Microsoft technology improves response time, expands reach to help bring missing children home

In Canada, 41,000 children are reported missing every year. The Missing Children Society of Canada (MCSC) uses a mix of mobile and social technology to create its emergency response Search Program, including the Most Valuable Network™ (MVN) platform which sends time-sensitive alerts and information to Canadians to help recover missing children across Facebook and Twitter. 

The first hours a child is missing are by far the most critical. That’s why the MCSC knew they needed the social media alerts from their MVN application to go out faster. The program was growing fast, and their legacy system was struggling to keep up. That meant the alerts were taking up to an hour to be sent out.

Click to read more ...

HTC outs phone cleaner app to its Preview program

As part of HTC’s plans to release productivity-related apps and earn a bit of extra money, the brand released a new app called Boost+ to its Preview program users. The app is designed to check and clean your smartphone’s cache and RAM to help make it run faster. Some users who are testing the app say they’ve noticed an improvement with battery life and performance after clearing the RAM.  It won’t be exclusive to HTC devices either and would be available to everyone who needs that “boost” once it’s officially published on the Play Store. Right now access to it is via the HTC Preview program only, where you’ll be able to download the APK.

Source: Android Community

‘Black Panther’ director gets involved with the character’s intro in ‘Civil War’

In the expansive Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s expected that movies and their characters come out as cohesively as possible, no matter who is headlining the film. So when Ryan Coogler, director of last year’s hit Creed, was taken onboard to direct the upcoming Black Panther film, they wanted Coogler to make some suggestions for the characters introduction in Captain America: Civil War.

According to Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios president and Civil War producer, they had Coogler come in to watch the film. “We did a little bit of additional photography here and there and Ryan did a pass at a couple of those scenes. So there’s a line or two that Panther says in the movie that Ryan contributed to. [Civil War screenwriters] Chris [Markus] and Steve [McFeely] absorbed it into their draft, put their spin on it and words to it, but Ryan has started to be involved in earlier cuts of this movie.” Coogler’s Black Panther, which stars Chadwick Boseman, will hit theaters in February 16, 2018.

 Source: io9

Netflix price hike will soon affect long-term subscribers

You may or may not remember that Netflix increased its prices from $7.99 to $9.99. This two-dollar hike was what new subscribers have been paying since October. Now, the long-term subscribers will be paying the same amount. Netflix will start emailing affected customers to inform them of the increase happening next month. If you’re adamant to pay the extra money for your subscription, Netflix will let you keep your existing $7.99 subscription but that means you get the SD service and it can only be accessed on one device at a time. The $9.99 price tier will let you keep your existing HD plan.

Another issue Canadian Netflix users have to deal with is the sudden crackdown on border-hopping or using VPN or SmartDNS services to trick Netflix into thinking they were accessing the site from the U.S., thus giving them access to U.S.-exclusive shows. With all of these changes will you be leaving Netflix?

Source: The Verge + HuffPost Canada Business