Research in Motion co-founders Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis are out as co-CEOs and Thorsten Heins is in. But has the leadership track at the company really changed? In his first interviews with media, Heins said he was going to stay the course set by the old BlackBerry bosses. That may surprise some, given the company's tumultuous year. We asked some of our friends in the Canadian technology and mobility scene to play armchair CEO and give their advice to Heins. Click through the slideshow to see what they had to say.

I've scoured the Internet to find some of the best USB chargers around including ones you can install at home, take with you on the plane, or use to charge up while you're at the office or waiting in an airport lounge. Check them out.

Every year at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, tech vendors show off the products they plan to release to market in the year ahead. It's like the Superbowl for tech geeks, and one place where the latest advancements in North America's consumer-grade gadgetry is on display. But there are some products that go beyond one step advancment, that stop CES show-goers in their tracks as they walk by the booth to pick their jaws up off the floor. Here's the most futuristic technology we came across at this year's CES.

BlackBerry PlayBook owners seeking the latest and greatest mobile apps for their Research In Motion (RIM) tablets need look no further. The following downloads are sure to find a happy home on your PlayBook, and most of them can be yours without dropping a dime.

It was another big year for tech news in Canada and around the world. 2011 saw the passing of tech legends including Apple chairman Steve Jobs and Unix inventor Dennis Ritchie, it saw the acquisition of some notable Canadian startups like Radian6 by Salesforce.com, and the growing popularity of tablets as Apple and Google found success with their platforms while HP and RIM struggled with theirs.

Why carry a cellphone when you can wear one instead? Direct from China, the SM W950 CeCll Phone Watch harks back to the 2-Way Wrist Radio that Dick Tracy sported beneath his mustard-yellow trenchcoat. One version of this wearable quad-band phone comes with a 1.2-inch color LCD, a 0.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0, a speaker, and an earphone headset. Another edition has slightly better specs, including a 1.3-inch OLED touchscreen and a 3-megapixel camera. Take a call, and you'll be rocking that Crimestoppers' Textbook look.

For executive road warriors and super-busy CEOs, the iPhone has become indispensable. Here are 15 must-have free and paid business apps that tap into the great mobile experience and keep executives productive all day long.

Hard to believe, but once again it's time to put together our holiday wish lists. Here are 20 of our favorite products submitted and tested and "Cool Yule Elf" approved.

Who better to ask about how to make Toronto the next Silicon Valley than the talented tech tycoons that once lived in this city, but have gone on to succeed internationally? You'd be surprised at the Torontonians that are now making waves in the tech industry abroad, or have returned home after a stint in the U.S. to work here. We asked 11 of these tech executives how Toronto could succeed as an ICT hub.

Google's side projects tend to have a forward focus. The company pours resources into researching everything from space elevators to robots--and, of course, pinpointing what all of us will be doing or using in the future. Let's take a look at ten items that Google is putting resources into developing.

Windows 3.x introduced the "Blue Screen of Death" to an ungrateful nation. Windows ME was such a dog it came with its own fleas. (We won't even discuss Microsoft Bob.)

Last year, to mark our 10th anniversary, ITBusiness.ca began surveying the IT strategies of Canadian businesses. This year, we marked Small Business Month by delving deeper into the habits of small businesses around the country in the second annual State of the Canadian SMB survey report. What we discovered by studying 300 businesses is that although they vary in size and scope, they have some telling views on IT and its role in their businesses. From smartphones to social media, what are small businesses saying?

Every Halloween, we grab the best knife in the house and happily plunge it into a large pumpkin in a bizarre act of ritual vegetable carving. It's an occassion that only comes around once a year for Halloween, so the staff at IT World Canada decided to seize the day and pay homage to the technology people, companies, and themes that shape our daily news coverage.

From a Steve Jobs tribute to a mean-looking Angry Birds face, we hope you enjoy these "Tech-O-Lanterns."

The latest version of iOS for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch devices is now available for download with more than 200 new features including revamped notifications, a new messaging app, wireless sync and background updates for periodical subscriptions.

Apple's iPhone 4S looks exactly like the iPhone 4 on the outside, but that doesn't mean there's nothing new to see in the latest from Cupertino. Here's a visual tour of all the news from Apple's 2011 iPhone event.

