Most Canadian farmers have smartphone: poll

About three-quarters of farmers in Canada are smartphone owners, a number that has more than doubled in the last three years, according to a new survey.

Farm Credit Canada, a lender to Canadian agriculture industry, said in a news release Monday that 76 per cent of the farmers it polled indicated they own smartphone, up from 29 per cent in a similar survey done in 2011. There was a corresponding drop in the ownership of other kinds of cellphones, with 32 per cent indicating they owned something other than a smartphone, down from 80 per cent in 2011.

CBC plan’s emphasis on mobile not ‘logical’: analyst

CBC/Radio-Canada’s re-focusing of its priorities on its digital and mobile presence is “not a very logical thing to do,” said Barry Kiefl, president of Canadian Media Research Inc.

The public broadcaster said in a strategy paper released Thursday, called "A Space For Us All," that its priorities will be completely reversed from the current pecking order of TV followed by radio, online and mobile.

U.S. Supreme Court declares Aereo illegal

The U.S. Supreme Court has sided with broadcasters in their case against Aereo Inc.’s TV service, ruling that the service violates the U.S. Copyright Act.

Amazon launches music streaming in U.S.

Amazon.com Inc. announced Thursday the launch of a new music-streaming service in the United States.

It said in a press release that the product is called Prime Music and is available at no extra cost to existing U.S. customers of its Prime service, which already provides video streaming, book-borrowing services and two-day shipping privileges for $99 US a year, according to Amazon's website.

BlackBerry might make phablets: report

BlackBerry Ltd. chief executive John Chen said the company might get into the business of making so-called phablets, or smartphones with extra-large screens, according to an article in an Indonesian publication.

Canadian IP traffic to expand 2.4 times by 2018: Cisco

Data transmitted over Internet protocol networks with devices in Canada will be about 2.4 times more in 2018 than what it was last year, according to a new report from Cisco Systems Inc.

Highlights of Canadian figures from Cisco's latest Visual Networking Index show IP traffic in Canada will reach a total of 42.3 exabytes (about 42.3 billion gigabytes) in 2018, compared to 17.4 exabytes in 2013. That represents average annual growth of 19 per cent between now and 2018, Cisco said.

Bell launches Super Écran Go

BCE Inc.'s Bell Media division on Tuesday launched what it said is the first French-language product among its growing selection of "Go" products for viewing television content over the Internet or by mobile device.

Videotron’s new TV app ‘sign of what’s to come’: analyst

MONTREAL —Videotron’s new iPad application, which allows users to access live TV, free and paid video-on-demand (VOD) content and programming stored on a personal video recorder (PVR), in addition to a recommendation function and integrated social networking, is a sign of where "TV-everywhere" strategies are heading, said Alan Breznick, a media, telecom and technology analyst at research group Heavy Reading.

Rogers launches Sportsnet streaming service

Rogers Communications Inc. on Tuesday announced the launch of an online streaming service and mobile application for Sportsnet programing.

The company said in a press release the service is called Sportsnet Now, and for the time being is available as a "preview" to Rogers customers. Rogers spokesman Sebastian Gatica clarified in an email that this means those who subscribe to Sportsnet on Rogers cable.

New Apple software routes iPhone calls through Macs

At its Worldwide Developers Conference Monday, Apple Inc. revealed new software for Mac computers that, among other things, will allow iPhone calls and texting to be facilitated through a computer.

Apple said in a press release that this is among the features on the new Mac operating system, OS X Yosemite. It said that it includes a specific program called Handoff, which besides coordinating communications between Macs and iPhones, allows documents being worked on to be shared seamlessly between Mac computers, iPhones and iPads.

Middle East, Africa tablet market surges: IDC

The Middle East and Africa saw record growth in their tablet market in the first quarter of this year, despite a general slowdown in this industry's expansion globally, International Data Corp. said in a report released Sunday.

IDC said in a press release that four million tablets were shipped in that region in the first three months of this year, a gain of 77.3 per cent from a year earlier.

