Edward Kiledjian

A user claims that he will sell interested parties 145 312 663 unique records from the eBay hack for only $745US ( 1.453 bitcoins)

When an iPhone users sends a message to another iPhone user it is done via Apple's proprietary iMessage platform and users are identified by their telephone numbers. If you are a user that switches from an iPhone to Android without first disabling all iMessage logins on all your devices then you may end up in a situation where iPhone users can no longer message you. Anytime they try sending you a message, Apple will think you still have an iPhone and hold them until your iPhone comes back online (which may be never if you have migrated).

Apple seems to acknowledge the issue to Re/Code (link) with this statement

Users had complained that AppleCare agents were also unable to fix the issue but Apple says this limitation has since been resolved. As for what software changes could be implemented to fix this with a future update, we'll have to wait and see.

In a December letter to the SEC (recently made public), Google makes some interesting predictions about the future of advertising.

Another interesting statement reads:

The shifting nature of mobile may be why Google is throwing so many darts at the board (think wearables like watches, glasses, etc). Clearly Google is struggling to  find the next category of mobile devices that will help drive its advertising revenue. It understands that missing the boat could be a catastrophic misstep for the search giant. 

We are hearing rumours from different sources that Google is working on a special project to bring Google subsidized WIFI to locations across North America. The reports are claiming that the Sultan of Search will offer heavily subsidized kits (hardware/software) to small and medium business to encourage WIFI deployment.  

Now [paid] news-site TheInformation (link) is making the same claim. They are claiming Google will offer  "steep discounts". 

I also want to remind you that we had heard Google would be launching an IOS and android app to  help users join public WIFI hotspots easier.

Free ubiquitous WIFI is definitely a good thing I can get behind. Especially with the small monthly data caps most canadian wireless carriers are offering.

Everyone knows a smoke detector is a critical installation of every house. It can mean the difference between life and death. So when a company recalls nearly half a million smoke detectors (aka NEST) because of an issue, you have to stand up and take notice.

In this case the Nest Protect Smoke + CO system has an alarm muting feature that is activated by waving your arms within view of the sensor. It seems that in some circumstances, during a fire, NEST could interpret your waving panicking arms as the signal to turn off the alarm (even if it is a real fire).  NEST has a temporary software fix that will automatically be downloaded to your WIFI connected PROTECT that will disable this feature while they work on a permanent fix. Just make sure your don't burn your toast because you won't have a way to silence the NEST PROTECT until the permanent fix is pushed out. 

If you have this device, make sure it is connected to your WIFI and linked to your NEST account to the temporary fix is automatically pushed. You can also call NEST Labs support at (800) 249-4280 or click on the special information webpage (link).

Google seems to have tweaked its search engine algorithm  a bit to further fight low quality content and online spam. Panda algorithm v4 seems to make sites with poor quality content even more difficult to find (thus improving your search experience as a user). [info found in SearchEngineLand]

SearchEngineLand also reports that Paydat Loan Algorithm v2 was also released attacking "very spammy queries".

It is believed the Panda update impacted 7.5% of all english language search results.

The moral of the story is to stop using blackhat or greyhat SEO techniques and to start relying on real value added content to drive your rankings.

Taking minutes in a meeting is often necessary so you have a written trace of what was discussed but it is a tedious task that pulls your attention away from the live discussion. Why not just take a snapshot of the whiteboard and use that as the written notes?

This is a typical snapshot of a well lit whiteboard using an iPhone 5s.

It is still better than taking notes but now there is a free service that will clean up your whiteboard image and email it back to you as a PDF

All you do is send the picture to

[email protected]

NOTE: because you are emailing the picture, be careful not to send anything that is sensitive, confidential or that you wouldn't want others to see

AT&T is bringing back their solar street charging stations to NY city which will make thousands of tourists and locals happy. Your happiness should last until September when AT&T scoops up these stations and prepares them for winter hibernation.

45 of these will be distributed accross New York City (double the 2013 number). These are completely free and available to everyone (not just AT&T customers). 

The stations so have an internal battery which means they will charge your power hungry phone or tablet even at night.

