While news headlines may make it seem as if the world is dominated by smartphones like the BlackBerry, Android-powered handsets, or Apple iPhone, the reality is that most of the world's population is still buying and using simple handsets made by Nokia, Samsung, and LG, the kind of phones that don't require a data plan. They aren't very sexy and don't include new features to grab the spotlight, but that's where most of society sits when it comes to what they can use on a daily basis. 

Today market research firm IDC has released a report on the first quarter of this year and it reveals the first glimmer that the scale is starting to tip between traditional phones and smartphones as BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion has now entered the ranks of the top five companies in the world. Nokia, Samsung, and LG hold the top three spots respectively, while [More]

It’s rare that I manage to break the gadget I’m reviewing. Growing up in my father’s machine shop I was taught early on the value of respecting one’s tools and that’s an attitude I carried over to my computers and gadgets, but once I took on the role of a reviewer I learned the value of tackling new products in the same way that most consumers do; simply ripping open the packaging, tossing aside the manual, and trying to figure out its use by tapping, twisting, and pushing buttons. It’s a process I’ve dubbed the “Monkey Test” and if a product can’t survive it, it doesn’t have much of a chance on the mass market. [More]

Here we have a brand new model of an old-fashioned, old school concept Tablet PC. From 2001 until recently, convertible laptops like the Portégé M780 were the definition of a tablet computer, but the arrival of the iPad and similar devices this year have changed that forever. There’s the old tablet and the new tablet and the two are entirely different. Why Toshiba has chosen to use the old style for a new product I’m not entirely sure, but it gives me the perfect chance to pay a visit to the past before the iPad arrives in Canada and takes our focus forward. [More]

What if you could change the world with a drawing? Just imagine it differently, how would it look? In this inventive Flickr series by artist Ben Heine called Pencil Vs. Camera! we're given his view of exactly what that might look like.  [More]

Imagine you're standing on a rooftop, looking down on the people in the street below. What if you could simply point out someone from the crowd and have them play the musical instrument of your choice? With enough people selected you could spontaneously create a little symphony. That's the concept behind the Sounds of Hamburg which gives you a view of life in the city through a collection of live webcams. Simply click on the traffic you see within each webcam and you can assign musical parts to people obliviously going about their day, then sit back and listen to the music generated. Once webcam will let you play with pedestrians, the other automotive traffic, while the third, and my favourite, uses the movements of fish inside the Hagenbeck tropical aquarium.  [More]

Kids, families, and gamers both pro and casual are invited to form their own Rock Band teams and participate in Toronto’s Top Rock Stars, a charity competition taking place at FundaySunday in November. Raising funds to support the exceptional work at the Sunnybrook Health Foundation and Canadian Hadassah-WIZO, bands can register themselves online and collect sponsors to help them in their cause. To show just how easy it is, CTV, Flow 93.5, Today’s Parent Magazine, and the Toronto Star gathered this past Tuesday at the Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto for a very public competition. One by one each band took to the stage and played badly, sang horribly, gyrated and danced comically, but thanks to our inventive, fun costumes looked incredibly cool, a good thing considering the number of cameras snapping away (ohh those cameraphones!).

Michelle, Richard, Kris, and Bill unleash their rock powers 

A Canadian Idol-style panel of judges had the unenviable task of sitting front row [More]

Amazon is planning to release a special software update that will add new features to existing Kindle devices. Starting today a "limited group" of users will have their Kindle devices updates to Firmware 2.5 while the rest will have to wait for an official release in May. Those selected merely have to have their Kindles turned on with the built-in wireless activated, the system will automatically download and apply the new changes.

The new features are significant and [More]

Standing before the bookcase next to the tinted windows, it's easy to see how well it worked in guarding the secret living quarters of Anne and her family within the attic above. The Secret Annex Online is a fascinating exhibit crafted for the 50th anniversary of the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam. Using 3D models of the home, the tour allows you to walk through the house, slip past the secret bookcase and enter the different rooms that made up the family's living area. Not only do you get a sense of the space itself, but the computer models perfectly capture the way the areas were furnished and lit as well as the sounds and voices they would have heard. Standing in Anne's room you can look around and take in the photos and pictures she placed on the walls to cheer herself up. Creating a 3D model of their home could have been a crude gimmick, but the museum has perfectly used technology here to create a virtual experience that is insightful.  [More]

After dropping details on their first new handsets for 2010, Research In Motion released this video teaser for BlackBerry OS 6, a new version of the software that runs their smartphones due out later this year. As you can see, it's all about touch and without a new phone to showcase those controls on (hopefully it won't simply be a Storm 3) RIM has brought in the Black Eyed Peas to help out with a little Boom Boom Pow. The dancing, swirling, and hip-popping is all designed to help emphasize the sense of flow the new system delivers, to showcase how easy it is to move from one app or screen to the next. Personally, it's like having someone dance in front of your television while you're trying to watch a program. If you're as confused as I was at first, here's some points on what you can expect when it launches later this year. 

When it comes to their mapping services Google has divided their features between the web with Google Maps and your computer with Google Earth. This week they've announced that, thanks to more powerful changes to today's web browsers they can now transfer some of the more sophisticated features from Google Earth to Google Maps through a new mode called Earth View. It requires you to download and install a plug-in, but once in place you can view 3D buildings, angled views of the planet, smoothing and planning, and access a selection of hot spots around the world to visit in 3D such as the Taj Mahal, Disney World, the Acropolis, CN Tower, and even the wreck of the Titanic. While 3D content has been available before, this is Google saying that their experimental phase is over and they're confident to jump straight into 3D.  [More]