Smartphone Ownership in Canada Now 54%, Up From 36% in 2011, Study Finds

54% of wireless customers in Canada currently own a smartphone, up from 36% in 2011, according to the J.D Power and Associates 2012 Canadian Wireless Total Ownership Experience Study.

While more customers use smartphones in 2012, compared with 2011, the study found that the brands they select are shifting. Among smartphone owners in this study, 33% use Blackberry, down from 42% in 2011. Apple (30%) and Samsung (13%) have each increased their share by 4% from 2011.

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By 2016, 57% of Smartphone Owners Will Use Their Own Device at Work: Forrester

According to Ms. Brownlee Thomas, principal analyst at Forrester, the impact of mobility on the business practices of organizations will be as important as those caused by Internet.

She stated that the needs related to mobile devices and applications varied among groups of employees within an organization. Information workers are supported by the IT department and the performers of tasks have their mobile devices and applications dedicated. On the other hand, the workers concerned can use their mobile devices to work without formal IT support, while "nonconformists" select, purchase, and use their own equipment and apps for the job.

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Startup Edmonton Launches Tomorrow: 'We're Committed to Making Something Happen'

On the top floor of the Mercer building on 104th Street and Stony Plain Road is the newly outfitted home of Startup Edmonton, an organization that hopes to turbocharge the city's startup ecosystem. Within the next five years, CEO Ken Bautista hopes to invest in up to 500 entrepreneurs.

Startup Edmonton isn't a new idea: it's your typical accelerator, providing startups with office space, mentorship, and money. But it's a new idea to Edmonton, a city that has entrepreneurial blood flowing through but that hasn't yet realized its potential as a tech hub in Canada.

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Facebook Launches App Center, a New Destination for Social Apps

Facebook has launched what it calls the App Center, a "new place for people to find social apps." Obviously similar to mobile stores like Apple's App Store or Google's Play store, the App Center will aggregate canvas, mobile, and web apps on Facebook.

The social network says that, in the "coming weeks," people will be able to access the App Center on the web and in the iOS and Android Facebook apps.

Facebook hopes that the App Center will become the "central place to find great apps." They're currently encouraging all developers to create an app detail page, which is required for being listed in the App Center, and will become the new destination when non-users search for your app on Facebook.

Watch the Facebook IPO Roadshow

Want to learn about Facebook straight from its top executives, including founder Mark Zuckerberg? See the hard statistics, get a feel for the social network's vision of the future? Then we recommend watching the company's half-hour IPO roadshow video.

Facebook, as you well know, is going public this month. It's valued at close to $100 billion despite only about $4 billion in annual revenue and slowing growth. However, it does have one in eight people in the world visiting the site regularly - a pretty breathtaking feat. Would you buy shares in Facebook after watching their video pitch?