Apple's HomePod speaker comes to US, UK, and Australia on Feb 9

After a delay to market late last year, Apple's heralded HomePod smart speaker is coming on February 9 with preorders happening this Friday. Unfortunately, HomePods is coming to three markets -the US, UK and Australia with other countries (possibly Canada) getting the devices in the spring.

HomePod is a new product category from Apple. It looks to be taking on Sonos in terms of MESH enabled Hi-Fi streaming speakers but also looks to compete with the Amazon Echo and Google Home smart speakers which have been available in Canada since last year. Seen as a delivery methof for Apple Music, Siri, HomeKit and other Apple ecosystems, the HomePod is expected to bring big sound in a compact package.

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Thompson Reuters to host host Girls make Games development program

Thomson Reuters will host Girls make Games, an international game development program designed to inspire elementary and high school girls to pursue interests in STEM related fields. 

Participants will engage in game design, programming, and entrepreneurship workshops led by professional game developers to create their very own video game. Hit jump for details.

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Apple's Tim Cook makes first visit to Canada, surprises students in Apple Store

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Apple CEO Tim Cook made his first visit to Toronto, Canada. Cook surprised students at the popular Apple Store in the Eaton Centre, one of the country's busiest malls. The unnanounced visit took staff, customers and students by surprise. Cook also thanked app developers, who were running a coding clinic for their contributions to the Apple ecosystem.

The students in question were a class of Grade 7 Students in Toronto's east end who were programming robots dancing on tables using Apple's Swift Playgrounds app on the iPad. Apple opened its Everyone Can Code initiative late last year and this focuses on making technology accessible so virtually anyone can create apps and solutions.

Canada is an extremely important market for us. We have a great team in Canada," Cook said in an interview with The National Post.

There are 120,000 Canadian jobs directly related to Apple's iOS and App Store ecosystem, the company said.

Apple’s Everyone Can Code Initiative adopted in Europe

Apple today announced 70 colleges and universities in Europe have adopted Everyone Can Code, a comprehensive program designed by Apple to help everyone learn to build mobile apps. These colleges and universities are adopting Apple’s App Development with Swift curriculum, helping to create opportunities for all students and equipping them with the skills they need to pursue careers in the booming app economy.

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