Samsung has received an astonishing nine million preorders for the Galaxy S3, according to a report from the Korea Economic Daily this morning.
The third-generation smartphone will launch across more than 100 global carriers, starting in Germany on May 29 before rolling out to North America and other regions of the world in June.
read more
Samsung has commenced construction on the first Samsung branded store in Burnaby, just outside of Vancouver.
Located in the Metropolis at Metrotown, Metro Vancouver's biggest shopping mall, the Samsung store is designed to help Canadians "pursue their passions with an exciting new way to experience and interact with Samsung’s line up of mobile, personal computing, and consumer electronics products in a standalone retail location," according to the company.
read more
Best Buy Canada has released an Android app.
The free mobile app, which works on Android OS 2.2 and newer, adds to the retailer's roster of app offerings, which includes a similar iOS app for Apple's iPhone and iPad lineup.
The app features instant alerts when favourite items go on sale, access to additional online product information through the QR code scanner, favourites lists, and social media sharing.
Other features include the ability to review products in-app, locate stores, and schedule in-store pickups.
Best Buy's mobile apps can be downloaded here.
Solo Mobile, a subsidiary of Bell in Canada, has decided to stop accepting new customers.
"At Solo Mobile, we’ve loved giving wireless service to Canadians since 2005—and we’re super excited to support our existing clients for years to come," the company's new website landing page reads. "However, we’ve decided not to take on any new customers."
read more
Even among Apple fans, there are many Google Chrome lovers.
Fortunately for them, Safari may be on the verge of losing its relative monopoly on Apple's iOS platform: Google is expected to release a Chrome app for the iPhone and iPad this year.
Macquarie Equities Research anticipates Apple will approve Chrome for iOS "later this quarter."
However, don't get too excited—numerous limitations will prevent Chrome from being a true alternative to Safari on your smartphone or tablet.
For example, Safari will remain the only browser set to "default," which means that emails, text message,s third party app links, etc., will still open in Apple's browser.
Last week, the US Department of Defence awarded Research In Motion's BlackBerry 7 a security certification. Today, RIM's platform got a similar nod of approval in the UK.
Indeed, RIM's BlackBerry, which remains the most secure mobile platform, has been approved by CESG, the National Technical Authority for Information Assurance in the UK, for government use.
read more
NimbleCommerce, an enterprise local marketing and e-commerce platform, has announced that it now provides Montreal-based ViralNinjas’ viral campaign service to select participants in its publisher network.
read more
Banks and telecoms generally don't get much love, in Canada or around the world. They're often seen as corrupt and money-hungry, prioritizing profit over people. It seems that the Canadian Federation of Independent Business has taken this stance on the recently surfaced technology of mobile wallets in Canada.
Following CIBC and Rogers announcing a partnership that would see Rogers-powered, BlackBerry-wielding CIBC customers pay for goods with their smartphones instead of their plastic cards, the CFIB game forth to warn Canadian small business owners: brace for the possibility of yet another fee grab. No benefit of the doubt for banks or telcos here.
read more
The tablet has nearly surprassed the smartphone in web traffic. According to Adobe's latest findings, revealed in its Digital Index report, the tablet is growing web traffic much faster than smartphones, and will generate more visits than smartphones within a year.
Web traffic from tablets more than tripled in 2011 according to Adobe. And tablet web browsing is growing at a staggering 10 times faster than on smartphones, the report found.
read more
Nearly four in 10 Canadians value the internet as much as electricity and water. 38% of us want smart appliances. 54% of us watch movies and TV shows on computers. And most of us with tablets and smartphones have at least a second screen running while watching our actual television.
read more