Technology & Business
Most Snapchat users are on IOS and other cool information
Tech companies are notoriously secretive about their user makeup and their internal operations. Snap filled its paperwork for its IPO (Initial Public Offering) and it makes for a fantastic read. You too can read the S1 here. As much as Android fans want to pretend they are as vibrant as the IOS community, the Snap S1 begs to differ. They clearly highlight that most users of Snapchat are on IOS thus making it the priority development platform for the service.
Google Home Superbowl ad
Google has started taking hardware seriously in recent years with its Chromecast and Pixels. Then Google launched the Google Home a voice controlled speaker system that competes directly against the Amazon Echo. In addition to basic voice control, it brought the Google Assistant (until then reserved for the Pixel line of smartphones) to the masses. You can ask Google Home any question and watch it miraculously respond leveraging the massive Google knowledge graph. It can play music from Google Play or Spotify, It an give you weather, news and sport scores.
Bypass that machine and speak to a human
Regardless of the sales pitch companies make, most self-service initiatives are to save the company money and not necessarily to improve the customer experience. Automated interactive voice support systems are no exception. Everyone dreads entering the maze of never-ending menus filled with frustration and annoyance. There is a better way. What if you could bypass the machine and go straight to a living breathing human? Welcome to the salvation that is GetHuman.com. Let's say I want to call Bell Canada:
IOS 10.2 brings WI-FI Calling for Telus Customers
Without much fanfare or pre-announcement, the IOS 10.2 update released earlier today finally enabled WI-FI calling for Telus customers. After installing the update, the device rebooted. I then enabled WI-FI calling by: Settings > Phone > WiFi Calling > Toggle ON WI-FI calling means cellular calls could be routed via a WIFI network in areas with poor cellular coverage. When the phone detect low cellular connectivity (aka reception dots in the upper left hand corner), it will route inbound and outbound calls with WIFI.
First look at the Bose QC-30 Bluetooth noise-cancelling earphones
Apple hates ports and will kill each and every one of them come hell or high water. The iPhone 7 / 7 Plus pushed the market away from wired headphones into the loving arms of Bluetooth. Audiophiles will explain that Bluetooth has limited bandwidth which means audio fidelity is severely compromised and they are right. Bluetooth can't match the quality of a good set of wired headphones, but let's be honest, most people aren't listening to high quality audio tracks fed through a good headphone amp and $1000 headphones.
Best wired in-ear noise cancelling headphones
A question I receive regularly is "What in-ear noise cancelling headphone do you recommend for travel?" In 2013 my recommendation was the QC20/20i and that recommendation is still valid. The QC20/20i offers the best wired noise cancellation when comparing it to others in the same price category (and of course being wired). From a pure noise cancellation perspective, the QC20/20i does a better noise cancellation job than my QC25 but the QC25 does an overall better job because it benefits from over-ear noise isolation.
Free Google app to scan all your physical pictures powered by magic
The title may have been just a little exaggerated but most people, computational photography does feel like magic. Google knows you have boxes of photos just collecting dust and deteriorating. Our unofficial benevolent leader (aka Google) has decided to use its computer science chops to help Joe Regular digitize those boxes of old photos without having to fork over $500 for a flatbed scanner or spend hours retouching pictures. The app takes multiple pictures of each photo and completely get's rid of glare.
Could Google become a Cyber Insurance Underwritter?
[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“2500”] Image by Pictures of Money used under Creative Commons License [/caption] Cyber-Insurance is the next great frontier for insurers as more and more companies buy protection in the age of massive and regular cyber-attacks. “More than 60 insurance carriers now offer stand-alone cyber insurance policies” — Dr. Robert Hartwig, president of the I.I.I. and an economist PwC suggests the global cyber insurance market could grow to at least $7.5 billion in annual premiums by the end of the decade.
Public Mobile to launch US Roaming Add-on
Public Mobile is a low-cost limited network Canadian mobile service provider. It has recently announced in its forums that it will be adding a new US Roaming add-on (option) through new deals struck with T-Mobile and AT&T. The carrier has said this is in response to comments made in its forums and will come in 10-day chunks of phone only, text only, data only or a combo plan. Limited data is available but we expect the options to look like this:
Use Whatsapp for free next time you travel
Since Apple has decided to keep Apple Messages (iMessage) locked up to its platform, users the world over have chosen Whatsapp as the most common cross platform instant messaging platform. It allows you to send files and pictures. IT allows you to make Voice Over IP calls and is just an overall well designed easy to use tool. Whatsapp requires a data connection (3G/LTE) to work. This means using Whatsapp while travelling requires you to buy a local SIM Card (when you travel) or buy an expensive data pack from your home carrier.