

EA To Lock Out Buyers of Used Games, Unless They Pay

2010-05-12T10:52:00.000-07:00

Electronic Arts the giant publisher of games for just about every device for with a microprocessor has a new plan to stem the tide of what they claim to be lost revenue from those who buy copies of their games second hand. staring with the 2011 versions of the EA's popular sports games on both PC's and consoles there will be a code that will unlock online features of those games. For those buying previously enjoyed copies of future games from EA, they will need to hand over an additional ten dollars to play online and unlock other online features.

Those wanting to play Madden 11 or Tiger Woods PGA 11 will have to buy a brand new copy, pay the extra 10 dollars if they buy a second hand copy or don't play online since EA has exclusive licenses with the NFL and PGA. Puckheads on the other hand have another option, Online players who wish to play with a second hand copy will get to do so at no additional charge with NHL 2K11.

Demanding more money from people just because they choose to buy a second hand copy of a game is a form of digital extortion. As much as the music and movie industries would like to people to buy used CD's and DVD's to pay the big record labels and movie studios they can't. Firstly there isn't the technical means to detect a used CD or DVD and report it to get people to pay up. Secondly the RIAA and MPAA face consumer animosity because of the heavy handed approach to fight piracy of music and movies.

EA's Online Pass isn't even an anti-piracy move, it's just a way of collecting yet more money from people who are buying legitimate copies of their game software even if it's not brand new. It would be different if they were collecting money from people borrowing copies of games to make it more of rental but that would still be heavy handed and greedy. This just shows how heavy handed and greedy EA is.

Who Will End Up Saving SCN?

2010-05-06T01:10:00.000-07:00

Saskatchewan Communications Network, the provincially owned cable network that was slated to fade to black on the 30th of April was given a stay of execution when twelve interested parties stepped forward to acquire the broadcast license from the provincial government. It would only seem natural that other broadcasters or broadcast distributors would be interested in a channel that is normally carried on analog cable on one of the lower channel numbers. Here's some likely candidates of potential both local and national companies that could become the future owner/operator of SCN:

Access Communications: Saskatchewan's cable television co-operative has a large amount of locally produced programming through the many community channels they operate. By amending the SCN license to turn SCN into an advertising driven network, would give Access a revenue stream apart from subscriber fees.

Shaw Communications: That other Cable TV operator in the province could be looking picking up the SCN license as yet another troubled broadcaster they they can use to build their broadcasting empire. Shaw is already in the process of buying Canwest Global for more than two billion dollars.

Sasktel: The government owned telco is already getting SCN's broadcast assets handed over to them for free why not get the license to and own the whole thing? It would be another channel to plaster with Little Red Riding Hood commercials but that would probably lead to SCN getting dropped by cable and satellite companies.

SMPIA: The membership Saskatchewan Motion Picture Industry Association produces a large portion of the programming on SCN. Getting the license for SCN and running it as a commercial network would give members a place for their shows and feature length productions to be seen and a revenue stream that could be put back to fund new productions. Saskatchewan made productions both present and past would fill the SCN schedule, and you thought The Comedy Network was full of Corner Gas reruns.

CTVGlobeMedia: Getting SCN's broadcasting license would allow CTVGlobeMedia to replicate in Saskatchewan what they did with Access Alberta, the educational cable channel that CTVGlobeMedia got when they acquired ChumCity television.

CBC: On the surface there may not seem to be much value in getting SCN's broadcast license, after all the CBC is supposed to be everything to all Canadians in both official languages, but given the political climate what it is, getting the cable network license and move CBC's french language television to spot on cable and satellite TV where SCN used to be, and shutting down the transmitters that spread CBC french television across the province would save a lot of money. The cost of Electricity to run those transmitters is very high given the very small size of Saskatchewan's french speaking community. Any bean counters looking to save their jobs could do exactly that.

Those are just a few of the most likely suspects that could save SCN, it will only take another three weeks to find out if somebody can save SCN.

Could Microsoft's Kin Phones Make It In Canada?

2010-05-05T01:04:00.000-07:00

Next week, Verizon Wireless subscribers will be the the first to get new phones that implement Microsoft's new mobile phone strategy, out with the downscaled version of Windows, and in with an interface similar that used by Microsoft's Zune portable media players. On the 13th the Kin One and Kin Two will be available through Verizon Wireless stores. Both the Kin One and Two are both are slider type phones, that do more than a regular cell phone but not as much as a smartphone.

According to leaked information obtained through some reverse engineering on other blogs, there are provisions in the Kin phones' operating system for both the CDMA version that Verizon will be carrying but also for a GSM version that will be compatible with both AT&T and T-Mobile. For Canadian subscribers looking at the Kin as their potential next cell phone, the same information extracted from the firmware of the Kin shows Fido as the only Canadian carrier for the Kin. That's not to say that Fido will have the Kin as an exclusive. It would just take a Firmware update to add other carriers to the Kin, since Rogers owns Fido, Rogers could end up with the Kin as well.

Bell and Telus could carry the Kin as well, since their new HSPA networks are compatible with that version of the Kin that Fido and potentially Rogers would carry. Bell and Telus' older CDMA networks are also compatible the version of the Kin that Verizon will be carrying but for their main branded services launching new CDMA handsets would be highly unlikely since a GSM/HSPA version of the phones would also be available. If the CDMA version of the Kin ends up anywhere it would be on the discount brands offered by Bell and Telus. The lineups of phones offered by Telus' Koodo Mobile and Bell's Solo Mobile are still CDMA.

The CDMA version of the Kin phones can also find homes at the smaller regional CDMA networks of MTS and Sasktel. Microsoft is trying to market the Kin phones as having a younger cool factor, it's the young cool phones that the regional carriers have been lacking for a very long time.

What HP Will Need To Do To Make Palm Successful

2010-05-03T10:04:00.000-07:00

Silencing technology industry analysts last week when announcing their 1.2 billion dollar purchase of smartphone pioneer Palm Inc Hewlett Packard made the move beyond computing and printing and is going into the mobile device market in a way unlike other PC manufacturers that are getting into smartphones. Instead of producing yet another Android or Windows Mobile device, HP has gone an entirely different direction. It's a bold step but one that some say will be impossible to compete with the iPhone or Android, while it will be an uphill climb with the right steps HP can make WebOS a formidable challenger to Apple and Google, which is something Palm was unable to do an an independent company, to be successful with WebOS HP will need to:

1: Get WebOS phones on all be big carriers but don't forget about the small carriers

One of Palm's missteps when launching WebOS as picking Sprint as the first carrier to sell WebOS, Palm was getting ready to launch the Pre and Pixi on Verizon but that came as too little too late. Palm needed to be on AT&T and T-Mobile as well. That's where HP needs to get the Pre and Pixi as well. Ask any subscriber leaving smaller regional carriers such as Cricket, Metro PCS, MTS or Sasktel and chances are poor choices of phones and especially smartphones is going to to be the top reason for switching to a national carrier. Offering WebOS as an alternative to the Blackberries and Windows mobile devices that these regional carriers were traditionally stuck with will help the regional carriers keep existing subscribers and maybe even attract some new ones.

2. Bring some more developers, developers, developers to the WebOS platform

Palm Pre and Pixi owners can buy and download apps just like people with iPhones and Android phones, but they don't have too many apps to choose from. There are 150,000 apps available for the iPhone, 50,000 apps for Android, but less than a thousand for WebOS. HP is huge company with thousands of developers in house which will help bulk up the selection of Apps which should help bring more subscribers which will help attract third party developers.

3. WebOS Tablet

In order to expand the user base for WebOS it will need to move from the smartphone to something else. Since everybody else has been taking pages from Apple's book, why not take WebOS and build a Tablet around it. It can be marketed at those who want the iPad but may not be ready to pay Apple's price. Maybe even throw in some Verizon 3G and it should be able to sell.

Why NetFlix Isn't Coming To Canada

2010-04-15T08:50:00.000-07:00

Netflix, the popular DVD rental by mail service that has transformed itself into the Internet's most popular streaming movie service is now one of the forbidden fruits for Canadians. Just like Google Voice and Hulu despite popularity south of the 49th parallel is not available in Canada. While there are Canadian companies seeking to replicate Netflix in Canada, but so far they have stuck to the old DVD's by mail business model.

