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Apple is extending its two-step verification option for Apple IDs to a wider range of countries, users say. When the feature first launched in late March, it was restricted to the US, UK, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. Now though people in Canada, Argentina, and Pakistan are reporting getting the feature, and other countries may be following suit.
Amazon has dropped the price for some of its Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite e-readers in Canada. The standard Kindle has dropped from $89 to $79, while the Paperwhite version, with its lighter screen and built-in light, sells for $129 instead of $139. The 3G-enabled version of the Kindle Paperwhite remains at $199.
The BlackBerry Q10 will be going on sale in Canada on May 1. The BlackBerry OS 10 device with a QWERTY keyboard will reach its home country on the main three networks ahead of the US, somewhere that BlackBerry has yet to announce a release date for, with pre-orders starting up for a majority of carriers.
Rogers is expanding the reach of its LTE coverage in Canada to include an extra 44 markets over the next few months, increasing the proportion of the Canadian population covered by LTE to beyond the 60-percent hit last year. The expansion will also see 34 of the 44 new markets become capable of maximum theoretical network speeds of 150Mbps, using the carrier's 2600MHz spectrum band.
Shipping times for the iMac have been upgraded to "within 24 hours" at Apple's US and Canadian online stores. This includes 27-inch models, which have often been slower to arrive than their 21.5-inch counterparts. Late last week, delays for both models improved from weeks to between 1 and 3 business days.
Three men used bear spray while robbing the Oakridge Centre Apple Store in Vancouver Monday night, the CBC reports. Unusually the crime occurred around 7PM, toward the end of store hours, instead of overnight as with most Apple Store robberies. About 40 shoppers are said to have been in the shop at the time; the thieves shot the bear spray into the air, ultimately forcing five people to be treated for exposure.
HTC is offering potential customers a $100 incentive to buy the newly-launched HTC One in Canada. A page on the company's Canadian site allows users to preregister for the smartphone, and then after buying the HTC One, can send their old handset and proof of purchase for the new device to HTC. Successful participants will receive a prepaid Visa card loaded with either $100 or the trade-in value of the old phone, whichever is greater.
The Canadian government IT department has warned its workers that the BlackBerry PIN-to-PIN service is unsafe. According to a presentation by Public Safety Canada, messages sent with the service are "the most vulnerable method of communicating on a BlackBerry" making it "not suitable for exchanging sensitive messages." The newly-updated memo, first crafted in 2011, states that “although PIN-to-PIN messages are encrypted, they key used is a global cryptographic ‘key’ that is common to every BlackBerry device all over the world,” and “any BlackBerry device can potentially decrypt all PIN-to-PIN messages sent by any other BlackBerry device.”
The iPad mini is now officially "in stock" at Apple's online store in many countries. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, and the US have all made the change. Some notable exceptions include places like the UK, Germany, and France, where the tablet is listed as shipping in one to three business days.
Amazon has launched its lauded subscription-based Prime delivery service in Canada. The all-you-can-eat delivery service offers users free two-day delivery across the country, though it offers a more stripped-down version of the retailer's own offering in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Facebook has updated the iOS and Android versions of its Messenger app with support for voice messages. Holding down a button starts the recording process. Using a slide gesture cancels a message, while letting go sends it.
Apple's 12 Days of Christmas app, available only in Canada, Mexico, the UK, Australia and New Zealand and parts of Europe, added to its list of gifts with a free HD episode of the critically-acclaimed BBC Drama Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. The episode in question, "A Study in Pink," is loosely based on the classic novel "A Study in Scarlet" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It originally aired as one of three episodes in the show's first series.
Amazon has set-up a dedicated e-book store in Canada, two and a half years after the company's first international e-book shop was opened in the UK. The addition of the Kindle Books store to the localized version of the website brings with it titles in the local currency, as well as recommendations for local writers.
