Canadian Startup of the Year Wattpad announced today on their blog that users spent more than 1 billion minutes on the service in the month of January.
According to co-founder and CEO Allen Lau growth comes from a combination of attracting new users and convincing each of those users to spend more time on the site. The average session for web users was 30 minutes, while visitors on Android devices spent an average of 28 minutes.
“We are relying more and more on new users now,” Lau told TechCrunch. Given the Android stats, in particular, “There is simply not much room to grow further (we only have 24 hours per day).”
Of those 1 billion minutes, Lau says that about one-third came from the Web, while another third came from Android, 20 percent came from iOS devices, and the remainder coming from mobile platforms like BlackBerry and Windows Phone.
Wattpad is the best way to discover and share stories with friends On Wattpad you’ll discover a new form of entertainment where you can interact... [more]
According to The Verge, Microsoft is planning to open four new stores over the coming months and its first international stores in Canada later this year.
Microsoft's Kevin Turner revealed last July that the company plans to open up 75 new stores over the next two years and it now appears that one of those stores will be in Toronto.
Following the trend of locating in malls that already have Apple as a tenant, look for the Toronto location to open in Eaton Centre in time for the 2012 holiday shopping season.
At Microsoft, we're motivated and inspired every day by how our customers use our software to find creative solutions to business problems, develop... [more]
While the masses in the United States shot down SOPA, the lobbyists have turned to other countries like Canada to enact similar Internet game-changing laws through legislation called ACTA, TPP and Bill C-11.
Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae has said on Twitter: "Conservatives have invoked closure to get it (Bill C-11) into a committee. They are ramming through every piece of legislation."
You can oppose the Internet lockdown on Open Media's website here by signing the petition.
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Later this month Profit by Design will hit Vancouver that will bring together business leaders and top designers, market leading companies, and investors who know how to profit by design.
Creative Led Innovation is now a key driver for business success: by convening design and business leaders in a series of interactive workshops and stimulating presentations, Profit by Design will help participants connect with the business models, thinking and leaders that will drive innovation in your company.
Day One includes a track for ground-breaking startups who will deliver the stories behind their creative led innovation. Additionally the most established innovation icons in the nation, such as Bombardier, Lululemon, and Research in Motion will go behind-the-scene to demonstrate the magic of their international competitiveness.
Day Two focuses on in-depth investigations of principles, strategies and how-to methods with small scale workshops. A full speaker lineup includes a luncheon address with Canada's most popular Dragon not on Dragons' Den, W. Brett Wilson.
Presented by the Association of Canadian Industrial Designers [ACID], Profit By Design is on February 24th and 25th on Granville Island. Register online to attend.
Last month, Wilf Dinnick, the founding editor and CEO of Canadian startup OpenFile received an award as J-Source Canadian Newsperson of the Year.
"The jury applauds his courage to put his own reputation on the line to create new and innovative approaches to engaging citizens with local, public service journalism in an independent environment, without the backing or safety net of working within an established news organization," said Janice Neil, chair of the jury and editor-in-chief of J-Source.
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OpenFile is a collaborative local news site. You suggest a story. We assign a reporter. Together, we shape the news. You suggest a story by opening... [more]
Neil Sweeney was named Canada's Top Digital Media Executive in 2011 at the Digi Awards in December for pioneering JUICE Mobile, a mobile advertising and analytics company with dozens of Canadian clients. JUICE offers access to over 1B monthly mobile impressions from 1,500 various Canadian and USA publishers.
After winning the award JUICE posts on their blog: "What is the basis of JUICE’s rapid rise and success? Founded in 2010, JUICE is the first firm in Canada that is solely dedicated to the mobile advertising market, uniquely positioning it to help brands connect with audiences on all mobile devices including phones, tablets, readers and game consoles."
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Founded in 2010, JUICE Mobile is the first of its kind in Canada: a company that is solely dedicated to the mobile advertising market and uniquely... [more]
Still in need of a Valentine’s Day gift for your sweetheart?
Forget the candy and flowers, consumer electronics are where it’s at. A new study confirms both men and women would likely swoon over receiving a new gadget from their valentine.
The US Consumer Electronics Association says women especially are interested in new devices, according to a recent study called “The Truth about Women and Consumer Electronics.” Eight in 10 women express an interest in consumer electronics products, and 41% say they are “very interested” in consumer electronics. This is an increase of 10 percentage points from the previous study in 2007.
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For Canadian small businesses, accounting and payroll can be massive headaches.
Recognizing this Vancouver's Kashoo, a provider of small business cloud accounting software, and Toronto's PaymentEvolution, a payroll services provider, are teaming up to bring their respective services to Canadian small businesses in one nifty, integrated package.
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Kashoo.com transforms how small businesses manage their finances. At its core, Kashoo.com is a powerful yet affordable online accounting solution... [more]
PaymentEvolution provides easy to use, secure online payroll services to small and mid-sized businesses across Canada. Accountants, CPA firms and... [more]
In October Techvibes reported that Google Wallet would be coming to Canada in early 2012. No word yet on when the official launch will be but it looks like its introduction to Canada could be delayed because of a number of reported vulnerabilities.
According to Security Watch's Neil Rubenking, if Google Wallet is installed on a rooted Android phone, a quick and simple brute force attack can extract the PIN and allow a thief to spend your Google Wallet funds.
A Google spokesperson responded to Rubenking's post saying that "there is no known vulnerability that enables someone to take a consumer phone and gain root access while preserving any Wallet information such as the PIN". And added "we strongly encourage people to not install Google Wallet on rooted devices and to always set up a screen lock as an additional layer of security for their phone."
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Richmond Hill based OrderDynamics, a SaaS provider for on-demand e-commerce technology for retailers says that merchants who used their technology outpaced the e-commerce holiday sales average by 57%.
The company says retail sales grew 15% to $35 billion in 2011 versus 2010 for online transactions between November 1st and December 26th. Interestingly, on the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend of 2011, OrderDynamics merchants saw a 93% boost in orders and compared to the same weekend in 2010, and the biggest increases were for Canadian merchants. OrderDynamics says that Cyber Monday remains the single largest online shopping day of the year with a 22% increase over 2010 performance.
Some of the merchants with Canadian stores that OrderDynamics serves are Henry's, Kitchen Stuff Plus, Laura, Olly and Walking on a Cloud.
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Order Dynamics is an on-demand e-commerce platform provider for high-growth business-to-consumer and business-to-business companies. Order... [more]
