Toronto Becomes Top Contender for Amazon HQ2

Toronto is the only Canadian city on Amazon Inc.'s short list of 20 candidates for a second North American headquarters.

The e-commerce giant received 238 applications for the opportunity and says narrowing it down to 20 was very tough.

The other 19 locations it will consider are all in the U.S. and include New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Denver and Nashville.

Amazon says it plans to choose the location later this year after diving deeper into the proposals from its top cities.

An Amazon spokesperson says the process taught the company about several new communities across North America that it will consider as locations for future infrastructure investment and job creation.

The company plans to invest more than $5 billion into the forthcoming headquarters and hire 50,000 highly paid employees in the city housing it.

CIC Canada's Immigration Website Crashes as Trump's Led Wins

Canada’s main immigration website appeared to suffer repeated outages on Tuesday night as Trump took the lead in several major states and his prospects for winning the US presidency turned markedly higher. Data from Google suggests searches for ‘move to Canada’ spiked significantly during the night as Trump victories unfolded in key battleground states

Some users in the United States, Canada and Asia saw an internal server error message when trying to access the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website.

When the Guardian clicked on the page it would not load and a “this page isn’t working” error message came up.

Disruptive Mega Deals As Former Game Changer Yahoo!

Yahoo was once regarded as the “King of the Internet”, worth $125 billion in its time the way Facebook or Google are today. Now it’s being sold to Verizon for comparatively chump change.

This morning, Verizon announced the end of the long process of acquiring Yahoo’s core business for just under $4.8 billion. This transaction ends the independence of one of Silicon Valley’s most iconic pioneering companies. Yahoo’s seventh and final CEO, Marissa Mayer, will reportedly depart with severance pay worth more than $50 million.

The sale will unite Yahoo with AOL, the first web portal Verizon bought last year for $4.4 billion. The United States’ largest wireless provider is betting nearly $10 billion that combining the two formerly dominant websites will give it an edge in mobile content and advertising technology it can leverage across its more than 140 million subscribers.

GPS Reality Game Pokémon Go breaks App Store Record for Most Downloads in First Week of Release

Wow! Augmented reality game, Pokémon Go has become the most downloaded mobile app in the history of the App Store in its first week of release, although no concrete download numbers have been made available.

The app, a free-to-play mobile title from developer Niantic in collaboration with The Pokémon Company, was released on July 5th in Australia and New Zealand and a day later in the US. It launched in Japan on Friday.

The game has also sat comfortable in Apple‘s top free and top grossing charts in the App Store, beating out mainstays like Game of War, Candy Crush Saga, Facebook Messenger, and Snapchat. 

Microsoft Edge takes on Chrome, Opera and Firefox with claims of 53% Longer Battery Life

Microsoft has unveiled experiments to show that a PC running Microsoft Edge lasts 70% longer than Chrome, 43% longer than Firefox Firefox, and 17% longer than Opera (with Battery Saver enabled).

In a new blog post, the Platform team director Jason Weber explained how Edge can help save your computer or tablet battery.

We designed Microsoft Edge from the ground up to prioritize power efficiency and deliver more battery life, without any special battery saving mode or changes to the default settings… Our testing and data show that you can simply browse longer with Microsoft Edge than with Chrome, Firefox, or Opera on Windows 10 devices.

They also made a video showing where  they performed three separate tests and Microsoft compared Edge with the other three leading internet browsers: Chrome, Firefox and Opera. One of tests they carried out was a time-lapse videos of all four browsers performing the same tasks at once.

Bell Buys MTS for In $3.9B Deal

 BCE Inc. has signed a friendly deal valued at $3.9 billion to buy Manitoba Telecom Services Inc.

The agreement will add Manitoba's largest phone, Internet and wireless company to a Montreal-based telecommunication business that stretches across Canada.

"Bell and MTS have a shared legacy of service and innovation that spans more than a century,'' BCE president and CEO George Cope said in a statement.

"We are honoured to join with the MTS team in this all-Canadian transaction to deliver the benefits of new infrastructure investment, technology development and the best of broadband communications to Manitobans."

The acquisition will add 2,700 employees from Manitoba Telecom to BCE's Bell phone business. Bell's western operation will nearly double to 6,900 people as a result and operate as Bell MTS, headquartered in Winnipeg.

CP

Simply Awkward! BlackBerry Got Busted Tweeting From An Apple iPhone

Someone with control over the official BlackBerry Twitter account sent out the tweet  from an iPhone. This is actually the second time BlackBerry has run into a major public relations problem as the result of a tweet from an iPhone. In 2013, BlackBerry "global creative director" Alicia Keys was also busted tweeting from an iPhone. The singer later blamed hackers for the tweet.

HitchBOT takes robot road trip to Germany

Hitchbot and co-creators Frauke Zeller and David Smith. Chad Hipolito/CP

Torstar News Service
HitchBOT is headed for the Autobahn. The Canadian-made hitchhiking robot that talked and tweeted its way from Halifax to Victoria last summer — that talked and tweeted its way in the Rockies and being bestowed with an honorary name at a powwow on Manitoulin Island — is gearing up for its next quest: thumbing its way around Germany.

