Pebble Smartwatch coming to Canada via Future Shop, pre orders now available

One of the most revolutionary products to ever come out of the crowd-funded Kickstarter phenomenon, the Pebble smartwatch is finally coming to Canada. Future Shop is accepting limited pre orders of one Pebble per household at the price of $149.99 (which, surprisingly, is the same price as in the US). Watches will ship by November 18, in time for the holiday season.

It seems they only have stock of the Black version so anyone who wants the other colours may have to look elsewhere. I got my Pebble directly from the company as a Kicstarter funder and I had to pay an extra $39 for customs charges to Canada over the price of the device. I've been using Pebble with my HTC One, Moto X as well as with my iPhone 5s and have been satisfied with what the product offers. I've used it mainly for getting notifications (messaging, email, texts) and obsessively checking the weather through many of their various watch faces as well. I like the cross-platform nature of the Pebble, its ease of use and its longish 6-day battery life on a single charge. If you're interested check out Future Shop's page.

Facebook Home adds Instagram, Flickr to Android lock screens

While Facebook Android beta testers have had this capability for a while already, the new Facebook update introduces the integration of apps into Home. You can now browse apps, such as Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Flickr, from your lock screen. The video above gives a quick peek into the new functionality.

YouTube rumoured to launch Spotify-like music service

Billboard has revealed that YouTube is supposedly set to launch a subscription-based music service before the year’s end. It is said to have “mobile listening in mind” with two tiers of usage: free with ads or $10 monthly fee for premium version without ads and offline listening capabilities. The streaming video site has yet to confirm the imminent debut of this service but we’ll keep you posted if there are any updates.

Sneak peek into Instagram ads

Instagram is giving users a peek into what “sponsored posts” or ads would look like on the photo and video sharing app. It looks similar to any other Instagram post but with a “sponsored” banner on the upper right corner of the photo or video. The sample ad will make its appearance on timelines in the U.S. starting this week and tapping on the “sponsored” link will take you to a page explaining how advertising on Instagram will work.