Find these selfie saving devices in the following 5 burrows:

Manhattan:

• Central Park
• Marcus Garvey Park
• Coenties Slip
• Old Slip
• Mannahatta
• Pier 15
• East River Esplanade
• Bowling Green Park
• South Street Seaport
• Edgar Plaza
• Union Square
• Governor's Island

Queens:

• Flushing Meadows Corona Park
• Rockaway Beach

The Bronx:

• Orchard Beach

Brooklyn:

• Brooklyn Bridge Park
• Coney Island
• Brighton Beach

Staten Island:

• South Beach
• Midland Beach

You can read the details on AT&T's special webpage (link).

As a Canadian that travel to the US once in a while, I fell in love with Roam Mobility's US roaming services. They offer very competitive easy to understand plan to save you real money anytime you are in the USA.

I have actually written about them very often (some examples):

• Rogers' US Roaming Versus Roam Mobility

• Roam Mobility Offers Best US Roaming Deal For Canadians

• Roam Mobility Offers Competitive US Roaming For Canadians

• Roam Mobility Now Sold At 265 Futureshop And BestBuy Locations

• Roam Mobility Offers Unlimited Talk/Text/1GB Data For $39.95

• Real World Testing And Review Of The Roam Mobility Service

Since they are a reseller of T-Mobile connectivity services, as long as T-Mo has good coverage, you'll get good Roam Mobility coverage. I have tested and liked their Liberty hotspot and their SIM based service. During my last trip to Burlington Vermont, I decided to test their Breeze unlocked GSM phone.

The physical device

The device itself is fairy solid, is lightweight and is built with soft cheap plastic. It's features are:

• Dual-SIM 
• Quad-band GSM (850, 900, 1800, 1900) unlocked
• Qwerty keyboard
• 2.2" color LCD screen
• Bluetooth

The $49.99 device looks like a Blackberry-esque smartphone but in reality is is a dumb phone. As I played with the device to learn how it works, it really reminded me of my old Nokia 3310 phone. 

It has a basic menu system that will remind you of those 1990 Nokia menus. After playing with it for a couple of minutes, you'll quickly understand where everything is and how to configure it just the way you want. 

There is a built in battery which should provide a full day of heavy use and is recharged using a standard micro-USB plug (which is great since you don't need to carry another proprietary cable).

The fact that it is unlocked and has 2 SIM ports means you can use the Roam Mobility SIM card (for US roaming) but also insert your Canadian one (if you just want to take 1 device) but personally I just used it for US roaming. 

Unlocked means you can take it anywhere where a carrier offers compatible bands (like the UK, Hong Kong, etc).

The Kit includes

The kits comes with

• The device
• A Wall USB charger
• A short USB cable
• A small manual
• The Roam Mobility SIM card

How does it work?

Once the nostalgia of using something that brought back my 1990 memories wore off, I sometimes found myself frustrated with the device. Everything seems to require 3-4 clicks (seeing missed calls, sending a text message, etc). The truth is we are not used to modern smartphones where every user interface design is closely scrutinized and a $50 phone just can't compete. 

Once you get over this expectation of efficiency though, the device works fairly well. Even in locations where their Liberty hotspot had 1-2 bars with slow data connectivity, the Breeze phone had a solid voice connection that never died or cut-out. Every call I made went through and sound quality was on-par with no HD voice standard cell calling.

The device has a couple preconfigured alert modes and I found I had to leave the device in Outdoor mode to hear it. Otherwise I would sometimes miss calls (small alert speaker means lower than smartphone ring volumes).

My personal cell is an iPhone 5s and my work phone is a Blackberry Q10. The Breeze kind of looks like it has a Blackberry style keyboard but doesn't perform like one. I found typing on the device less than optimal and it really slowed me down (also no autocorrect). So the keyboard get's a 2/5 rating from me. Functional but frustrating.

Verdict

I typically use Roam with my personal unlocked iPhone 5s or the Liberty WIFI hotspot and only used the Breeze to review performance for this article. Would I use it on my next trip? Probably not. Although it is functional, I found myself frustrated too many times. I wasn't frustrated by the performance of the device itself but frustrated when I compared how different and less intuitive its use was [compared to my iPhone].

