MobileSyrup.com » Ian Hardy

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 goes up for pre-order, Canadian release expected June 22nd

Ian Hardy — Fri, 25 May 2012 19:07:13 +0000

Samsung, according to Future Shop, will bring another Samsung tablet to the Canadian market. This time around it’s the continuation of the Tab family with the Android OS 4.0 powered Galaxy Tab 2. A pre-order page just went live and gives an “Estimated release date” of June 22nd. The price is respectively set at $349.99 and this Wi-Fi only tablet comes with Samsung’s TouchWiz UI, a 10.1-inch display (1280 x 800), 1Ghz dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, 3MP camera, VGA front camera. In addition, the Tab 2 has a 7000 mAh battery.

More here at Future Shop

Rogers Blackberry Curve 9360 update to v7.1.0.391 now available

Ian Hardy — Fri, 25 May 2012 17:58:58 +0000

Rogers has finally updated the BlackBerry Curve 9360 to OS version 7.1.0.391. This brings brings BlackBerry Tags and mobile hotspot features to the entry-level QWERTY. You can go forth and update it via OTA or the desktop manager, but again, make sure you back up the device before doing so.

Grab it here from RIM

Sony confirms Xperia Play will not receive Android 4.0 upgrade

Ian Hardy — Fri, 25 May 2012 16:32:39 +0000

Sony has done a good job at keeping users informed of where and when their upgrade to the latest Android OS will arrive. Yesterday they published a list of various handsets that included the Xperia ray, arc, arc s, pro, mini, mini pro, neo, neo v. However, one major flagship device was missing from the list, the Xperia Play. This once sought after gaming device received an early ICS beta firmware, but today Sony went on record and confirmed that “a consistent and stable experience, particularly with gaming, cannot be guaranteed,” thus they will not be making 4.0 officially available.

In regards to Xperia PLAY, after extensive in house testing with our developer teams and working with our partners, we have concluded that a consistent and stable experience, particularly with gaming, cannot be guaranteed for this smartphone on Ice Cream Sandwich – therefore, we will not make the Android 4.0 upgrade available for Xperia PLAY.

This decision was also verified when we received similar feedback from the developer community; both experienced developers and advanced users, along with game content providers following our ICS beta ROM for unlocked Xperia PLAY smartphones.

Certainly this is not the best news for Play users, considering the device was so heavily promoted. Sony reiterated that their priority is always on creating the best user experience. Perhaps they’ll come out with the Xperia Play 2 soon…

Source: Sony
Via: XperiaBlog

SecureKey scores a $30 million investment from Rogers, TELUS, Visa and others

Ian Hardy — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:04:01 +0000

Toronto-based SecureKey has secured a $30 million injection of cash from seven investors, including Intel Capital, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, Rogers Venture Partners, Rogers Communications and TELUS. SecureKey provides chip-based identity and payment credentials for online and mobile transactions – perfect to make mobile payments in Canada more secure.

The new money will go towards deploying “innovative online and mobile authentication solutions” in laptops, tablets, and mobile devices that make users “tap/click to pay” and “tap/click to authenticate” capabilities. This process was one of the few that were listed in the official guidelines for mobile payments in Canada.

Greg Wolfond, CEO of SecureKey, stated that “We are thrilled to have attracted a team of world-class strategic investors who believe in our solutions and technology. SecureKey allows consumers and businesses to use real-world payment and identity credentials with their computers and mobile phones to enhance online security and payments in a simple and convenient manner. Our collaboration efforts are an important part of being able to expand into a wide variety of devices, applications, and markets.”

There’s no word on how much Rogers or TELUS invested, but confirms their commitment to make mobile payments come alive in Canada.

Source: SecureKey

Bell and Virgin rollout HD Voice in Saskatchewan

Ian Hardy — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:44:23 +0000

Bell and Virgin rolled out HD Voice to most of Canada last January. This feature gave customers who owned various devices “better quality, clearer voice service experience.” There is no cost to have this feature and makes for an overall better voice experience. There were only couple provinces omitted from the initial launch, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. This was most likely due to the limited agreements between SaskTel and MTS.

However, good news for those located in Saskatchewan as HD Voice is now live in your area. This impacts both Bell and Virgin customers and again, no cost, just better voice quality. In order to use HD voice both callers must be either a Bell or Virgin customer, have a HD Voice compatible device and within the 4G HSPA+ coverage area. Here’s the complete list of compatible devices:

- Motorola MOTOLUXE
- HTC One S
- HTC One V
- HTC Raider 4G LTE
- BlackBerry Bold 9900
- Nokia C6
- Nokia C6-01
- HTC Sensation
- HTC Incredible S

If you’ve experienced HD Voice, let us know what you think about it. Have you noticed a difference?
(Thanks tipster!)

