Back in April John MacDonell, Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations Minister, proposed to bill to legislation that would help those wireless customers who “feel trapped in their cell phone contracts.” The details were similar to Quebec’s Bill 60 and Manitoba’s Bill 35 where carriers would have to advertise the minimum monthly costs of a wireless plan, plus cap the cancellation fees at $50.

Over the past few months several Canadian carriers have revised their wireless contracts to ensure they are easy to read and understand, plus some have axed the activation fee and reduced the high cancellation costs. However, on Friday, the province of Nova Scotia followed through on their commitment to the community and declared that cellphone contracts will be “fairer” effective May 1st.

According to the press release “The province is addressing Nova Scotians’ concerns about cellphone contracts with changes announced today, Feb. 15. The Consumer Protection Act regulates cellphone contracts and protects consumers who enter into, or renew, contracts beginning May 1.” The following changes will be implemented:

– Cellphone companies must provide more information about minimum monthly costs and include it in advertising.
– Providers will not be able to change major parts of a contract, including services, costs, fees or locations where the phone can be used, without consumers’ permission.
– Consumers will also be able to cancel their contract at any time.
– Nova Scotians who are unhappy with their service and decide to change providers could pay as little as $50 to cancel contracts.
– Consumers will still be responsible for buying out equipment if they cancel early.
– The amendments only apply to consumer contracts signed after the regulations come into effect May 1.
– Consumers are encouraged to be sure they understand contracts before signing.

Source: Nova Scotia
Via: CH

According to a recent IDC survey, 91% of Canadian smartphone owners keep their devices in reach 100% of the time. Think about that statistic for a moment. There are roughly 21 million smartphones in use Canada, with a 59% adoption rate across the carriers. Nineteen million Canadians are never more than a few steps from their handset(s).

We’ve all been there: that moment, perhaps months or years after the purchase of your first smartphone, when you realize you’re completely, hopelessly addicted to that device in your pocket or your purse. For most people, it is a gradual, insidious change of behaviour; half an hour a day turns into an hour that becomes several. Where once you may have been able to ignore the flashing red light, you are now summoned to it like a salivating dog after kibble.

When was that first moment for you? I think, for me, it was when I discovered the custom ROM scene on Android. The day after I brought home a Motorola Milestone, hearing about all the things you could do with a rooted device — like jailbreaking on steroids. Unlike the Verizon Motorola Droid, which shipped with an unlocked bootloader, the Milestone was very much a baby of the carriers, completely locked down. I spent hours on XDA-Developers parsing instructions, reading tips and tricks, attempting to root that sucker. I slept little that night, and there have been others like it since, the attraction of breaking down a device’s OEM-imposed barriers too tantalizing to resist.

Cellular phones have changed our lives; we can’t remember a time when it wasn’t possible to make a call from anywhere, and many take for granted that, instead of reading a book on the way to work, there is always a few minutes for Subway Surfer or Words With Friends. And when you’re sitting in a nice restaurant and your phone vibrates in your pocket, don’t tell me there hasn’t been a moment of panic as you wondered whether it was important enough to risk being considered rude.

Smartphone addiction shouldn’t be dismissed, either, despite the levity of the preceding paragraphs. It can cause real, substantive harm to a person’s life. But that’s not for this column; we are all slaves to our phones, but hopefully, at the end of the day, we are still in control.

The rollout of iOS 6.1 hasnt gone as smoothly for Apple as the company would have liked.

Not only did the initial release introduce a number of security issues and battery problems, in addition to a wallop of a 3G connectivity bug for iPhone 4S users in Europe, the follow-up version, iOS 6.1.1 released last week, introduced a bunch of new issues.

iPhone users are still reporting Exchange connectivity bugs, so severe that Microsoft is suggesting affected devices be booted from the server so as not to slow down the rest of the network. And those running iOS 6.1.1 can also now bypass the passcode screen by initiating an emergency call and then depressing the power button twice. This is the same bug that affected iOS 2.1 and 4.1 (really, Apple!), and can pose a security threat if a phone is lost or stolen.

Apple will reportedly release a hotfix version, iOS 6.1.2, next week to restore the OS to working order. The company has updated its support page to address the Exchange bug.

Source: Apple, Ars Technica