Huawei opens new Regina office, SaskTel commemorates opening by offering Ascend Y300

Huawei Canada officially opened a new office in Regina today to serve as the brand’s sales and support center in Saskatchewan and help strengthen their business with SaskTel. The Canadian telecoms firm commemorated the opening by announcing that they will be offering the Huawei Ascend Y300 for the first time in SaskTel stores in the province on Friday.

The Ascend Y300 is an Android 4.1-powered smartphone with a 4-inch display and 5-megapixel shooter. It will be available in white for $99 without contract or $0 on a two-year contract. The phone will be available on SaskTel’s 4G network.

Samsung introduces new image sensor tech

Samsung looks to be ditching Back Side Illumination (BSI) in favor of its new imaging sensor technology they call ISOCELL. The new pixel tech is expected to increase light sensitivity and control effectively the “absorption of electrons” that would bring about higher color fidelity and 30 percent less electrical noise in low light pictures. ISOCELL technology will form a barrier between each pixel that will reduce the noise and allow for a wider field of light to enter the sensor. This also helps reduce the height of the camera module, which would allow manufacturers to create slimmer and smaller mobile device form factors.

The first sensor to adopt the new tech is the 8-megapixel S5K4H5YB, which they are sampling to hardware partners at the moment. Expect high-end devices unveiled in the fourth quarter to feature the new sensor technology.

Source: Android Central

Survey shows significant increase in Canadian Netflix subscribers

The Canadian user base of Netflix seems to have nearly doubled, according to a survey conducted by the Media Technology Monitor. They have surveyed 2,013 Canadian adults between March 6 and April 14. The results showed that 25 percent of English-speaking Canadians have signed up for Netflix, up from the 13 percent who signed up in the spring of 2012. The highest number of Netflix users in Canada are in western areas of the country, with 40 percent located in Saskatchewan and 31 percent in Alberta. The service is popular with parents with 37 percent of households with kids under 12 are subscribers and there is a subscriber in a third of homes where teens live.

Other results from the report indicate that 84 percent of the respondents watch at least one movie or TV show on Netflix every week. About eight percent of Canadians polled tried the service but didn’t think it was worth their time, 36 percent felt there was a lack of content in the Canadian version of the service, and 28 percent said their use of Netflix didn’t justify the $8 monthly fee.

Source: Maclean’s

Valve announces free Linux-based SteamOS

Valve wants to bring the gaming experience straight into your living room with its new SteamOS. The free Linux-based operating system will let you play games from your PC right into your television, turning any computer you own into a Steam-powered console. Games can be streamed right from your PCs or Macs to the Steam-powered machine over your home network. What’s more, SteamOS allows for multiple accounts, letting you share the gaming experience with the people in your household.  

This OS announce is one of three major announcements from Valve, each being represented by a different symbol on Steam’s site. It raises speculation that an actual console or "Steambox" might make its debut.