Technology
AI, cloud, data, security and developer stories outside of finance.
What Does ‘Profit’ Mean? Apparently, Anything You Want
With increased pressure to perform, startups are scrambling to demonstrate financial viability, even if that means redefining the word ‘profit.’
June 21, 2016Pizza Menus, Rebounds, and Blood Sugar: 3 Watson Use Cases
What you get out of a computer is only as good as what you put in. But what happens if you’re feeding a computer that learns and reasons?
June 14, 2016Analytics4Life Takes The Stress Out Of Coronary Artery Disease Tests
Startup based in Kingston, Ontario, is attempting to develop a straightforward method for diagnosing coronary artery disease, using machine learning through with physiological information conventionally considered valueless.
June 8, 2016VIDEO: Cognitive Technology Needs the Cloud
IBM’s Watson can digest and reason through information, and come up with solutions. This allows startups to offer their customers APIs like natural language processing without the obstacles that prevent easy, robust and responsive user experiences.
June 5, 2016‘Life is Good’ For Simpler Startups
While many startups may have a desire to change the world, tackling a small problem can be a simpler, more viable route to success.
June 2, 2016VIDEO: IBM’s Watson Offers Cognitive Technology Out of the Box
Watch our recent interview with IBM’s Nevil Knupp, Vice President of Cloud, IBM Canada. He explains how the cognitive capabilities of IBM Watson can be a ‘call’ away for startups via IBM's Bluemix platform. Apps developed on the platform can make requests from Watson, giving startups access to functions that analyze data streams or translate text into language that either a machine or another person can understand.
May 28, 2016How QoC Health Simplifies Patient Empowerment
Working as a business-to-business service provider, the company has built a powerful API platform that can scale digital health ideas, including patient monitoring, analytics, and turnkey integration with existing medical records.
May 26, 2016VIDEO: IBM’s Ontario Research Consortium Partnership
This innovation model, facilitating collaboration between IBM, academic institutions, Ontario Centre of Excellence, and SMEs aims to help establish Ontario as a leading global centre for driving innovation in information technology, health, and urban infrastructure (water, energy, transportation).
May 24, 2016What IBM’s Watson Thinks of HBO’s Game of Thrones Characters
We coded a scraper and extracted from Wikiquote the dialogue of several main Game of Thrones characters. We then unleashed Watson’s Tone Analyzer — a tool for understanding the emotional impact of text — to assess five core emotions, as well as overall emotional stability, confidence, and agreeableness.
May 20, 2016Agriculture. Healthcare. Real Estate: Three IBM Bluemix Use Cases
The PlantID3 mobile app is used by agricultural professionals to monitor crop health. SwiftPad lets patients take a photo of their prescription and send it to their pharmacy; they get real-time feedback on when their medication is ready and can opt to have it delivered. 4D Virtual Space replaces floor plans for real estate developers. All three of these solutions rely on IBM Bluemix.
May 19, 2016/newsrooms Launches TechPortfolio to Cover Economic Value of Startup Ecosystems
TechPortfolio will use IBM Cloud and cognitive technologies, including data and machine learning, as part of its journalistic approach to deliver insights relevant to the companies, startups and governments involved in the global startup ecosystem.
May 16, 2016Most-Read Stories About Funding for Canadian Startups
Funding for U.S. startups in this year’s first quarter fell 25 percent from the fourth quarter of 2015 to $13.9 billion, the largest quarterly decline on record since the dot-com bust, according to data from Dow Jones VentureSource. Still, the weak patch doesn’t mean the well has gone dry. Here are some of the most-read stories of the past month about funding for Canadian startups.
May 16, 2016WIRED: Magic Leap Stands Out Among Giants in the Artificial Reality Race
By 2020, the augmented and virtual reality markets are expected to be worth about $150 billion. This is creating hardware and software development opportunities for startups in just about every industry and facet of life, from film to education to day-to-day office administration.
May 13, 2016Under Armour Leverages IBM’s Watson to Challenge Fitbit
Over the last few years, the company has snagged three massive online fitness communities: Endomondo, MapMyFitness and MyFitnessPal. They now control the largest online wellness-focused ecosystem, at 165 million users. And it's what HealthBox can do with all that data that makes this a compelling package.
May 12, 2016How Much is Cognitive Technology Helping the Raptors?
While it’s tough to gauge Watson’s impact on the current season, the platform is likely learning much as it analyzes players on and off the court. Whatever the case, fans should expect the big data addition to play a bigger role in the Raptors’ strategy going forward.
May 10, 2016When did the Cockroach Crawl into Tech Sector Parlance?
The earliest published reference we could find was from Dave McClure, founding partner at venture fund and seed accelerator 500 Startups in a Wired UK article from 2013. In the piece, McClure calls out entrepreneurs for “trying to build audiences without knowing how to monetise them."
May 2, 2016Where Did the Term Cockroach Come From?
With the glitter of tech unicorns fading, venture capitalists and investors are looking for decidedly less glamorous startups to back — and those companies have a name to…
May 2, 2016Fans Getting Closer Than Ever to Tour Action Thanks to the IoT
Every bicycle in the race was equipped with GPS sensors and a sophisticated relay system that transmitted data to apps, websites and broadcasters, giving fans and media the ability to track a rider’s progress throughout the race.
April 27, 2016Halliburton Chooses IBM Cloud to Help Cut Oilfield Development Costs
Record low oil prices, caused by strong output among oil producing nations amid weaker global demand, have put pressure on producers of the fossil fuel to lower extraction costs.
April 20, 2016Jeopardy-Winning Supercomputer Could Be Toronto Raptors’ MVP
Big data and artificial intelligence have become game-changers for major league sports — an industry that drives more than $10 billion in economic value — by giving managers increasingly effective tools to bring their teams into the finals.
March 31, 2016Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Technology section cover?
Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, data, cybersecurity, developer tools, health technology and AR/VR, outside of financial services.
Where are technology stories about finance?
Stories where the main subject is financial services are filed under Fintech, even if they are mostly about technology.
Is this section written for developers?
Some stories are. The Developers subsection covers languages, tools and engineering practice; most other stories are written for a general business audience.
Are older technology stories kept?
Yes. Stories from 2016 onward remain available and are labelled with their year.
How do I pitch a technology story?
Email info@techportfolio.net with a short summary and why it matters to Canadian readers.