Your Twitter stream is lighting up with buzz, tech publications are examining every rumour with a microscope, and your office bandwidth is getting bogged down as everyone tunes into the live stream. It's time for the latest cool tech product announcement, and you can't help but get swept up in the hype around it. Until you remember that you live in Canada, and that product probably won't be getting to a retailer near you until weeks or months later - if ever.

Canada's most popular social network has reworked the way its users will interact with the service. It has replaced the user profile as the main place to learn about a person with timeline view, which highlights more important posts and buries less significant ones. It has also unveiled new ways to interface with apps, and more controls over who you share your content with. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the changes at f8, its developers event, in San Francisco on Sept. 22.

Microsoft pulled back the curtain on its Windows 8 operating system at its BUILD conference in Anaheim, Calif. Steven Sinofsky, president of Windows Live division, took glee in telling a room full of developers they'd each receive a Samsung tablet loaded with Windows 8 to use as a development tool for a year, complete with a wireless data plan from AT&T. Microsoft's latest operating system looks to bridge the gap between the workstation on your desk and the tablet slipped into your brief case. It will support both high-powered processors such as Intel's Core i5 and lower-powered processors for mobile devices like ARM.

Research in Motion is the most beleagured mobile phone maker on the market these days. Its stock has taken a beating after losing market share to Apple and Android phones, down from a peak of $69 in February to the mid-20s. Industry sentiment is that the BlackBerry-maker needs to pull an impressive product out of its hat to regain investor confidence and win back users. With BlackBerry 7 OS, the fastest and sleekest BlackBerrys ever made are hitting the market now, and RIM is planning another revamp to its device lineup early next year. But are the offerings impressive enough to return this company to prosperity?

CWith Facebook's valuation approaching $100 billion, Twitter somewhere between $3 and $10 billion, and LinkedIn's IPO skyrocketing its valuation up around $10 billion, you might think that operating a social network is a licence to print money these days. But the social networking business model of providing a free service and drawing in a wide audience isn't always easy to monetize."

You just got your hands on a Google+ invite -but what next? Check out these 10 tips to get you started on Google's new social network."

The iPad isn't just for consumer-driven entertainment people also want iPads so they can be more productive. Already great iPad productivity tools have emerged, chief among them, Quickoffice and Dropbox.Some apps straddle work-life balance, such as Evernote, which can be used to take both personal and business notes and voice memos.

Cleaning all your data off a hard drive is harder than you think. Most people think typing "Format C:/" into their command prompt or using built-in Windows tools is good enough to get the job done, but the reality is that data can still be recovered with the right auditing tools. Staples recently came under the scruitiny of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada's office for selling used computers and storage devices with old customer data still on the drive. The lesson learned here is if you want data wiped from your drive, you'd best do it yourself - and do a good job of it too. Here's some tools, tips, and tricks to total data destruction. After you read this slideshow, you'll wipe your data and think "that was easy."

The most popular mobile games, like Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja and Plants vs Zombies, may not be available for your BlackBerry PlayBook yet--Research In Motion (RIM) recently announced that Angry Birds will eventually be released for PlayBook--but that doesn't mean you can't have any fun with your new tablet. Here are ten mobile games, many of which are free, guaranteed to find a happy home on your PlayBook.

Google's free suite of Web-pased productivity tools are a boon for many small businesses. They offer free applications that can be accessed remotely from just about any Internet-connected device. But what happens when your business needs more than basic word processing and spread sheets? Turn to the Google Apps Marketplace to find a bonanza of add-ons that will extend your capabiilty. Many of these tools allow small teams to use them for free. Here's our list of the 10 most powerful add-ons available.

As part of the 10th Anniversary of ITBusiness.ca celebration, we look at some of the technology stories and trends that have had a major impact on both consumers and businesses since 2001.

Whether it's calling each other out on Twitter, blogging about campaign stops, giving rally attendees the boot because of Facebook profile photos, or starting their own social networks - it's a whole new ball game for the game of political one-upsmanship.

Updates to the interface. New features. Opt-in vs. opt-out. Keeping up with Facebook's constantly evolving landscape—and the way it impacts the security and privacy of your account—can be a challenge.

As it turns out, Windows Vista really wasn't all that slow; and no, your PC probably won't fry if you open it up without wearing a wrist strap. Thanks in large part to the Internet, the tech world is teeming with lies, half-truths, and misinformation. We've dug up some of the Web's most notorious nuggets of conventional wisdom to see which hold up to scrutiny and which are merely urban legends.

