Toronto, April 18 - Despite the so-so reviews it received before its launch Tuesday, the BlackBerry tablet leaves Apple's iPad miles behind in multitasking, say the experts.

Its powerful QNX operating system - called Neutrino - allows the PlayBook to perform multitasking at amazing speed, according to experts. Thus, PlayBook users need not stop one application to start up another. They can keep all applications running simultaneously. That's why the PlayBook has no 'Home' button unlike the iPad because users don't need to stop any running application to start a new one.

"The (PlayBook) operating system kicks ass,'' Roel Vertegaal, a human-computer interaction professor at Canada's Queen's University, told the Globe and Mail.

Toronto, April 18 - The US Supreme Court begins hearing Monday Microsoft's appeal in the Word infringement case in which the software giant was held guilty of violating a patent held by Toronto-based i4i Inc. and ordered to pay $290 million in damages in 2009.

According to legal experts, the outcome will decide how patent laws protect exclusive technology. The Canadian company had taken the software giant to court in the US in 2007 over violations of its patent in Word applications and won the case and got $290 million in damages in December 2009.

Toronto/New York, April 16 - After this week's advance reviews slamming its PlayBook tablet, that is hitting markets Tuesday, as 'half baked' and analysts calling the company a "broken brand", Research In Motion (RIM) co-CEO Jim Balsillie has warned critics not to write the compnay off.

RIM has not lost its edge and the company is poised for a new trajectory, the BlackBerry boss said at a glam party in Manhattan Thursday night to celebrate the launch of the PlayBook next week.

"It's going to be a newsy summer for us. And a very newsy BlackBerry World in a few weeks. Let's just say I like what we've got,'' he said.

Toronto, April 15 - The BlackBerry PlayBook tablet has received mixed reviews before its launch April 19.

The New York Times calls the PlayBook a "half baked'' product, adding that "it seems almost silly to try to assess it, let alone buy it.''

The BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) has touted the 7-inch PlayBook as a rival to Apple's 10-inch iPad 2. Its initial only-Wi-Fi version comes in three models, featuring 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of storage at $499, $599 and $699 respectively.

Toronto, April 14 - Research In Motion RIM) founder Mike Lazaridis ordered a BBC reporter to stop the interview after he was asked questions about his problems with India and Middle East countries which are seeking access to BlackBerry enterprise emails in view of national security issues."That's just not fair,'' Mike Lazaridis shot back at BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones when he posed this question to the RIM co-CEO at a recent interview.

Toronto, April 14 - IITians in Canada went on a day-long fast here Wednesday in support of Anna Hazare's crusade for a tougher Lokpal Bill to combat corruption in India.

Members of the IIT Alumni Canada (IITAC) observed fast in their corporate offices and working places.

"We didn't gather at one place in a demonstration. Dozens of us observed the fast in our offices in our individual way. In all, 56 IITians, their spouses and friends were involved in this gesture in support of Anna Hazare's crusade,'' Chander Dhawan, former president of IITAC, told IANS.

Toronto, April 11 - With some analysts writing Research In Motion (RIM) off as "a broken brand" and its stock slipping almost 20 percent since last month, the top boss of the BlackBerry maker has hit out at critics predicting fall of the global wireless giant.

As the top Canadian tech company gets set for the launch of its PlayBook tablet April 19, Mike Lazaridis, RIM co-CEO, has told the New York Times that "I don't fully understand why there's this negative sentiment, and I just don't have the time to battle it. Because in the end, what I have learned is you have just got to prove it over and over and over."

Toronto, April 4 - Amid the continuing uncertainty over the proposed merger of the Toronto Stock Exchange with the London Stock Exchange, a majority of CEOs here say they support the merger.

The Toronto Stock Exchange, the third largest in North America, and the London Stock Exchange announced February 9 to merge to create a new global mega-bourse.

The 150-year-old Toronto Stock Exchange is the biggest resource (energy and mining) leader, with about 1,500 companies listed on it.

The current market value of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) is about $3.87 billion whereas the TMX Group is pegged at $2.99 billion.

With their merger, the two bourses will form a nearly $7-billion giant entity with offices in Toronto and London.

Toronto, March 26 - Opposition parties joined forces to topple the Canadian government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper Friday through a no-confidence motion. With the ouster of the minority government of the Conservative Party, Canadians will be heading to the polling booths for the fourth time in seven years.

Prime Minister Harper, whose government is credited with steering Canada's economy successfully amidst the global meltdown, formed the minority government in 2009. It was his second consecutive minority government since
2006.

Recent surveys have put his Conservative Party ahead of the main opposition Liberal Party.

Ottawa, March 26 - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government was Friday toppled by the opposition after a no-confidence vote passed in parliament.

The opposition voted for a motion declaring Harper's government in contempt of parliament. The Liberal Party and two other opposition parties said they had lost confidence in the government for not supplying sufficient information on the cost of its tough-on-crime bills, F-35 fighter jet procurement and corporate tax cuts.

The vote was carried by 156 for and 145 against the motion.

Toronto, Feb 19 - Reports about the deteriorating health of cancer-stricken Apple boss Steve Jobs have fuelled speculations about the future of the world's most important technology company.

Reports say 55-year-old Jobs, who has been admitted at the Stanford Cancer Centre in Palo Alto in California since Jan 17, has just six weeks to live.

Though the reports have not impacted the Apple stock much, analysts and observers are uneasy about Apple's future without its co-founder who has become synonymous with its unique products.

Toronto, Feb 18 - Metro and aircraft maker Bombardier Thursday reported an almost one-fifth drop in its aircraft sales in the fiscal year ending Jan 31 as compared to the last year.

The world's third largest aircraft maker said it delivered 244 aircraft in the fiscal year as compared to 302 during the previous year - down 19 percent. In India, Bombardier supplies cars to Delhi Metro and turboprop aircraft to SpiceJet and has a facility at Savli near Baroda.

During this period, the Montreal-based company shipped just 143 business jets as compared to 176 in the previous year.

The number of commercial planes sold was also down to 97 from 121 shipped in the previous fiscal year.

Toronto, Feb 18 - President Barack Obama's proposal to charge an entry fee from Canadians entering the US has infuriated political and business leaders in this country.

In his proposal in the 2012 draft budget submitted to the US Congress Monday, Obama has proposed a 'passenger inspection fee' of $5.50 for Canadian entering the US to raise millions of dollars annually. An estimated 16 million Canadians flew to the US in 2009. If each was levied the $5.50 entry tax, the US exchequer would make well over $90 million, according to the Canadian Press.

Toronto, Feb 15 -Canada Monday announced that it will review the proposed mega merger of the Toronto Stock Exchange with the London Stock Exchange.

The TMX Group, which operates the stock exchanges in Toronto and Montreal, had announced last Tuesday that "it is in advanced discussions with London Stock Exchange Group regarding a possible merger of equals to create an international exchange leader.''

Under the merger deal, the LSE will buy the TMX Group to form a nearly $7-billion securities market - one of the biggest in the world - with two main offices in Toronto and London. While Toronto would be the hub for equity listings, Montreal would serve as the centre for derivative trading, and Calgary for the energy group.

Toronto, Feb 12 - The proposed merger of the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) with the London Stock Exchange (LSE) may not have smooth sailing as the Canadian and Ontario provincial governments say they will closely vet the issue in national interest.

The TMX Group, which operates the stock exchanges in Toronto and Montreal, said Tuesday that "it is in advanced discussions with London Stock Exchange Group regarding a possible merger of equals to create an international exchange leader.''

On merger, the two bourses will form a nearly $7-billion giant entity with offices in Toronto and London.