Any hyper critical Canadian blames the Canadian Radio-Television & Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for keeping Netflix out of Canada. It would be easy to the CRTC to consider Netflix to be a foreign programming service that is not licensed by the CRTC to offer service to Canadians. That would be the way it would be if Netflix was a traditional Cable network, but because Netflix is an online streaming service it faces no opposition from the CRTC. In 1999 the CRTC declined to regulate the Internet because any attempt to do so would be pointless. That's why Vonage can offer service to Canadians without a CRTC license.

The big American movie studios are the usual suspects that are still keeping Netflix. Netflix says that their service is not available because of licensing issues. The movie studios accept millions of dollars from Netflix to send DVD's and BluRay discs through the US Postal Service or stream across America through the Internet, but when it comes to licensing rights in Canada, movie studios will allow Canadian companies to send movies on discs through Canada Post to Canadians but online streaming in Canada is still off limits.

Who Are The Potential Suitors For Palm?

2010-04-12T09:50:00.000-07:00

Pioneering maker of PDA's and Smartphones, Palm is seeking to get bought. There has been speculation about who would be a suitable buyer, since the announcements that sales of the WebOS based pre and pixi smartphones have been disappointing to tech industry observers and investors. These companies have already been named as potential buyers looking to buy Palm:

Microsoft: The big boys in Redmond are seen by some as a likely buyer for Palm mostly just to get another smartphone hardware manufacturing asset. Additionally for Microsoft, buying Palm gets two competing smartphone OS's (Palm OS and Web OS) out of the way in advance of the release of Windows Phone 7 Series at the end of 2010.

Google: For the king of search also being the provider of the Andoid operating system, seen by many as the rising star of the cellular industry buying Palm would provide Google with Palm's large library of Patents. With HTC facing lawsuits from Apple from Apple's claims that HTC's Android handsets violate Apple's patents. With Google potentially on Apple's lawsuit hit list, owning Palm's patents would give Google some rear end protection.

Apple: Buying Palm would bring former Apple engineers who worked on development of the iPhone who bolted from Cupertino to join Palm to create WebOS. Apple would expand their own library of patents to use against the makers of other competing smartphone operating systems. But that would make Apple a patent troll, not a maker of insanely great products. Apple wouldn't do that, would they?

Those are the likely suspects but there are other tech companies would benefit from owning Palm and are most likely to be looking at bidding:

Nokia: Nokia's Symbian OS based smartphones maybe popular in Europe, but has virtually no users in North America. After Nokia's licencing fee scrap with Qualcomm half a dozen years ago Nokia found themselves vanquished from CDMA carriers. Buying Palm would give Nokia a Smartphone operating system that have market share in North America and Palm's licensing agreement with Qualcomm wouldn't hurt ether.

Samsung or LG: The big two from South Korea sell a lot of cells in North America, but attempts to make the leap to Smartphones have fallen flat. Making WebOS phones for a lower cost, rather than having to buy Windows Mobile or Google's Android would be more attractive for cellular carriers who would not have to spend as much money on subidizing the cost of smartphones.

Amazon: For one of the Internet's most successful online retailer, selling WebOS Smartphones would be a similar business model as the Kindle, buy content such as e-books and music on a device that people have to buy from Amazon. Adding smartphones to the Kindle would help Amazon compete against Apple.

Intel: Smartphones are going to be the largest segment of the devices with CPU's market in the next few years, and so far Intel is on the outside looking in. Buying Palm would not just give Intel a smartphone hardware business, but an operating system that could be used to spotlight Intel's mobile CPU's

The sale of Palm is expected to happen very quickly, the interesting question is not when Palm will sell, but to who and for what purpose.

Could Sprint Land The CDMA iPhone

2010-04-07T01:11:00.000-07:00

As the rumors of version of Apple's iPhone that runs on CDMA technology are now supported by sightings in manufacturing plants, it has become a foregone conclusion that a CDMA iPhone would automatically be carried by Verizon Wireless. Nobody who has speculated about the development of a CDMA iPhone has even considered the fact that America's other CDMA carrier, Sprint would be the carrier that provides CDMA iPhones to subscribers.

Is it worth considering that Steve Jobs would be so spiteful to Verizon for referring to the iPhone as a misfit toy? It would not be outside the realm of possibility. For Apple the choice of a carrier for the CDMA iPhone has yet to be made since there was no EV-DO support built into the iPad. For Apple choosing Sprint over Verizon means getting access to better technology faster. While Verizon will start the process of deploying an LTE network in the next couple of years, Sprint is deploying WiMax now. Perhaps Apple is going to wait for the second generation of iPad to put in WiMax support, the service for a WiMax based iPad can only come from one company, Sprint.

Apple's claim to fame is making insanely great tech products. Can Apple afford not to be on Verizon meanwhile being able to create insanely greater iPhones, and iPads on Sprint's network. It's easy to yes they can.

What Canadians Will Need To Know About The iPad

2010-04-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday's launch of Apple's iPad has Canadians asking where's ours. Apple says that the iPad will be sold in Canada and other countries by the end of April even though they haven't set a date that iPads will be in stores in the Great White North. Some would be iPad owners are questioning why reason for the delay getting the iPad to Canada. Likely Apple reserved all the iPads from the first manufacturing run for the American launch.

For Apple delaying the launching the iPad later in other countries than in the United States allows Apple to make 3G service agreements with cellular carriers that normally provide service to subscribers with iPhones. In Canada, Apple will have to make agreements with Bell, Rogers and Bell. In most of Canada, all three carriers will be compatible with the iPad but in Manitoba and Saskatchewan Rogers is the only carrier that will work with the iPad, MTS and Sasktel are not compatible with the iPad.

One of the abilities that is much hyped by Apple is the e-reading capabilities with their own electronic book store. Apple needs the three week delay to make agreements with non-American publishing companies to get their books onto the iPad, just like the Kindle before it.

Apple without a doubt will use the international launches of the iPad for marketing purposes to help spur a second wave of buying in the United States. For what ever reason for delaying the launching iPad in Canada, Apple will benefit in some way.

CDMA iPhone Could it Come to Canada?

2010-03-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

The rumour mill is once again spinning the story that a new version of Apple's iPhone that runs on mobile networks that use CDMA technology will soon hit the market. For most Canadian cellular subscribers this about face from Apple probably won't get too much attention. Canada's two largest CDMA network operators, Bell and Telus have started a switch to GSM/HSPA networks and currently offer iPhones to their subscribers. For Canada's last two CDMA only networks, MTS and Sasktel it may mean a chance of finally being able to carry the iPhone, but highly unlikely.

Most of Canada's incumbent CDMA carriers have traditionally partnered with Sprint to buy phones from handset manufacturers, MTS and Sasktel included carry the same lineup of phones that Sprint carries. Since the CDMA iPhone is supposed to be coming to Verizon whose phone line had traditionally been offered by Telus in Canada. The best chance of getting the CDMA iPhone in Canada would be if both Sprint and Verizon were to offer it in the states. There maybe a possibility that Telus will carry the CDMA iPhone for Saskatchewan and Manitoba, since Telus has no HSPA in those provinces. For the last two CDMA only networks on the Canadian prairies, one of them in the process of getting upgraded. MTS is in process of building their own HSPA network in partnership with Rogers.

For some it may not seem right that one carrier can offer the in demand smartphones and another cannot but in these next couple of years of network upgrades that's the way it is. To get the new hot in demand people will have to be ready to switch carriers despite any blind loyalty to the carriers they have now. It's called letting the market decide.

Japan To Consider Banning Cell Phone Lockdown

2010-03-29T10:23:00.000-07:00

In a country where cool heads prevail, cell phone carriers will be forced to abandon the practice of locking down cell phones so that they can only be used with the carrier that originally sold and activated the phones. Legislators in Japan are considering such a ban to allow cell phone subscribers to keep their phones when switching carriers and to use their own cell phones while traveling in other countries just by popping in a foreign carrier's SIM card into their phone.

Cell carriers have swiftly come out against any attempt to ban cell phone lock down, claiming that forcing cell phone carriers to sell unlocked phones limits the kind of phones and services the carriers can offer to subscribers. This is the weakest excuse I have ever heard for keeping the most customer unfriendly business practice ever known. Yes, the cell carriers subsidize the cost of cell phones, and in order for the carrier to make their money back that's why cell phone subscribers have to sign three year contracts for post paid service. If the subscriber wants out of their contract, the early termination fees more than make up for the cost of subsidizing the cost of a cell phone.

Cell phone subscribers that switch carriers when contracts expire are highly unlikely to want to use a three year phone when signing up for service with a different carrier. Banning carrier lock down helps the international traveler use their phones without getting charged a fortune in roaming fees. When a subscriber relocates to another part of the country where the cell phone carrier doesn't offer service, it's the subscriber that ends up having to pay the early termination fees and has a phone that won't work where they now live.

