GROWtalks Montreal and Toronto – Feb 19th & 21st

growtalkstaglineC 320 GROWtalks Montreal and Toronto Feb 19th & 21st

Debbie Landa and the team that produces the GROW Conference announced that they are bringing a piece of GROW to Montreal and Toronto this February. GROWtalks is a conference built for startup teams.  There’s a great list of out of town and local speakers headed out for the one-day conference including Brant Cooper (Co-Author, Lean Entrepreneur), Laura Fitton (HubSpot), Dan Martell (Clarity), Kate Rutter (LUXr), Scott Kveton (Urban Airship), Danielle Morrill (Referly), the original StartupCFO Mark Macleod,  (Real Ventures), Alistair Croll (Solve for Interesting) and Greg Isenberg (fiveby.tv) and more!

It’s a unique opportunity to not only hear these speakers but to have the opportunity to talk to them throughout the day.

Ubergizmo is a media partner  of GrowTalk, and our readers get discounted registration fees:

We’ve been given an exclusive 10% discount to offer on top of the already low startup price available now. Just use this link when buying your tickets and buy before Feb. 1st.

Discount Montrealhttp://growtalks-montreal.eventbrite.com/?discount=UBER

Discount Toronto: http://growtalks-toronto.eventbrite.com/?discount=UBER

Details: GROWtalks Montreal / Toronto
February 19th & 21st, 2013, 10am-4pm
Expecting: 200-300 people
Speakers: 9 Industry leaders
Time: 10am-4pm
Website: www.growtalks.com

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By Ubergizmo. Related articles: WTconference 2013, Munich/ Europe, Startup Weekend Transmedia – San Francisco Feb.1-3,

Little Chilli LA-M1 outshines other QRD-based quad-core budget phones, we go hands-on

Little Chilli's LAM1 outshines other QRDbased quadcore budget phones, we go handson

Spotted outside the auditorium at Qualcomm’s China QRD (Qualcomm Reference Design) Summit earlier today were a handful of — surprise, surprise — QRD-based smartphones from China, several of which featured the Cortex-A5-based quad-core MSM8x25Q announced back in September. The usual suspects were there in the quad-core lot: Yulong had its Coolpad 5890 (EVDO) and Coolpad 7268 (UMTS), along with Hisense’s U958 (UMTS) and Tianyu’s K-Touch U86 (UMTS). These all fall within the so-called “¥1,000 ($160) phone” category and yet they are also gifted with a second SIM slot. But what really got our attention was Beidou’s Little Chilli LA-M1, which also does dual-SIM (UMTS) but packs an OGS gapless IPS display, while the others came with an LCD panel of obviously lesser quality. Read on to learn more about this mysterious phone, as well as checking out our hands-on photos of the other aforementioned quad-core QRD phones.

Here’s a little background: Little Chilli is Beidou’s fairly new brand that attempts to follow Xiaomi’s online retail model, but without supplying a heavily customized version of Android like MIUI. Most of its earlier models didn’t really stand out as they carried almost the same set of components used by other budget phones; but that was until Beidou and ZTE announced their ¥999, Tegra 3-based U950, followed by the Little Chilli Q1 which was officially launched four days ago. The latter went on sale yesterday and the first batch of 20,000 units promptly sold out — not a surprise since it comes with Tegra 3 and a 4.7-inch 720p IPS display for just ¥999 as well.

Giving the Q1’s recent availability, you could say the timing of the LA-M1’s announcement today wasn’t ideal, which is likely why Beidou has yet to mention the price and availability for its newer phone, but we did hear mentions of a sub-¥1,000 on the show floor. That would be pretty decent for the specs we know so far: 4.5-inch 800 x 480 IPS gapless display, MSM8225Q quad-core chip, dual-SIM support, an eight-megapixel main camera (which produced reasonably good photos, from what we could see), a two-megapixel front-facing camera, and Baidu cloud service integration with 15GB of storage for life, plus another 15GB free for one year. No word on battery size nor battery life yet, but our guess is that neither should disappoint.

While it isn’t exactly the most handsome phone on the planet, the M1 that we got to touch actually felt pretty solid, and it ran the native Android 4.1 quite smoothly. So given the choice (and assuming they cost the same), it’s either the M1 with its dual-SIM capability but qHD display, or the Q1 with the 720p display but with just one SIM slot. Regardless, Beidou could be well on its way to become the new Xiaomi (sans the software part), though only time can tell whether it has the reliability and after-sale service to prove it. If not, there’s still plenty of opportunity for others — Qualcomm’s already completed over 170 QRD-based projects, with about 100 more in the pipeline. Watch out, MediaTek!

