vancouver
Latest
Douglas Coupland's V-Pole unifies wireless connectivity and EV charging in an LED streetlight
It's still very much a concept, and not something being described as a business venture, but author / designer Douglas Coupland is hoping that his new "V-Pole" design will serve as something of a model for cities looking to build out their technology infrastructure. As you can see, it's a rather nondescript (albeit brightly-colored) pole on the outside, but Coupland sees the inside being packed with an array of the latest technology, including Alcatel-Lucent lightRadios for wireless connectivity (both WiFi and cellular), an LED street light on top, and connections to nearby wireless charging stations for electric vehicles. As for the "V" in the name, that stands for Coupland's home city of Vancouver, which he sees as a natural fit for the pole -- something the city's mayor apparently agrees with.
Vancouver City Council adopts iPads, saves 50K pages a year
The US city of Vancouver, Washington has seen its City Council adopt iPads this January in an experiment to test out the effectiveness of a paperless workflow. After two months, the touchscreen tablet is an early success as the Council has seen a 40 percent reduction in the number of printed pages it uses for meetings. It does more than just save paper, too. In a statement, the City Council describes how the iPad lets council members easily view documents stored on a local server. They can also visit websites mentioned during a meeting. Despite the high up-front cost of the iPad, it's saving the city money. Council leadership had been using BlackBerry devices for email and mobile document review, but the smartphone screens were too small for effective use. Vancouver was paying US$71 per month for each BlackBerry and is now paying $43 monthly for the iPad. Between printing and data costs, the city could save up to $500 per year by switching to the iPad.
Canadian customers get lumps of clay instead of iPads
Vancouver, B.C. resident Mark Sandhu bought a new iPad 2 for his wife for Christmas, but when she opened the box, she found a tablet of another kind: a big chunk of clay. Sandhu took his purchase back to Canadian retailer Future Shop and complained, but the store initially thought he was trying to run a scam on them. It's only after Sandhu contacted CTV, and after more cases of "clayPads" started showing up in Vancouver-area Future Shops and Best Buys, that Sandhu finally got compensation in the form of a full refund and a replacement iPad 2. This isn't the first time we've heard of a scam like this, unfortunately. Cases involving bricks or other items inserted into iPod boxes and then returned for full refunds have happened several times in the past, with unsuspecting retail clerks simply returning them to shelves and selling the iBricks to customers down the road. One particularly effective scam I saw when I worked retail security a few years back was when a scammer would buy both a 1 GB and 4 GB iPod nano, then return the 1 GB nano in the 4 GB box. The differences between the two units were too subtle for most returns desk clerks to notice, but the price gap was wide enough for scammers to turn a tidy profit this way. According to CTV, 10 fake clayPads have been found in the Vancouver area so far. If you live in Vancouver and are planning to buy an iPad from anywhere other than an Apple Store, we'd suggest you shoot an unboxing video when you first open your purchase; if you "win" the lottery and wind up with a clayPad instead of an iPad, at least the video should be proof enough that you're the scammed and not the scammer.
iPads replaced with clay, sold to unsuspecting Canadians
That fuzzy sensation we get when unboxing a new toy gadget is the fuel that keeps us going at Engadget. A feeling a few unlucky Canadian's were deprived of, after buying what they believed to be an iPad 2 actually turned out to be a slab of clay. In a calculated scam, crooks purchased real iPads, replaced them with terra-cotta tablets, then returned them to the store in re-sealed boxes. The fakes then found their way back on to the shelves, and into customer's baskets. It was Mark Sandhu who first reported the incident after gifting his wife something a little too slate-like on Christmas Eve. Initially Future Shop wouldn't refund Sandhu, possibly believing him to be the scammer; it was only after taking the story to CTV, and up to ten other cases coming to light -- including some from Best Buy -- that the retailer took the claim seriously. Future Shop has since issued a refund, and given Mark a real iPad 2 for his troubles. Next time, he might want to try an official retailer -- or not.