Banning cell phone lock down gives a little bit of flexibility back into the hand of the subscriber, and should become the law in every country where cell phone service is offered. Big telco will lobby elected officials on ensure that doesn't happen.

ESRB Ratings of Classic Video Games: Q-Bert

2010-03-27T01:43:00.000-07:00

Q-Bert is the adventure of a cute little orange puff ball with some kind of a tube for a nose. He jumps on cubes arranged in a pyramid to make the tops of the cubes change colour. The goal is to make all the tops of the cubes the colour that the game tells you to change the colour to.

Q-Bert was originally released in 1982, twelve years before the Entertainment Software Ratings Board started handed out ratings that are slapped on every packaged video game sold.

Chasing Q-Bert around the pyramid are a the nasty critters, such as snakes and gremlins. When one of the enemies jumps on Q-Bert, we discover that inside that bright orange puff ball is a mouth, and a rather foul mouth at that. Given the limited capabilities of the Atari 2600 and the ColecoVision, Speech synthesis or voice recordings within the games weren't possible. Instead Q-Bert's outburst of swearing is shown as random punctuation marks that are shown in place of swear words.

Had there been the ESRB when Q-Bert was released their lack of tolerance of cussing in video games would have meant that Q-Bert would have earned a mature rating. Most kids playing would have to get mommy or daddy to buy the game for their home consoles, but back in those days most video game playing was done out side the home at a place called an arcade. Every little kid wanting to crank every quarter from their allowance would also would have needed a fake ID.

Wind Mobile To Add Ottawa Today

2010-03-25T00:07:00.000-07:00

Canada's newest option for cell phone service, Wind Mobile throws the switch and launches service in Canada's Nation's Capital today (March 25th). While some technology industry consider the 30,000 subscribers that Wind has signed up since launching less than five months ago unimpressive, the Wind Mobile's current pool of subscribers is far greater than Clearnet and Fido had five months after launching thirteen years ago.

Those who like the CRTC state that international investment in Canada's telecommunications industry is a bad thing need to look at how quickly Wind Mobile has been able to provide in more places faster than any other cell carrier has before. If competition in broadband is as badly needed as it is needed in the cellular industry, then open up to let providers financed outside Canada come in to provide service that the home grown duopoly doesn't. There is virtually no doubt that a monopoly in any industry is bad for consumers, but when there is a duopoly where both companies collude as much as they do in the Canadian broadband industry, it's just as if there is a monopoly.

New Xbox 360 Motherboard Means New Version of Console Coming

2010-03-19T08:50:00.000-07:00

Pictures of a new version of the motherboard that powers the Xbox 360 code named 'Valhalla' have leaked and from what it shows it means a new version of the console is on it's way. As I speculated in a previous blog entry Microsoft should do away with the proprietary memory cards, and the new motherboard shows that Microsoft has done exactly that. A software update is adding USB flash drive support to current Xbox 360's. Microsoft has added a optical SPDIF output so there is no need for the HDMI cable with the breakout box to get an optical audio output. The picture from the Engadget page shows a couple metal contained boxes marked 'not sure' could just some other jacks or could potentially be RF shielding for onboard WiFi, and standard Bluetooth. It would be nice for Microsoft to do away with the separate WiFi adapter, and the proprietary wireless headsets.

While Microsoft has been beating Sony on the lowering cost of the console alone, the big boys from Richmond have been losing on total cost of ownership since PS3 owners get WiFi as standard equipment and can use standard Bluetooth headsets that cost less than half than the wireless headsets for the Xbox 360. While the use of proprietary accessories has kept players buying Microsoft hardware and accessories, it's now starting to cost Microsoft customers. Since some of the last generations stragglers are starting to upgrade from their PS2's and have chosen to to upgrade to a Playstation 3 since the price drop on that console.

Adding a great big honkin' heat sink and fan is proof that Microsoft is taking cooling a lot more seriously, but could be admitting fault with previous 360's and could potentially open themselves up to a class action lawsuit, since after five different versions of the motherboard and RROD's are still happening.

With a smaller motherboard coming, will that mean a smaller console is coming, potentially yes. Going to a slot loading DVD drive similar to what Nintendo uses on the Wii would be a good way to reduce the size of the console. Using an off the SATA laptop hard drive, instead of that hard drive wrapped in that proprietary hunk of plastic would be another excellent way to shave inches off the size of the console.

The last question that remains to be asked is when will it be available in stores, probably about the same time that Project Natal is available at the end of the year would be a good guess. Let's hope that Microsoft has an answer at E3 in about three months from now.

Conservatives Vow To Shoot Down The Return of The iPod Tax

2010-03-18T09:23:00.000-07:00

In a rare statement responding to a private members' bill, Canada's heritage minister James Moore has slammed the proposed law that would reinstate a levy on MP3 players introduced into parliament by NDP MP Charlie Angus. The levy that was first implemented in 2003 but was struck down by the federal court of appeal a year and a half later. There have been attempts to bring back the levy, this is the first time a bill has hit the floor of parliament that would bring back the levy on MP3 players.

The Liberal/NDP approach of taxing anything that can contain or play music treats all Canadians like criminals and makes even law abiding Canadians who pay for the music they listen to pay fines for those who get their music from peer to peer networks who would be paying the same fines. The conservative approach has been just as heavy handed nail in a stick, with two previous copyright bills that tried to implement a clone of the hugely unpopular Digital Millennium Copyright Act, entering Canada into the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which authorizes search and seizures without even so much as a court order to find potentially pirated music and movies.

The conservative approach may be unpopular but at least it trusts Canadians to do the right thing. Which is a lot better than the approach of taxing every blank CD, DVD, MP3 player, hard drive, flash memory product, that we can expect from the other parties.

Why Does Sasktel Hate Android?

2010-03-17T00:35:00.000-07:00

Any flatlander who lives between the 102 and 110 degrees longitude West, and between the 49th and 60th parallel North, sees many, many TV ads featuring Little Red Riding Hood proclaiming the how great the smartphones from Saskatchewan's government owned telco, Sasktel.

Sasktel gives smartphone users two choices, Blackberries or Windows Mobile. While Blackberries are still hugely popular, they are not everybody's cup of tea. While Windows Mobile sticks out like the math league, chess team, glee club geek at the senior prom. So far, the king of the smartphones the Apple iPhone is still only available on Rogers in Saskatchewan since Telus has not been able to offer their new line up of phones because they don't actually own their own network, they just piggyback off of Sasktel. Since Apple refuses to even consider the thought of a CDMA iPhone because of the cost of paying licensing fees to Qualcomm, and the limited shelf life of CDMA in the United States there will not be an iPhone on Sasktel as long they stay on CDMA.

Other popular smartphones like the Palm Pre (Exclusive to Bell) and Pixi (Exclusive to Telus with HSPA coverage) pass right by and are not even available in The Land of the Living Skies. The biggest rising star of smartphone operating systems, Google's Android can be found in Saskatchewan, but just like the iPhone it's only available on Rogers. It's not like Sasktel can't offer an Android smartphone because of competing network technology, There are CDMA Android phones out there. There is Motorola's Droid that is offered by Verizon in the United States, Sasktel chose to ignore it, and Telus grabbed the Droid's GSM/HSPA cousin the Milestone and is now the exclusive carrier for that phone across Canada even if they can't offer it in Saskatchewan or Manitoba.

Google's own Nexus One is coming out with a CDMA version in April with service in the United States provided on Verizon Wireless. Since Canada's last two CDMA carriers have to let go of their we only activate the phones we sell before the CDMA Nexus One can be made available in Canada. There is an economic incentive for Sasktel and MTS to do this, With the Nexus One the end user pays the whole cost of the phone, not the cellular service provider. HTC offers the Hero and Eris models running Android on CDMA. Neither of these phones have a found a home with a Canadian carrier yet, if there's somebody listening to what subscribers want, then both Sasktel and MTS need to provide one of these HTC models a home on the prairies in order to prevent the kind of subscriber defections to Rogers to get an Android phone just like the migration to the iPhone that caused the subscriber loss that Sasktel has faced in the past two years.