[Updated after official announcement] Rumors that Nintendo will be releasing a smaller version of the Wii have been confirmed, after an image and release date for the Wii Mini mistakenly appeared on Best Buy Canada's website before any official announcement. Shortly after, Nintendo confirmed the console's existence as a Canada-exclusive device, with its size being not the only change to the popular game system.
Two more of Canada's larger mobile-phone carriers will now offer unlocking of the iPhone -- for a substantive fee -- joining with the largest three carriers in the country. The iPhones in question will still need to be off-contract, but can be carrier-unlocked for use in other GSM countries -- particularly the US, China, Mexico and other countries frequently visited by Canadians. This leaves only Koodoo, Sasktel and MTS (mostly regional carriers) as still not offering unlocking.
Microsoft has opened a new store in Toronto, ON. The location at Yorkdale Shopping Center is now the first outside the United States to have a permanent location, which also happens to be the 31st non-temporary retail location launched by the company, aside from the 34 temporary stores opened in the US and Canada for the holiday season.
Wi-Fi models of the fourth-generation iPad are now listed as "in stock" at Apple's US and Canadian online stores, checks show. Before its November 2nd launch the hardware switched to a one-week delay, and more recently times were reduced to between 3 and 5 business days. The latest development suggests that Apple has caught up with demand, and that perhaps that public interest is relatively modest, due to the simultaneous introduction of the Mini and very few differences with the third-generation iPad, which was only released in March.
Rogers has expanded its LTE coverage in Canada by 18 new markets. Previously promised in July, the expansion sees the carrier's LTE network grow enough to cover 60-percent of the Canadian population, only months into its second year of deployment in the country. This forms part of the company's $500 million plan for widespread LTE coverage by the end of the year.
Broadband caps in Canada are too low and too costly, according to a Netflix executive. Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos called out the Canadian Internet service providers at the Merrill Lynch Media, Communications and Entertainment conference earlier this week, echoing other bandwidth-related comments against the country's ISPs earlier this year.
Apple is opening three new retail stores this weekend. Among these is a second for Canada's capital, Ottawa. The Bayshore Shopping Centre outlet will open at 9AM on Saturday, unusually early for Apple outside of product launches. The shop should give the company better access to Ottawa's affluent west end.
Google is streaming the 2012 London Summer Paralympic Games live on YouTube. Over 500 hours of live competitions accompanied by real-time commenting will be available to viewers in the US and Canada through the ParalympicSportsTV channel, in lieu of sufficient viewing options through other broadcasters.
In-flight Wi-Fi provider Gogo has been given approval to offer its service in Canada. Industry Canada has issued a subordinate license to the company, allowing it to serve flights using its air-to-ground radio-based technology. Both internal flights and those crossing the border into the US will get access.
Apple will be offering one new store opening and one re-opening this weekend, with a store opening its doors for the first time in Cologne, Germany on Saturday September 1 and the Bellevue, Washington store hosting a grand re-opening party. In addition, construction is underway on a second Apple retail store for Hong Kong and a larger refurbishment for the store in New York's Walt Whitman mall. There's also information on stores in Montreal, Canada, and a change in Sweden.
Spotify is set to expand its streaming service to Canada, along with plans to open up in Asia and South America. Recently published annual accounts found by the Wall Street Journal included a management report dated April 23, detailing that the expansion into the Canadian market was always planned while hinting at moves in other continents, although not mentioning which specific countries.
(Updated with additional countries) Movie support has been added to iTunes in the Cloud in three more regions. The UK, Canada, and Columbia now have access to the feature, which ensures that movies bought on one device are automatically available for download elsewhere. Previously the countries could only use the option for music, apps, books, and music videos.
The Supreme Court of Canada issued a sweeping set of rulings in the five copyright cases it heard last December, including a case covering iTunes store song sample length. The court has affirmed that "fair dealing" ("fair use" in the US) must be interpreted on the side of the user, and not on the side of copyright holders, except in the case of extreme abuse of the fair dealing statute. In the same session, the court ruled that supplemental taxes applied on downloadable video games weren't a legal "communications" tariff.
