RIM stands ground against iPhone
Posted on July 18, 2007
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Waterloo, ON based Research in Motion yesterday promised further growth to its shareholders. RIM cheifs sounded very confident about the release of a new BlackBerry spartphone that can access both Wi-Fi and cellular networks. The new BlackBerry 8820 will be RIM’s first dual-mode smartphone, and its thinnest with a keyboard.
Sure the BlackBerry will have some new toys, but it sure won’t be the only dual-mode device out this year. It’s also coming out only weeks after the much-hyped and anticipated release of Apple’s iPhone, which can handle phone calls, e-mail, web browsing, music, and videos (not to mention its superb looks and design). Clearly RIM is not to keen on letting Apple bully the market. with its iPhone. But are RIM cheifs too confident, and making empty promises to its shareholders? We’ll have to wait and see.
Will Facebook survive?
Posted on July 18, 2007
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There has been a huge spotlight on the net’s fastest growing social utility, Facebook. 23-year-old Mark Zuckerberg initially made Facebook available to people only in Harvard - where he went to college. It was then introduced to all colleges, high schools, some comanies, and now everyone. Today there are 150,000 people signing up daily, growing three times faster than rival MySpace. Facebook receives 40 billion page views a month from its existing 30 million users. About 10-15 percent of Canada’s population is on the site (as per CEO Zuckerberg himself). Investors are asking about a potential IPO, buyouts, mergers, and appraising how much the site is worth. The question I ask - Is Facebook’s growth is sustainable?
Facebook shows no sign of slowing down, and Zuckerberg shows no signs of exiting. Most recently, Yahoo bid $1-billion for the site. The offer was turned down. The company also recently hired its cheif marketing officer - Chamath Palihapitiya (raised in Canada, holds an engineering degree from the University of Waterloo). Facebook seems to be attempting to meet its growing demand by itself. Many took these as signs of the company’s intentions of going public.
Whether Facebook’s growth is sustainable remains to be seen. Many other fast-growing social networks (Friendster, Hi5, etc.) have cooled down, and left the scene. Facebook is trying other methods to make itself more useful. Their usefulness will now be put to the test. If Facebook does not hit the stock market in a Google-like fashion, don’t be surprised to see Zuckerberg and his investors on the streets mourning the day they turned down Yahoo’s $1-billion takeover bid.
Toronto threatened with two new taxes
Posted on July 18, 2007
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The country’s largest city, Toronto, has always been known as the economic capital of the country. Today this view is arguably incorrect. The city has been shedding jobs in the manufacturing sector for the past five years. The average unemployment rate for this period has been 8.1 percent. For the first time in history, the rate is higher than the national average of 7.2 percent. The city’s municipal government is also facing a structural deficit of upto $1.1 billion per year.
Mayor David Miller’s proposed solution has been the introduction of two new taxes - a 2 percent fee on property purchases, and a $60 surcharge on motor vehicle registration. The two new taxes will be considered in October.
I suggest the city look towards a more cheap and possibly more innovative solution. A land-transfer tax will most likely reinforce an already slowing housing market in the city. The city needs to shift its focus along with the rapidly changing Canadian and global economies. The city has displayed strong job growth in financial services, retail and wholesale trade, and professional services in counterbalance to manufacturing job losses.
The city should consider lower program spending, and establishing closer relations with the private sector. The root costs leading to the city’s problems should be lowered before introducing new taxes.
Gasoline prices below a dollar
Posted on July 17, 2007
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Gasoline prices at the pumps dipped as much as 10 cents across the country today (I’m sure you’ve all noticed) as a result of wholesale prices declining. The decline was due to speculative talks of increasing North American gasoline inventories, along with increased capacity at refineries. Importing gasoline from American refineries was also cheaper because of the rising loonie.
Motorists in Toronto stopped to pump every empty litre in their tanks today, where prices fell as low as 96.9 cents (as per gasbuddy.com). It was the first time since March that GTA drivers celebrated prices below the $1 mark.
Celebrations aren’t expected to be long, so enjoy while you can. The decrease was lead by a combination of temporary factors, including a few American refineries who resumed operations after routine maintenance and unplanned outages. Expect this as a temporary relief, as global oil prices continue to rise along with the season’s increasing gasoline demand. When and how will prices fly back up? Who knows… so my advice, keep your tanks full.
Canadian dollar rises with oil price
Posted on July 16, 2007
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The Canadian loonie surged to a 30-year high today as the price of crude oil traded at an 11-month high. The dollar hit 96 cents versus the US Dollar.
iphone apps possible with the 1.1.3 release
Posted on March 4, 2007
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The iPhone community is at it again! With the release of 1.1.3 firmware at MacWorld, the safest way to update to 1.1.3 firmware is bypassing iTunes (DO NOT update via iTunes) and going through Installer. For those people using iPhones that originally had firmware versions 1.0.2 and 1.1.1, your bootloader version is 3.9, whereas new OTB 1.1.2 iPhones come with 4.6 (which can be unlocked only with a StealthSIM).
Now, people with 3.9 bootloaders updating to 1.1.3 via iTunes will not change your bootloader, but you will have a problem with the jailbreak. Recently, Hackint0sh Forums user, Pajaro, posted a thread stating that the 1.1.3 bootloader 3.9 software unlock will soon be coming out. Think of it as an updated AnySIM version that will unlock your 3.9 bootloader after updating to 1.1.3 via iTunes.
So for those who have emailed about how they mistakenly updated their phones to 1.1.3 via iTunes, a solution just could be right around the corner! Let’s wait patiently and see what will arise out of this recent announcement!
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