The robot’s designers are hoping it will receive a comparably warm welcome on its first foreign foray, after it won the adoration of hundreds on its maiden trek across Canada.

“I think being helpful to something that needs help is something that is innate to everybody,” said Frauke Zeller, the Ryerson University professor and hitchBOT co-creator, who is also from Germany.

Busted! Custom officials catch chinese man wearing suit made of iPhones

Chinese custom officials arrested a man who tried to smuggle 94 iPhones from Hong Kong into China today Jan. 13th. According to Chinese People Daily, officials decided to search the man after they got a tip-off that there was something amiss when they noticed he was walking strangely. They first searched his bag and when they found nothing, they searched his body where they found the 94 phones strapped to his body.

The man whose identity was hidden, was bringing in the phones from Hong Kong where it's cheaper to buy to sell in China where tax on the devices have made it very expensive for consumers.

Canada's biggest tech trend in 2015: Paying with phone

Photo shows the app that links to shopping on Amazon.com on the new Amazon Fire Phone, in Seattle. Getty

Linda Nguyen The Canadian PressMore Canadians will be reaching for their cellphones instead of their wallets to pay for purchases this year, predicts a report by global professional services firm Deloitte.

The report, released Tuesday, sees 2015 as a “tipping point” for retailers, banks and telecom companies to adopt the technology, which allows consumers to make relatively small payments within seconds with their smartphones.

Duncan Stewart, a director at Deloitte Canada, said there now are more phone models with the technology, called near field communication, and more retail locations that can accept the payments.

The familiarity Canadians already have with using credit cards to tap and pay, whether in a coffee shop or at the drugstore, will make it easier for consumers to transition to using the same technology with their smartphone.

Canadians To Start Receiving Copyright Infringement Notices For Online Downloads

Canadian ISPs are now required to forward copyright violation notices to customers. FOTOLIA

Patrick O'Rourke Canada.com
The final part of the Canadian federal Copyright Modernization Act went into effect on Jan. 1, requiring internet service providers (ISPs) and website hosts to relay letters from copyright holders to customers associated with a specific Internet Protocol (IP) address, when an illegal copyright infringing download has occurred.

While these notices don’t carry immediate legal ramifications, they serve as a warning that the copyright holder is aware of your IP address’ downloading activity and could potentially take legal action.

Previously ISPs were able to decide if they wanted to inform their customers a copyright holder is aware of their illegal downloading. Internet service providers like Bell and Rogers have been periodically sending out these notifications for the last few years, but as of Jan. 1, doing so is now a legal requirement in Canada.

Survey shows majority Canadians are willingly give up mobile privacy for free app

Victor Ferreira | The Right Click –

A recent Symantec survey shows that a majority of Canadians often worry about their mobile privacy, but have no problem trading it in for a free smartphone app.

James Nguyen, a Symantec mobile security expert warns Android users to think twice before they download free apps from Google Play because while they may not be paying with their bank accounts, they could be offering up personal information in exchange, instead.

"There are a lot of free apps out there and they rarely come without a cost," Nguyen said. "Your personal data is used as a sense of currency. It's a trade off."

The survey results show that 54 per cent of Canadians are willing to make that trade.

When Android apps are downloaded, users are immediately prompted with a message alerting them of what information the app requires in order to be installed. Some apps require access to features like a user's contacts and emails for synching purposes, but others require access to features like health and fitness data, camera, photos, and text messages.

CDC monitoring tech for possible Ebola exposure

A laboratory technician at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was being monitored Wednesday for possible accidental exposure to the Ebola virus that came during an experiment, officials said.

The person working in a secure laboratory in Atlanta may have come into contact with a small amount of a live virus, CDC spokeswoman Barbara Reynolds said in an emailed statement. The experimental material was on a sealed plate, but wasn’t supposed to be moved into the lab in which the technician was working, Reynolds said. The worker will be monitored for 21 days and the person’s name hasn’t been released.

News of the technician’s possible exposure to Ebola comes days after CDC Director Tom Frieden returned from West Africa, where an outbreak of the virus has killed thousands. Frieden said Monday that response to the outbreak has improved significantly in recent months, but the virus continues to spread in Monrovia, Liberia and Conakry, Guinea.

Additional employees have been notified, but none has required monitoring, Reynolds said. Other staff will be assessed for exposure.

There is no risk to the public and lab scientists notified CDC officials of what happened on Tuesday, Reynolds said. The lab has been decontaminated twice, and the material in question was destroyed before CDC officials became aware of the mistake.

In this Oct. 6, 2014, file photo, licensed clinician Hala Fawal practices drawing blood from a patient using a dummy in Anniston, Ala. Brynn Anderson/AP

 Phillip Lucas The Associated PressThe possible exposure is under internal investigation and has been reported to Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell, Reynolds said. Additional employees have been notified, but none has required monitoring.