Rogers is celebrating the first anniversary of its LTE deployment in Canada by expanding its coverage. After spending $2.2 billion in 2011 and 2012 on the network in general, the carrier will be putting close to $500 million towards its goal of covering the majority of the Canadian population with LTE access by the end of this year.
Samsung Canada has confirmed the expected July 20 launch of the Galaxy S III. The highly anticipated phone will be available through several carriers. The SGH-i747 (LTE) variant of the Galaxy S III will be available from Bell Mobility, Virgin Mobile, SaskTel, TELUS, and Rogers Wireless. The SGH-iT999 HSPA version will be available from Videotron, Wind, and Mobilicity. Specific pricing and pre-order details vary by carrier.
Apple is planning to build a new Canadian store in the city of Regina, Saskatchewan, ifoAppleStore reports. The outlet will be based in the Cornwall Centre shopping mall, and fill a substantial hole in Apple's Canadian coverage. While Regina is a comparatively small city, the store will fill in a 700-mile gap. To the west and east the closest stores are in entirely different provinces, which has so far left Saskatchewanians no choice but to shop online or at resellers.
Canada is leading the race to develop a fully integrated NFC smartphone payment system according to Reuters. While NFC systems have been set up in other countries for commuters, Japan and South Korea being examples, no country has yet been able to establish more comprehensive transaction system for wider use. Canada is said to have more mobile-ready contactless payment machines installed throughout the country per capita than any other country.
Apple's support for time and weather queries via Siri in Canada has been quietly improved, allowing users to get the correct response to a question like "what time is it" without having to mention location, which was previously required, reports iPhoneinCanada. The improved location ability also helps Siri answer questions about the weather in a more natural way, such as asking "what is the wind chill right now?"
The Canadian branch of Virgin Mobile is getting LTE "just in time for new iPad," March 16th, according to a leaked document. Coverage will extend across "14 urban centers," with peak downloads up to 75Mbps, although Virgin says speeds should average between 12 and 25Mbps. An LTE microSIM will be included for free alongside any Flexi-Data Plan, which range from $5 a month for 10MB up to $35 a month for 5GB. People paying an extra $5 get a Mobile TV package which doesn't count against data caps.
Apple is hiring for staff at a forthcoming Apple store at Masonville Place in London, Ontario. An internal document meant for mall employees reveals that the location, near a Gap store in a spot formerly leased by Eddie Bauer, will be "under construction until late June," indicating a late June or early July opening. The jobs are listed on both the Apple Canada site and the Masonville Place website, reports MobileSyrup.
Apple today announced the third-generation iPad at an event in San Francisco. The device's main feature is a 2048x1536 Retina Display, twice the resolution of the iPad 2, rated at 264 pixels per inch; existing apps will be upscaled automatically. Color saturation is said to be 44 percent higher. The tablet also makes the switch to a new dual-core but quad graphics processor, the A5X, which Apple says is built with the Retina Display in mind. Interface-wise the tablet has been improved with features like voice dictation.
Apple is taking steps toward new stores in Portland, Oregon and the Vancouver area in Canada. In Portland, architects working for Apple are said to have submitted plans for a Yamhill Street outlet, between 4th and 5th Avenues at the Pioneer Place shopping center. It would replace the current Pioneer Place shop, located in the basement of the same building. The city of Portland is now taking public comments on the proposed construction.
Samsung has quietly confirmed that its Galaxy Note handset will arrive in Canada sometime in the middle of February. The company's Canadian website includes a sign-up page for launch notifications, with a reference to mid-February availability, however exact plans for specific carriers remain unclear.
Canada may get as many as four new Apple stores in 2012, but if reports from Nova Scotia are true, however, one store may go against Apple's trend of placing stores in the highest population centers and will instead land in Halifax, the provincial capital but home to only 400,000 people. The rumor, which has circulated in various forms for years, is recently supported by unusual renovations and unusual secrecy from the main mall in town, iPhoneinCanada claims.