Apple met expectations on March 2 in San Francisco when it unveiled the iPad 2 at its live event. There's a few things that are staying the same as the original iPad - the same pricing structure, the same levels of storage options, and the same screen size and resolution. But there's a lot that's different about the device - cameras, output options, device design and new apps. The tablet is hitting the U.S. market March 11 and will launch in Canada March 25, along with 25 other countries.

ITBusiness.ca at the Canadian International Auto Show IT is finding its way into new car models, making your ride to work more closely mirror an episode of Knight Rider each year. In 2011, cars on display at the Canadian International Auto Show come with software based on Microsoft technology, and support voice-activated usage, internet connectivity, and in-car navigation. We looked at the new in the latest cars from Ford, GM, Jaguar, Kia and Mercedes. Watch out for our videos on the auto show coming soon.

Monitor Who's Viewed Your Profile On the right side of your homepage, look for a box called "Who's Viewed My Profile." Click that link to see a statistics page that shows who has viewed your profile in the last week, such as "Someone at XYZ company" or "Someone in the Greater Boston Area." You'll only view more-detailed descriptions if you are a paid LinkedIn member.

Steve Jobs Teardown. Techies love a good teardown, especially one with pictures. Engineers, for instance, love ripping off a tech gadget's exterior and exposing the parts. With Steve Jobs taking his second medical leave from Apple last week, we take a look at what makes one of the most famous CEOs so successful.

We braved the CES crowds, battled long lines, and even suffered food poisoning. Was it worth it? Hell, yeah! We loved it all, even this collection of CES misfit gadgets, show floor blunders, and industry let-downs. Hey, you can't win them all.

The annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas has become the place for tech companies to show off their latest gadgets and build up hype around new products. This year, it seems every hardware company wants to cash in on the success Apple has experienced with its iPad, and there's a plethora of tablets on the show floor. From Cisco's Cius to Motorola's Xoom, here's a collection of some of the more interesting devices.

The iPad has made its way from the living room coffee table to the meeting tables in executive board rooms since its Canadian launch earlier this year. Business users are embracing Apple's tablet as an easy-to-use and reliable tool to stay productive while on the go. But the apps you'll need to turn your iPad into a workhorse can be expensive. It seems more screen real estate means more expensive apps, as most items in the App Store are more expensive for the iPad than the iPhone. But there's many free alternatives that can likely get the job done, so take a look at our guide before you open up your wallet.

It's that time of year again: cold, ugly weather; holiday shopping amongst hordes of mad bargain hunters; travel; and -- have mercy -- family get-togethers. Thankfully, your BlackBerry smartphone can ease the pain -- with a bit of assistance from your mobile-minded pal Al, that is.

The 2010 holiday season is seeing an explosion of smartphones on the market and a greater variety of devices and platforms than ever before. There's the familiar players - BlackBerry, Android and iPhone devices - and new competitors such as Windows Phone 7, Symbian^3 and HP's newly acquired webOS. These 10 phones represent the flagship models of each brand, all offering high-resolution touch screens and many offering tempting multimedia features such as HD video recording, HDMI output, and high-quality cameras. Also, there's a phone with a kickstand. See which smartphone you'd want stuffed into the toe of your stocking.

Self-driving cars might seem like a thing of the future, but not anymore. In October, Google revealed that it had, in fact, developed technology for cars that can drive themselves.

Business tech is advancing rapidly, and a select group of products is leading the charge. So what's new? Cloud-based office suites and file sharing, touchscreen tablets, and videoconferencing are at the forefront of today's workplace transformation. If you're looking for a quick productivity boost, consider the offerings in this slideshow.

Research in Motion announced a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet Sept. 27 that will do battle with Apple's iPad and the Samsung Galaxy Tab early next year when it becomes available. The BlackBerry PlayBook debuted at the BlackBerry developers conference DevCon. PlayBook will have an immediate advantage over the iPad and Galaxy Tab when it comes to wooing business users who already are familiar with the BlackBerry mobile operating system.

There's no better proof of an app's popularity than add-ins that extend its power. Since Gmail is web-based, add-ins for web browsers can extend it in various ways. Free downloads can help you manage address books, maintain to-do lists and simplify mailing chores such as sending attachments. As Gmail has evolved, it has made many add-ins obsolete by incorporating their functions. Some simply no longer work properly. Here though are 10 tools that could still improve your Gmailing experience.

