Mobility
Pros and cons of buying a new tablet in 2012
Feb 22nd
by Kye Husbands
First off, I have to admit that my position on tablet computers has changed somewhat over the last year . This was largely a result of reading my first e-book, on the iPhone of all things. Sure it was a great book and that was the catalyst, but more importantly, it changed my perspective on the utility of tablet computers and given that experience, I wanted to share that perspective with you.
Tablets are small lightweight portable devices for surfing the web, checking email, staying organized, listening to music and using apps. Read the rest of this entry »
Is the iPhone secure enough?
Feb 13th
by Claudiu Popa
According to popular expert opinion, there are seven areas in today’s mobile devices where vulnerabilities can create security or privacy breaches. Nowhere is this more true than in the paragon of mobile digital success: the iPhone. Nothing short of a juggernaut, new versions of the quasi-ubiquitous device have all but evaded attempts at hacking it by consistently introducing innovative new features and by leveraging a strategy of built-in obsolescence.
Claudiu Popa
It follows then that each of these areas corresponds to specific security controls, tactically building a ‘defense in depth’ approach to securing the iPhone for personal use. In practice, the original seven risk areas map to the following five safeguards:
1. The operating system
Avoid jailbreaking the phone. As Apple never tires of repeating, once jailbroken, it is exposed to a set of clear and present dangers that at least risk compromising the data stored inside.
2. Data encryption
While encryption for iPhone data is standard on the handsets, it has already been cracked and free software can now be used to compromise it. Use third-party tools such as SplashID, FolderLock, iDiscrete or eWallet to encrypt the data you depend on. Read the rest of this entry »
5 costly mistakes to avoid when upgrading your cell plan
Feb 13th
by Kye Husbands
We all know a thing or two about getting what we want in a negotiation and when it comes to cellphones everyone has a tip.
Some believe they know how to get the carriers to kneel to the ground, while others feel like its an exercise in high blood pressure.
Either way, these tips will help you avoid a few common mistakes before making that call. Read the rest of this entry »
Polls show Canadians optmistic about RIM’s future
Jan 31st
by Nestor E. Arellano
I was taking drive to Leamington, Ont. this weekend in my lawyer friend’s car when our conversation took a turn towards the one topic that people ask you about lately when they know you’re a tech journalist – what do you think about RIM?
Nestor Arellano
They want to know what new bit of info I have on the company, and I – lacking anything new to add to what they have already read online – attempt to turn the tables on them and try to get them to voice out their own thoughts. Read the rest of this entry »
Avoid these mistakes when upgrading your cell phone contract
Jan 30th
by Kye Husbands
We all know a thing or two about getting what we want in a negotiation and when it comes to cellphones everyone has a tip.
Some believe they know how to get the carriers to kneel to the ground, while others feel like its an exercise in high blood pressure. Either way, these tips will help you avoid a few common mistakes before making that call. Read the rest of this entry »
What to expect when moving from BlackBerry to iPhone
Jan 24th
by Kye Husbands
So you’re contemplating the jump from BlackBerry to iPhone and wondering what you should expect. Having done the same thing a few months ago, I wanted to share my experience and help you save some time getting your iPhone set up to suit your needs.
You’ve already heard how great the iPhone is, so instead of preaching more of the same, I thought this blog would be more helpful if I highlighted a few of the challenges with making the switch or, a few things you may want to consider before making the switch. Read the rest of this entry »
Ultra books live up to the hype at CES 2012; tablets Excite
Jan 12th
Are the highly-hyped “ultrabooks” worth it? That was the question swirling many minds heading into the desert surrounding the Consumer Electronics Show. After viewing several models, this technology will be among the top five newsmakers of this year’s CES.
Get ready for CES 2012: 10 must haves if you’re in Vegas this week
Jan 9th
A new year means a new Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The desert city plays host to 45th annual show where geeks like me go nuts over the latest connected gizmos, gadgets and appliances. Appliances? Yes, they too are becoming more aligned with this connected world we live in and they are growing in focus during the world’s largest electronics expo. I am looking forward to what big players like Samsung and LG have to in that category. More on that this week.
On the ‘press day’ of CES 2012 and for my inaugural post on ITBusiness.ca, I thought it might be entertaining (- or helpful if you are also in Vegas -) to see what must-have ‘tools’ are needed during the four-day show.
Here are my top 10 must-haves to survive CES 2012: Read the rest of this entry »
6 things RIM needs to do to turn its fortune around
Jan 5th
by Kye Husbands
Seems like every blog we do of late is about RIM, because it’s difficult to watch a giant go down without a real fight. We have long communicated that BlackBerry desirability – ideal phone choices by customers at myCELLmyTERMS when creating a proposal – has been steadily declining to under 10 per cent at the end of the last quarter.
The Financial Post is reporting that RIM lost more marketshare in the US, going from 7.1 per cent to 6.5 per cent. Why this really sucks, is that the smartphone market is still growing by leaps and bounds, so losing market share in a growing market is a real sign of trouble, but trouble has been brewing for over a year, as we watched the desirability fall to all time lows of under 10 per cent on our network.
The solution seems so simple however, rally all of your staff to get get some new phones out to market and as soon as possible. For RIM getting ahead of the curve in the smartphone space would be ideal, but the challenge with waiting for the right pitch to hit a home run is that you miss out on all the RBI opportunities. It’s a gamble and a big one to wait for perfection in an ever changing space and some things are a must have, but let’s hypothesize for a sec.
What does RIM have to do with the BlackBerry to get ahead of the curve:
- Quad-core phones would be nice
- 18MP Camera or something crazy like that (front and rear facing)
- HDMI output or something of the sort
- New Operating System (BlackBerry 10K) with improved usability all the way around and snappy. (i.e. Not like OS 6.0 which freezes all the time)
- Improved virtual keyboard – (BTW – Please move the world icon from where it is, somehow I always found a way of switching to chinese when sending an email)
- Some real wow factor (ex. like a Virtual Assistant, A few killer apps, bigger screen phones)
I don’t have all the answers and neither does RIM, so let’s hope that they do the right thing and get a few phones out to market that are good enough to lay a solid foundation and build on that. Clearly we can’t expect everything at once like a vibrant developer community and thousands of apps, but we need to see some evidence of work being done to spark confidence.
HP makes Web OS open source
Dec 15th
by Kye Husbands
You read that right and the first question probably going through your mind is, well, why the heck not?
Three months ago HP’s Touchpad, Web OS and their whole computer business were in the garbage, but HP’s recent move could resurrect Web OS and spur a whole new level of interest and traction for HP down the road.
HP Toucpad
Let’s be clear about this. This is a gamble by HP but they really don’t have anything to lose by doing it and rather, everything to gain. However, this move has the potential to be very disruptive to what was quickly becoming a two horse race between Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS.
So what does open sourcing Web OS mean for the smartphone industry?
