Archive for October, 2012

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Sony Announces The “Bond” Phone To Canadians

Posted in Commentary with tags on October 17, 2012 by itnerd

If you’re eagerly awaiting the opening of the latest James Bond movie Skyfall, then Sony would like you to have an equal level of excitement for release of their latest Xperia phone that will be used by Mr. Bond, James Bond himself. The Xperia T has these specs:

  • 4.6” HD Reality Display powered by the Mobile BRAVIA Engine
  • 13MP quick launch-fast capture camera that goes from sleep to snap in just over a second
  • Full 1080p HD video recording and a 720p HD front camera for the highest quality content
  • Easy connectivity with ‘One-touch’ function enabled by NFC (Near Field Communications)
  • Latest generation 1.5GHz dual core processor for improved battery efficiency, fast performance and ultra sharp graphics
  • Android version 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), upgradable to Android version 4.1 (Jelly Bean) following launch
  • LTE and HSPA + variants available
  • Available in black

You won’t have to visit Q to get one. It will be available on Bell, Mobilicity, MTS, Rogers and Videotron this November.

 

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PEER 1 Hosting named Magento Platinum Partner

Posted in Commentary with tags on October 17, 2012 by itnerd

It seems that success follows success for PEER 1 Hosting. Yesterday, they were named a Platinum Partner by Magento, a leading eCommerce platform provider.

What does that mean you ask?

If you’ve got an e-commerce site of some sort, you can’t afford to have slow loading pages as that leads to abandoned shopping carts which in turn leads to lost revenue. That’s where this partnership comes in. Magento Optimized Managed Hosting is a turnkey solution that delivers an infrastructure honed to meet Magento’s intense requirements. The end result is a fast, rock-solid Magento site that performs exceptionally, delivering that fast user experience online shoppers expect. An example of a PEER 1 customer who has had success using this solution is Boodles who is Britain’s leading retailer of fine, bespoke diamond jewellery.

You have to be impressed with a company like PEER 1 who continues to put up these sorts of wins.

 

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Are You Ashamed To Have A BlackBerry?

Posted in Commentary with tags , on October 16, 2012 by itnerd

I have to admit that I look at my wife’s iPhone 5 and I feel jealous. It’s fast, it has a better camera, it has apps that I wish were available for my BlackBerry. In short, I feel that my BlackBerry is absolutely “ghetto.” Apparently other BlackBerry users have similar feelings if this article from the New York Times is any indication. Titled “The BlackBerry as Black Sheep” it details how the BlackBerry has fallen from the must have to the least wanted gadget:

The BlackBerry was once proudly carried by the high-powered and the elite, but those who still hold one today say the device has become a magnet for mockery and derision from those with iPhones and the latest Android phones. Research in Motion may still be successful selling BlackBerrys in countries like India and Indonesia, but in the United States the company is clinging to less than 5 percent of the smartphone market — down from a dominating 50 percent just three years ago.

And it’s not just individuals that feel this way. Take Yahoo:

Among the latest signs of the loss of cachet: One of the first steps Marissa Mayer took as Yahoo’s newly appointed chief executive to remake the company’s stodgy image was to trade in employees’ BlackBerrys for iPhones and Androids. BlackBerrys may still linger in Washington, Wall Street and the legal profession, but in Silicon Valley they are as rare as a necktie.

I have to admit that I am getting an increasing amount of requests to either help companies migrate away from BlackBerry products in whole or in part. So one has to think that this is a trend that isn’t going to reverse itself.

Sucks to be RIM.

So, let me ask you. Are you ashamed to have a BlackBerry? Post a comment and share your thoughts.

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Review: AVG Internet Security 2013

Posted in Products with tags , , on October 16, 2012 by itnerd

For a long time, I’ve recommended AVG Free Antivirus as one of the options for my clients to use in a home environment. But the downside to the AVG free is that it won’t protect you from stuff that comes across instant messaging, e-mail and the like. Nor does it have a firewall. Thus users who need those options need to pony up for something more. In this case AVG Internet Security 2013.

First, let me talk about the install. It’s painless. You download a small installer and once you run it will download the files it needs to install onto your computer. That’s a good strategy as you always get the latest version that way. One reboot and an update of the virus definitions and you’re in business. The user interface is very simple and clear. It has icons like “Computer”, “Web Browsing”, “Identity”, “Emails”, and “Firewall.” If you’ve seen Windows 8, this will look very familiar. Even if you haven’t seen Windows 8, it makes finding the settings that you need an easy process. Needless to say, it gives you complete protection from viruses regardless of the source.