Canadian cellular carrier Rogers and its subsidiary, Fido, are reportedly preparing to launch Samsung's Galaxy Nexus handset next week. The company has yet to formally announce its launch plans, however a leaked screenshot posted on Mobile Syrup suggests the device is slated to arrive on Tuesday.
Plans are in motion to build a new Apple Store in the Canadian city of London, Ontario, a report notes. City records detailing a $3 million construction project at the Masonville Place mall include an Apple logo. ifoAppleStore real estate sources meanwhile specifically say that Apple will move into an upper-level space, one being vacated by Eddie Bauer this week because of an earlier bankruptcy filing.
Apple is engaging in a rare Boxing Week sale on the iTunes Store. Boxing Day takes place on December 26th in Australia, Canada, the UK, and New Zealand. The Boxing Week promotion is already active, however, if only in Canada.
Canadian wireless carrier Globalive, which is better known by its subsidiary brand Wind Mobile, is reportedly in talks to acquire competing carrier Mobilicity. An unnamed person familiar with the negotiations told Bloomberg that Globalive is attempting to build its presence in the Canadian market to compete with dominant carriers Bell, Rogers and Telus.
Following a botched rollout on Wednesday, Apple has today officially expanded iTunes Match to Canada and the UK. In Canada the service costs $28 a year, while in the UK annual pricing is set at £22. Unlike regular iCloud options, iTunes Match allows a person to mirror and remotely access their entire music library, regardless of whether the content is on iTunes.
Apple appears to be quietly rolling out iTunes Match to a number of countries this evening, judging from reports of users who now see the option to sign up available under their iTunes account information pages. Pricing for the service has been revealed to be $28 in Canada, £22 (approximately $34) in Great Britain, and €25 (approximately $32.50) in Europe and equivalently-priced elsewhere.
Although Toshiba has yet to announce US launch plans for its Excite tablet, the company has confirmed that it will be arriving in Canada early in 2012. The 10.1 inch tablet, which was first officially unveiled earlier this year at the IFA expo, will serve as the successor to the company's Thrive tablet, bringing a wide range of improvements.
Starting slightly earlier this year than normal, Apple has released its 12 Days of Christmas companion app for its upcoming promotion in the UK and other parts of Europe, along with Canada. The promotional period, which runs from December 26th to the 6th of January, offers a free "gift" from the iTunes Store every 24 hours -- usually a song, app, movie rental or e-book.
Global iPlayer will make it to the iPhone and iPod touch on December 8th, the BBC has announced. The paid video-on-demand service has been available on the iPad for about five months. A list of countries getting the iPhone app on the 8th includes Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
The BBC has expanded its Global iPlayer service for the iPad to Canada, says The Hollywood Reporter. Users can access BBC TV shows on demand, something normally reserved for UK license fee payers, who can tap various forms of iPlayer for free. In Canada iPlayer access costs $9 a month, or $85 a year. Content is based on local demand and rights, but some initial shows include Blackadder, Fawlty Towers, Whitechapel, Hustle and MI-5.
Apple is currently offering free shipping at its online store, at least in some countries, checks show. At the US storefront, shoppers are now promised "free shipping on everything" until December 22nd. The promotion is scaled back in places like Canada and the UK, where free shipping applies today only. At the Australian store, shoppers are only being given free gift wrapping for iPods and iPads until December 25th.
Apple is planning to open another Vancouver, Canada outlet by the end of 2012, sources identified as "real estate insiders" claim. The company is expected to move into 750 Burrard Street, currently home to an HMV megastore scheduled to close down in January. Once HMV is gone Apple's plans reportedly involve renovating 16,000 square feet spread across two floors.
Canadian bank TD Canada Trust will be offering its credit card customers an unusual TD Rewards special on Black Friday: a chance to buy a brand-new 16GB (Wi-Fi) iPad 2 for $299, a savings of $220 from the normal Canadian retail price of $519. The iPad is one of two "red hot deals," signalling a drawing requirement to "win" the opportunity to buy one at that price.