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WTconference 2013, Munich/ Europe

WT Banner 640 WTconference 2013, Munich/ EuropeThe WTconference is back in Munich on February 4, 2013. Learn what’s next in the realm of Wearable Technologies and meet all key players in this field of technology.

Our famous conference is the biggest networking event within the Wearable Technologies market place. We expect delegates from all over the world to the European version of our conference. You will meet stakeholders from almost all areas of Wearable Technologies – this unique mix of people makes the event very special!

You will hear interesting talks from companies, researchers, developers and artists in the following areas: Sports & Fitness, Health Technology & Products and Consumer & Lifestyle.

Ubergizmo is a media partner of  WTconference and our readers get a 100 euros discount on the registration fee: write the word Ubergizmo in the comment field on the registration page to get it.
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By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Venture Summit Silicon Valley by AlwaysOn – Live Video Streaming, InsideAR Augmented Reality Conference: Munich, Oct 1-2,

Startup Weekend Transmedia – San Francisco Feb.1-3

Start up week end transmedi Startup Weekend Transmedia – San Francisco Feb.1 3

Ever wondered what Don Draper does between two episodes of Mad Men? Most likely, he drinks more whisky, maybe runs errands, meets charming women… Unfortunately we, the audience, will never know for sure since we can only passively witness what the show lets us see through that weekly 40-minute window. Now imagine if you could extend that world beyond the episodes and your TV screen, make it interactive, build additional story lines, mobile apps, games that let viewers choose their own adventure, or connect with the characters! How about doing the same for a game you play with your friends, or a documentary on a real-world issue dear to your heart, or even a marketing stunt for that killer idea you plan on launching?

Welcome to Startup Weekend Transmedia, a Startup Weekend focusing on media, entertainment, and the future of storytelling. Transmedia is a technique of creating a multi-platform universe where each platform supports different story-lines, that serve the main « storyworld ». Transmedia can be applied to entertainment, non-fiction and educational content, advertising and branding…

Ubergizmo is a media partner of Startup Weekend Transmedia, the event will be haled Feb1-3 at PARISOMA in San Francisco. Our readers get a 15% discount on registration fee,  please use the special code « Ubergizmo » when registering on Eventbrite !

Join 60 programmers, art directors, film producers, game designers, developers, advertisers, marketers – to form multidisciplinary teams and prototype transmedia experiences, all in 54 hours. Teams will be coached by industry experts from EA/Bioware, Unit9, Situate, Storify, Mozilla, Zeega, Mixamo and will have the opportunity to pitch and demo their prototype in front of judges from Lucasfilm, AKQA, IDEO.org and the Mayor’s Office of Innovation. Winning prizes include incubation services, goodies, and exclusive access to tools/content from our partners.

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By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Mobile World Congress 2013, Best of CES 2013 @ Ubergizmo,

What Is ARM big.LITTLE?

Big.Little logo What Is ARM big.LITTLE?ARM’s big.LITTLE is a processor technology that you are going to hear a lot about in 2013 as Samsung, Huawei and others promote their 8-core (octo-core) chips used in smartphones, tablets and possibly Chromebooks. There is no doubt that marketing teams will call those chips “8 cores” – because you know, 8 is better than 4, which is better than 2… But these chips aren’t 8-core in the way that most people think about 8-cores, which means 8 cores that work together on a computing task. Instead, big.LITTLE octo-core chips have two sets of four cores, some big, some small (hence the big.LITTLE name), that take turns to execute a task with the most efficient power envelope. Let’s take a closer look:

big.LITTLE overview

big.LITTLE comes from a simple observation: in order to make each processor core faster, they need to get bigger to host more execution units, instruction decoder, cache memory etc… But as chips get bigger, they invariably have more transistors and require more power to maintain or switch state. (more…)

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Mobile World Congress 2013

MWC article header final1 Mobile World Congress 2013
The mobile ecosystem is expanding at lightning speed, with endless innovation and new applications of mobile technology. From contactless payments and augmented reality to embedded devices and connected cities – mobile technology is changing the landscape. The impact mobile will have on the world is limitless.

Even the landscape of Mobile World Congress will look different than it has in the past. While the Mobile World Capital Barcelona remains our host, the event is relocating to a state-of-the-art new facility, Fira Gran Via.

