Apple raises prices for App Store in Canada

Canada joins six other markets (Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, and South Africa) that will have Apple App Store prices raised. The price hike will include in-app purchases. For Canada, Tier 1 pricing will go up from $1.19 to $1.39, which means a $1 app in the U.S. App Store will cost $1.39 on the Canadian App Store. The price change is said to be in line with the fluctuating foreign currency exchange rates against the US dollar. Apple also plans to expand its low-price tiers Alternate Tier A and Alternate Tier B to Canada, these are valued at 99 cents in local dollars and said to be used for smaller in-app purchases.

If you have in-app subscriptions that will be renewed soon, you should receive an email informing you about the price increase and it should give you an option to cancel your subscription. You can find read more about the complete list of pricing updates from this PDF document published by Apple.

Source: MacRumors

Dell Venue 8 Pro is updated for Windows 10

Looks like the HP Envy 8 Note is getting some steep competition from Dell in the 8-inch Windows 10 notebook space. Dell just announced an update to its Venue 8 Pro tablet from two years ago, this one goes by the name Dell Venue 8 Pro 5000 Series (64GB) and it starts at US $449.99.

Powered by a Quad Core, 2.24GHz Intel Atom processor, the Dell has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage plus microSD card expansion. This has a USB type-C port for I/O and power but the Dell Stylus is sold separately and there's no accessory keyboard mentioned although there's a Dell Dock which could make it possibly run Continuum. No idea when this is coming to Canada and what price it will get, but I'm happy to see more variety come to the Windows mini tablet space.

Source: Dell via Thurrott.com

Google I/O 2016 to take place in the Shoreline Ampitheatre

Google's yearly developer event, Google I/O, will take place on May 18 to May 20 and for the first time will not take place in downtown San Francisco's Moscone Centre but at the large and open Shoreline Ampitheatre in Mountain View, California which is roughly a 10 minute walk from Google's world headquarters (or a short 2 minute drive via a Google self-driving car). 

This is an interesting development which also seems to make sense. Google can better control what takes place in its own backyard and if it wants to demo new technologies such as robots, drones and autonomous cars, it can do so in its HQ. This is the first Google I/O since the company formed Alphabet and an important one to help chart the course of Google, Android, Chrome OS and various other services and products.

Fujifilm introduces new X-Series camera lineup

There are a number of new cameras coming out of Fujifilm’s stables. First up is the new flagship X-Pro2, which the company considers the “pinnacle of X-Series photography.” It comes with an Advanced Hybrid Multi Viewfinder that can instantly switch between optical and electronic finders. The X-Pro2 has a new 24.3-megapixel X-Trans CMOS III sensor and a new X-Processor Pro meant to improve response times of the camera.

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