Phablets cut into tablet sales: IDC

International Data Corp. said Thursday that it has cut its forecast for global tablet shipments this year, in part because of the growing popularity of so-called phablets, or smartphones with extra-large screens.

The research company said in a press release that tablet shipments, including two-in-one hybrids that include some of the features of a laptop, will amount to 245.4 million this year, down from its previous forecast of 260.9 million.  The new forecast would mark growth of 12.1 per cent over 2013, well short of the 51.8 per cent growth seen last year.

Transport Canada loosens rules on electronics usage on planes

Transport Canada announced on Monday it will start allowing electronic devices to be used for the entirety of plane flights, though devices such as smartphones and tablets will still be required to stay in non-transmitting mode.

The federal department said in a press release that this will contrast from the previous requirement that all electronic devices, including cameras, games and tablets, be shut off during landings and takeoffs.

Global tablet market slower than expected: IDC

Preliminary data shows the worldwide tablet market saw lower-than-expected annual growth in the first quarter, according to a release from research firm International Data Corp.

Total shipments, including laptop-tablet hybrids, were 50.4 million units in the first quarter of the year, IDC said in a press release. That’s a decline of 35.7 per cent from fourth quarter of 2013 and a gain of 3.9 per cent over the same period a year before.

AT&T reports fastest revenue growth in years

AT&T on Tuesday said its first quarter featured its strongest year-to-year revenue growth in more than two years.

The U.S. telecommunications company said in a press release that revenue in the three months ended March 31 was $32.5 billion US, up 3.6 per cent from a year earlier. It said it now expects full-year revenue growth of four per cent or more.

Net income for the quarter stayed the same as a year earlier, at $3.7 billion US.

Ice Wireless upgrades mobile network in Yellowknife

Ice Wireless, a subsidiary of Iristel Inc., said Friday it has upgraded its mobile network in Yellowknife to HSPA+ and called it “the most advanced 3G network in Northern Canada.”

The carrier said in a news release that with this upgrade customers can now access wireless Internet speeds of up to 21 Mbps, use new smartphones and tablets on the network, and make better quality phone calls.

Tablet ownership in English Canada over 40%: MTM

Tablet ownership among English-speaking Canadians was at 42 per cent late last year, according to a report released Tuesday, and was approaching 80 per cent among those with family incomes of $200,000 a year or more.

Media Technology Monitor, a project of CBC/Radio-Canada, said in the report that tablet ownership had had grown to more than 40 per cent from 28 per cent a year earlier, based on surveys taken last fall.

Bell Media releases 2 news-channel apps

BCE Inc.’s Bell Media division on Tuesday announced the release of two new applications that will bring live breaking news video to smartphones and tablets.

Apps for CTV News Go, featuring content from the national news service CTV News Channel, and CP24 Go, based on Toronto TV station CP24, are now available for Apple Inc.’s iPhones and iPads, and smartphones and tablets powered by Google Inc.’s Android software, Bell said in a news release Tuesday.

Tablet market growth continues to slow: IDC

Growth in worldwide tablets sales will continue to slow this year, International Data Corp. said in a press release Thursday.

The provider of technology advisory services said it expects 19.4 per cent growth in tablet sales — including tablet-laptop hybrids — in 2014, for a total of 260.9 million units. That’s down from growth of 51.6 per cent in 2013, it said.

IDC attributed the slower growth rate largely to a maturing market where many people already have tablets and don’t feel the need to buy new ones.

Seniors bigger users of radio, TV: report

Canadian seniors are bigger users of traditional media such as television and radio than younger people, while they are less frequent users of newer media and less likely to own smartphones and tablets, according to a new report.

Android users expected to exceed a billion this year

Google Inc.’s Android operating system will reach 1.1 billion users in 2014, research company Gartner Inc. said.

That would mark a 26 per cent increase from 2013, Gartner said in a release Tuesday.

"Android holds the largest number of installed-base devices, with 1.9 billion in use in 2014, compared with 682 million iOS/Mac OS installed-base devices," Annette Zimmerman, principal analyst with the company, said in the release.