Archives for April 13, 2019

Skype adds screen sharing to its iOS and Android apps

by

It’s available now in beta.

Having spruced up its web service, Skype is turning its attention to mobile. Its latest beta feature adds screen sharing to its iOS and Android apps. It may not seem as significant as Skype’s other recent iterations, including group calls for 50 people (up from 25) and background blur in video calls, but it gives workers and friends another reason to stay locked in the app.

Microsoft imagines you’ll use it to show a colleague your PowerPoint presentation or to swipe through Tinder with a BFF. It also sets Skype apart from its biggest rivals (Messenger, WhatsApp, Snapchat) which all surprisingly lack the feature. Its absence on bigger platforms has allowed smaller apps that offer mobile screen sharing, like Squad, to fill the void.

Of course, the feature is still only available in preview for Skype Insiders (aka beta testers). And, according to The Verge, it still hasn’t gone live on the Skype for iOS beta. If Skype’s other experiments are anything to go by, screen sharing could roll out in less than a month.

SpaceX will assist NASA’s first-ever mission to redirect an asteroid

by

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket transporting the Tess satellite lifts off from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday, April 18, 2018. The satellite known as Tess will survey almost the entire sky, staring at the brightest, closest stars in an effort to find any planets that might be encircling them.

Lift off is set for 2021.

NASA has chosen SpaceX to help out on its first-ever attempt to deflect an asteroid. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) will blast off on a Falcon 9 rocket in June 2021 from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Its mission: To smash a satellite into the Didymos asteroid’s small moon in a bid to knock it off its orbit. What sounds like the plot of a Michael Bay movie could turn out to be NASA’s first line of defense against Earth-bound asteroids.

This is batting practice. But the stakes are still high: Failure could derail NASA’s so-called “kinectic impactor technique,” success will provide the crucial data that will inform its deployment against an actual asteroid on a collision course with Earth.

NASA plans to intercept Didymos when it’s within 11 million kilometres (7 million miles) of our planet — in comparison, the moon is 240,000 miles and the sun is 93 million miles away. According to the DART website, the probe won’t reach its target until October 2022, upon which it will slam into Didymos’ moon at a speed of nearly 13,500 mph (6 kilometers per second).

The total cost for the mission is expected at around $69 million including the launch service, which NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center in Florida will manage. Fresh off the back of its successful Falcon Heavy launch and triple landing, SpaceX’s involvement in DART sees its relationship with NASA evolving beyond its commercial payloads and resupply missions to the ISS. As usual, Elon Musk shared his reaction in a tweet: “Thanks on behalf of the SpaceX team. We ♥️♥️♥️ NASA!”

Stocks to Watch: Keyera Corp. (TSX:KEY) Up +2.54%

by

At close of market on Thursday, Keyera Corp. (TSX:KEY) stock finished trading at +2.54%, bringing the stock price to $32.70 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The stock price saw a low of $32.42 and a high of $32.85.

The company’s stock was traded 4,065 times with a total of 643,019 shares traded.

Keyera Corp. has a market cap of $6.93 billion, with 211.16 million shares in issue.

Keyera operates as a midstream energy business in western Canada. Its primary operations consist of gathering, processing, and fractionation of natural gas in western Canada; storage and transportation of crude oil and natural gas byproducts; and marketing of natural gas liquids. The company operates over 5,000 kilometers of gathering pipelines and 15 natural gas processing plants.

Stocks to Watch: Canadian Utilities Limited Class A Non-Voting Shares (TSX:CU) Down -1.26%

by

At close of market on Thursday, Canadian Utilities Limited Class A Non-Voting Shares (TSX:CU) stock finished trading at -1.26%, bringing the stock price to $36.82 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The stock price saw a low of $36.80 and a high of $37.00.

The company’s stock was traded 1,705 times with a total of 247,609 shares traded.

Canadian Utilities Limited Class A Non-Voting Shares has a market cap of $7.34 billion, with 199.4 million shares in issue.

Canadian Utilities Ltd, a subsidiary of holding company Atco, offers gas and electricity services. The company’s main divisions include electricity (generation, transmission, and distribution), pipelines and liquid (natural gas and water), and Corporate and others. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, the firm mainly operates in Canada and Australia, along with some operations in the United States, United Kingdom, and Mexico. Canadian Utilities launched a large venture called Atco Energy, which provides low-cost and sustainable energy solutions for Alberta.

Stocks to Watch: H&R Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX:HR.UN) Up +1.11%

by

At close of market on Thursday, H&R Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX:HR.UN) stock finished trading at +1.11%, bringing the stock price to $23.52 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The stock price saw a low of $23.33 and a high of $23.54.

The company’s stock was traded 2,155 times with a total of 1,957,817 shares traded.

H&R Real Estate Investment Trust has a market cap of $6.75 billion, with 285.7 million shares in issue.

H&R Real Estate Investment Trust is a real estate investment trust principally involved in the ownership of properties in Canada and the U.S. H&R owns and manages a real estate portfolio rather equally divided between property in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Alberta and in the U.S. Office buildings located primarily in Ontario comprise the majority of H&R’s assets, while shopping centers managed by Primaris Management and other retail facilities also make up a considerable share. H&R derives almost all of its revenue from the rental income it receives from its investment properties. The majority of this income is generated by its Canadian properties. In terms of property type, H&R’s offices contribute to most of its total revenue.

Stocks to Watch: Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (TSX:IVN) Down -3.49%

by

At close of market on Thursday, Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (TSX:IVN) stock finished trading at -3.49%, bringing the stock price to $3.04 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The stock price saw a low of $3.04 and a high of $3.15.

The company’s stock was traded 1,073 times with a total of 766,435 shares traded.

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. has a market cap of $3.09 billion, with 1.02 billion shares in issue.

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd is a mineral exploration and development company. The company together with its subsidiaries explores, develops and recovers minerals and precious gems from its property interests located in Africa. The group explores for platinum, nickel, copper, gold, silver, cobalt, iron, vanadium and chrome. It primarily operates three projects Kamoa, Platreef, and Kipushi.