To test the speed, I set it up on my wife’s Windows XP computer. Frequent readers will note that my wife is sensitive to the speed of the computer. After a few days of using this, she noted that at worst, it ran about the same speed. At best, it was a touch faster. Speaking of fast, it is quick to scan files. It took almost 20 minutes to scan my wife’s computer which has over 60,000 files on it. I’ll also note that it has a reduced memory footprint likely helps with the speed.

Now for what I wasn’t thrilled about. You have buttons for “Fix Performance”, “Family Safety” and “LiveKive” (for online backup). These are all paid services and it isn’t clear until after you click on them that this is the case. In the case of “Fix Performance”, it will scan the computer for problems. But it makes you buy the product to actually fix them. I must admit that I’m not a fan of that. I’m all for companies trying to sell their stuff. But please, don’t make it seem like a bait and switch.

The bottom line? AVG Internet Security 2013 offers powerful protection. The thing is that AVG also offers AVG free antivirus which while not having the same features of the paid product, will protect you just fine. If your needs are simple, then you don’t need to spend $60 to get decent protection. But if you want complete protection, then take a look at AVG Internet Security 2013. You’ll be glad you did.

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Telus Does Away With Activation Fees….. YAHOO!

Posted in Commentary with tags on October 15, 2012 by itnerd

One of the things that bugged me about my wife going to an iPhone 5 is that Rogers charged her a $35 fee for upgrading her hardware. Plus I know that if I wanted to activate another line, I’d be charged another $35 for that. So when this press release from Telus hit my inbox this AM, it really got my attention:

As part of the company’s commitment to putting customers first and being fair and transparent, TELUS today announced it will no longer charge a $35 activation fee for new customers or a $25 equipment exchange fee for renewing customers who purchase a new device. TELUS is the first of the established brands to eliminate activation fees as part of the company’s ongoing efforts to make the customer experience clear, simple and easy.

As part of its clear and simple pricing initiatives, TELUS is  continuing its journey to be fair and transparent and help customers understand when they are paying for tangible products or value-added services. Effective November 1, TELUS will begin charging $10 for SIM cards to cover the product cost that was previously included in their renewal and activation fees. With the new SIM card charge factored in, new and renewing customers can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that they will see a net upfront saving. A new SIM card is only required when customers don’t already have a compatible TELUS SIM card for their device.

Now this is something that I could really get behind. I’ve always seen these sorts of things as cash grabs. Thus anyone who says that they will minimize or eliminate these fees gets a gold star in my book. The question is, will Bell and Rogers follow suit?

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Hailo Hits The Streets Of Toronto

Posted in Commentary with tags on October 14, 2012 by itnerd

Ever tried getting a cab in a busy downtown or a lightly traveled suburb? It’s a pain isn’t it? But that’s about to change. I was tipped off to a new app for iOS and Android called Hailo which is good for passengers and taxi drivers. First, here’s why it’s good for passengers:

  • Hail in two taps. With Hailo you can hail a taxi from your home, office or restaurant and watch it arrive in real time.
  • Safe and reliable. No more wandering the streets looking for a taxi. Hailo uses only licensed Toronto taxi drivers and provides every customer with the driver’s photo, first name and rating before he or she arrives to pick you up.
  • Effortless payment. Hailo’s integrated smartphone payment system means customers simply hop out of the cab at the end of a ride without having to hand over a credit card. An electronic receipt is sent immediately.

Now for the taxi drivers:

  • A lower cost burden. Currently, almost 40 cents of every dollar that a shift driver makes goes to pay people other than the driver – with Hailo, 85 cents on the dollar stays in a driver’s pocket. Hailo eliminates the need for dispatch fees and other charges so drivers pay only when they take a fare through the system.
  • An easier way to make money. Cabs run empty in Toronto about 60% of the time. By helping drivers work smarter, not harder, Hailo drivers can increase revenues by 20-30%. Plus, the Hailo network allows drivers to share information about high demand areas or traffic congestion.
  • A safer ride. Drivers know who their passengers are, eliminating fare skipping.

Sounds like a “win-win” to me. One thing to keep in mind is that Toronto is the latest city that Hailo covers. They’re also in London, New York, Dublin, Chicago and Boston. You can grab the app on the Apple App Store and on Google Play now for free. It’s also coming soon for Blackberry and Windows Phone users.

