Archive for March 25, 2014

HTC One (M8) Announced [UPDATED x3]

Posted in Commentary with tags on March 25, 2014 by itnerd

Today, HTC took the wraps off of their new flagship phone, the HTC  One (M8). Here’s the key specs:

  •  2.3GHz quad-core processor
  • 5-inch Super LCD 3 display with full HD 1080p resolution and a Gorilla Glass 3 cover
  • 16GB or 32GB of internal storage
  • microSDXC support for up to an additional 128GB of storage
  • 2GB of DDR2 RAM
  • a dual-lens “Duo Camera” at the back
  • a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with a wide-angle lens
  • Android 4.4 KitKat

Those are top shelf specs. The most intriguing feature is the “Duo Camera” which adds a second rear-facing lens that records depth information while the main lens captures a photo. That in theory should make this a great camera to take photos with. Three colors will be available.  “Glacial silver,” “amber gold,” and “gunmetal gray.” It’s available now in the US. Other countries should be announced shortly.

UPDATE: Seconds after I posted this Telus e-mailed me to say that they will be carrying the HTC One (M8). Customers who put in a pre-order at www.telus.com/allnewHTCOne will get three-piece accessory bundle worth $120. The HTC One (M8) will be $229 on a two year plan or $700 outright.

UPDATE #2: Seconds after I posted my last update, Rogers let me know that they will also be carrying the HTC One (M8) as of April 11th for $229 on select 2 year plans. New and existing customers can buy the “gunmetal grey” version online now at via https://www.rogers.com/reserve/‎.

UPDATE #3: Telus gave five customers that pre-ordered last year’s HTC One and asked them to tell Telus about their favourite features about the new HTC One (M8). Check out what they had to say here.

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BlackBerry Announces Plans To Make Money From BBM

Posted in Commentary with tags on March 25, 2014 by itnerd

I’ve been wondering for a while about how BlackBerry was going to make money from the monster growth that it has from BBM on BB10, Android, and iOS. Today their plan became clear. Here’s what it is from The Globe And Mail:

BlackBerry on Tuesday announced new details about its plan to generate cash from the popular service by rolling out a BBM Shop that will sell downloadable “virtual goods” such as stickers.

“At no point should monetization come at the expense of the user,” David Proulx, senior director of BBM Business Development, told reporters, adding there was no “one way” to monetize the service, and that the company would continue to experiment.

It will also open up the chat stream of users to sponsored posts from marketers who have created BBM Channels (landing pages similar to Facebook pages). There will also be “sponsored invites” where brands can send users subscribe requests, which will be geo-targeted and must be pre-approved by BlackBerry.

Corporate customers won’t be left out of this:

BlackBerry also confirmed details of its eBBM security suite, part of which will be called BBM Protect, which adds an extra layer of encryption to BlackBerry Enterprise Service customers for a fee, details and pricing for which are still under wraps, but will be coming in the summer.

Interesting. The question will be, will users be willing to pay for this. Time will tell on that front and investors will be watching.

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Review: RFID Blocking Passport Billfold From ThinkGeek

Posted in Products with tags on March 25, 2014 by itnerd

I recently renewed my Canadian passport. The good news that they had a 10 year renewal option which gives me one less thing to think about. At least for the next decade. The bad news is that is came with an RFID chip in it. Seeing as there have been cases where these types of passports have been easily cloned from a distance, I figured that I shouldn’t take any chances. Thus I went to ThinkGeek and got myself an RFID Blocking Passport Billfold. It is made of leather, but it has a lining that keeps people from using RFID scanners to steal your personal info. Besides having a section with clear plastic to hold your passport, it has for slots for other ID such as a drivers license or insurance card, as well as a pocket for money. It fits nicely into any of my suit jacket pockets and I don’t really notice it. Plus it’s easy to remove anything that I need to use. Most importantly, it looks and feels like a quality product. But the real question is does it prevent your RFID enabled passport from being read? The answer is yes. I put my passport in it and I used a RFID reader to try and read it. It was unable to, thus this works as advertised.

These days, you don’t have to be Edward Snowden to worry about your personal info being stolen. This should be a concern for everyone as RFID is a pervasive technology. Thus in my mind, if you take your privacy seriously, you should take a look at ThinkGeek’s RFID Blocking Passport Billfold. It works and at $17.99 USD, it’s a great deal.

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