canada

Canadian wireless provider Rogers is prepping for the release of Samsung's latest Google Android handset, the Galaxy Spica. While the carrier hasn't made an official announcement, rumor has it that dummy units are arriving in retail stores across the country. It should be only a few weeks before the carrier unveils the price and available rate plans.

The Galaxy Spica features a 3.2-inch AMOLED touch screen, a 3.2-megapixel camera, 200MB of internal memory, Wi-Fi, GPS, and more. Similar to other recent Samsung handsets, the Spica is powered by an 800MHz processor. The exact version of Android … Read more

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--It's a little more than an hour before the U.S. is set to take on Canada in men's hockey and the atmosphere is already beyond electric.

Although just a preliminary match, this game has taken on all the importance of a medal game. Some three hours before game time sporadic chants of "Go, Canada, Go" could be heard downtown. It's barely an exaggeration to say all of Canada will be watching.

I'm live from the Molson Canadian Hockey House, a hockey-themed pavilion adjacent to where the game is being played. Molson … Read more

Organizers of the Vancouver Olympics had a pretty simple message to the technology providers creating the massive network to power this month's Winter Games.

"We demand that this is flawless," Chief Information Office Ward Chapin said in a briefing with reporters this week. To meet that goal, Chapin said, there has been a tremendous amount of redundancy built into the network as well as thousands upon thousands of hours of testing.

"I would not want to be the individual that had to go up to Hans the ski jumper after his world record jump and say '… Read more

This week, Donald and Jasmine discuss the latest Apple tablet rumors, which deal mainly with its lesser focus on music but practical usefulness for something like iTunes LPs and the theoretical iTunes music cloud. We also ponder the possible names for the imminent device. Plus, Slacker gives Canadians something to smile about, Jasmine does a celebratory dance for small-eared music listeners, and Image S4 durability issues make her shed tears while simultaneously garnering cheers for Klipsch customer service. Also, how about those ethical and legal issues when it comes to LP copying and "backing up"?

Subscribe in iTunes audio |  Subscribe in iTunes video | Subscribe in RSS audio |  Subscribe in RSS video… Read more

In case you didn't catch the preshow, today's show title is in honor of Jeff and Wilson both visiting the doctor...here's hoping they're at the same time. Before we get to the show, be sure to head out for your free tacos from Taco Bell, then come back for another hilarious Friday episode of CNET's The 404 Podcast.

We've always been valiant supporters of Conan O'Brien, so it's very disappointing to see that NBC is supposedly giving Leno the 11:30 p.m. spot and pushing The Tonight Show back to 12:05 a.m. Jeff and Wilson definitely feel more vehemently about the decision than I do, but I'm starting to see Jay in a similarly desperate light--whatever happened to bowing out with respect? We're hoping this was actually posted by Conan, but someone put The Tonight Show on Craigslist. Listed as "barely-used" and up for sale to the highest bidder, the ad spells out a hilariously specific requirement: the buyer must honor the scheduled Barry Manilow booking for next Thursday.

With all the tablet rumors surrounding the next Apple Event on January 26, it's refreshing to hear that the next iPhone might feature a touch-sensitive back. According to Goldman Sachs analyst Robert Chen, the fourth-gen iPhone might come with a case similar to the Apple Magic Mouse that you can pinch, pull, and tap. A "touch-sensitive back," you say? The jokes almost write themselves....but you better believe we still go there.

We also spend some time in the second half of the show on the earthquake disaster in Haiti. Much thanks and support to the soldier who called in with a voice mail about the effort! We're urging everyone to do their part and text HAITI to 90999 to give $10 to the Red Cross. Also, please help us spread the word that American Airlines is taking volunteer doctors and nurses to Haiti for free, just call 212-697-9767 for more details. Red Cross also needs more Creole-speaking volunteers for their 24-hour phone bank, so get in touch with them if you can.

Have a great weekend everyone!

While I write this, I am enjoying a custom-built station on Slacker Radio, and as of last night, Canadians can do this as well. The news is a big win for both Canada and Internet radio, and is thanks in no small part to BlackBerry, which has a huge presence in the country and a growing relationship with Slacker.

No doubt, many Canadians will be thrilled with this announcement, as I've had no small number of them e-mail me about various music recommendation and streaming services. However, Slacker won't be exactly the same in Canada. Residents will only … Read more

This is not your "War Games" fan's NORAD.

If the picture in your head of the North American Aerospace Defense Command's operations center is straight out of that 1983 Matthew Broderick movie, you may need to replace it.

That real-life command center, where personnel from the militaries of the United States and Canada keep a watchful eye out for threats from the sky, is no longer buried deep under Cheyenne Mountain. It is, however, still in Colorado Springs, Colo. Today, it is housed at Peterson Air Force Base, and it is a joint venture with the … Read more

Hyper-local publishing company Examiner.com is set to launch its service in five Canadian cities.

According to the organization, Examiner will now provide localized content to those living in Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver. The company will also offer national content for all those not living in the five cities.

Examiner is growing up quickly since its launch in April 2008. Examiner now provides localized content in 162 U.S. cities, according to a company spokesperson. It plans to add 40 more markets in the coming months. With the expansion to Canada now under way, the spokesperson told me … Read more

Have a Google Voicemail account? Have some voicemails in there? I may have listened to them today! Thanks to some leaks in the Google cloud (rain?) it seems some folks voicemails are searchable on Google. Glad that eye appointment went well! Also Verizon and Motorola are bringing it to the iPhone. But will Verizon have to make a switch next year if the rumors are true?

Verizon’s anti-iPhone gets its first commercial: ‘Droid Does’ http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/17/verizons-anti-iphone-gets-its-first-commercial-droid-does/ … Read more