Canada

Canadians should avoid Google Nexus One, for now.

January 7, 2010

It was hard not to get caught up in the excitement over the Nexus One announcement at the beginning of this week.  With pundits declaring that Google’s entry into the smartphone market would be a game changer, and reviewers claiming that Nexus One was like an open Apple iPhone, the hype meter was fairly off [...]

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Buying the BlackBerry Onyx: Telus and Bell vs Rogers

November 13, 2009

My venerable BlackBerry Curve has just come out of contract with Rogers, so I’m in the market for a new BlackBerry and my pals at RIM tell me that the BlackBerry 9700 “Onyx” is the one to have.  Not only that, but here in Canada Telus and Bell have both just launched new HSPA+ networks [...]

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There’s more to Bell and Telus’ announcements than just the iPhone.

October 5, 2009

There was big news here in Soviet Canuckistan today.  Next month, Bell and Telus will both start selling the Apple iPhone.  What?  “How is that possible”, you ask. “Aren’t Bell and Telus tied to ancient CDMA technology?” Both are rolling out network upgrades to HSPA technology in time for the 2010 Olympics, putting them on [...]

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The truth about Canadian Health Care

September 11, 2009

This morning I’ve been reflecting on the debate about health care that’s happening south of the border.  Like many Canadians I’ve been in disbelief watching the rhetoric escalate.  The outright lies, and Orwellian double-speak by special interest groups in the US have me wondering how my American friends will ever achieve a resolution. What caused [...]

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Mark Goldberg sets me straight on Canadian rates

August 27, 2009

I was feeling my oats yesterday when I twittered a CBC piece on the high cost of mobile service in Canada.  The CBC piece struck a nerve, as I had just read Andy Abramson’s comparison of US and European mobile operators approach to service.  I have to say, I had no experience like Andy’s last [...]

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Government as Entrepreneur.

July 11, 2009

en·tre·pre·neur n.  A person who organizes, operates, and assumes the risk for a business venture. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Blazoned across the front page of the local rag, the Ottawa Citizen, this morning’s headline read Billion-dollar business fund overlooks city tech firms.  It seems the Ontario Government yesterday announced [...]

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Canadian broadband needs an upload overhaul.

June 27, 2009

Yesterday YouTube doubled the upload limit available to users in response the increasing number of high definition videos that are being sent to the site.  Now you can upload a 2G file, instead of a 1G file.   YouTube has made it easier to upload a high definition file as well. According to Liz Gannes at [...]

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Rogers Home Phone. Too little, too late?

June 15, 2009

Late Friday afternoon, “Mookie” from Rogers called to talk about our phone service.  Rogers is pushing to convert as many of their customers from the incumbent Bell Canada over to Rogers Home Phone.  Rogers has a plan for $30.95 per month which gives you 5 calling features, and 1,000 minutes of long distance in North [...]

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“Men with sticks, looking to do each other grievous harm.”

June 13, 2009

That’s how the MC for this afternoon’s joust at the Upper Canada Village Medieval Festival described what they were about to do.  It was certainly thrilling. Four “knights” in authentic armor charged at each other through the lists with enormous Douglas Fir lances, bent on unhorsing the other.  Points were awarded for a touch, a [...]

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Is Canadian tech at a turning point?

May 21, 2009

Recently one has the impression that the Canadian tech sector is willing itself back to life.  After the meltdown last fall, there have been numerous events in recent weeks that seem to be indicators pointing in the right direction.  For example: May 19, the Canadian Advanced Technology Association held its annual award dinner.  Held at [...]

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