Tag: transit

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Canadian-developed game Lego Star Wars Castaways takes home Apple Design Awards

The Oscars of app design happen once per year during Apple’s WWDC (Worldwide Developer Conference) event, and in 2022, two Canadian teams were nominated for awards.

There are multiple categories for both games and apps at the show, and the Montreal-based Transit app was nominated in the ‘Interaction’ category.

In the ‘Visuals and Graphics’ category, Apple Arcade-exclusive Lego Star Wars Castaways took home the top award. This game hails from the Gameloft studios in Montreal.

Lego Star Wars Castaways with creative director Jacques Durand

Lego Star Wars Castaways started out with Jacques Durand’s vision to make a Lego game with an environment that looked more like the Lego Movie and less like the popular Lego games from the developer Travellers Tales.

Durand said he was the perfect lead on this project as he’s a self-professed AFOL (adult fan of Lego). He’s been playing with the Danish toys for years and even dipped his toes into the Lego stop motion scene.

However, turning an idea for a Lego Star Wars world game unlike anything that’s been done before into a reality was a big task for his Gameloft studio. In that regard, Durand praised his team in Montreal for being able to adapt and develop engine parts and optimizations to create a world that looks like it’s made entirely out of Lego.

When asked what the main element was that led to his team winning, Durand responded with a simple, “It’s the love of the brick.”

He continued on, explaining that his team is full of passionate Lego fans and developers who all embraced this digital Lego challenge and pushed hard to make sure that the game not only looks good but also feels realistically built of Lego.

Transit and lead designer Sam Vermette

Before the event, I was able to catch up with Sam Vermette, the co-founder and lead designer of Transit, to talk about his app and what being at the Design Awards meant to him and his team.

If you’re unfamiliar with Transit, it’s an app that’s been around for a long time. Since its redesign in 2018, it’s been a fantastic example of easy-to-navigate interfaces that are straightforward enough to be read and understood at a glance.

Vermette told me that the Transit team has been making jokes about being nominated for an App Design Award for years, so the fact that he was actually at the event was a dream come true. However, it didn’t happen by accident. Vermette is a huge mapping nerd and has a background in industrial design. He decided to get into app development when the first iPhone equipped with an App Store was released, and he realized how personal and essential our devices would become.

Since then, he’s stepped back from development to focus more on app design, but those life experiences have still boiled down to helping him create the easy-to-use Transit app that’s still so popular today.

When asked about what makes Transit a top-tier design, Vermette said he’s proud of everything from the local transit colour matching feature to the easy-to-read design. However, Transit’s firm focus on one-handed use and the ability to swipe down to go back is what he thinks helped push transit into the upper echelon of transit apps.

Unfortunately, Transit didn’t win in its category, but Vermette told me he’s been able to talk to the winning team’s designer, who said that Transit was a significant inspiration for Slopes, a ski and snowboard app.

Full list of apps at the awards

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Metrolinx puts plan to electrify rail through Guelph, Ontario on hold

Metrolinx says it’s paused plans to electrify its rail line through Guelph, Ontario.

The transit agency confirmed the decision in an email to CBC News, stating that it was made, in part, because the rail corridor from Bramalea through Georgetown is owned by CN Rail. Therefore, it’s required to provide both freight and passenger train service, thus conflicting with the electrification plans.

Metrolinx also says that it’s been unable to find a site for a traction power substation after looking at nine possible locations. Per the company, none of them met its technical requirements, while they all had significant impacts on nearby communities.

Interestingly, Metrolinx told CBC News that it announce the pause way back in January through its blog, newsletters and the Metrolinx Engage platform. However, both Guelph councillor Phil Allt and one other Guelph resident told CBC News that this is the first they’ve heard of the news.

Metrolinx’s broader electrification plans include the Barrie, Lakeshore, Stouffville, and Kitchener lines. The company intends for construction to begin sometime in 2022 or 2023.

Image credit: Flickr — David McCormack

Source: CBC News

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Samsung test uses mmWave 5G to boost Wi-Fi speeds on Seoul subway

Samsung has announced that it successfully tested a way to improve Wi-Fi service on fast-moving subway trains using 5G mmWave for backhaul.

The company ran a trial in South Korea, demonstrated that 5G could help significantly boost legacy Wi-Fi service in crowded, public settings. According to a press release from Samsung, the test saw Wi-Fi downlink speeds of 1.8Gbps using a Galaxy S21 Ultra on a moving subway train, an impressive 25 times faster than the current average of 71Mbps.

Samsung used its ‘Compact Macro‘ hardware to help boost Wi-Fi speeds using the ultra-high capacity of 5G mmWave. The test covered five stations on the subway line through downtown Seoul. It also used 800Mhz of the 28GHz spectrum band.

As a quick refresher, spectrum refers to radio wave frequencies used by cellular networks to transmit data to and from mobile devices. With 5G, mmWave represents high-capacity but low-range spectrum — you can read more about the differences between mmWave and Sub-6 5G here.

While Samsung’s test is certainly impressive, it could be a long time before we see anything like that here in Canada. First, Canadian carriers have only just gained access to some Sub-6 5G spectrum and it’ll be a while before Canadians start getting access to it — mmWave remains even further away.

And if that wasn’t enough, the Big Three still refuse to offer service in Toronto’s TTC subway lines because the city contracted BAI Canada to manage connectivity. Along with free Wi-Fi through TConnect, BAI worked with Shaw’s Freedom Mobile to bring service to customers on the TTC, while Rogers, Bell and Telus previously indicated they’d rather install their own systems than use BAI’s.

BAI could install the Samsung hardware itself, but since it leverages 5G backhaul to boost speeds, the company would likely need a 5G-capable carrier partner too.

Source: Samsung

Categories
Nouvelles quotidiennes

Canada Drops Flight Restrictions

A multitude of prior restrictions imposed on European airliners for their Canada-bound flights have been done away with, opening up a new era of air travel between the old continent and the land of the maple leaf.

Previously, a European airline was only allowed to fly to Canada from a local airport within its home country, but was not allowed to pick up connecting flights in another country. For example, an Air France flight could not stop in Brussels, Belgium before heading to a Canadian airport. Rather, it was mandatory that the connecting flight be taken within the country’s own borders, such as Paris or Nice.

This new agreement signed by Canada and the European Union lifts the binding restrictions, and permits the majority of European airlines to fly to Canada, no matter where they take off from beforehand.

For passengers, the aviation deal would allow them to avoid going through second security checks during flight transfers, which are annoying and cumbersome for travelers going from one continent to another.

 

Categories
Mode et accessoires

Spring in Canada

Spring, formerly known as Transit, will be opened around Canada.  The negotiations for this project started three years ago.  In the last few days the project has been finalized.

Aldo would like to reach urban consumers, offering a product that is reasonably priced.  There will be 121 Spring stores in Canada, 17 in the United States, and 38 other boutiques in six other countries.  Each boutique has 250 styles for women, and 125 for men.