I’m sure many of you by now are familiar with Square. It’s a service that allows businesses or even individuals to accept payment by credit card using a little dongle attached to the headphone jack of their smartphone or tablet. This type of service relies on the ability to securely transmit card information either through an Internet connection or data connection like 3G, 4G or LTE. But what happens when there’s no connection available? Read more…at CanoeTech Blog.
Evernote 6 for Mac update may cause notes to appear lost
December 5, 2014 by · Leave a Comment
If you launched Evernote for Mac in the last day or so only to find that all your notes are missing, fear not, they are likely there but their titles have been changed to “Untitled”. And if you have an incredible number of notes like I do, you may not realize that they are still there.
Earlier this evening I received a notice from Evernote informing me that they’ve noticed that I’m using an older version of Evernote for Mac. They encouraged me to upgrade to the latest version because the one I was using contained a bug that affected a small number of users.
Read moreAT CANOE TECH BLOG…
Tagsu new digital “wondertag” started as a joke
November 26, 2014 by · Leave a Comment
Whenever you go to a conference or convention, you usually get a badge or nametag at the registration desk. So how about an electronic one? Introducing Tagsu, the programmable pocket-sized digital #wondertag that offers a 32 character message on up to 42 different screens.
Tagsu originally started as a joke – something designed for friends and other developers but the Finland-based creators soon found out that there was actually a customer demand for it. Beyond just delivering information they also discovered it to be quite an attention grabber and conversation starter. Anyone who was wearing one seemed to be quickly approached by others (and that’s good for business). And with little effort, they quickly sold over 400 simply by word of mouth.
Currently, Tagsu is hand-made so of course the cost of production is really high, so they are looking at getting them mass-produced and thus just launched an Indiegogo campaign. The goal is to raise $20K US by Jan 4th 2015 to start mass production and fulfill orders they already have plus those orders generated by the campaign. Read more… at CANOE TECH BLOG
Dyson’s $2.6 billion investment in research to supercharge global growth
November 21, 2014 by · Leave a Comment
Dyson has today committed a $2.6 billion CAD investment to future technology, including a $1.7 billion CAD for the research and development of new product technologies. It is developing four new portfolios of technology and will launch 100 new products around the world in the next four years.
James Dyson, Founder and Chairman said: “Our growth is fuelled by technology and we are thinking long-term. 90 per cent of our technology is sold abroad, we’re quickly growing across Asia, and it’s phenomenal to think that we are now number one in the home of technology – Japan. It is like selling coal to Newcastle. But we must relentlessly invent – that’s why we are investing in our research footprint here in the UK and investing in our manufacturing capabilities in South East Asia.”
Become an Apple Watch developer Watchkit SDK out today
November 18, 2014 by · Leave a Comment
EDMONTON, AB, Nov 18, 2014/ Troy Media/ – Whether it is for Mac OS or Apple’s mobile iOS, it’s no secret that the success of the Apple App Store relies heavily on the development of apps by the developer community.
And today Apple has taken that innovation one step forward by opening up the development doors for the much-anticipated Apple Watch byannouncing the availability of Apple WatchKit– a software development kit [SDK] that gives developers a set of tools to create apps specifically designed for the Apple Watch before the product even becomes available.
“Apple Watch is our most personal device ever, and WatchKit provides the incredible iOS developer community with the tools they need to create exciting new experiences right on your wrist,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “With the iOS 8.2 beta SDK, developers can now start using WatchKit to create breakthrough new apps, Glances and actionable notifications designed for the innovative Apple Watch interface and work with new technologies such as Force Touch, Digital Crown and Taptic Engine.” READ MORE at Troy Media
Latest iPhone first weekend sales blast through 10 million
September 22, 2014 by · Leave a Comment
EDMONTON, AB, Sep 22, 2014/ Troy Media/ – After record-breaking pre-orders and massive line-ups world-wide, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models – which launched on September 19 – broke first weekend record sales by topping the 10 million mark. This milestone is one million more than the then record-breaking nine million iPhone 5S and 5C handsets sold on their first weekend release set under a year ago.
“Sales for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus exceeded our expectations for the launch weekend, and we couldn’t be happier,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We would like to thank all of our customers for making this our best launch ever, shattering all previous sell-through records by a large margin. While our team managed the manufacturing ramp better than ever before, we could have sold many more iPhones with greater supply and we are working hard to fill orders as quickly as possible.” READ MORE at Troy Media
iPhone 5 battery replacement program
September 2, 2014 by · Leave a Comment
If you were an early adopter of the iPhone 5 and are experiencing some issues with battery life, then there’s some good news for you. You may be eligible to get your battery swapped out for free under Apple’s iPhone 5 battery replacement program.
According to Apple support, Apple has determined, “That a very small percentage of iPhone 5 devices may suddenly experience shorter battery life or need to be charged more frequently.”
Read more…at Canoe Tech Blog
Square mobile payment system gets invoicing
July 19, 2014 by · Leave a Comment
Strolling through Old Strathcona last Saturday during Edmonton’s Whyte Avenue Art Walk 2014 I noticed something different this year. More vendors were accepting payment by credit card – VISA, MasterCard, American Express – many through the magic of this micro-payment system called Square. It’s changed the way small businesses do their transactions. And now here in Canada, they’ve taken it one step farther with the introduction of invoices allowing complete secure payment transactions when not dealing face-to-face.
Invoicing is certainly a logical extension to the Square payment system with many potential benefits. In fact, people like Kat Doell, an emerging artist and illustrator finds Square payments handy, particularly for high ticket items welcome its extended functionality.
“I haven’t used the invoices yet, but all the new options look perfect for small business,” says Doell.
Read more…At CANOE TECH BLOG
Applebee’s quietly going “No Tech Tuesday”
July 13, 2014 by · Leave a Comment
If you’re tired of hearing the people on their smartphones at the next table yelling at the top of their lungs, you’ll be happy to know that one restaurant chain in the U.S. is planning on doing something about it – at least for one day of the week. Applebee’s plans to introduce “No Tech Tuesday” to all of its 1,800+ restaurants in the US. In fact, according to reports, the company is filing an application to trademark the phrase.
Installing 100,000 Tablets
What’s perplexing is that back in December 2013, just over seven months ago, the company announcedthat by the end of 2014, it would have completed installation of 100,000 Intel-based E la Carte Presto tablets in their restaurants, so customers can order their meals, pay their bills, play games and have other social media interactions.
There doesn’t appear to be any detailed information as to how the scenario will play out and whether of not those tablets will go dark – on Tuesdays only. I do find it interesting that on one hand the chain is taking a leap forward embracing new technology but on the other hand, totally doing away with it for one day of the week.
Read more…AT CanoeTech BLOG
Tetris Turns 30
June 6, 2014 by · Leave a Comment
1984 is best known for the name of George Orwell’s 1948 book that paints a bleak look at the future and the year that saw the release of the original Macintosh, where we saw “why 1984 won’t be like 1984“. But it was also on this day exactly 30 years ago today that Tetris was unveiled to the world.
Tetris is a highly addictive game, where “falling” shaped pieces or “Tetriminos” as they are called have to be arranged into rectangular shapes to create, in real time, a line, as they float down the screen.
Read full story, see video and poll at Canoe Tech Blog
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