What Will Sony Need To Do To Make Playstation Move Successful

2010-03-11T08:04:00.000-08:00

At the Game Developers' Conference Sony has unveiled their answer to Nintendo's Wii Remote and Nunchuk. The Playstation Move is due to hit stores before Christmas shopping season and cost less than one hundred dollars. Sony hopes to lure casual gamers currently attracted to Nintendo's Wii. For Sony to take just a little bit of market share away from Nintendo they have a pretty daunting task ahead of them. Many Wii players are the kind that just don't care about high definition graphics or a BluRay player. Sony will need to do a lot to convince these gamers to spend double the money on a Playstation 3 and the Playstation Move.

Sony will need to see the popularity of sports and driving games on the Playstation 3 and work with developers such as EA and 2K Sports to get support for the Playstation Move into the next versions of the popular franchise sports games. Final Fantasy a long mainstay on Playstations, should get even better with a motion sensing device such as the Playstation Move.

Sony has to keep an eye over their shoulder at Microsoft's Project Natal, their attempt to knock Nintendo down a notch. Playstation Move will need to arrive before Project Natal and for a lot less money. Although the Xbox has never appealed to anybody outside the mature rated shoot em all crowd, although if Microsoft can attract developers of family friendly games then it will an even more uphill climb.

Shaw's Wireless Wait And See Game

2010-03-05T00:02:00.000-08:00

For Canadian cell phone subscribers, the long sought competition is starting to arrive. The launch of Wind Mobile at the end of 2009, and two more new carriers Mobilicity and Public Mobile are expected to launch in May. While the promise made in 2008 when Industry Canada opened up new frequency bands for new cell phone carriers is starting to come true, one of the big winners in the wireless telecom spectrum auction hasn't even announced a launch. Shaw Communications won licenses for large chunks of the new cell phone spectrum, but hasn't even announced any plans to launch a cell phone service of their own.

Playing the waiting game allows Shaw to acquire ether Wind Mobile or Mobilicity if they end up in trouble from debt mounting from paying for winning bids in the spectrum auction, building networks, and marketing to attract subscribers. This is similar to the way that Telus expanded from their Western Canadian base to become a national carrier by buying out Clearnet back in the year 2000. Some may think this may be an underhanded way of getting into cell phone industry. With changes to the way Canada's telecommunications industry is regulated it will be an easier way to become a cell phone carrier.

An Update To Duck Hunt For The Wii I'd Like To See

2010-02-19T09:43:00.000-08:00

Nintendo recently released an updated version of the original Super Mario Brothers and put it on the Wii. What about Nintendo's other pack in game, Duck Hunt? Can't it be updated too? Of course it can, here's what I would like to see from a Wii version of Duck Hunt

Let me shoot that damned dog: That four legged anti-hero in Duck Hunt that celebrates every duck killed but laughs when the ducks fly away won't be laughing so smugly when he gets a taste of hot lead.

Interchangeable weapons: The Zapper used in the original is an equivalent to a rifle or a shotgun in the original Duck Hunt, but wouldn't it be cool if those ducks could be killed with a bazooka, rocket propelled grenades, or even yes a flame thrower. Heck even throw in a chainsaw so those ducks cannot hide behind that tree for very long.

Extra Wildlife: Sure shooting ducks maybe fun, for a while, but if a moose came into the scene once in a while, would it be nice to have an additional use for the already mentioned chainsaw.

Those are just a few things that can make Duck Hunt Wii a game that even the Halo nerds can enjoy

What Windows Phone 7 Means For Canadians

2010-02-16T08:36:00.000-08:00

In order to regain market share lost to Apple's iPhone and to hold off a challenge from Google's Android, Microsoft has unveiled a new smartphone operating system with a new name. Windows Phone 7 was unveiled at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, Spain. Windows Phone 7 key features include a new user interface, and integration with social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter (who isn't doing this) digital media with the Zune Marketplace (never came to Canada) and online games through Xbox live.

For Canadian Smartphone users access to phones running Windows Phone 7 should be pretty easy. For subscribers to regional carriers MTS and Sasktel who have seen iPhone, Google Android, and Palm WebOS devices pass them by, Windows Phone 7 will be the next generation smartphone operating system that they will finally get a chance at getting. For Canada's new cell carriers Wind Mobile and Mobilicity, smartphones running Windows Phone 7 could potentially hold a place at the top of the lineups along with Blackberries and Android based smartphones. On the big 3 national carriers it's most likely that Rogers will be most likely to carry Windows Phone 7 since their lineup doesn't have a Palm WebOS device at this time, Bell and Telus will have Windows Phone 7 as well but could be pushed to the sideline to promote iPhones.

Unlike the recent past where potential smartphone users had to choose their cell carrier based on which smartphone they wanted, Windows Phone 7 may not be the smartphone OS that everybody wants, but it will be a smartphone OS that current cell phones can upgrade to a smartphone without changing carriers.

Wish list for iPhone 4.0

2010-02-07T22:50:00.000-08:00

With the speculation and hype surround the iPad subsiding now that it's an official Apple product, attention turns to the next announcement that comes in just four months. For the past few years Apple has used the World Wide Developers' Conference to announce updates to the iPhone. Some rumors have already surfaced as what the fourth version will bring. Here's just a few things that Apple can and should do to update the iPhone:

Replaceable batteries: Cell Phones, like many other devices often outlive the rechargeable batteries they come with. Make the batteries replaceable will help people keep iPhones longer and will be better for the environment.

Advanced Wireless Spectrum (AWS ) support: Putting in support for new frequency bands for cellular systems collectively known as Advanced Wireless Spectrum will help Apple expand the reach of the iPhone to more carriers. T-Mobile runs their 3G on AWS bands, so when the exclusivity with AT&T runs out and Apple looks to more carriers having AWS support on the iPhone will be necessary to operate on T-Mobile. In order to get the iPhone on Canada's new carriers Wind Mobile and Mobilicity AWS support will be required.

A change in display screen technology: Changing the display screen on the iPhone from a traditional LCD to a LED backlet LCD or making a complete change to OLED will allow Apple to make a claim better battery life than previous iPhones, since these newer technologies are more power efficient.

WiFi Tethering: Using the iPhone as a 3G modem for use with a laptop computer has been high on wish lists since the original iPhone launched back in 2007. Newer Palm and Android smartphones have Tethering using WiFi for sharing 3G data service with up to five computers. Maybe it's time for Apple to catch up.

What To Expect When the iPad Comes To Canada

2010-01-28T22:23:00.000-08:00

Within a couple of months people will be getting their hands on the recently unveiled Apple iPad. Depending on Apple's negotiations with Canada's cell carriers the 3G version could be delayed. However just like Amazon's Kindle the delay could be short now that Rogers doesn't have a stranglehold, now that Bell and Telus are operating GSM/HSPA networks compatible with the iPad, which started offering iPhones back in November. Since the iPad comes unlocked consumers can buy a 3G iPad and choose their own carrier.

Once cellular Internet access plans are in place deals with Canada's print media will need to be made in order to provide access to Canada's newspapers and magazines on the iPad. Since those who own much of Canada's print media are also own 'local' TV stations that are crying out for corporate welfare in the form of a tax to be placed on cable and satellite TV bills, are probably are going to look for some way to charge for content through some kind of similar tax on the wireless Internet service charged by cellular carriers.

For newspapers operators, putting their content on a device like the iPad doesn't address the loss of revenue issue caused by mass diversion of eyeballs from one of the bread and butter sources of advertising that newspapers depend on for revenue, the classified ads. Free classified ad websites like craigslist, kijiji.com others have allowed people to sell and buy their stuff for free. The only thing the iPad changes is that people will be reading something other than newsprint which costs more to buy, print on, and transport than the Internet bandwidth to provide a newspaper on the iPad.

For TV networks the iPad is a mixed blessing at best. While the iPad gives viewers access to original programming produced by CTV, CBC and Global, the iPad will also give Canadians easier access to the forbidden fruits, the shows produced by premium networks such as HBO, Showtime, TNT, USA Network and FX. The iPad is hyped by the speculators as well as Steve Jobs to revolutionize other kinds of media in the same way the iPod revolutionized the music industry, In Canada that couldn't be more right.

Five Badly Overpackaged Tech Products

2010-01-25T23:16:00.000-08:00

For many of those who make modifications to their lifestyles to create a cleaner world in the days to years to come, choosing products with less packaging is one of the most important steps to decreasing the amount of waste going to landfills. Many technology products however still come with more packaging that there needs to be. Here's five products that technology companies still put into packages that are way too much.