Canada Post releases “Stamps Alive” iPhone app

Ian Hardy — Fri, 25 May 2012 11:19:24 +0000

Canada Post is attempting to make stamps fun again. They recently released a new app called “Stamps Alive” and gives “stamps in a whole new dimension.” In order to use this augmented reality app you’ll have to purchase either a booklet of Franklin the Turtle or Calgary Stampede stamps, then use your camera to “unlock 3D games and interactive fun!”

For the Franklin stamps you’ll get to direct him through a 3D maze to help him mail a letter. There are two types of Calgary Stampede stamps. The first is a Pet horse in which you can “Pet it and watch it react.” Next is the Barrel Racing stamp that makes you compete in a barrel racing rodeo. There’s also a slight social aspect, but can’t really see anyone using it, as you can share pics of you new pet horse or best barrel racing time via Facebook or email.

The Stamps Alive app is free and can be found here.

Source: Canada Post
Via: iPhoneInCanada

Health & Safety Watch iPhone app gives you real-time info on disease outbreaks, consumer product and food recalls

Ian Hardy — Thu, 24 May 2012 21:27:32 +0000

An app was recently made available in Apple’s App Store that could be incredibly useful and also make you incredibly fearful. The Health & Safety Watch (HSW) application monitors recalls, advisories and health warnings of Canadian products and eateries. The good news is that the app is free, compatible with iOS 5.0 or later. According to Intelligent Health Solutions, creators of the app, the “Health & Safety Watch designed the app to provide a simple point of reference for users to check everything from boil water advisories and local disease outbreaks to consumer product and food recalls.”

The app can be broken down by category – Consumer products, Food, Public Health, Health products, Environmental, and Food premises – and uses the GPS in your device to give you local information. If you have worries about a specific restaurant, potentially it looks a bit too sketch to eat at, you can search the app to see what their public health inspection results were. This feature is currently available for the Toronto area but will be expanding to other cities in the coming months.

Dr. Jeff Aramini, President of Health & Safety Watch, stated that “A quick search of the restaurant name enables users to see the status and any infractions that may impact their decision to eat there. It’s great when planning a night out because you have all of this information at your fingertips, without having to first visit the restaurant and read the inspection notice.”

Download the app here from the App Store

BBM for iPhone and Android reportedly scrapped

Ian Hardy — Thu, 24 May 2012 20:08:24 +0000

One of RIM’s most valuable assets is their BlackBerry Messenger service (BBM). This, along with RIM’s email security and the iconic QWERTY keyboard, is why over 77 million BlackBerry users have stayed loyal to the brand.

BBM currently has over 55 million users and a report in the WSJ suggests that RIM was potentially seeking to license the messaging service to other manufacturers and carriers. The internal code name for this initiative was called “SMS 2.0.” The reason was not only to generate additional revenue, but also take on other 3rd party messaging apps like WhatsApp, Kik Messenger, and Touch. There have been rumours that we’ll would see BBM get ported over to both iOS and Android, but nothing was officially announced. Sadly, it looks like BBM on any platform other than BlackBerry will probably never happen.

Apparently when RIM co-CEO’s Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie departed, Thorsten Heins stepped in and completely ended the BBM licensing push, “one person familiar with the matter” said that “It was not up for discussion.” However, Heins is still potentially interested in licensing options for their upcoming BlackBerry 10 OS, which is scheduled to launch later this year.

Source: WSJ

Update: Samsung Galaxy S III launching June 20th?

Ian Hardy — Thu, 24 May 2012 18:04:00 +0000

Samsung’s Galaxy S III is one of the most anticipated Android devices ever made. It’s coming to Canada on basically every carrier ”this Summer,” TELUS, Bell, WIND, Videotron, SaskTel, Mobilicity, Virgin Mobile and Rogers. We reported last week that Samsung will start a Canadian trek on May 30th to give employees and retail outlets the “Galaxy S III interactive training sessions.”

We’ve been hearing several launch dates, such as the June 20th date that’s listed in the above screenshot. The first day of Summer is June 20th and would ever so smoothly fall in line with what Samsung’s official press release quoted “in time for the summer.” Future Shop and Best Buy also confirmed that they will have the GS III available when it launches and we’re also hearing that pre-orders will go live on May 30th.

Update: Well, this is interesting turn of events. We’ve been asked to takedown the image… so perhaps the date is true. We’re wishing and hoping so.

We’ll have more info soon.
(Thanks tipsters!)

Facebook for Windows Phone updated to version 2.5, brings threaded messaging and ability to like comments

Ian Hardy — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:53:59 +0000

Facebook for Windows Phone has been updated to version 2.5. This brings a slew of new features, namely threaded messaging (including group messages), plus the ability to delete posts and comments via long press. Here’s the full change log:

- Added ability to like comments
- Full-threaded Facebook messaging including group messaging
- Tagging friends using ‘with’ and ‘at’ formats
- Delete posts and comments via long press context menu
- Active links in posts
- Updates to photo comments and likes pages to match posts comments and likes page

Download the app here via the Windows Marketplace.
Via: Twitter