The annual event provides the planet’s best venue for mobile industry networking, new business opportunities and deal-making. Mobile World Congress includes a world-class conference featuring visionary keynotes and action-provoking panel discussions; an exhibition with more than 1,500 companies displaying the cutting-edge products and technologies that define the future of mobile; App Planet, the Centre of the Mobile Apps Universe; mPowered Brands, where marketers and agencies can increase their knowledge of mobile marketing; and the annual Global Mobile Awards ceremony , which recognises the most innovative mobile solutions and initiatives from around the world.

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By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Best of CES 2013 @ Ubergizmo, Venture Summit Silicon Valley by AlwaysOn – Live Video Streaming,

Motorola Electrify M Review

ElectrifyM left 640x367 Motorola Electrify M Review

You might call Motorola ELECTRIFY M a cousin of the RAZR M, RAZR HD, and RAZR Maxx HD. Like its predecessors, the ELECTRIFY M runs on Android and is enclosed in a slim, flat chassis. Under the tagline “compact without compromise,” the new phone hit the stores in late November 2012, just before the Christmas shopping rush began. After the $100 mail-in rebate, your cost for the device is between $99.99 to $149.99. As one of the devices spawned from Google’s May 2012 acquisition of Motorola Mobility, the Electrify M incorporates many notable Google features, such as Google Maps, Google search, Chrome browser, and Google+.

The ELECTRIFY M is a smartphone, intended for more than talking over the airwaves. The 4G LTE service offered with the device at authorized outlets is expected to feed the social media and multimedia addictions of those who check emails, post photos, stream music, find nearby restaurants, and browse Facebook, often all at the same time, from a single device. Is the compact device able to live up to its no-compromise tagline in that respect?

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By Ubergizmo. Related articles: HTC 8X Review, Nokia Lumia 920 Review,

Facebook Graph Search: A Great Strategic Move

facebook search graph screen Facebook Graph Search: A Great Strategic MoveEarlier today, we laid out the basic functionality of the new Graph Search live from the Facebook HQ in Menlo Park. Beyond the new features, it is interesting to look at how this will help Facebook going forward, including monetization. The “business” question was raised during the Q&A sessions and it is completely legitimate, especially when you think about the potential infrastructure cost of running this resource-intensive, 100% personalized, feature. Facebook is known to be a great engineering company, so there is little to worry about how much computing resources will be spent as Facebook will undoubtedly run it efficiently. What’s more interesting is that while Facebook wants to project an image of humility around Graph Search, this is definitely a key launch in the company’s history – here’s why in five points: (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Ubergizmo Launches its Social Reader for Facebook, Samsung Series 5 550 Chromebook Review,

Hands on: Huawei Ascend Mate Review

[CES 2013] Huawei made a splash at CES 2013 by launching two powerful smartphones with state of the art features, the Ascend D2 and the huge 6.1-inch Ascend Mate.
We published about the devices when they were announced on stage on Monday and today, we took the time to upload a few videos showcasing the Huawei new phones.

Following the unsuspected success of the 5.5-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 2, big phones (a.k.a phablets) are on the rise this year, and, at 6.1-inch, the Huawei Ascend mate is now the largest smartphone on the planet.

Beside its gigantic 6.1-inch display, what sets the Ascend Mate apart is its high capacity 4050 mAh battery, which promises to deliver extensive battery life, or to simply compensate for the huge screen size. To date, the Huawei Ascend Mate features the highest capacity battery found in a smartphone: the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 only gets 3,100 mAh while the famous Motorola RAZR Maxx HD gets 3,300 mAh.

I have purchased a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 for my personal use, so I was very curious to get my hands on this Huawei Mate. I have briefly played with the Mate after the Huawei press conference, here is the complete hands-on with my first impressions..

Editor’s note: What’s a “hands-on review”? Unlike reviews that are done in our office/lab, the hands-on reviews are usually our first contact with a device. We try providing as much information about the look and feel along with critical details available at that time. A complete review may follow when the device is actually on the market.
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By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Nokia Purity Pro Wireless Headset by Monster – Demo at GDGT, Android Mind Blowing Numbers at Mobile Loco,

CES 2013: Auto roundup

CES 2013 Auto roundup

Every year at CES, the focus on autos and the tech they’re outfitted with grabs a fair share of the attention in Las Vegas. This installment was no different. While several companies trotted out their latest infotainment wares, the self-driving debate nabbed a prime spot as Toyota and Audi both offered show-and-tells on tech that looks to aid drivers rather than do all of the work for them. As we’ve come to expect, a wealth of infotainment systems were also on display with a couple in particular grabbing our attention. Not to be overlooked, devs received a number of notable invites to create system-specific offerings this time out. For a full rundown of the highlights, read on past the break for a brief synopsis.

Continue reading CES 2013: Auto roundup

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