1. iPod, Shuffle, Nano, and Touch: Look at the displays of portable media players in retail stores, and the shiny iPods in their plastic boxes are sure to leap out. For every pair of Apple's iconic white earbuds seen just about everywhere there is a plastic box that once held that iPod sitting in a landfill somewhere. The first generations of iPods came in a cardboard box. Going to the clear plastic box to house iPods during their journey from the factory to the customers' hands was just to make the iPods look pretty on retail store shelves it serves no other useful purpose.

2. Cardboard DVD/BluRay Sleeves: More often or not buying the latest movies on DVD or BluRay comes with a piece of packaging that serves no purpose and becomes waste just as fast as the shrink wrap comes off. Many movie DVD's and BluRay discs come with a cardboard sleeve over the plastic protective case for the disc. The graphics on cardboard sleeve are identical to the graphic on the insert sheet in the case and completely unnecessary.

3. Microsoft Xbox Live subscription and points cards: Players on Microsoft's Xbox Live online service need to pay to play online and pay for points to download add-ons for games such as extra levels. Both the subscriptions and points are sold on plastic cards with codes on them which are redeemed online. Buying the cards in electronics stores and in specialty video game stores the cards come attached to a cardboard backer card and the whole thing comes in a plastic blister pack. Xbox live cards sold at convenience stores come without the blister pack, this at least gives consumers the opportunity to choose not to buy unneeded packaging.

4. Microsoft Windows & Office: Recent version of both Windows and office have come in hard plastic cases where retail packages for Windows and Office in the past was just a cardboard box. While other software publishers have reduced the size of the boxes that their software is packaged in, Microsoft has made a similar reduction but has made an unneeded switch from cardboard to plastic.

5. Printer ink cartridges: The ink cartridges for most printers come in a sealed bag in a cardboard box. Isn't it possible that the sealed bag could become the retail package and skip the cardboard box entirely? It has been worse though, some ink cartridges also had a plastic blister pack to hold the cardboard box that holds the sealed plastic bag. While it is encouraging to see those blister packs gone the cardboard boxes should go too.

For more information on decreasing the impact on the environment while using and enjoying technology check out the 25 Things Geeks Can Do To Go Green

What does Microsoft hope to do with a Zune Phone?

2010-01-21T23:05:00.000-08:00

If a recent rumor coming out of Redmond is to be believed, Microsoft will attempt to prop up their floundering Windows Mobile and Zune products by marrying them together. According to an entry on a blog on allthingsd.com Within two months from now ether at the mobile world conference in February or the Cellular Telephone Industry Association conference in March, Microsoft will announce a new smart phone running Windows Mobile 7 using a Zune style user interface. The phones will be made by Microsoft and sold through a carrier (Verizon most likely) While other handset makers will be able to make phones with Windows Mobile 7 the Zune style media player functionality will be exclusive to Microsoft's phone.

If Microsoft is hoping to compete with the iPhone, that ship sailed two and half years ago. At best Microsoft can only expect to hold ground against Google's Android. While Android has a better overall UI it hasn't been exactly been the strongest portable media player in a phone not made by Apple. Microsoft needs the handset makers for Windows Mobile to survive, and given that Microsoft is has become a handset maker when they acquired Danger (maker of the well known and now infamous sidekick), and going further into making actual smartphones, that doesn't exactly give handset makers a reason not to defect to Android.

Google's Nexus One - Canadian Debut?

2010-01-11T14:07:00.000-08:00

For the second year in a row the biggest hyped product is the Nexus One smartphone from Google. The Nexus One is built by HTC but is sold to carriers by Google. Buyers can buy a Nexus One unlocked for use on any GSM cellular network for $529.00. T-Mobile USA offers a subidized version for $179.00 on a two year contract.

For Canadians this means that the only way to get a Nexus One is to buy direct from Google. For those who don't want to pony up six or seven Bordens once exchange rate and shipping are factored in. There maybe an agreement with a carrier coming soon. Rogers, Fido, Bell and Telus are compatible with the Nexus One. Koodo, Virgin Mobile, MTS and Sasktel are not compatible as the Nexus One is GSM only for now. There is supposed to be a CDMA version of the Nexus One for Verizon Wireless stateside. With Bell and Telus going GSM/HSPA it is unlikely that the CDMA Nexus One will make an appearance in Canada.

For Handset makers the Nexus One poses an interesting challenge, buying the Android operating system for their own smartphones which has to compete against the Nexus One. For Google selling the Nexus One isn't so much about generating a revenue stream from something other than online advertising. Perhaps it's to show handset makers, cellular carriers and consumers what Android can really do.

CES 2010: AT&T Getting Android and WebOS Smartphones

2010-01-07T06:46:00.000-08:00

One of the early announcements from the Consumer Electronics Show is bound to reverberate in Western Canada. AT&T has announced seven new smartphones running Google's Android and Palm's Web OS. Undoubtely each of the Android models will find a home with a carrier on this side of the 49th parallel. AT&T picking up Palm's WebOS phones that will have the most impact in Western Canada. Palm's WebOS exclusivity agreement with Bell have excludes regional carriers MTS and Sasktel from offering the Palm Pre.

Since the majority of AT&T's phone lineup ends up on Rogers, getting GSM versions of the Pre and Pixi, then it will allow Rogers to offer the Pixi at first and then the Pre will be available when the exclusivity agreement with Bell expires. For Bell, who is in the process of making a switch over from CDMA to GSM, will most likely switch to the GSM version of the Pre that they will offer to new subscribers. Getting Palm WebOS is a win for Rogers but is also a win for subscribers in Manitoba and Saskatchewan who have not had access to the Palm Pre yet. That's why carrier exclusivity agreements end up hurting consumers and need to come to a mandated end.

Playing The Odds on CES 2010

2010-01-05T22:52:00.000-08:00

Now that everybody has received the tech toys they wanted this Christmas just past, people will get their first looks at the gadgets that will be under the tree next Christmas. The 2010 installment of the annual Consumer Electronics Show is set to start in Las Vegas. Here's my guesses and the odds of appearing on the convention floor.

1000:1 TV's with OLED screens bigger than a sheet of paper.

700:1 Prototype for digital broadcast radio system appears and become the big hit of the show.

200:1 Hundreds of TV's and DVR's supporting OpenCable appear at the show.

50:1 3D TV appears at the show with full support of the networks.

5:1 Keynote from Microsoft's Steve Ballmer contains not much more than Zunes, and Smartphones running Windows Mobile interconnected with PC's and Xbox 360. Microsoft board of directors starts hunting for new CEO.

2010 Technology Predictions

2009-12-28T22:43:00.000-08:00

Now that the end of 2009 is just days away it's time to look ahead to 2010 to see what will happen with our gadgets, computers and in the online world.

1. Beginning of the end of CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access the technology used by about half of the cell phones in North America is going to start heading towards the end days. Bell and Telus have already started to replace their CDMA networks with networks using GSM/HSPA technology. Verizon Wireless the largest CDMA cell operator is already planning a migration to a 4G technology known as Long Term Evolution or LTE starting in 2010.

2. No iPhone on Verizon this year: The biggest rumor about Apple's iPhone is when it will be available on a carrier other than AT&T in the United States. There have been a lot of gossip that Apple is developing a CDMA based iPhone for use on Verizon Wireless. With Verizon's iDont and Land of lost toys commericals pretty fresh in the minds at Apple, it's likely that things have soured between Verizon and Apple that Apple isn't going to make the investment to make an iPhone for Verizon's CDMA network when the exclusivity agreement with AT&T expires at the end of 2010. It is far more likely that Apple doesn't see the point in sinking millions of dollars into research and development when Verizon is going to deploying LTE to replace CDMA in 2011. This it not to say that there will never be an iPhone on Verizon. AT&T is going to be deploying LTE at about the same time as Verizon. Expect to see an LTE based iPhone in about two or three years from now on Verizon and AT&T.

3. Palm offers WebOS based GSM smartphones: The Palm Pre the darling of the cell industry for a few months at the beginning of 2009 will break away the shackles of being a CDMA only device. Since Verizon, Google and Motorola stole Palm's thunder with the Droid, Palm will need something big to survive. Originally choosing Sprint as the carrier for the Pre didn't help things one bit so Palm will need to make their phones available to every carrier under the sun. That means bringing out a GSM based Pre and Pixi to offer through AT&T, T-Mobile, Rogers, and Telus.

4. Facebook IPO: Social Networking has been something speculated to be something big enough to invest in. The major media companies have invested in a big way. News Corporation bought Myspace, Google bought Orkut, and AOL bought Bebo. Soon people will be able to invest in the biggest name in social networking: Facebook. Speculation about Facebook going public have been going around since Facebook created two classes of shares current owned by the owners of Facebook back in October. After Facebook goes for sale on the stock market, so will developers of facebook applications, and let the next bubble inflate.