I think this is a great device for users who only need voice plus text messaging but don't have an unlocked phone [or don't want to go through the trouble of unlocking their phone with their carrier].

Another use case is for a family that wants to take a beach vacation and can carry this with them without worry. Even if it is stollen or breaks, you are only out $50.

For moderate users who are regular smartphone users (iPhone or Android), forget about this device.

Up until now, Android really didn't play nice in the enterprise space because it was difficult to manage through an MDM. Manufacturers (like Knox from Samsung) had to build their own enterprise security and management features. Google is set to change that with its acquisition of Divide.

Divide was an Mobile Device Management service provided from the cloud (MDM as a service) and allowed organizations of all sizes to manage the mobile devices of their employees to ensure corporate security rules are followed. What kind of polices? Think lock screen rules, app restrictions, ability to locate and wipe a missing device, etc.

Divide's solution supports both Android and IOS.

This can only mean a more enterprise oriented Android is on the way.

Google is the 800 pound gorilla in the internet space and its always fascinating to read about their challenges and successes. After all if the number 1 player has a cold everyone else get's sick.

The annual Founders Letter (link) is a fantastic read because you get a rare insight into the hopes and wishes of Larry Page. One such "revelation" in the current version is 

This is clearly the driver behind Google Now and its goal of providing frictionless information when needed without requiring anything from you. The Google Now promise of having the right information available exactly when you need it automatically is actually one of the features that is pushing me to switch from an iPhone to an Android device.

Talking about Android, he is another interesting snippet

We have seen Google try some very crazy ideas and that's a good thing. You need a true innovator willing to through a bowl of spaghetti on the wall and see what sticks. The one that I found super interesting is project Loon. The idea is to set a dozens of high orbit balloons loose over the planet and use them to bathe the "unconnected" world to the internet.  

Some are worried that Google is too powerful, that they know too much and that it should be stopped. Each of us has the option to not use Google services or even to "get off the net" if we so choose, but if you do use their products, stop complaining about your belief that they lack privacy. The fact that Google is successful and has cash reserves is what allows them to pay for these crazy experiements (self driving cars, Loon, Google Fiber, etc) and hopefully make the world an easier more pleasant place.

LG will be announcing its updated Android smartphone lineup shortly (the G3) and leaks have started to appear in their secrecy ship. A tipster send PhoneArena images (link) which look like actual product shorts of this upcoming LG G3 smartphone. 

The rumors thus far have indicated the device will have a 5.5" IPS 2560x1440 screen and that the device will come in 3 colors (shown in the PhoneArena leaks).

Click on the image in the below gallery to cycle through the leaked pictures

Expect LG to make its official announcement May 27th.

The iPhone 5s is my main primary use cell phone (even though I test dozens of other phones every year). One of the main reasons I have stayed (stuck) to the iPhone is the collection of high quality apps available on IOS and not on Android. Sure I wish my main apps existed on both platforms but there are still some very useful productivity apps that are iPhone only. 

Now six Columbia university students have done the unthinkable. they have forsaken everything that is holly and have devised a platform (called CIDER) which "fools" IOS apps into thinking they are running on an iPhone. 

I don't have the technical details but this is likely the same model used by Wine to run Windows app on Linux without needing a windows license. They likely emulate the APIs which trick the app. In the video, CIDER clearly suffers the same performance problem running IOS apps that Wine suffers running Windows apps. The other issue CIDER has is the inability to access many of the additional device hardware peripherals such as cell phone data connection and GPS.

I guess we'll have to wait and see how Apple responds to this development.

The current generation of smartphone totting youngsters seems to be obsessed with taking selfies but don't you hate the fact you have to hold the smartphone out at arms length? Doesn't that limit your creativity?

Now iLuv has the solution for iPhone, iPad and Samsung Galaxy users via a special smartphone case called the Selfie. You slip on the case, pair the bluetooth trigger and you're ready to use this case with any app you already have.

All of this fun can be yours for only $50... You can preorder your very own Selfie now (link)

The Calgary Stampede blog (link) lists scorpion pizza as one of the dishes that will be available for adventurous eaters. They say

Are you adventurous enough to try this?