Technology Guides

This week, Bell and Telus decided to put their differences aside and join forces to offer a HSPA network that will span the length of Canada. This is the first major annoucement after the wireless spectrum auciton that was held back in the Summer of 2008. With this announcement, we will see in 2010 a major shift in consumer pricing for cell phone plans and cell phones. In the meantime, Globalive will hopefully help shake up the marketplace especially since its website inception, Wireless Soapbox, launched on September 4, 2008. This website is helping Canadians voice their displeasure on our current wireless market. On here, Globalive has let us wireless users let them know what’s wrong and it seems they are listening. I believe they are at least trying since it’s one of the first times, big business has come down to the level of consumers and asked the people who pay their bills, their opinion through a more community based way. 

Telus Logo

Back to Bell and Telus. Gearing up for the Vancouver 2010 games is not only the governments job, but also an incentive for wireless carriers to shift their pricing plans. By the time the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games roll around, Bell and Telus will have set up their new network that will start charging for roaming while sending data. This will be a huge money maker since most people visitng Canada for the Games will want up to date results on how their country is doing in compeitions.

This is good for Canadians in general though because it offers another two companies who can now officially directly compete with Rogers and Fido. Now Telus will be able to market the same high-tech phones Rogers does and be able to get those phones at a cheaper price per unit. To do this, they will overlay their current CDMA network with the new HSPA network. The HSPA overlay will also help speed up the transition into the 4G Long Term Evolution standard, expected to be in use by 2012, which will offer record download speeds and eliminate the division between GSM and CDMA. This transition is where Europe is going so it only makes sense that Canada follows suit.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Blackberry’s first entrance into the touch screen phone market has made headlines all over the world. Competing directly with the iPhone and Google’s new phone, G1 by HTC, Blackberry can now officially say it has an all around phone capable of sending email and having multimedia capabilities. The Blackberry Storm is slightly smaller but a smidge thicker than the iPhone and it keeps the same rounded edges of the iPhone. It has a high quality resolution screen that is bright.

Blackberry Storm

One thing that is really cool about the phone is it has copy and paste features and can interpret html on the browser. There are two keyboards that pop up when you are using the phone for emails, texts and such. One is when the phone is vertical, you get a keyboard in the horizontal position that is Full QWERTY and the other one is in the vertical position when your phone is horizontal that is the true Blackberry keyboard with two letters per button.

It has the capabilities of a world phone, with GSM, HDSPA, 3G, and EDGE. Like the iPhone there will be a lot of add-ons like a docking station that turns the Storm into an alarm clock while charging the phone at the same time. The Storm is easy to use and intuitive but in my personal opinion I hate the fact of using a virtual keyboard and this phone has two of them. I like the feel and touch of a real keyboard. Verizon is going to release it around Thanksgiving in the U.S. and hopefully soon after that in Canada. It’s a great follow up to the Bold and shows Blackberry’s committment to challenging Apple and bringing more products to the consumer market. This signals the market shift for ordinary consumers getting Smartphones.

Popularity: 2% [?]

 
Just recently I downloaded Windows Vista SP1 and followed the instructions to the “T” which included restarting the computer. After downloading this automatic update, this was my second worst mistake. Next thing I know, I get a blue screen that says there is a hardware problem and nothing works to restart the computer including launching the startup repair and going into safe mode. Eventually, me being the nerd person I am, I end up frying the hard drive. So not only do I need to replace my operating system but I also have to replace my hard drive. All in all I end up paying $160 CDN to fix my computer and now thankfully I’m up and running but a little cash strapped.

Some huge lessons can be learned from this. First off, create your Recovery Discs as soon as possible and make sure your computer can’t shut down on you unexpectedly like not enough power because you only get one shot at least with HP. Second, buy an external hard drive and make a back up of your computer as soon as possible and do it at least monthly. For smaller problems, you should make it a regular routine to create a restore point. Putting all three of these basic things into practice will help keep your computer safe and in working order. Keep programs as well off your computer that you really don’t need and keep your computer organized in terms of folders.

Popularity: 4% [?]