UK’s Telegraph recently wrote a piece on the demise of wearable technology. With Nike confirming that they are closing the digital division that brought us the FuelBand, the thought amongst media is that such devices may have seen their last breath.
However, I for one, refuse to believe this. The Pebble smartwatch is still widely popular. And Samsung continues to build their smart device capabilities. Not to mention, everyone seems to agree that Apple will soon launch their iWatch.
Last week I was an official guest of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) in Taipei. As part of my visit, I had the opportunity to visit 4 different technology companies. One of them was XYZprinting.
XYZprinting is attempting to disrupt the 3D printer marketplace with their new line of 3D printers. I wrote a piece for itbusiness.ca about my visit last week. If you’re a fan of the whole “maker movement” this might be an article that you enjoy. I hope you like it.
Social writing platform and writer’s network Wattpad has been at it for a while now, and they’ve quietly amassed a massive user base that engages regularly with the site, posting their own stories and reading the stories of others, all the while engaging with one another through feedback, criticism and support. Now, the startup has raised a Series C round of funding worth $46 million, led by OMERS Ventures, and including August Capital, Raine Ventures and Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund, and all of the company’s existing investors
According to a job listing obtained by VentureBeat, Uber plans to pay bike couriers between $20 and $30 per hour for “on-demand deliveries.” Uber plans to give couriers a free iPhone 4S, allowing them to “receive pickup requests from nearby customers.”
Every quarter I have the opportunity to help plan and attend a local community coffee lounge organized by the Willowdale Jamatkhana in Toronto. The purpose of these “lounges” are to inspire young professionals to want to strive towards excellence in their careers while also inspiring them to look overseas for service opportunities.
This quarter’s speaker was former Rogers CEO, Nadir Mohamed.
Nadir Mohamed
Nadir spoke for about 25 minutes but stuck around for well over an hour more answering questions and talking to young Ismaili professionals.
Here are a few points which I remember from this past weekend’s event:
– Nadir does not consider his story to be a rags to riches one. He feels he led a charmed life and has been blessed with luck as his parents struggled to provide him with all the best things in life.
– Strongly advocates that his time volunteering with the Vancouver Ismaili community provided him with a foundation based on values.
– Has never considered himself to be the smartest in the room. but was smart enough to always look for the smartest person.
– In order to make changes that might seem tough (personally or for the company) they must be simple to understand.
– Nadir also shared some “inside baseball” stories on how Rogers entered the wireless industry, purchased Microcell and even snapped the NHL away from the CBC. However, these stories are better told than read as I don’t want to mis-interpret anything he said. 🙂