A Look Back At The Tech of 2009

2009-12-22T23:00:00.000-08:00

As families gather around decorated trees to unwrap both techie and non techie presents just before 2009 comes to a close a look back shows that 2009 was the year of...

1. iPhone Competitors

At the opening of 2009 at the annual Consumer Electronics Show, a company that many thought to be long left for dead unveiled a phone that promised to give Apple's iPhone would finally get some serious competition. Where HTC's G1 on T-Mobile powered by Google's Android operating system failed to capture consumers' pocketbooks, Palm's new smartphone named the Pre became newest phone to get the 'iPhone killer' name. Despite positive reviews for the WebOS that powers the pre, and strong demand when the phone launched in June, interest in the Pre has trailed off into obscurity, just as Motorola and Verizon start promotion for the Droid powered by Android which towards the end of 2009 is finally getting decent handsets that can properly run Android. With more handsets from more manufacturers running Android, not too many people are talking about WebOS as 2009 draws to a close

2. Netbooks everywhere

The market for Netbooks exploded in 2009, cash-strapped consumers bought up netbooks as their disposable income for things like full sized notebook and desktop PC's evaporated. Cell phone carriers began offering netbooks equipped with 3G connectivity in exchange for making a two year committment to 3G service from any of the cellular carriers.

3. Apple Fanboys Shattered Dreams

At Apple's last appearance at the annual MacWorld conference the much rumoured Apple tablet would be unveiled but that didn't happen, mid year at the World Wide Developers Conference Apple's tablet didn't become a reality. The diehards are still waiting and rumourmongering about the Apple tablet. At the product announcement on September 9th it was widely speculated from the date of the announcement 9-9-9 that the entire catelog of songs by the Beatles would be available for sale in the iTunes music store. That again didn't happen. One more thing... Apple fanboys were left with some pretty long looking faces in 2009.

What Does Wind Mobile's Phones and Plans Mean For Consumers?

2009-12-17T08:30:00.000-08:00

Wind Mobile Canada's delayed but still first out of the gate new cell phone carrier unveiled their plans and the phones that they will be offering. As expected Wind Mobile is undercutting the incumbent cell carriers with plans at 15.00 35.00 and 45.00 dollars per month. All three plans offer free calling between Wind Mobile cell phones anywhere in Canada. The 35.00 dollar per month plan offers free calling within the province where the subscriber lives provided that the subscriber is with in a Wind Mobile coverage area. The 45.00 dollar per month plan offers free calling within Canada. All three plans offer free unlimited incoming text messages.

The selection of phones is pretty paltry right now, only four models of handsets are currently available. A touch screen phone from Huawei, a chinese company, the Gravity 2 from Samsung, HTC Maple running Windows mobile, and the Blackberry Bold 9700. What is unique to Wind Mobile is the requirement to buy a phone outright when signing up for service, phones are not subidized in exchange subscribers are on month by month billing and not locked into a contract for three years.

Certainly the plans will entice consumers to switch, but paying the full cost of the phone will make many think twice. That will give the incumbent carriers pleny of ammo in the ad war that is sure come in the new year. Bell and Telus is sure to take aim with the 'C' word, coverage. Wind Mobile currently covers Toronto and Calgary, Wind Mobile will be roaming on the Rogers network everywhere else in Canada. Now the first new cell carrier has unveiled their service, two more to go, cell phone service is on it's way to getting better.

Is Bell Mobility Planning an Expansion Into Saskatchewan?

2009-12-16T10:04:00.000-08:00

At a time when cellular subscribers across Canada await new competitors to provide cell service, meanwhile in Saskatchewan one of the new carriers arriving soon is actually one of the long time established cell carriers just about everywhere else in Canada. Undoubtly many in land of the living skies have seen the commericals advertising for the iPhone on Telus and Bell on CTV and Global broadcasts including locally produced newscasts. While Telus offers cell phone service in Saskatchewan, they are not able to offer the iPhone because the only GSM/HSPA network in the province is owned by Rogers, which Telus will not enter into a roaming agreement with.

Bell has never entered the Cellular market in Saskatchewan because of the network infrastructure sharing agreement they signed with Sasktel years ago. The telco's share each other's networks in exchange they don't compete in each others service areas. It could be argued that Bell has already effectively ended that agreement since their satellite TV services competes against Sasktel Max. Bell mobility has brought in sideline revenue selling cell phones to affiliated carriers such as Sasktel and MTS, as Bell moves from CDMA to GSM/HSPA that's revenue that killed off as long as the regional carriers choose to stay on CDMA.

If or more likely when Bell mobility starts putting up towers in Saskatchewan, Telus is likely to share a GSM/HSPA network, so that Telus can offer their full lineup GSM/HSPA handsets. Bell and Telus can bring a much better varitey of cell phones, smartphones, including the iPhone, Motorola Milestone (GSM varient of the Droid) and most other Android based smartphones that Rogers doesn't already offer. Bell is a member of the Inukshuk alliance which offers WiMax based broadband service in the rest of Canada. Bell mobility entering Saskatchewan will finally mean WiMax will finally come to the province. Many from other provinces may have horror stories about high prices and poor customer service they get from Bell, but at least it competes against the high prices and poor customer service that we get from the service providers we have now.

Globalive's Wind Mobile Will Get To Launch After All

2009-12-11T09:25:00.000-08:00

The recent decicion by the Canadian Radio-Television & Telecommunications Commission that prevented Globalive from launching their Wind Mobile cell phone service has been overtuned. The CRTC decided that because the ownership structure of Globalive doesn't have enough Canadian ownership and could not launch a national cell phone network. Industry Minister Tony Clement has upheld Industry Canada's licensing of Globalive clearing the company to launch their cell phone network as soon as this Monday (December, 14th 2009) in Toronto and Calgary.

The incumbent cellular carriers are already voicing their displeasure over Globalive's reinstatement of their license. Rogers chief executive officer Nadir Mohamed stated that the Canada's wireless market could not sustain a fourth national service. Several years ago an attempt was made to introduce more compeition in the cell phone market in Canada. In 1995 Microcell's Fido and Clearnet were licensed to provide cellular services that launched in 1997. The costs buying the licenses in auctions and building cellular networks ran the startups into too much debt. In 2000 Clearnet was bought up by Telus, which expanded Telus from their base of operations in Alberta and British Columbia into a national carrier. In 2003 Microcell became the prize in a war of hostile takeover bids from Telus and Rogers.

The launches of Wind Mobile and three other startup cellular carriers promised to be different that those of Clearnet and Microcell. Canada's cell phone market is a lot larger now, there's about three times the number of cell phone subscribers now than there were in 1997. Any claim that Canada's market won't be able to sustain any more cell phone carriers is questionable at best.

Playing The Odds on the Apple Tablet Computer

2009-12-10T22:54:00.000-08:00

After Apple's reluctance to pull the trigger and release the often rumored tablet computer in time for Christmas shopping season, rumours of a launch in March or April are springing up. Lately the Apple tablet has been hyped as going to do to the book publishing industry what the iPod did to the music industry. Just as gambling industry bookmakers give odds on sporting events here's the odds for certain rumors about the upcoming iPad as some people call it.

500-1 Apple releases the tablet at a reasonable price point something like $499 or less. Being priced so above the rest of the PC industry doesn't give Apple a cachet of geek chic, it just makes them look greedy.

200-1 The Apple tablet will run a full version of OS X. The smart money goes to Apple putting an iPhone/iPod Touch interface to pander to the masses who have bought those devices, instead of a device that bridges people to the full OS X experience.

80-1 Wireless data service provided Verizon Wireless, Verizon hasn't won any fans in Cupertino with their "land of misfit toys" and "There's a Map for That" ads, the 3G service is going to be coming from AT&T

20-1 Screen using OLED or colour e-ink technology, given how much of a power hog that backlighting systems for LCD panels can be. If Apple goes to a small nonreplaceable battery they'll need some new display screen technology.

4-1 e-books, and audiobooks will come to the iTunes store. Apple will need to sell books for their device designed for reading.

2-1 After feeding the rumour mill some more by constant denials, Apple will have a media event to introduce new products such as new macbooks and iPods but no tablet.

