Thursday, 7 February 2013

Is Blackberry Back?


Pictured here is Nadir Mohamed, President and CEO, Rogers, and Thorsten Heins, President and CEO, BlackBerry, selling one of the first BlackBerry Z10 smartphones in North America at the Rogers flagship store in Toronto, to Mr. Harp Dhonsi on February 5th, 2013 launch day.

Is Blackberry Back?
So far so good….. Early reviews are good. Early sales numbers are good. Early customer reaction is good.

I was not able to meet the demand on launch date & now have some of my best customers on a waiting list.
Feb 6, 2013 Thorsten Heins “In Canada, yesterday was the best day ever for the first day of a launch of a new BlackBerry smartphone. In fact, it was more than 50% better than any other launch day in our history in Canada,” said the the President & CEO of BlackBerry. “In the UK, we have seen close to three times our best performance ever for the first week of sales for a BlackBerry smartphone.”

The popular Blackberry user site creackberry.com is reporting ‘BlackBerry let us know earlier today that yesterday, February 5th, was a record-setting sales day in BlackBerry history with the launch of the BlackBerry Z10 in Canada. Now Canadian carrier Rogers has followed up with their own statement letting us know that it was also a record-setting BlackBerry day for Rogers as well.
Via Rogers: 
•Sold more BlackBerry smartphones on February 5th 2013 than any other day in Rogers history (Rogers was the first carrier to launch BlackBerry services in 1999).
•Rogers BlackBerry experts activated thousands of BlackBerry Z10 smartphones yesterday, and provided customers with in depth training and support.’

When you get your Blackberry Z10 you need to check out this site..
These short instructional videos will answer most if not all of your setup questions.

Garth McFadden
www.facebook.com/thinkwireless

Wednesday, 30 January 2013

Rogers launches the BlackBerry Z10


BlackBerry Z10 Front View

Rogers launches the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone and announces availability of the BlackBerry Q10
BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10 to be powered by the Rogers LTE Network – Canada’s fastest wireless internet;

Customers will be among first in the world to pre-register for a QWERTY style BlackBerry Q10 on the Rogers Reservation System;
BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10 certified for suretap™ – Rogers exclusive mobile payment technology

TORONTO, January 30th, 2013 - Rogers Communications, Canada's leading diversified communications and media company, today announced it will offer the new BlackBerry® Z10 smartphone as of February 5th, 2013. The new all-touch smartphone will be powered by the Rogers LTE network, Canada’s fastest wireless internet, and available in black and white at Rogers retail and dealer locations across Canada starting at $149.99 with select three year plans.
The company also confirmed it will offer Canadians access to the BlackBerry Q10, which features a physical QWERTY keyboard, in 2013.

“Being a Rogers customer means you have access first to what’s next in mobile technology. “Many of our customers are looking forward to experiencing BlackBerry 10 on the Rogers LTE network – Canada’s fastest wireless internet. Our teams of in-house BlackBerry experts are available to ensure consumers and businesses have access to world-class service and support.” said John Boynton, executive vice president marketing, and chief marketing officer, Rogers Communications.

The new BlackBerry Z10 is the first smartphone to launch with the re-designed, re-engineered and re-invented BlackBerry 10 platform, giving customers a powerful and unique new mobile computing experience. The BlackBerry Z10 smartphone is the fastest and most advanced BlackBerry smartphone yet, and offers a smarter experience that continuously adapts to a customer’s needs.
“The new BlackBerry 10 smartphones deliver a powerful new platform for BlackBerry customers. Combined with the Rogers LTE network, BlackBerry 10 smartphone customers will be delighted with a re-invented communication experience, seamless multitasking, easy access to multiple social networks, and the peace of mind that BlackBerry security gives them,” said Carlo Chiarello, executive vice president, global smartphone business, Research In Motion.
BlackBerry Z10 is designed to keep customers moving and includes advancements such as:


·                   Peek and Flow into the BlackBerry Hub – A new mobile computing paradigm where what matters to customers is always only one swipe away
·                   Keyboard – Understands and adapts to customers, so they can type faster and more accurately
·                   BBM™ (BlackBerry® Messenger) – Allows customers to share things with the people that matter to them in an instant
·                   BlackBerry® Balance™ technology – Protects what is important to customers and the businesses they work for

