Canadian Reviewer Weekly Roundup 3/1-3/7

Huawei Watch earns early accolades at MWC

Acer's Liquid Leap+ is a basic notification-enabled health tracker for US $90

HTC wants to claim its piece of the VR headset space with the Re Vive

HTC One (M9) arriving in Canada on Bell, Rogers, SaskTel, TELUS, and Videotron early spring

Samsung launches Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge smartphones aimed at consumer and enterprise

BlackBerry MWC announcements focus on platforms over devices

Ikea to come out with new furniture to charge your phones

SanDisk revolutionizes mobile storage with 200GB microSD Card

Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge coming to TELUS, preorders start on March 5th

Microsoft launches Lumia 640 and 640 XL smartphones at MWC

Dyson's new Hot+Cool AM09 fan heater features Jet Focus technology

Pebble announces Pebble Time in Steel, modular smartstraps

BlackBerry leap advert focuses on startups and young professionals

Expedia.ca helps you make travel plans easier with Scratchpad

HP's new Spectre x360 is a versatile and premium convertible PC

Tips for keeping your credit card secure

Review: Dell XPS 13 (2015)

Looking at H&R Block’s Free Online Tax Preparation Software solution for Canadians

digiPlaySpace: an interactive playground for kids

Google releases standalone PDF viewer for Android

TomTom sport watches get Nike+ support

Weiser adds Android App for Kevo Smart Lock

The Apple Beat: Industry focuses on Apple Watch event

Google tipped to be dipping into virtual reality

Upcoming PlayStation 4 update to add button remapping, improve rest mode

Sony is finally bringing in new features to the PlayStation 4. According to members of PlayStation MVP program that are getting beta test the 2.50 version of the software, the update will include two new major features: system-wide button remapping and enhanced rest mode.

Just as its name suggests, button remapping means you can swap button functions on the PS4 on a system-wide level. It might be geared towards users who have physical difficulty reaching certain buttons on the controller but it will come in handy for games that don’t offer the ability to modify controls. Meanwhile, the new “rest mode” is a truly functional suspend mode. It won’t close apps or games when it goes to sleep, much like what smartphones do these days. The existing low-power rest mode is basically like turning the console off except it allows for background downloads and it lets you charge the controllers. No word yet on the official release of this version but beta testers claim it should be out by the end of April.

Source: Kotaku

Google tipped to be dipping into virtual reality

Not wanting to be left behind, Google is reportedly working on a version of Android that can power virtual reality apps. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company has a team of “tens of engineers” working on this project at the moment. Google reportedly plans to distribute this version for free, much like what they did for Android originally. We’re not sure how the market will react to this, especially with the likes of Facebook, HTC, Sony, Samsung, and Microsoft in the game. But the more options we have, the better.

Source: Phys.org

Apple Watch might get a big battery boost with new strap

Reports have surfaced that the Apple Watch will be able to last you a day with moderate use. But if you intend to use it heavily, charging constantly might be an issue. And that’s what Reserve Strap wants to address. Still in its conceptual phase, the strap aims to be the best solution for this battery predicament.

According to the designers, this is how the band will work: “The band will have embedded batteries and utilize magnetic inductive charging similar to the new MagSafe wall charger for the Apple Watch.” Based on their current testing, they believe they can boost battery life by up to 125%. There is no set release date for the product yet but if you think this is something you want to get behind. Preorders are up for US$249.99.

Source: BGR