Canada – The Dial-Up Dungeon ?
It appears that even with the progresses we’ve had in Canada when it comes to the internet that some are still behind.
A quarter million of Canadian internet users still use dial-up according to the Convergence Consulting Group, a large percentage of which are in rural areas according to the CRTC. And of those who subscribe to high speed, only 52% have the necessary speed to download standard definition films.
Though 77% of Canadians are able to access services that are fast enough to stream high definition video content according to the Broadband Report, only 2% use these services. And it is obvious that it is because these services are prohibitively expensive that more Canadians are not subscribed.
Usage based billing has kept most Canadians from using these services to rent and purchase films online. And though the taxpayer is responsible for most of the infrastructure, we are still being told to pay more.
Perhaps the rates might go down once the spectrum management issues are resolved at the CRTC, which could result in the introduction “Super Wifi” into Canada’s major urban centers.
Unfortunately this wireless service could have issues in communities where analog television broadcasts still exist and digital television broadcasts are only mandatory in the major city centers.
The technology is also in its infancy, having only just been introduced in the United States in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Juno Awards 2012
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The 2012 Juno Awards are airing tonight at 8 pm Eastern from Ottawa on CTV Television.
It will be hosted by William Shatner and will feature performances by Blue Rodeo, Feist, deadmau5 and numerous other nominees |
Google Merges Services
Google has merged its Android application, eBook, film rental and cloud services into one service, entitled Google Play.
Canadians with Gmail accounts are able to access Android applications and a limited selection of films and books at the moment. But the online entertainment hub is expected to expand shortly.
The music service on Google Play, which enables users to store up to 20,000 songs on a cloud service that can be accessed by any Android device, is only available to Americans.
Gartner Predicts Higher Online Music Sales
Gartner Research predicts that with the decline of the physical format (like the compact disc) that subscription services and music downloads will flourish.
In a press release issued yesterday the Connecticut based information technology research company estimated that online music sales would reach $6.8 Billion worldwide in 2012 and $7.7 Billion Worldwide by 2015.
The company also predicts a decline in compact disc sales from $15 Billion last year to $10 Billion in 2015.
RIM Announces Blackberry Music
Research In Motion, a.k.a RIM, has published details about their new BBM Music service today.
According to their press release, this new Blackberry Messenger based music service will feature over 45 million recordings from major labels Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI, which will be made available via a cloud service to Blackberry users in Australia, Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, the United Kingdom and the United States.
This Omnifone powered service will allow users to access 50 songs for US$4.99 a month but is currently in beta testing, with a limited amount of users.
Walmart Closing Music Site In States
Walmart will be closing their American music download site on August 29th. But their Canadian music download site, SongSpark, continues to operate.