Live from the BlackBerry Classic launch event in New York

Text and photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

New York -It's a red-letter day for BlackBerry today as they are set to launch the widely anticipated BlackBerry Classic smartphone. We're on the ground in downtown New York where the main event is taking place while satellite launch events are taking place in Frankfurt, Germany as well as in Singapore.

The BlackBerry Classic is the latest device sporting the BB10 OS but it also features many key functionalities that BlackBerry users have loved for years, it returns the popular 'belt' as well as the trackpad, while maintaining the QWERTY keyboard that's been BlackBerry's trademark all along.

Click to read more ...

Pebble adds Android Wear notifications to smartwatches

Pebble is taking an “if you can’t beat them, join them” approach to its smartwatches. Pebble updated its Android app to add support for Android Wear notifications. This means you can dismiss alerts and the like right from your Pebble watch. What you’d need is a Pebble or Pebble Steel watch and an Android smartphone running on Android 4.0 or higher, and the latest version of the Pebble app installed (ver. 2.3).

Source: Pebble | Via: Engadget

Instagram introduces five new filters

A new significant update for Instagram brings five new filters that are said to be inspired by its community. Called Slumber, Crema, Ludwig, Aden, and Perpetua, the new filters are supposed to complement the capabilities on today’s smartphone cameras. The filters are said to “soften and subtly shift colors to achieve the look and feel you want for your each photo.”

There is also a new way to find your favorite filters now. The filter tray now shows blurred previews of your images on them to make it easier to decide which ones to use. You can even rearrange the order of filters by selecting the Manage button so you can put your favorites first and hide those you don’t use. The update is coming to both iOS and Android apps.

Source: Instagram | Via: Cult of Android | Download: Apple iTunes App Store (Free) + Google Play Store (Free)

Robin Williams tops Google Canada’s 2014 trending list

With over two trillion searches done around the world in 2014, what got Canadians talking this year? The passing of Robin Williams had Canadians looking him up and making him the highest-trending search term for the year. The World Cup and Winter Olympics also made it to the Top Trending Searches list. Listed below are some of the highlights of Google Canada’s year in search:

Click to read more ...