Author: Terren

The re-incarnated NHL’s Winnipeg Jets unveiled their new uniforms on Tuesday.

Google has set a pretty high bar for itself, guaranteeing 99.9% availability of Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Talk, Google Docs, Google Groups and Google Sites to its Google Apps customers. If it cannot meet that level of availability, all of its customers are entitled to a certain amount of free days worth of service in each billing cycle.

In a somewhat self-aggrandizing blog about Google’s cloud services today, Google Apps product manager John Collins reiterated that Gmail was up for 99.984% of 2010, and revealed that it’s currently at over 99.99% uptime for the first half of 2011.

Looking through the Google Apps Status list reveals how comparatively isolated Gmail outages have been. On August 29th, for example, there was an outage for 3 hours that affected less than .05% of the Gmail userbase, and the last outage was a little over a month prior, affecting less than .01% of the Gmail userbase for about 8 hours, by the unofficial number of registered Gmail users, that amounts to less than 20,000 users.

Instructors and other staff at Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology went on strike Tuesday, a move that affects thousands of students across the province.

Free webapp JPEGmini can quickly take your JPEG images and reduce their file sizes by up to 80%—all within your browser and while preserving their image quality. More »

Children should receive two doses of chickenpox vaccine, Canadian pediatricians say.

Today BlackBerry App World 3.0 has officially left the beta stage and is now available to the masses. This is a good day for BlackBerry users as 3.0 brings a much easier user interface, better overall design, new channels (Apps, Games, and Themes), a storefront search bar plus deeper social integration with BBM, Facebook and Twitter.

More here at RIM

Related posts:

1. BlackBerry App World 3.0 Beta officially available to download
2. Rumour: BlackBerry App World 3.0 to officially launch August 22nd
3. BlackBerry App World now has over 10,000 apps

Research In Motion is currently going through a self proclaimed transition period and on September 16th execs will announce their Q2 fiscal 2011 results. This is when we’ll truly see the impact from the recent job cuts and sales numbers of the newly released BlackBerry 7 devices, namely the Bold 9900, Torch 9810 and 9860. After their disappointing Q1 results the RIM stock fell sharpy in value (to the tune of 50%) and some shareholders bailed by selling their stock.

Today, the stock is sitting at $30.12 and another RIM shareholder has become incredibly vocal. Jaguar Financial Corporation “on behalf of itself and other supportive shareholders” sent out a press release that requests RIM directors to bring the company back to life and look “all options” that include “a potential sale of the Company or a monetization of the RIM patent portfolio by a spin-out to RIM shareholders”.

It’s not known how many shares Jaguar owns of RIM but they state in their company description that they are a “Canadian merchant bank which invests in underperforming, undervalued or unappreciated companies and acts as a catalyst to create value”. Perhaps this is way to further drag down the stock so they’ll make more money. The release also stated that RIM has fallen in market share to Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android phones, plus have lost key employees and lack innovation. In addition, Jaguar took aim at both co-CEO’s and stated that “Mr. James Balsillie and Mr. Mike Lazaridis as Co-Chief Executive Officers and Co-Chairmen of the Company, is ineffective and requires meaningful change”. So Jaguar is basically saying the company as a whole needs a change.

However, Vic Alboini, Chairman and CEO of Jaguar, said “The status quo is not acceptable, the Company cannot sit still. It is time for transformational change. The Directors need to seize the reins to maximize shareholder value before more market value is lost.”

Source: Newswire

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2. If you are a BCE shareholder and have questions about the Privitization of BCE – Check out the BCE released “Shareholder FAQ” (PDF)
3. BCE Chair & Directors “step aside”

Sure, we’ve all thought about how nice it would be to have our PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles in the same enclosure. But, as many similar thoughts go, we left it at that. Not content with letting a good thought simmer, Reddit user timofend accepted the challenge and built himself a gaming mega-machine — he stuffed the new slim model of Microsoft's console into a PC tower alongside an older 80GB PS3. Looking to save some funds in the process, the über-gamer skipped out on a liquid cooling system — but he notes that when both machines are running simultaneously, they each hover around 100 degrees Farhenheit (38 degrees Celsius). Hey, we're not complaining… but really, timofend, can we please see a NES / Dreamcast / O.G. PlayStation combo in your next masterpiece? To take a peek under the hood, hit the gallery below.

Gamer stuffs PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles into one case, clears shelf space for the trifecta originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Sep 2011 08:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like Walter Bishop is in really bad shape in the season premiere of Fringe, judging from this grievous new photo from the fourth season opener of Fringe, “Neither Here Nor There.” The new official photos also show Astrid in action, and a familiar ally back on the team. The studio also released some gorgeous new promotional images. More »

Apple’s PR patrol is going to be working overtime this weekend as reports leak out about a breach of the law by some of its security officials.

