Posts By: David Firth

Daimler pulls the plug on electric smart car sales in US, Canada

Posted by & filed under Electric vehicle.

Daimler is ending sales of its diminutive all-electric smart fortwo cars in the U.S. and Canada, officially pulling the plug on a vehicle that has struggled to gain ground in North America as the German automaker prepares to bring the brand to China. Source: Tech Crunch Date: May 3rd, 2019 Link: https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/29/daimler-pulls-the-plug-on-electric-smart-car-sales-in-u-s-canada/ Discussion Why do you think the… Read more »

Weakness in wireless business weighs on Rogers’ results

Posted by & filed under business models, Consumer Technology.

Rogers reported 23,000 net wireless contract additions in the period ended March 31. That’s versus the consensus forecast of analysts for more than 60,000 and well off the 95,000 new post-paid customers in the year earlier first quarter. The Toronto-based wireless, cable, internet and media company also missed analysts’ forecasts for new subscribers in its… Read more »

CATCH THE BUZZ – A NEW APP LISTENS TO THE PROBLEMS OF BEES. MATCHING HONEY BEE NOISES TO THEIR AILMENTS.

Posted by & filed under app, App Economy, Artificial intelligence.

YOU might expect to hear an angry buzzing when honeybees have been disturbed. But some apiarists reckon they can also deduce the condition of their bees from the sounds they make. A steady hum could be the sign of a contented hive; a change in tone might indicate that the bees are about to swarm…. Read more »

Apple’s iPhone sales fall 17% from prior year

Posted by & filed under Uncategorized.

At one time, the staggering success of the iPhone helped catapult Apple to become the world’s most valuable company. Now, its lackluster smartphone sales are dragging down Apple’s business.Apple (AAPL) said Tuesday that its revenue for the first three months of 2019 declined 5% from the year prior to $58 billion as it grappled with sluggish smartphone… Read more »

Facebook broke Canadian Privacy Law

Posted by & filed under FaceBook, Privacy.

The latest damning assessment of Facebook’s trampling of user privacy comes from the Canada and British Columbia privacy commissioners — which have just published the results of an investigation kicked off in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data misuse scandal last year. They found the social network company committed serious contraventions of local laws and failed generally to… Read more »

Uber aims for $90bn stock market debut

Posted by & filed under PayPal, Uber.

Uber has revealed that it is seeking a valuation of $90bn (£70bn) in its much anticipated stock market flotation. The taxi-app firm has said that its shares will be priced at between $44 and $50 each, with the share issue set to raise about $10bn. As part of the offer it will sell $500m worth of… Read more »

PM announces $52M for ‘innovation network’ between Waterloo, Toronto and Ottawa

Posted by & filed under IT and Politics, IT Infrastructure, IT Trends.

The federal government is investing $52.4 million in an innovation network that is expected to create 18,000 skilled jobs in Waterloo, Toronto and Ottawa. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the funding for the new “Scale-up Platform” program for tech companies at the Communitech technology hub in Kitchener, Ont., on Tuesday. The federal government says the platform will be the… Read more »

Will AI kill developing world growth?

Posted by & filed under Artificial intelligence, Careers.

I am becoming increasingly concerned that AI will, in fact, block the traditional growth path by replacing low-wage jobs with robots. As Kai-Fu Lee, a Beijing-based venture capitalist who invests in artificial intelligence, tells us, AI is potentially the most revolutionary technology to emerge this century. It is also, along with the associated technologies of… Read more »