Switch carriers? How? Ottawa gives mixed messages over rising mobile prices | CBC News

Even as the minister responsible admitted there aren’t enough competitive options for mobile service in Canada, another federal official said consumers can and should search for other service providers when faced with price increases. That message — from Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) Canada — came just hours after the Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said Canadians “still pay too much and see too little competition” for cellular services. Read full story here: Switch carriers? How? Ottawa gives mixed messages over rising mobile prices | CBC News

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We Finally Started Taking Screen Time Seriously In 2018 | TechCrunch

At the beginning of this year, I was using my iPhone to browse new titles on Amazon when I saw the cover of “How to Break Up With Your Phone” by Catherine Price. I downloaded it on Kindle because I genuinely wanted to reduce my smartphone use, but also because I thought it would be hilarious to read a book about breaking up with your smartphone on my smartphone (stupid, I know). Within a couple of chapters, however, I was motivated enough to download Moment, a screen time tracking app…

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Smishing: A New Security Threat The Targets Smartphones By Text Message | Digital Trends

Phishing remains a serious security problem. According to some reports, one in every 101 emails are malicious and most of those use some form of phishing as a primary scamming tactic. Most people are aware of phishing, but we only look out for threats when checking email. Criminals, however, are one step ahead. Security experts say phishing has come full-force to texting, and it carries even more potential danger than it does through email. Read full story here: Smishing: A New Security Threat The Targets Smartphones By Text Message | Digital…

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How Do Apple’s Screen Time And Google Digital Wellbeing Stack Up? | The Verge

Developer conference season is coming to an end with Apple’s WWDC this week, and the main takeaway is that between Google’s “Digital Wellbeing” and Apple’s “Screen Time,” the two biggest smartphone developers are taking some time to discourage smartphone overuse. On the surface, the two companies are taking very similar approaches with the tools they’re offering to present information to users. Apple and Google are both adding new dashboards, with options for more zoomed-out perspectives on how you’re spending your time, along with more granular views of how often you’re…

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‘We’re Designing Minds’: Industry Insider Reveals Secrets Of Addictive App Trade – Technology & Science – CBC News

The average Canadian teenager is on track to spend nearly a decade of their life staring at a smartphone, and that’s no accident, according to an industry insider who shared some time-sucking secrets of the app design trade. CBC Marketplace travelled to Dopamine Labs, a startup in Venice, Calif., that uses artificial intelligence and neuroscience to help companies hook people with their apps. Named after the brain molecule that gives us pleasure, Dopamine Labs uses computer coding to influence behaviour — most importantly, to compel people to spend more time with an app and…

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Updating ‘Briefcase Law’: Defence Lawyers Try To End Warrantless Smartphone Searches At Border – Technology & Science – CBC News

Imagine losing your smartphone or leaving your laptop behind on a train or bus. How much could someone learn about you — your interests, your lifestyle, your habits — based on what they could access on the device? What conclusions could someone make when the photos you’ve taken, the apps you’ve installed and the websites you’ve visited are laid bare? According to the Supreme Court of Canada: quite a few. Unlike a briefcase or a filing cabinet, judges have found, a smartphone can contain “immense amounts of information” that touch a person’s “biographical core.” Read…

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