Earlier this week, word got out that in July an Apple employee had misplaced (read: lost) an iPhone 5 prototype at a San Francisco restaurant and bar, Cava 22. According to the story, which was first filed by CNET, Apple representatives called the San Francisco police department claiming that a “priceless” device had gone missing, and that it was imperative they find it. Using built-in GPS technology, they tracked the device to a house lived in by a man in his mid-twenties. He let them search the residence and found nothing, but the story raised a lot of questions, since it was unknown whether the missing phone, which is purportedly an iPhone 5 prototype, was ever found.

Today, new information is coming out revealing that in fact the San Francisco Police Department was never contacted, and a report never filed at all. Indeed, the “police” that arrived at the young man’s house, whose name is Sergio Calderon, were allowed to search the premises including his car and his computer. Unfortunately these individuals were outed as Apple security personnel. Because the six employees who entered the house did not divulge that they were not in fact policemen (though it is presumed they were not wearing police uniforms) they are being accused of impersonation, which is a criminal offense in California.

One of the employees, Anthony Colon, offered Calderon $300 to return the device, but he denies having any involvement in the theft. As the investigation is ongoing, answers may not be revealed for some time, but if the allegations are true this may be a dark cloud over a very bright year for Apple.

Update: This saga is getting out of hand now. Apparently now the San Francisco Police were part of the investigation. SW Weekly is now reporting that “The bizarre saga involving a lost prototype of the iPhone 5 has taken another interesting turn. Contradicting past statements that no records exist of police involvement in the search for the lost prototype, San Francisco Police Department spokesman Lt. Troy Dangerfield now tells SF Weekly that “three or four” SFPD officers accompanied two Apple security officials in an unusual search of a Bernal Heights man’s home.”

Source: SFWeekly
Via: Gizmodo

Related posts:

1. David Letterman: Top 10 excuses for the guy who lost the iPhone prototype
2. CNET: “Priceless” iPhone 5 prototype lost in a bar, possibly sold on Craigslist for $200
3. Video: Early Apple iPhone prototype in action

The CFL Labour Day Classic football game between prairie rivals isn’t just a gridiron contest, it’s also become a battle of the billboards.

Apple cofounder Steve Jobs has repeatedly talked about the post-PC era. But he resigned last week as Apple’s CEO. The post-Steve Jobs era has come, and Android is doing just fine whipping iPhone in his absence. This week, comScore put Android’s US smartphone share way up against iPhone’s minuscule gains, and today Nielsen added supporting stats, including some startling buying intention trends.

“What?” You ask. “Jobs has only been gone a week”. Yes, but as I explained over the weekend, his influence waned long ago. Tim Cook, while only CEO since Thursday last, has been running Apple since January. How’s iPhone doing against Android, during the Tim Cook era? Certainly not bad, but not as well as many people believe. I was talking with a neighbor tonight about phones and he was sure that iPhone outsells Android. I hear this often.

The comScore and Nielsen data also impugns the Apple fanclub of bloggers and journalists who just months ago cried Android’s doom based on wrong presumptions about Verizon iPhone. Late-June TechCrunch post “The Verizon iPhone Halted Android’s Surge. The iPhone 5 Could Reverse It” reflects the kind of misinformation spread by Apple fanclubbers.

Android gained a stunning 5.4 points of share sequentially, based on smartphone subscribers, during the three months ended July 31, according to comScore. By comparison, Apple’s platform grew by 1 point of share. That puts iPhone share at 27 percent compared to 41.8 percent for Android. For the same three-month period, Nielsen put Android smartphone share at 40 percent and iPhone/iOS at 28 percent.

Nielsen also measures buying intentions. Don Kellogg, Nielsen’s director of Telecom Research and Insights, blogs:

“Among those who say they are likely to get a new smartphone in the next year, approximately one third say they want their next smartphone to be an iPhone and one third say they want an Android device. However, among those who say they are usually the first to embrace new technologies, “Innovators” or the earliest of early adopters, Android leads as the “Next Desired Operating System” – 40 percent for Android compared to 32 percent for iOS. (Survey respondents were asked several questions to determine their attitudes toward new technologies.)”.

Android is unstoppable, unless something changes. Perhaps iPhone 5 will be so astonishing or people will find iCloud so remarkable, sales with soar. Cook could also show the kind of innovation in logistics that Apple showed in product design and marketing under his predecessor, such as take drastic pricing action when iPhone 5 ships. In May, I explained how Apple could stop the Android army’s advances by cleverly pricing iPhone 4 after its successor ships. Follow the success of the iPhone 3GS, which AT&T sells for $49, and offer iPhone 4 or a 4S model for, say, $99. Globally. Free would be even better, with carrier subsidy, in some regions.

That’s the kind of risk Cook should consider during the early post-Steve Jobs era. It’s a trade-off of margins for marketshare but would open new categories of buyers for Apple, particularly in emerging markets. With respect to pricing and margins, Apple has long played it safe. Is it time for change?

GM’s new electric car, the Chevrolet Volt will soon be available to Canadian motorists starting at $41,545.