Here are a few things that caught my interest in the past couple days.
iPad OS 13 from a first timer
Yesterday I put down some of my thoughts about using iPad OS 13 on a day to day basis.
Alberta’s Premier Accuses Federal Government of Holding Up Fix for Contact Tracing App in Misleading Statement
Alberta Premier Jason Kenny accused the federal government of not allowing the province to work with Google and Apple to implement a fix for the iOS version of the province’s contact tracing app. This led to very flashy headlines, which is what I’m sure the Premier was going for. However, it was a very misleading statement.
The system that Apple and Google built has been limited to one application per country that must be delivered by the health regulator of that country. This is done to ensure the API is only accessed by a single app, and there are not multiple apps trying to gather the same information, which can cause issues. The federal government is developing a country wide contact tracing app using the Google and Apple system, which means that the provinces and territories cannot use that system themselves. New Brunswick had to scrap a contact tracing app it says was days away from release after the Federal Government started working on a national app.
Premier Kenny’s statement does not inform the public the reason *why* the province cannot use the Google and Apple system. He is instead using the public’s lack of general understanding of how the systems work to score political points.
Oppo Announces new 125W Charging System for Phones
You’ve probably never heard of the company Oppo. It is a company based out of China, and sells a lot of phones in Asia. The company has announced a new charging system for their phones that can charge at up to 125W of power. This translates to charging a phone from 0 to 41% in 5 minutes, and can fully charge a dead phone in about 20 minutes. This is accomplished by essentially putting three small batteries into a phone, and charging them in parallel at roughly 40W each.
As battery technology advances very slowly as the industry literally runs into limits of physics, these types of advancements are exciting. If we can’t make batteries last significantly longer in the short term, faster charging is a way to mitigate that.
It isn’t likely that your next phone will have this, but I really hope we see more technologies like this hitting soon.
The Average Cost of Charging an Electric Vehicle is $277 in Canada
A report out that uses the average price of electricity in various countries around the world has used that data to extrapolate the estimated cost of charging an electric vehicle, and the figure in Canada is about $277 per year. Canada was one of the cheapest in the world, largely due to the fact that electricity in Canada is relatively inexpensive compared to many other places in the world.
Electric Vehicles are definitely still a more expensive purchase than gas vehicles, but they promise much lower operating costs over the life of the vehicle. For example, before COVID, I probably spent about $80/month in gas for my Mazda 3, which translates to $960 per year. That means that it costs about 3.5x the amount for a gas car compared to electric.
Google Play Pass Expands to Canada
Google has expanded its Play Pass subscription service to several new countries, Canada included. The subscription service costs $34.99 per year, and gives subscribers access to a library of Android Apps and Games. There are a number of notable games in this service, and it might be worth checking out.
Lego Announces a Lego Nintendo Entertainment System
Lego has shown off a new set that recreates the original Nintendo Entertainment System. The set includes a Lego version of the Console, a Lego game cartridge that you can insert into the console, and a Lego TV that actually has a hand crank that moves a Lego Mario through a recreation of the first level of the first Super Mario Bros. game.
The set does not come cheap, at $229 USD, and that put it out of my price range. But I want it.
I want it so bad.
So. Bad.