Technology & Business
54% of Canadians use their smartphone to make purchase decisions
[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“1024”] CC Image - Flickr Jason A Howie [/caption] BrandSpark has released its annual Canadian Shopper Study which polled 100,000 Canucks. On the mobile front, 54% of Canadians report using their smartphone to make a purchase decision. 31% of users admit to using their smartphone to check competitor pricing (aka show rooming). 17% of users said their used their smartphone to lookup product information. 13% of users searched product reviews before making a purchase. CNW (link)
New Samsung UI may bring predictive cards
Everyone's favourite Tweeter leaker, @evleaks (link), has now provided an alleged view of the upcoming updated Samsung Android User Interface (aka skin). More from that Samsung home screen. pic.twitter.com/5Z0jKKxXYN — @evleaks (@evleaks) January 19, 2014 These predictive cards remind me of the Google Now cards. It looks like Samsung's cards are much more integrated with social media sites allowing you to check-in or share your location. <img src="https://ekiledjian2.micro.blog/uploads/2025/7ec00549d5.jpg" alt=""> Based on what we have seen so far, this still seems like a design mockup therefore it is likely subject to significant changes.
Adobe Lightroom coming for Apple's iPad
9to5Mac (link) is reporting that Adobe will release an iPad version of its Lightroom photo management app. The discovery was made when Lightroom for mobile briefly appeared on Adobe's website. The information was pulled when 9to5Mac asked Adobe for comment & clarifications. <img src="https://ekiledjian2.micro.blog/uploads/2025/38daba2025.jpg" alt=""> The Adobe webpage didn't mention the iPad but an Adobe employee confirmed it was iPad centric to 9to5Mac. Looks like Lightroom for iPad will sync with the full Lightroom via the Adobe creative cloud which means it will require a subscription and 9to5Mac reports that it will cost $100 a year (which seems fairly steep).
Microsoft fixes Surface Pro 2 battery & sleep issues
In December, Microsoft released a horribly tested problem causing patch that was quickly withdrawn. Now they have released an updated patch which Microsoft assures fixes the biggest Surface Pro complaints such as battery life and a randomly waking up device. It doesn't fix all the issues but it is a step in the right direction. Just head over to your software update applet and enjoy some free device improvement now.
Samsung Galaxy S5 secrets revealed
With an expected release around April, sites around the internet are buzzing with claimed spec leaks for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphones. So far, we believe Samsung will release 2 version of the Galaxy S5: One in typical plastic sold for around $800 off contract One with a premium metal body that will release for around $1000 off contract Leaks also indicate that we will see a Samsung Galaxy S5 mini and an S5 zoom Spec wise: We expect a 2K QHD (sub 6"
Telus CEO is paid in shares not cash
Nothing says confidence in oneself and ones company more than a CEO heavily compensated in company shares. The President and CEO of Telus, Darren Entwistle, will once again be paid in shares rather than cash (5th year in a row). In a recent press release it states that Mr Entwistle is agreement to share only compensation because of his confidence in Telus' short, medium and long term performance. It also shows a clear alignment between his personal priorities and those of his Telus shareholders.
Google buys Nest for 3.2B$
In December, I wrote an article (link) about Google working on a smart thermostat as a play for the connected home. A couple of days ago, we learned that Google has acquired the 800-lb gorilla in smart thermostat technologies, Nest Labs. Nest is the first company to successfully break into the home automation mass market with its smart internet connected thermostat and fire detector. It brought the promise of long term energy savings through intelligent automatic temperature control and the ability to control it via your Android or IOS smartphone.
Videotron Mobility may be expand outside of Quebec
Videotron has been a fierce competitor in the wireless space in Quebec and has forced other wireless carriers into creating Quebec only low cost monthly plans to stay competitive. This is exactly what the Canadian government wanted to do when they decided to foster competition. Videotron spent a cool $500M during the last AWS auction spectrum (for Quebec and some parts of Ontario). The latest stats indicate that they have picked up about 500,000 loyal wireless subscribers making them the 6th largest Canadian wireless carrier.
Rogers to launch Netflix competitor for Canadians
[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“818”] CC Image Flickr User A ustinEvan [/caption] Cartt.ca is reporting that Rogers is spending more than $100M to design and launch a Canadian Netflix competitor. The report states that Rogers has already signed licensing agreements with Disney/ABC, Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, plus a handful of Canadian content owners such as Bell Media and Shaw. The always trustworthy (said sarcastically) anonymous source said " They are buying up all the rights, all the windows, to everything in order to keep them out of the hands of Netflix in Canada.
Canadian 2500 Mhz auction begins April 2015
The Canadian Minister of Industry, the honourable James Moore, has made it official that Canada's 2500 Mhz auction will take place April 14 2015 and applications from interested parties must be received by November 27 2014. The minister reiterated that he would like to see increased competition in the Canadian wireless market and as such will adopt the same auction principles as that being used for the 700Mhz bands beings auctioned this year. The minister will implement spectrum caps to ensure at least 4 different providers win parts of the 2500 Mhz spectrum thus ensuring competition.