Transfers from the lab the experiment material came from have been stopped during the internal review, and the lab the exposure may have happened in is closed, Reynolds said.

The technician’s potential exposure is at least the second to prompt a precautionary response from the agency in six months.

In June, at least 52 workers at the CDC took antibiotics as a precaution because a lab safety problem was thought to have exposed them to anthrax.

Manitoba | MTS landline outages fixed

The MTS building in downtown Winnipeg is seen on Tuesday Nov. 29, 2005. Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. is responding to the impending loss of revenues from Rogers Communications and AT&T Corp. by cutting 750 to 800 jobs by mid-2006. (CP PHOTO/Wininpeg Free Press - Joe Bryksa)

Metro
Wireless and wireline customers of MTS left without a dial tone Monday are back on the grid, according to the company.

In statement issued just before 10 p.m. Monday  MTS said all wireless and wireline services have been restored.

Some MTS customers found themselves without phone service, and non-MTS customers were told they might have trouble reaching 911 because of widespread problems with the company’s network earlier in the day Monday.

Dope! BMW developing a car that can be parked via smartwatch

R,Santus | Mashable
BMW is developing a remote-control valet parking system for cars that can be operated by a smartwatch.

The sensor-filled BMW i3 car, which will be on display at the 2015 International CES in Las Vegas in January, integrates with smartwatch and can essentially self-park. According to the company, a driver could activate the "Remote Valet Parking Assistant" via an app, which then guides the vehicle to a parking spot all by itself.

The car works with the help of laser sensors that scan the surrounding environment so it can move without running into anything. It will work in tandem with a digital site plan, so the car has a map of the environment, too.

Life Made Easy! Klinic, Manitoba government launches app that helps users cope with stress

The ‘Calm in the Storm’ app promotes resiliency, said Tim Wall of Klinic Community Health Centre. Bernice Pontanilla/Metro 

Bernice Pontanilla Metro
Preventing stress is the goal of a new smartphone app developed in Manitoba just in time for the end-of-year holidays.

Named ‘Calm in the Storm,’ the free mobile app aims to help people cope with stress and prevent suicides, said Nicole Chammartin, executive director of Klinic Community Health Centre.

Tim Wall, Klinic’s director of counseling, said neglecting stress management “can lead to painful and sometimes tragic consequences.

“Using proven de-stressing practices such as those in the new app can improve health, happiness, and promote resiliency each and every day,” added Wall in a press release.

Joy Of Motherhood! World First Mother To Daughter Womb Tranplant

World first as mother's womb is transplanted to daughter so she can give birth, Greatest gift a mum can give to her daughter. Two women have given birth using wombs donated by their own mothers. The pair become the first ever to have children using the very womb that brought them into the world a generation earlier. The breakthrough brings hope to women who want children but were born without a womb or have had it removed.

 

 

The two mothers are among nine women to have been given womb transplants – seven of which have succeeded.

Winnipeg Welcomes Electric Buses On Transit fleet

 Minister of Jobs and Industry Kevin Chief was all smiles behind the wheel of a new battery-electric bus that will join Winnipeg Transit’s fleet Friday. Shane Gibson/Metro

Shane Gibson Metro
Winnipeg Transit is charging ahead with a plan to test drive new electric buses that could eventually see the city’s entire fleet switched over to the emerging technology.

The first of four battery-electric buses will begin regular service on a route to and from the airport Friday, part of a four-year test run for New Flyer Industries, who developed the zero-emission buses with help from partners including Manitoba Hydro and Red River College.

“The innovation that this project brings offers tremendous promise to us as a public transit provider and to the entire transit industry,” said Winnipeg Transit director, Dave Wardrop, who told reporters if the pilot goes well the technology may very well replace Transit’s diesel fleet. “We view this as the real future, the real trend.”

Nick Cannon Fails Lie Detector Test after Being Asked If He Smashing Amber Rose

Excessive Use Of Mobile Phones Linked With Brain Cancer

 Ridofranz via Getty Images

By Rebecca Zamon | HuffPost
A new study out of Sweden indicates that talking on cellphones and even cordless phones can be related to a certain form of brain cancer.

The study, published in the journal Pathophysiology in October, analyzed the results of 1,498 cases of people with malignant brain tumours and 3,530 controls to determine whether phone use had any effect on their cancer.

In their findings, it appeared that the longer a person used a cell or cordless phone, the more likely they were to get become gliomas, a type of tumour found in the brain or spinal cord that is malignant in 80 per cent of cases, according to WebMD.

“The risk is three times higher after 25 years of use. We can see this clearly,” the study's lead researcher, Dr. Lennart Hardell, told Reuters.

Those who had only been using a cell or cordless phone for less than a year were at the least amount of risk, while those who used their phone on the same side of the body (or "ipsilaterally") for many years had the highest odds for brain cancer.