Robert Whent

Microsoft launched their first Windows-based smartphone operating system in October 2001. That's right. Pocket PC 2002, code named "Merlin", was released 11 years ago and thus began Microsoft's mobile odyssey.

Aesthetically based on Windows XP, Microsoft diehards flocked to the new devices that sported the familiar...

In 1991, I registered my multimedia company's URL, www.mcgill.com, with little issue or fanfare. The world's first URL was only registered six years earlier in 1985, and domain names were still fairly new. In fact, it wasn't until years later that I got an email from McGill University...

I wasn't a particularly good student when I was a kid. In grade school, I had a lot of problems with math, and to a lesser extent reading and writing. It didn't matter how much I tried, I just couldn't get it. I couldn't seem to grasp concepts that most...

We have all heard that music is good for your soul, but can it be good for brain as well? A group of Canadian scientists who specialize in learning, memory and language in children think so. They have found evidence that pre-schoolers can improve their verbal intelligence after only 20...

I have always been amazed how fast Apple brings new products to market, often before the shine has worn off the previous model. The iPad is a great example of this (I just bought my wife an iPad 2 at Christmas). Apple released the first iPad in April 2010 (yes...

Assistive technology products can enable people with disabilities to accomplish everyday living tasks, help them in communication, education, work, or recreation activities. They help them achieve greater independence and enhance their quality of life. These devices can help improve physical or mental functioning, help overcome a disorder or...

Just as we are getting accustomed to seeing (and using) QR Codes, I learned recently that they will soon be extinct. And about time I say. First of all, QR codes are big and ugly. They look like someone squashed an ink-blooded spider on a page with a...

As we all eagerly await Facebook's Initial Public Offering (IPO), I can't help but to think that history is going to repeat itself. Anyone that saw the movie The Social Network knows that Facebook was started as an impromptu Internet dating site by Mark Zuckerberg -- a...

In 2003, I was visiting some business colleagues in the Netherlands when I heard of a new technology with a funny name: Skype. It was like a telephone, but you plugged it into your laptop and you could "call" other people that had the same software. I was...

If Sir Issac Newton was alive today, I bet he'd rue the day that darn apple fell to the ground. In fact, if his smartphone fell from that tree, the screen would have shattered and he would have been so mad that I'm sure he would have never invented gravity!!

Being a gadget guy, I was surprised (and impressed) when I learned last year that my father-in-law bought a 3D TV before I did. To be fair, I didn't have any room for a new TV (which hasn't stopped me before) and I was a little leery of the longevity...

You know when you type in a URL into your web browser and it comes up with a high-resolution image of R2-D2 that this is going to be a fun place to shop. www.hammacher.com does just that. Geeks everywhere rejoice.

Hammacher Schlemmer began as a hardware store in...

I started off 2011 with a shiny new BlackBerry Torch (and loved it) and set my sights on getting the first PlayBook Tablet on my block by pre-ordering (and pre-paying) for one online. They guaranteed that I would get it via priority post on April 19, the actual release date...

I have already established myself as a Gadget Guy. My gadgets usually use digital files (mp3 files, mp4, etc.), create digital files (JPG and AVI/MOV files) or let me create other things using digital files (DVD's, Blu-Ray, etc.). Every year these digital files get bigger and bigger. So two years...

Is it a small tablet or a big smartphone? That's what you will be asking yourself when you see the latest electronic marvel from Samsung. The new Samsung Galaxy Note builds on the success of the Galaxy SII, the best smartphone released in 2011, and comes...

When I started McGill Digital Solutions in the fall of 1987, Kodak was one of the world's largest and most profitable companies. Kodak was as American as apple pie (or as Canadian as the Beaver), and had cemented itself into our psyche. Everyone has had a...

Ok I admit it -- I'm a Gadget Guy. A Gadget Guy is loosely defined (by me) as a person that has to have the latest electronic device or they simply won't be able to sleep at night.
This has been a lifelong affliction of mine. I think...