Droid, Milestone facts for Canadians

2009-12-09T23:37:00.000-08:00

Motorola's Droid smartphone on Verizon Wireless has to be the most advertised smartphone since the original iPhone a little over two years ago. Motorola is putting out two versions of this smartphone the Droid the one that is already well known, that runs on Verizon's CDMA network and the Milestone that runs on GSM/HSPA networks. Telus Mobility has already announced that they will be the exclusive carrier for the Milestone on their new HSPA network.

In some areas of Canada, Rogers is the only GSM/HSPA network available with the other cellular network available from a regional incument carrier such MTS or Sasktel who will be choosing to stay on CDMA for the forseeable future, people in these areas are out of luck when it comes to the Droid/Milestone since Telus rents the cellular network infrastructure in those areas where they don't own their own. Exclusivity agreements similar to what Motorola has with Telus prevent offering the CDMA based Droid in areas where Telus doesn't offer HSPA service. Palm makes a GSM version of the Pre for the European markets but is prevented by exclusivity agreements with Bell Mobility and Sprint from offering the GSM version in North America.

Former customers of Alltel (a former regional cell phone carrier in the United States) used to complain about the poor selection of phones until they got bought out by Verizon. For regional carrier subscribers in Canada, not having access to the latest selection of smart phones is just the price of subscribing to a regional carrier.

2009 Prognostications Redux

2009-12-07T10:28:00.000-08:00

The close of 2009 just a few weeks away, it's time once again to check up on predictions I made last year at this time and see how accurate my digital clairvoyance really was, so here's what I thought was going to happen in 2009 and what actually did happen:

1. Handset makers start dumping Windows Mobile and go to Google Android

On this one I get half a mark, while handset manufacturers and cell carriers have started to adopt Android, nobody has dropped Windows Mobile yet, that could still come in 2010. Windows Mobile 6.5 was released to tepid reviews and Microsoft promises that Windows Mobile 7 will be better, Microsoft had better deliver. Android will be seen by handset manufacturers as what they need to compete against Apple's iPhone.

2. Canadian cell phone carriers start marketing blitz in advance of arrival of competition

I wouldn't exactly call what the cell carriers have done to get ready for new competition as a marketing blitz, Canada's incumbent cellular carriers have dropped the system access fee on new cell phone accounts which is a good thing, Bell and Telus have started their change over from CDMA to GSM/HSPA which is another good thing because it moves Canada to a single standard system for Cellular communications, which is another good thing because it allows an unlocked phone to be used on any network. The cell carriers have gone and cried foul to the CRTC about the ownership structure of one of the new competitive carriers Wind Mobile, their decicion delays their launch well into 2010. The incumbents have also gone after each other about their advertising claims this is another bad thing for subscribers, because the costs of all lawsuit damage rewards are ultimately will get passed down to you know who: cell phone subscribers.

3. Yahoo Fire Sale

This one is one I'm glad I got wrong, Yahoo getting bought up and sold off would have been a tragic end of one of the Internet's pioneering brands. A search deal with Microsoft is already threating to kill Yahoo's core product, web search. The future of Yahoo as just an online media company will be uncertain at best. This is a story that will conclude in 2010.

4. Apathy towards Windows 7 gains momentum

This is the prediction that I was the most wrong about. Those who had to endure Windows Vista jumped over to Windows 7 in large numbers. The Windows XP hold outs are making the switch as well. 2010 will be finally be the year the corporate IT community finally makes a switch to another operating system. Windows 7, Mac OS X or something else.

Half marks on a couple of predictions and complete wrong on a couple more shows that 2009 was an eventful year in tech, just as 2010 promises to be. Stay tuned for the predictions for 2010.

What Will It Take For Nokia To Make A Comeback In North America

2009-12-02T07:42:00.000-08:00

About ten years ago when cell phones were used to make phone calls many cell phone owners in the United States an Canada used Nokia phones. Back then the World's leader in cell phone was the leader in market share in North America. Oh how times have changed, after getting mowed over by Motorola's razr, a price spat with Qualcomm, iPhone, Palm Pre and Google Andorid have relegated Nokia's handsets to the line-ups of convenience store prepaid services.

If Nokia's executives want to get their phones back into hands of cell phone yakkers then there's much that has to be done to make there phones and their brand desireable in North America once again. Nokia's Symbian OS may have a following in Europe, but it's nothing but dead weight in their attempt to sell a Smartphone in North America. If Nokia doesn't put out a Android based handset in the year it's probably going to be game over for Nokia this side of the Atlantic.

Even if just one phone has just one feature that no other phone has, cell phone subscribers will grab up the phones and bring Nokia back into the game. One flaw that iPhones and other touch screen phones has is the fragile nature of their screens. One doesn't have to look very far to find a smartphone with a shattered screen. Just by bringing a shock resistant touch screen phone would attract subscribers back to Nokia

One of the things that lead to Nokia's fall from grace is their focus on the low end of the market. Producing phones for prepaid MNVO's Nokia has become a ghetto brand. Nokia will need to get phones into the lineups of the incumbent cell carriers once again, but for the incumbent carriers Nokia handsets would be a gamble since most of the subscribers they are trying to attract want iPhones, Palm Pre's or an Android smartphone. For Nokia something has to be done to make the incumbent carriers to take that gamble, Nokia's future in North America depends on it.

SprintNextel To Kill QChat

2009-12-01T10:31:00.000-08:00

America's third largest cellular carrier SprintNextel has announced that the Sprint branded QChat two way radio service over the CDMA network will come to an end. No new phones with the feature will be sold effective immediately. Users of the service will be able to continue to use the service for the remaining terms of their contracts. The walkie talkie service sold under the Nextel and Boost Mobile brands using iDen technology will remain in service for years to come.

Two way radio service over CDMA cellular networks that QChat is based on is sold as a service called 10-4 in Canada by Bell, Bell Aliant, MTS and Sasktel. With the end of Sprint's QChat and Bell's move from CDMA to GSM/HSPA leaves the future of 10-4 uncertain. Sanyo and Samsung being the only manufactuers to produce handsets for QChat and 10-4 likely to drop the feature from handsets in the short term. Two way radio service by Telus Mobility sold under the Mike brand is not affect as it uses iDen technology.

Bell Finally Joins Android Bandwagon

2009-11-26T23:15:00.000-08:00

Posters that have been appearing at Bell stores are announcing Bell Mobility will be the exclusive carrier for Samsung's first Android based smartphone called the Galaxy. The Galaxy uses Bell's new HSPA network, runs Android 1.5, has a 5 MP digital camera, has WiFi and has a microDS slot for memory expansion. This announcement from Bell now brings all three of Canada's national cell phone carriers into the Android camp. Telus recently announced their exclusive agreement to bring the Motorola Milestone (The HSPA version of the Droid) North of the 49th. Subscribers to Canada's two regional carriers, MTS and Sasktel still do not have an Android smartphone of their own, something that probably won't change until the exclusivity agreements expire in two to three years. Those in Manitoba and Saskatchewan who are looking at an Android based smartphone have one choice, Rogers

Having a Tripoly of national cell phone carriers in this country has led to subscribers of regional carriers and Mobile Network Virtual Operating (MNVO's) getting shut out of getting the cool in demand smartphones. Exclusivity agreements between handset makers and the big national carriers is yet one of the signs that competition is long overdue. Just the threat of competition has made the big national carriers drop the much hated system access fee, and the absolutely fraudlient 911 fee. In order for the consumer to pick a phone then pick a carrier it's starting to happen, with Bell and Telus' new GSM/HSPA network it's now possible to to swich carriers just by swiching a SIM card in an unlocked phone.

News Corp's Stupid Gamble - Delisting From Google

2009-11-23T09:29:00.000-08:00

Reports are surfacing that News Corporation is considering any offers for payment in exchange for de-listing it's newspapers and Fox news from Google News. It is said that Microsoft is talking to News Corp about a deal where News Corp will make it's properties available through Microsoft's Bing search engine. Bing's market share in search has fallen into the mid single digits after capturing 12 percent of all web searches when Microsoft launched Bing back in the summer.

For News Corp and other struggling news outlets the thought of the kind of money that Microsoft can bring to the table is at the very least worth considering, any such move to delist from Google may end up being hurtful in the end. It's not just Google's web search market share of 80 percent or more that would make delisting from Google foolish to say the least. People who use competing search engines often just use them as a second resort after searching Google first.

A quick injection of cash from Microsoft may help News Corp in the short term, but in the long run sticking their online news properties on a search engine that is only capturing five percent of all web searches will rob them of the very thing that all online and offline media companies fight over, eyeballs. Online advertising hasn't paid out the kind of money that media companies had expected, and people didn't pay to subscribe to online content. Craig's List stole their classified cash cow, it's not hard to understand how traditional news outlets are struggling in the online age.