Microsoft motion controller concept kicks sand in Kinect's puny face
Think your body's a temple? Turns out it's actually just the antenna the temple's staff uses to watch football when they're done praying. A group of engineers from Microsoft Research showcased a technology at Vancouver's Conference on Human Factors in Computing that offers gesture-based control on a scale that could make the company's Kinect controller downright laughable. The team demonstrated how it could harness the human body's reception of electromagnetic noise to create gesture-based computer interaction that does away with the need for a camera -- though a receiver is worn on the body (the neck, in this case). The system uses the unique signals given off in different parts of the home to help measure the interaction, effectively turning one's walls into giant control pads, which can regulate things like lighting and the thermostat. Hopefully games, too, because we can't wait to play Pac-Man with our bedrooms.
Visualized: the HP Slate's new job
Wondering where your HP Slate has been all these weeks since you ordered it? Well, at least one of those precious Windows 7 tablets has taken a little detour from its supposedly enterprise-centric destiny to make a cameo appearance... as a dashboard infotainment system. HP, in its inimitable wisdom, has decided to grace the opening of its Vancouver store last month with a customized GMC Yukon Denali truck, which is where we find the company's Slate casually showing off its Acrobat Reader and other big boy OS advantages. We wouldn't really say embedding the Slate into your dash is the worst idea in the world, though the rest of the characterful customizations to this Denali just might be. [Thanks, lmwong]
Multiple Intel Core 2011 PCs spotted at Vancouver Future Shop, yes it's still the present
Ooh, what's this? A couple of desktops rocking Intel's latest and greatest, available for purchase perhaps a few days too early? Matthew T. spotted these machines at a Vancouver Future Shop, advertising Core i7 2600 and Core i5 2300 processors, which fall squarely in the Intel Core 2011 (née Sandy Bridge) family. Both come from Gateway and both offer all that core 2011 has to offer, which in the case of these desktops isn't too much since neither has a Blu-ray drive to take advantage of the new 3D HDMI 1.4 support and neither has much use for WiDi 2.0 wireless displays. But, don't let that stop you from being the first on your block to Core it up 2011 style. [Thanks, Matthew T.]
Optical illusion lets you safely run over fake children
Traffic: it's one of our least favorite things in the universe, especially when it's caused by rubbernecking. A Canadian organization called Preventable has taken a bizarrely proactive twist on the motorist's compulsion to stare at accidents by putting the "accident" in front of the car. Drivers on 22nd Street in West Vancouver approach a large decal on the road that takes on the image of a little girl chasing a ball -- it becomes realistic-looking about 100 feet out -- hopefully causing them to be so weirded out that they slow down and think about it for a second. Of course, it's hard to tell whether this will do more good than harm in practice (also see: Road SMS), so the decal is just in place for one week as officials observe changes in driver behavior around the little lady. Check out a test drive after the break.
Rogers' budget-friendly chatr brand launches in Canada
We knew it was coming, and now it's official: Rogers Wireless has today launched its entry-level "chatr" wireless brand for Canadians everywhere -- and by "everywhere," we mean Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa (Montreal is coming soon, as is possibly elsewhere). Two plans are available: $45 monthly for unlimited talk-and-text and $35 for unlimited talk and 50 free texts. As of now, the official website's showing four devices to choose from, available at full price only (no subsidizing). On the low end, relatively speaking, there's the Nokia 1661 candybar for $60, followed by the LG GB125R flip for $75, the Nokia 2680 portrait QWERTY slider for $95, and Samsung's Gravity landscape QWERTY slider sitting at the top of the chain for $130. Rogers -- whose name appears nowhere in Chatr's branding so far -- expects "hundreds" of chatr kiosks to be rolled out at Future Shops, Best Buys, Costcos, and other retail outlets. The brand will compete with other budget-conscious options from the likes of Wind Mobile and Mobilicity, but this one's got the advantage of Rogers' more established, wider-reaching network. According to The Globe and Mail and CBC News, Wind will be offering a whopping $150 credit for those who switch to its network from Rogers / chatr. Mobilicity's chairman John Bitove has a different strategy altogether, threatening to complain to the Competition Bureau that Rogers' possible goal here is to drive other discount phone brands out of business before dissolving chatr and leaving the market with only a higher-priced segment. And if you were wondering where Telus and Bell Mobility stand, well, both companies are reportedly expected to follow suit with entry-level brands of their own. Data plan-averse Canadians should have quite the selection from which to choose.