Rogers will deliver the ultimate BlackBerry Z10 experience:
·                   BlackBerry 10 Powered by Rogers LTE Network, Canada’s Fastest Wireless Internet – The Rogers LTE network lets customers access files, download documents, stream video content and music at faster speeds.
·                   BlackBerry 10 Experts and Support As the Canadian carrier with the largest base of BlackBerry customers in Canada, Rogers has extensive BlackBerry experience. In-store reps, Rogers TechXpert advisors, small business and enterprise experts are available to ensure customers have a seamless BB10 experience.
·                   Rogers One Number Exclusively from Rogers, this BlackBerry 10 app will let customers set up reach me rules such as Advanced Call Forward and Do Not Disturb. Customers can also talk, text, send picture messages and video chat through the Rogers One Number web portal, using their existing wireless phone number.
·                   Rogers TechXpert for Wireless An exclusive new service for Rogers customers, offering extended wireless device support delivered live, online or by phone. Customers that sign up for a BlackBerry 10 smartphone from Rogers with select three year plans get one month of free TechXpert for Wireless service.
·                   Rogers Anyplace TV Live – This preloaded mobile app live streams games like NHL hockey, soccer, Blue Jays baseball, NBA basketball, and tennis, along with kids’ programming and real-time news like CityNews.
·                   Rogers Smart Home Monitoring for Mobile – Coming soon to Rogers Smart Home Monitoring customers, this BlackBerry 10 app will let customers securely view and control their Smart Home Monitoring system from anywhere, using their smartphone.
·                   Sportsnet Mobile – Available exclusively for the BlackBerry 10 platform at launch, and preloaded for Rogers customers, the Sportsnet app gives fans a new look and feel with deeper stats, customizable alerts including up-to-the-second game scores and in-game moments, the latest content and analysis from Sportsnet.ca writers and more.
·                   suretap™ supported An exclusive Rogers service that lets customers turn their smartphone into a mobile wallet by securely downloading credit card details to a secure SIM card for use in mobile payments. At launch, BlackBerry 10 smartphones purchased at Rogers retail and dealer locations will come with a suretap SIM card.

 

Blackberry Z10 Feb 5, 2013 $149.99 3yr V&D

BlackBerry Z10 Front View

BlackBerry Z10 Specs
- Size (L x W x D): 130mm x 65.6mm x 9mm
- Weight: 135.4 grams
- Display: 4.2-inch, 4 point multi-touch LCD display, 1280 x 768 resolution at 356 PPI
- OS Version: BlackBerry 10 OS version #
- Memory: 2GB RAM, 16GB Flash, Hot Swappable MicroSD slot (up to 32GB)
- Processor: 1.5 GHz Dual-Core
- Battery Life: Talk Time is “up to 10 hours on 3G” Audio Playback is “up to 60 hours” and Video Playback is “up to 11 hours.”
- Camera: 8MP camera, Auto Focus, 5x digital zoom, 1080p HD video recording, LED flash
- Front-Facing Camera: 2MP, 3x digital zoom, 720p HD video recording
- GPS: Assisted, Autonomous, and Simultaneous GPS
- Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy
- NFC: NFC-enabled to support mobile payments and file exchange
- HDMI: MicroHDMI out port
- Wi-Fi: Dual Band 802.11 a/b/g/n, Mobile Hotspot
- Network Compatibility: 4G LTE or HSPA+, support for global roaming
- Advanced Sensors: Accelerometer, Magnetometer, Proximity, Gyroscope, Ambient light sensor

Tuesday, 27 November 2012

Thanks for Lunch Microsoft!!



I had lunch on Microsoft today on the 6th floor of the Shangri-La downtown Vancouver. They were showing off the benefits of the new Windows Phone 8 OS. I got to touch & feel the 3 Rogers Smartphones running the new Window OS. The Nokia Lumia 920 ($99 3yr V&D), the HTC 8X ($0 3yr V&D) & the Samsung ATIV S (coming soon). Looks to me this Window Phone OS is here to stay!!  Thank Microsoft for the sandwich & diet Coke.

Samsung ATIV S Great Screen & Thin


HTC 8X Great Sound
 
Windows Phone 8 Highlights include....

Live Tiles
The only phone with Live Tiles. These amazing little gems deliver automatic updates on what's happening in your world, right to your Start screen. Pin the ones you want, then move and resize them as you like.


Kid's Corner
It’s the only phone with kid-proofing built in, so you can control the apps, games, videos, and music they access, knowing that your stuff is safe.


Photos + SkyDrive
Snap photos, use Lens apps, and share your creations straight from the Camera. Plus you can store your photos safely in the cloud by automatically syncing to SkyDrive.