I’ll be downloading and reviewing this soon.

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Firefox 16 Appears Then Disappears From Web Due To A Security Issue [UPDATED]

Posted in Commentary with tags , on October 11, 2012 by itnerd

For most of yesterday, Firefox 16 was available from Mozilla’s download page, but it was pulled today due to a security issue. The Mozilla blog has the details:

The vulnerability could allow a malicious site to potentially determine which websites users have visited and have access to the URL or URL parameters.  At this time we have no indication that this vulnerability is currently being exploited in the wild.

At this point, users who have installed Firefox 16 are suggested to go back to Firefox 15.0.1. A new version of Firefox is rumored to be hitting the streets today. We’ll see if that happens.

So, does this shake your faith in Firefox? Post a comment and share your thoughts.

UPDATE: Firefox 16.0.1 is now live. Download away.

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Daylight Photos From My Wife’s iPhone 5

Posted in Commentary with tags , on October 10, 2012 by itnerd

Seeing as we went out to Forks Of The Credit Provincial Park to try out Apple Maps in my wife’s iPhone 5, we couldn’t leave without taking some pictures. First, some standard pics of the fall foliage. Click to enlarge:

The colors are vivid and they look sharp. But the real story is the panorama pictures. We took two shots using the new panorama feature. Here’s the results. Click to enlarge:

Factoring in the pictures that were taken at night during Toronto’s Nuit Blanche, it’s clear that the iPhone 5 has an impressive camera. We’ll have to take a video in normal light to complete the test of the iPhone 5’s camera.

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Hey IT Nerd! Any Comment About The Latest Toyota Recall? [UPDATED]

Posted in Commentary with tags on October 10, 2012 by itnerd

I guess that I have to comment on this seeing how much I’ve written about my experiences with Toyota extensively. First of all, this is the third recall that we’ve had on the 2009 Matrix that my wife and I own. This matches the number of recalls that we’ve had with any of the four GM products that we owned prior to getting the Matrix. Here’s how that breaks down:

GM Car #1 (1997 – 2000): 1

GM Car #2 (2000 – 2003): 2

GM Car #3 (2000 – 2003): 1

GM Car #4 (2003 – 2008): 3

Given that we went to Toyota to avoid endless recall issues, this is a #fail.

This latest recall is huge. It’s the biggest recall in 16 years. The core issue is this:

The latest recall is the result of a problem with a potentially defective power window switch on the driver’s side of the affected vehicles which, the maker says, “may experience a ‘notchy’ or sticky feel during operation. If commercially available lubricants are applied to the switch in an attempt to address the ‘notchy’ or sticky feel, melting of the switch assembly or smoke could occur and lead to a fire under some circumstances.”

We haven’t noticed the notchy or sticky feel, and as far as we know “commercially available lubricants” haven’t been applied to the switch. So we don’t currently have any worries. about a fire breaking out in the car anytime soon. But my wife and I were less than impressed upon hearing the news.

As I’ve done in the past, I’ll report on what Toyota does to address this latest recall. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: My wife pointed out to me that we have smelled smoke in the car on a few occasions. No clue if this is related to this issue or not though. But it is is food for thought.

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Rumor: Blackberry 10 Devices To Ship In March

Posted in Commentary with tags , on October 9, 2012 by itnerd

From the “Is this the final nail in RIM’s coffin?” department comes this bombshell. In a research note to investors on Tuesday, Jefferies analyst Peter Misek said that RIM’s first BlackBerry 10 phone might not launch until March.

“We had hoped for a January launch but now see a March launch as more likely,” he writes. That would mean no sales of the next generation phones in the February quarter. “Also, our checks point to a tough November quarter, with replenishment rates decreasing as channel partners are cautious on holding RIM inventory. We think the business uncertainty means parties are unlikely to acquire or license from RIM until BB10 launches.”

The bad news doesn’t end there:

“We still believe a third ecosystem [in addition to iOS and Android] will emerge, but the probability of BB10 filling the role is wholly dependent on whether RIM can convince Samsung, Huawei, and ZTE to license,” he writes. “Baidu, Huawei, and others are pursuing their own operating systems. We also see Win 8 as somewhat of a threat but conflicting reviews, less-than-stellar developer feedback, and a desire by Microsoft to make hardware directly make Win 8.”

The net result? This analyst doesn’t think much of RIM. He set the target price at $5. That’s not good.

It really seems like it’s game over for RIM.

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