NHL 2K11 riding in an RV across the US this summer
Ah, the July 4th weekend. The perfect time for grilling hot dogs, setting off fireworks, jumping in the pool, and ... hockey? That's what 2K Games wants you to think about -- it's sending an NHL 2K11 recreational vehicle on the road this summer, giving you a chance to play the new game in a town near you. The RV started at E3 a few weeks ago in LA, and after a quick stop in Santa Monica next week, it's off to the wild roads of the United States and Canada (the full schedule is after the break). Ryan Kesler has a tour of the vehicle over on 2K's website, and it looks like a fine conveyance. For now, anyway. Sorry, Philly and New York -- after a couple of months on the road, that shower might not be quite so pristine.
Forever White Headset plays music to your ears while bleaching your teeth
This one took us a while to figure out, but here's the deal: you apply a hydrogen peroxide gel to your teeth, use the included cheek retractors (we're not kidding) to stretch out into a horrifying smile, and let the blue LEDs activate the gel's superpowers. To fill the one-hour treatment time with something other than thinking about where your vanity has led you, the kit also comes with "a real, high-quality MUSIC HEADSET" (aka headphones) that you can hook up to an MP3 player. The wholesale site even advertises "terrific high-profit margins," which we reckon might be the truest thing about this product.
Apple gives Vancouver Olympic visitors a rare treasure
For some fans of the Olympic Winter Games, it's all about the beauty and grace of figure skating. For others, it's the organized chaos of short-track speed skating, or the aerial bravado of the half-pipe. And for some, it has nothing to do with the sports of winter. Instead, they're intent on pin trading and collecting. While this may sound like an odd pastime, for some Olympic fans pin collecting is a huge deal. The official Vancouver 2010 website store lists 459 different pins for collecting and trading with others, but those aren't all of the pins that fans will find. Often, local businesses or organizations will make their own pins to give away or sell, and at these Winter Games, Apple joined in on the fun. TUAW reader Alan Waite was in Vancouver earlier in the week to attend the Games and visited the Apple Store at Pacific Centre. Much to his surprise, Apple was giving away a limited edition set of pins (see photo above) to store visitors to commemorate the event. Very classy, Apple! Waite noted that the Apple Store at Oakridge Centre had a special red iPod nano pin with the Canadian maple leaf on the screen. Custom pins like these aren't as common as the mass-market versions sold by the official Olympics website, so Alan not only has cool memorabilia from the 2010 Winter Games, but a relatively rare piece of swag as well.
Winter Olympics 2010: The iPhone experience
The Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics kicks off tonight at 7:30pm ET/PT. Here's a list of some ways you can enjoy this year's games on your iPhone. 2010Guide - Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games: The Official Mobile Spectator Guide [iTunes link] Free. This app is a location-aware schedule detailing more than 2,000 sport and cultural events taking place over 17 days between February 12 and 28, 2010. Updated throughout the Games, the schedule adjusts to your time zone and works even without a data connection. Plan your Olympic experience by creating a personalized itinerary using Favorites. The app also includes real-time results for every sport as well as headlines, photos and twitter streams. CTVOlympics.ca [iTunes link] Free. The official CTVOlympics.ca iPhone app. Covers up-to-the-minute headlines and news on every sport at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Stunning photo galleries with hundreds of spectacular photos, in-depth Canadian and International athlete profiles, venue information and the upcoming event schedule for the Games. It's everything you will need on the Games from Canada's official broadcasters: CTV, TSN, Rogers Sportsnet, RDS, V, RIS Info Sports, OLN, OMNI, APTN and ATN. More Games-related apps and downloads after the break.
The 2010 Winter Olympics kicks off tonight in HD
The wait is finally almost over and tonight at 7:30PM Eastern the Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics will kick off 14 days of Winter fun. There's a total of 835 hours of HD coverage spread across NBC Universal's various channels. With so many hours of HD coverage it really shows how far we've come since the first HD Olympics in Athens in 2004, when NBC broadcast one 24 hour Olympic HD channel with events were from the previous day, and only one commercial -- you know, the Sony "Chips and Salsa" commercial that was played ad nauseam. Our favorite way to keep up with the HD sports schedule is HDSportsGuide.com but we're also sure to check out as much of the coverage online at NBCOlympics.com as we can.