From confusing error messages to unfixable paper jams, today's office printer is a source of frustration and angst. This is why we hate you, office printer. And yet we can't quit you, either.

Research in Motion launched its new BlackBerry 9800 Torch at a New York event with much fanfare, dubbing it the "best BlackBerry ever." But many commentators have pointed out the latest offering from the Waterloo, Ont.-based smartphone maker isn't exactly innovative. It seems to have borrowed ideas that have helped other successful phone companies steal away market share over the last couple of years. The Torch is very different from the BlackBerrys of the past, but its very similar to several other popular smartphones on the market (namely one that starts with a lowercase "i").

The mercury may be pushing 40 c in Toronto, but that hasn't stopped some tech firms from dreaming of snowdrifts and cool holiday tech gear. Here is a sneak peek at what they'll be pushing in December.Though many of the products on show are available now, others are still months away from endangering your credit card.

Hot on the heels of the iPad launch, Steve Jobs took to the stage once again to pull back the curtain on the iPhone 4.0 OS. Like the previous major OS upgrade, this one contains more than 100 new user features, including multi-tasking, music playlist creation, and...

3D TVs may have just hit the market in Canada but it isn’t the first technology to delve into the third dimension.

Canada has two new wireless competitors on the scene. Both Wind Mobile and Public Mobile opened doors over the past four months.

The launch of a new HSPA network -- shared by Bell Canada and Telus Mobility -- has shaken up Canada's wireless landscape. The faster network is on par with Rogers' network launched...

Ontario becomes the latest jurisdiction to deploy a ban on handheld electronic devices for drivers. The province joins Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador...

ITBusiness.ca is lead through Symantec's high-tech, worldwide malware tracking center by Grant Geyer, vice-president of global managed services, Symantec. The Alexandria, Va.-based operations centre is 1 of 4 in the world -- the others reside in India...

The new iPhone 3GS is Apple’s third iteration of the super-popular mobile device. It might look the same as the iPhone 3G at first, but many incremental improvements and handy new features are packed into this handheld. Check them out...

In this down economy, businesses are receiving hundreds of applications each day – most from unqualified candidates. Even if you are qualified, creating a generic résumé, cover letter & list of references is not the way to catch human resource's attention.

In these tough times, capitalizing on the marketing potential of free social media sites, such as Facebook, can be a smart move. Doing so helps you to communicate with customers, build brand loyalty, and win valuable new business.

Increased workloads – because of widespread layoffs – are triggering workplace stress, anxiety and depression. Many knowledge workers worry about their own future and that's compounding the problem.

The arrival of Windows 7 beta operating system (OS), is giving IT managers a lot to consider. Upgrade to Vista now to simplify the move to Windows 7, wait for Windows 7, try a mix of both options...

Google's latest application, Latitude, helps you keep tabs on everyone in your network by using your smart phone or laptop GPS, Wi-Fi and mobile phone signals to place you and your contact’s location on a map. Here are the top nine ways you can use...

Find out what top chief information officers think you should wear to your job interview as revealed to CIO.com at the Hiring Manager Q & A Series.

Twitter is a business tool that allows you to listen in on discussions about your brand, converse with early adopters, and interact with customers. Here are five ways to get the most out of your "tweets." - by Logan Kugler, Computer World

Canada's new National Do Not Call (NDNC) Registry is set to go live on September 30. It's a time for Canadians tormented by telemarketing calls to rejoice, and businesses/individuals who make such calls to be very wary.

So it's time to pay homage where homage is due. Here's our take on the 50 most important people in the recent history of technology--the most critical players (including a few forgotten heroes) who've been instrumental in crafting the last 50 years of technical...

Our opinion doesn't have to be the last word on the subject, however. If you have additional nominees who deserve recognition, or if you want to chime in to agree with or reminisce about or rail against our choices, please add a comment to let us know.

To their credit, tech vendors have implemented recycling programs and are starting to provide their customers with information on how to become more "green." At the political level, governments such as the European Union are passing tougher legislation for...

Everyone can attest to how the IT industry has changed their lives but until more recently most people didn't think about the toll it was taking on the environment. To find out how green the IT industry truly is, CDN interviewed 20 experts across the ...

When it comes to personal data protection, some companies are having difficulty fulfilling their obligations properly. Here are a few ideas and some advice to enable you to properly manage sensitive...