First look: Google Wifi

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Google has finally revealed plans to roll out its Google Wifi solution. The system of Wifi routers, uses a mesh network to effectively cover a greater area within all types of houses or offices. Google Wifi, whose software and app was developed partly in Google's Waterloo offices aims to remove the complexity of setting and managing a Wifi router as well as ensuring that signals are optimized across a wider area.

Google Wifi is available starting  April 28 at Google Store, Best Buy Canada, Staples Canada and Walmart Canada, with more retailers coming soon. Pricing is $179 for a 1-pack, $439 for a 3-pack. Read my first impressions below.

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On its 2nd anniversary the Apple Watch continues to define its identity

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Today marks the Apple Watch 2nd birthday as it began shipping on April 24, 2015. Since then, Apple's newest product category since the iPad has evolved from an adjunct of the iPhone to a notable standalone fitness and health tracker as well as a key player not just in the smartwatch market but in the overall watch market.

Having used the Apple Watch and Apple Watch Series 2, there are key features that it delivers which few other wearables can offer. The ability to take and make calls when the iPhone is in your bag or pocket is convenient. Tracking fitness goals is also habit-forming and keeps active people on their toes. Being able to use Apple Pay without reaching for a phone is transformative, so it getting tickets and QR codes right out of your Watch. 

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Instagram now has 700 million users, with 100 million added since December

Facebook-owned photo sharing app Instagram now boasts 700 million active users, with 100 million coming on board since December. Instagram has added various new ways to share photos, boomerangs, videos as well as stories. 

Facebook bought Instagram for 1 Billion when it realized it could not compete with the popular photo sharing app. Since then, Instagram's evolved by emulating features found on other popular image sharing services, most notably Snap.

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Review: Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

Text and photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

The new Samsung Galaxy flagships, the S8 and the taller S8+ are the supermodels of the smartphone world. They’re fastidiously put together, unusually slender and stylish and look and feel exclusive. Built around the new almost bezel-less infinity display, with an organic wraparound design, the new Galaxies transcend old smartphone design norms and challenge our expectations of what a premium and forward thinking smartphone could be.

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