Geek Anthems: Online - Brad Paisley

2009-11-20T00:17:00.000-08:00

Songs like'White And Nerdy' and 'It's All About The Pentiums' by Weird Al Yankovic are considered a couple of geek anthems, songs that celebrate geek culture. There's another one that fits into the catergory as a geek anthem. Online by Brad Paisley may not celebrate geeks or geek culture but it is story of one geek played by Seinfeld's Jason Alexander in the video. The protagonist works a dead end job in the fast food industry and drives a beater of a car. He lives in his parents' basement, his real life is much different than the life he creates for himself on the Internet. In his fantasy world he is played by Paisley himself. The video intercuts concert footage featuring Taylor Swift and Kellie Pickler to go with the line of the chorus of the song "Even on a slow day I can have a three way chatting with two women at the same time"

Alexander's geeky protagonist is then seen playing the song in the concert footage and dancing with Swift and Pickler. The protagonist's dream is shattered when Paisley comes to ask him "what the hell are you doing?" The dream is totally over when after a dissolve we see him and his father played by William Shatner asking what the hell are you doing? The protagonist dons his marching band uniform presumabily from high school days and goes marching down the street with the geeky female from next door. The protagonist's mother played by Estelle Harris is seen with Paisley she says that "marching music makes me hot" with Paisley shuttering at the thought.

Many reviewers panned the song stating that is way mean spirited and close to bullying. I doubt that most of us have embellished the truth about ourselves to make us look better than we actually are online or offline. To the critics maybe they should take a look at themselves and listen to the song and have a laugh.

Kindle Will Be Coming To Canada After All

2009-11-17T09:18:00.000-08:00

When Amazon launched the international version of the Kindle e-book reader last month there was a big hole in the list of countries where people could buy Kindles. Potential Canadian customers were left behind, but not any more. Amazon has announced that Kindles will start to be shipped to Canada. It wasn't Canada's publishing industry that was holding back the Kindle, it was the cell phone industry. According to Amazon "We were shopping around for the best deal on the cost of running its wireless capability." What this boils down to is that Amazon wansn't willing to play ball with Rogers and was waiting for Telus and Bell to launch their GSM/HSPA network.

Wannabe Kindle readers who live in or visit Manitoba or Saskatchewan will find that the wireless features will be no available because the Bell/Telus HSPA network doesn't cover those two provinces, unless Amazon makes a deal with Rogers to use their network in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. That may be change within the next couple of years. Telus is expected to start putting up their own wireless network towers when existing network sharing agreements with MTS and Sasktel expire.

It may not be truly national coverage yet, but anybody who won't have access to the wireless features at first can still hook up to a computer for a sync.

What Microsoft Should Do If They Redesign The Xbox 360

2009-11-12T00:06:00.000-08:00

Once in the lifespan of any video game console system the manufacturer will redesign a system to lower the cost of production, make the system hardware more relabile, or to give it greater appeal to consumers. At the beginning of the 1990's both Nintendo and Sega redesigned the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Sega Master System. Both redesigned their 8-bit systems to make them cheaper to build and sell to consumers just as the 16 bit video games era began. In 1999 just before the Playstation 2 was released to rule the gaming world the original playstation went under the knife and got smaller in size of the system and the price got smaller too.

In 2004 Sony redesigned the Playstation 2 to make it smaller, but not just because they were replacing it with new system but to give it a competive leg up against Microsoft's original Xbox. Sony made the PS2 smaller by locating the power transformer outside of the box using a wire wart instead. The hard drive expansion bay was done away with and the drawer loading drive was replaced with a drive that used a fliptop lid similar to the original playstation. The Ethernet port became standard on the redesigned PS2 no longer an add on.

After a redesign and price drop Sony is now selling more Playstation 3's then they ever have since launching the system in 2006 it's now Microsoft that finds themselves in third place in console sales. Nobody every said that having a big clunky looking machine will doom a game machine to failure but the design was one of the biggest complaints about the original Xbox. After five years the Xbox is starting to look an update is needed. What changes will be needed so that Microsoft will be looking forward to success with the Xbox 360 rather than the current trend of gamers jumping ship to the PS3. Here's just a few of my suggestions:

Dump the memory card slots: Those two slots right next to the disk drive drawer are for a couple of Microsoft's proprietary memory cards for the Xbox 360. Since adding 256 MB of flash memory to the motherboard of the 360 Arcade has made using these memory card slots unneeded and unused by the vast majority of 360 owners. This should definately be the first to go.

Go to a slot loading disk drive: The competing consoles in this generation both have slot loading drives which game disks are inserted. The old fashioned loading drawer can break off, and after a while can and will fail. Slot loading disk drives prevent dust from entering the drive mechanism, and the brushes on the slot clean disks as they are being inserted into the drive. Many Windows PC's as well as just about evey Mac that Apple produces have replaced the drawer load drive with a slot load drive, it's time Microsoft does the same with the 360.

Onboard WiFi: One of the things that irks 360 owners and PS3 fanboys gloat about is the extra one hundred dollars for the WiFi adapter for the 360 that those unwilling to run ethernet cable have to buy if they want to get onto Xbox live. Both the Wii and the PS3 have onboard WiFi standard if Microsoft wants to keep the 360 competive then they will have sacrifice the sacred cash cow.

Better ventilation: Stories from gamers of Xbox 360's overheating and showing a red ring still aboud where gamers meet each other. Changing to a design similar to that used by Apple's G4 cube where the CPU and GPU chips which create the most heat are placed cloest to the vent at the top of they system and chips that produce little or no heat are placed close to the bottom.

At least considering these ideas is at least a way of looking forward instead of letting the 360 rest on it's laurels, it may seem like a big choice for the Xbox 360 team at Microsoft, but it really is not.

Jailbroken iPhones Get Hacked

2009-11-04T08:08:00.000-08:00

For those who have ever jailbroken their iPhones or iPod touch devices thinking that it was harmless, they have just been proven wrong. Users of jailbroken iPhones in Holland recently discovered a message telling them that their iPhones have hijacked and that their personal information was available to the hijacker. Clicking on a link in the message told them to hand over 5 Euros to the hijacker's PayPal account.

While this was just a simple attempt to scare people out of money is just the first of what will be flood of security breaches that hit jailbroken iPhones or iPod touchs since jailbreaking disables all security mechanisms in the Apple devices. This is proof that any iPod touch or iPhone is best left the way it came from Apple.

For more information about The Hidden Dangers of Jailbreaking

GSM Droid Confirmed For Germany, Canada Next?

2009-11-02T09:45:00.000-08:00

Since the official announcement of Motorola's Droid launch on Verizon there have been rumours of a Droid for GSM networks will be surfacing soon. O2 Germany and Motorola have confirmed that the GSM version of the Droid dubbed the Milestone will be available on November 9th. While this doesn't mean anything for Americans on AT&T or T-Mobile because of Motorola's exclusivity agreement with Verizon, Canadians will have a reason to hope that it's no longer a question of if the Droid will come to the Great White North but when.

The Droid coming to GSM means that Rogers will be able to offer the phone as well as CDMA carriers Telus and Bell. The CDMA Droid is most likely to end up with Telus because most of the models of phones that Verizon carries get carried by Telus. Bell on the other hand carries Sprint's phone lineup. Having a GSM version of the Droid means that Rogers can and will offer the Droid to Canadians.

The GSM version of the Droid will also be HSPA network compatible so that Telus or Bell could offer the GSM/HSPA version of the Droid to get expected data hungry customers that the Droid would attract onto their new networks, while Voice call users would stay on CDMA. While this may be a good way to manage their wireless networks, won't be a good move to provide service to those in Manitoba and Saskatchewan since the only networks that aren't owned by Rogers are CDMA only. The best way for Telus to offer a national launch of the Droid is to pick up the CDMA version. (Subscribers of MTS and SaskTel are out of luck on this one since these regional carriers carry the phones the big carriers don't want anymore.)

Forbidding some kind of exclusivity agreement with one carrier can and should give Canadians choice of cellular carrier. Not just now but in the future when the new carriers, Wind Mobile, DAVE Wireless and Public Mobile launch their cell phone services next year. This oddly reminds me of ten years ago when people could flock to Bell, Rogers, Telus, Clearnet or Fido to get a Motorola StarTac. Times change but sometimes what's old can become new again.