Poll: Best HD sporting event this month?
Yeah we know March has laid claim to the Madness title, but for such a short month the sports lineup for February is out of control. Kicking off with Winter X Games 14 this weekend and leading into the Super Bowl, Daytona 500 and Winter Olympics there's more than enough reasons for us to stay inside and out of the cold than ever. So which event are you most excited to see? %Poll-41022%
Dropped calls, begone: AT&T expands feds' Wireless Priority Service to Canada
American carriers have had Wireless Priority Service in place for several years now, giving government officials and first responders improved access to potentially overloaded networks in the event of an emergency or high-density gathering -- but historically, that service has been restricted to American soil. With the Winter Olympics coming right up in Vancouver, AT&T figured it'd have quite a few G-Men strolling north of the border, so it has worked with Rogers this month to roll out priority access for devices roaming in Canada that are already authorized for the service. In a nutshell, that means VIPs strolling around the luge circuit will be able to get through (and stay through) if the crush of humanity gets too much for the poor, overworked cells to handle. And no, you can't sign up for it, so don't even ask.
2010 Olympic medals include material from recycled circuit boards
The just-unveiled medals for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver certainly break with a few conventions in terms of appearance, but it looks like they also contain a few surprises that aren't immediately apparent -- namely, they're all made at least partly from recycled circuit boards. Of course, the circuit boards have also been recycled beyond recognition, but each of the medals do apparently sport a one of a kind design, not to mention some considerable heft (weighing between 500 and 576 grams apiece). Sure, it's not enough to make a dent in the e-waste problem, but it's a heckuva way to kick start a trend.[Via Technabob]
Nokia shutters Vancouver-based N-Gage Design Studio
It's probably a bit premature to sound the death knell for Nokia's current generation of the N-Gage platform, but it certainly doesn't bode well that they've wound down operations at the Vancouver, British Columbia-based studio responsible for many games stretching back to N-Gage's origins. At this point, it could simply mean that Nokia no longer wishes to be tied up in the hard-knock world of game development, admitting that other operations like EA are probably better off fighting that fight -- but ultimately, with the Ovi Store calling into question N-Gage's very reason for being, this could be the beginning of yet another fundamental shift in Espoo's gaming strategy. Time will tell, but in the meantime, there are 100 Nokia staffers up in Canada whose reassignments to other posts remain to be settled.[Via Joystiq]
Olympics licensing director jumps the gun, reveals new Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
The rumors (that we all knew were true) appear to be true: Sega's got a winter version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games on the way. Dennis Kim, director of licensing and merchandise for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, seemingly revealed Sega's plans to The Province."Last year, 2008, they had a very successful game using Mario and Sonic at the Beijing Games, as well as a multi-sport simulation type of game," Kim said. "That's what's being discussed and planned for Vancouver. We are feeling optimistic about sales because of the Beijing experience." Kim has reason to feel optimistic: the first Mario and Sonic game is one of the best-selling releases on the Wii.Kim praised Sega's dedication to realism: "They want to get a real sense of accuracy, particularly with the landscape and the venues and the look of the Games." If the venue didn't look 100% accurate, people would be able to tell from the first moment a two-tailed cartoon fox stepped onto the track.[Via CVG]
Vancouver PSA: Playtest EA games, get free stuff
Calling all video game enthusiasts who live in or around the Vancouver, Canada area and are interested in playtesting for EA.Right this moment, the EA Vancouver branch is in search for playtesters who would be tickled by the notion of being able to get a "sneak peak at unreleased EA games" and be able to talk to developers as well as give constructive feedback. If you fit that gelatinous mold, then bunny hop your way over to Playtest EA Games and sign up. If selected for playtesting, you'll not only receive the experience of your life (depending how eventful your life is), but you'll also be compensated with a free game. Sign up here.[Via CPaladino Twitter]