Learn more about Photos

Wednesday, 12 September 2012

iPhone 5, How Does it stack up?


 
Apple iPhone 4S
Apple iPhone 5
SAMSUNG GALAXY S III
OS
Apple iOS 6
Apple iOS 6
Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich
(upgradable to
4.1 Jelly Bean)
Display
3.5-inch
LED-backlit IPS TFT
4-inch
LED-backlit IPS TFT
4.8-inch
HD Super AMOLED
w/ Corning Gorilla Glass 2
Pixel density
326 ppi pixel density
326 ppi pixel density
306 ppi pixel density
Resolution
960 x 640
1136 x 640
HD (1280 x 720)
Height
Width
Thickness
115.2 mm
58.6mm
9.3 mm
123.8 mm
58.5 mm
7.6 mm
136.6mm
70.6mm
8.6mm
Weight
140 grams
112 grams
133 grams
Processor
Apple A5
Apple A6
1.5GHz dual-core
Cortex A9 processor
Exynos 4212 Quad
GPU
PowerVR SGX543MP2
-
Mali-400MP
RAM
512MB
TBA
1GB
Storage
16GB / 32GB / 64GB
16GB / 32GB / 64GB
16GB / 32GB / 64GB
microSD card slot
No
No
Yes, up to 64GB
Primary camera
8 MP, 3264×2448 pixels,
autofocus
8 MP, 3264×2448 pixels,
autofocus
8 MP, 3264×2448 pixels,
autofocus , 4x Zoom
Primary camera extras
Touch focus, geo-tagging, HDR
Touch focus, geo-tagging, face detection, panorama, HDR
Simultaneous HD video and image recording, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization
Front camera
VGA, 480P@30fps
1.2MP, 720p@30fps
1.9MP, 720p@30fps
Battery
Talk Time on 3G – 8hrs
Talk Time on 3G – 8hrs
Talk Time on 3G – 8hrs
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Hotspot
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi Plus Cellular
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct,
Wi-Fi hotspot
Network
2G, 3G, 4G & LTE
2G, 3G, 4G & LTE
2G, 3G, 4G & LTE
USB
Yes, proprietary 9-pin connector
Yes, proprietary 9-pin connector
Yes, microUSB v2.0 (MHL), USB On-the-go
Bluetooth
Yes, v4.0 with A2DP, EDR
Yes, v4.0 with A2DP, EDR
Yes, v4.0 with A2DP, EDR
NFC
No
No
Yes
Sensors
Gyroscope, G-Sensor, Digital Compass, Ambient Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor
Gyroscope, G-Sensor, Digital Compass, Ambient Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor
Gyroscope, Accelerometer, Digital Compass, Ambient Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor

iPhone 5 Coming to Canada September 21, 2012




 

The screen taller but not wider.

·         4-inch 1136×640

·         from 5:4 ratio on the 4S to 16:9 ratio

 

Its lighter & thinner.

·         It is 112g, 20% lighter than the iPhone 4S

·         7.6mm, 18% thinner  than the iPhone 4S

 

Faster

·         LTE baseband with support up to 100Mbps.

·         backwards compatible with HSPA+ and DC-HSPA+ at 42Mbps

·         A6 processor chip, 2X faster CPU and 2x graphics compared to the A5

·         WiFi, 802.11a/b/g/n, it's dual-channel, up to 150Mbps.

Thursday, 3 May 2012

Samsung Galaxy S III Smartphone


So there you have it…… the official phone of the 2012 London Olympics games was announced today by Samsung in London. It’s slated for a May 29th European release with over 250 worldwide carriers, including Canada, this summer. It’s being dubbed the super-smartphone, with its 1.4GHz quad-core processor, a 4.7-inch HD display, an 8-megapixel camera with 1080p HD recording, 1GB of RAM, 4G LTE & only 8.6 millimeters thick.
Posted on the Samsung Canada Facebook page…..’Today’s a BIG day for our fans who’ve been waiting for information about the Galaxy S III. Samsung Canada is pleased to announce that we are planning to release a Canada LTE version of Galaxy S III, along with the newly announced global variation, both of which are optimized for the fastest LTE and HSPA+ networks in Canada. Product availability is scheduled for summer of 2012, with exact timing and retail channel availability details to be announced in upcoming weeks. We believe the Galaxy S III is the most anticipated product in the 16-year history of Samsung Mobile; therefore, we will continue to share information as it becomes available.’

Check out the Samsung full press release......