Video: See the opening of the first Canadian Google Shop

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Janell Fischer, Director of Global Retail Design for Google Inc. cut the ribbon today at the first Canadian Google Shop at the Best Buy Experience Store in Heartland Centre in Mississauga, Canada. 

 Comprised of nearly 700 square feet, Google's new shops are a reflection of the Google hardware brand in a retail space. Even the smallest detail, from the use of curved edges to the hand-picked colour palette, evoke a warm, inviting and playful feel. The shop is fully programmable, meaning its layout can evolve and change as Google’s products do.

Click to read more ...

First Google Shop opens today at Best Buy Canada branch in Mississauga

Text and photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Mississauga, ON -Since Google is now a bona fide consumer electronics and hardware maker, it stands to reason that it needs to show off its wares in physical retails stores. Following the opening of their New York pop-up store, Google has decided to team-up with Best Buy Canada and create flagship Google Shop 'store within a store' locations in three Canadian cities.

Click to read more ...

Firefox Focus for iOS simplifies web browsing, acts as ad blocker

Firefox just released a new browser for iOS users, which it hopes gives people more control over what information about them gets shared. Firefox Focus is a new private browser designed to not leave record on the phone. It has no tabs, menus, or pop-ups. It’s set by default to block many of the trackers that are seen around the web. This is also said to contribute to the performance boost of the browser, since trackers are also said to slow down the loading of web pages. The app is also said to work as a content blocker for Safari on iOS and you can enable Tracking Protection on both Safari and Firefox Focus.

United Airlines’s new ticket tier won’t give access to overhead bins

Airlines charge for a lot of things these days and it seems that’ll include the use of overhead bins, too. Major U.S. carrier United Airlines released a new policy for its “basic economy” tickets a.k.a. those who paid the lowest fare and are only allowed to bring one small personal item—such as a purse or laptop bag—that they can stow away under the seat in front of them. The change in policy hopes to raise profitability for the airline as it targets to raise around US$4.9 billion by the year 2020.

Starting in January, the other restrictions for the basic economy tickets include not getting pre-assigned seats, not being able to carry roller suitcase, and won’t be given the capability to upgrade tickets to another fare class. You will also board last in a new boarding group or group 5. So, bigger luggage needs to be checked in. What you do get access to are free snacks, TV, and access to (paid) Wi-Fi. Now, if you’re regular economy, you still get access to ticket upgrades, overhead bins, and pre-assigned seating. Charlie Leocha of traveler advocacy group Travelers United disagrees with this new tactic as mentioned in an interview with CBC News: "These airlines are claiming that they are offering more choice and better service, while they eliminate amenities and charge more and more fees."

Source: Mashable