TomTom Traffic Index: Vancouver is most congested city; Toronto ranks 7th in North America

TomTom, maker of GPS hardware and apps,  released its sixth Traffic Index comparing travel times during non-congested hours with travel times in peak hours. Three Canadian cities – Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal – remain in the top 10 congested metros, with the latest index finding Vancouver has surpassed Los Angeles for the first time, ranking the most congested city in North America.

Toronto ranks seventh overall, where on average journey times are 27 per cent longer than when traffic in the city is flowing freely. Journey times are 54 per cent and 72 per cent longer in the morning peak and evening peak versus non-congested hours, respectively.

TomTom’s Traffic Index reports the most congested day in Toronto during the quarter was Friday, June 28, 2013, which can be attributed to heavy rain fall and flooding in the GTA on the day. 

HTC One mini coming to Rogers

The HTC One mini is coming to Rogers in Canada for $399 outright or $99 on a two-year contract. The HTC One mini is a smaller and scaled down version of the HTC One designed for the mid-range. Featuring a 1.4GHz dual-core processor, a 4.3-inch super LCD screen, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, a 4 MP (Ultrapixel camera) dual BoomSound speakers and running on the HTC Sense 5.0 UI and HTC Zoe.

Source: Rogers

Apple bolsters 'Made in USA' initiative with new sapphire glass factory, 2,000 new jobs

Apple is making good on its promise to bring more jobs to the USA. A new sapphire glass factory is set to open in Arizona and will reportedly bring 2,000 new jobs. Sapphire glass is used in a number of Apple products, most notably to protect the lenses of the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices. This follows Apple's commitment to assembling the new Mac Pro in Texas.

“The multi-year agreement, which was reported by MacRumors, includes a $580 million prepayment that will get paid back to Apple over five years starting in 2015, and requires that GT maintains a minimum level of manufacturing capacity.” The new jobs are mostly in engineering, manufacturing and construction in nature.

Nike + app now takes advantage of the iPhone 5s M7 coprocessor

If you build it, they will come. This applies to Apple's new iPhone hardware the M7 coprocessor assists the powerful A7 processor. Nike + app takes advantage of the M7 coprocessor and new CoreMotion APIs in iOS 7, allowing it to track more reliable and accurate movement data in the background, even when the phone is asleep, while also conserving battery life. Great for users who are invested in the Nike + suite of products. Nike + is free.