Posts Categorized: Consumer Technology

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 »

Helping children overcome their mobility challenges, Trexo Robotics gets a Y Combinator boost

Posted by & filed under Consumer Technology, robotics.

Manmeet Maggu and Rahul Udasi didn’t know it when they met at the University of Waterloo  eleven years ago, but the bond that the two forged in late night study sessions as roommates in the UW Place dorm has helped power their work building an exoskeleton that allows children with disabilities to walk. The fruit of that… Read more »

Will self-driving cars be a boon or bane for people with vision impairment?

Posted by & filed under Consumer Technology, self driving cars, Self driving vehicles, System development.

Debbie Ryan of St. John’s hasn’t had a driver’s licence in 25 years, since her eyesight deteriorated. Now the new technology of autonomous or self-driving cars is promising Ryan and those like her the chance at being more independent and self-reliant. “I think it’s very exciting, having the ability to get in a vehicle and… Read more »

The gadgets of the future know everything wrong with you right now

Posted by & filed under Consumer Technology.

After three hours wandering through endless aisles of gadgets at CES, the world’s largest consumer technology conference, the products start to blend together. Was this automated cat litter cleaner the same one we saw 20 minutes ago? How many internet-connected locks can the world possibly need? But somewhere between hour four and five, something strange happens…. Read more »

Bitcoin mining could cancel out climate change efforts, scientists say

Posted by & filed under bitcoin, Consumer Technology, Crypto currency, Data center.

The Hut 8 bitcoin mine in Medicine Hat, Alta., uses as much electricity on a typical day as the entire city of 60,000, and most of the electricity is produced by fossil fuels. Source: CBC News Date: November 2nd, 2018 Link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/bitcoin-mining-climate-change-1.4883647 Discussion 1) Do you understand what “bitcoin mining” is?  If not, I have an article here:  https://missoulacurrent.com/opinion/2018/03/firth-bitcoin-investment/… Read more »

Lyft Will Pay You to Ditch Your Car. Will It Work?

Posted by & filed under Consumer Technology, Emerging Technologies, Ethical Issues.

WHAT WOULD IT take for you to give up your car? An all-access pass to a bicycle, maybe, plus some safe lanes to ride in? A smartphone, stocked with apps for cheap ride-hail services? A competent public transit system? A chauffeur, willing to drive you around instead? Lyft, the transportation service provider that has always said its… Read more »

University of Toronto researchers developing tool to jam facial recognition software

Posted by & filed under Artificial intelligence, Biometrics, Civil Liberties, Consumer Technology, Ethical Issues, FaceBook, Instagram.

While your selfie might get lots of “likes” on social media, companies and perhaps even fraudsters may like your face even more — because they can profit from it. But a University of Toronto researcher has found a way for internet users to opt out by very slightly distorting images, and he’s working on an app that will help them do just… Read more »

What to Do With Your Old Laptop

Posted by & filed under Consumer Technology, Sustainability.

If you’ve got an old laptop collecting dust in your home, you’re not alone. In a survey conducted last spring by the Consumer Reports Survey Group, a quarter of the members who had purchased multiple laptops since 2014 confessed to letting one of those devices linger under the roof—unused—after it had been replaced. And that… Read more »