Business
Will.i.am Launches Wireless Buttons Earphones — a Snazzy New Gizmo
“Dork, dork, dork,” will.i.am recently muttered, teasing himself while thumbing through his phone. He sat on a velvet bench at a downtown Manhattan event space, impatiently searching for a particular video while a handful of journalists looked on.
“Dork, DORK, dork,” the aspiring tech visionary continued, self-conscious about going on a tangent. The musician — who remixed his legal name, William Adams, en route to co-founding the Black Eyed Peas and winning seven Grammys — found the video, at last, a scenic landscape a friend of his had shot from behind the wheel of a self-driving car. The clip didn’t really have anything to do with what we were there to talk about, which was Buttons, the snazzy new gizmo from his tech company, i.am+. But it was typical of how he’s constantly thinking about how he can help shape the future of technology. And even his simple plans for something like Buttons (tag line: “Bluetooth earphones for the dope”) directly relate to those grand schemes.
The earphones are the latest tech gear from Mr. am. Each set of Buttons features two earpieces backed by metallic circles. Slightly wider than quarters, the earpieces are connected to each other by a woven fabric cord and to your playlist by an 11-millimetre driver unit.
They hearken back to his one unqualified success as a tech entrepreneur; will.i.am was, with Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, an equity partner in Beats Electronics, quiet but influential. (As Fortune noted two years ago, “the Beats logo is identical to the ‘b’ from the original Black Eyed Peas logo.”) In fact, not only has he launched an earphone brand before — he’s launched a wireless earphone brand already. In 2016. He tried a similar project in the spring with EPs, which were greeted with the immediate derision of the tech press and the near-total disinterest of the public.
“The headphones that we had before, the EPs, were an accessory to our wearable phone,” he said. “Angela [Ahrendts, senior vice president of retail at Apple] saw them and said, ‘That headphone is a product of its own.’ When people whisper awesomeness — when inspiration comes — I take it seriously.” He went on to tick through the upgrades to the originals that are supposed to justify Buttons’ $230 price tag — the adjustable earpads, the amped-up battery life, the magnetic discs that shimmer like swanky tribal earplates.
In his press presentation, he didn’t mention the indefinite delay of Apple’s AirPods or the negative popular response to their design — two facts that will likely help Buttons’ commercial prospects.
That’s pretty much the only thing he left unsaid as the evening drew on. Will.i.am discussed the scheduled January debut of Gucci-designed Buttons. He offered some vague talk about the very concrete pending launch of i.am+’s AI system, a digital assistant named AneedA. He gabbed about the recent day in London that he and Bill Gates had sat on stage at the Science Museum and talked about innovation. He discoursed about disruption and elocuted about education and followed far-flung thoughts into a projected future.
In the days after, I used a demo set of Buttons to listen to my recording of the interview during my commute. The set up was easy, even for a geezer. Keeping the things tucked behind my tragus was hard — until I discovered my correct size among the package’s cornucopia of replacement earpads. They were, in fact, so secure that the cord draped across the nape of my neck was most useful when I need to fish the things out of my bag. To test sound quality, I played the two musical acts called out in an accompanying glossy booklet: The drone and rocking lilt of Stereolab came through loud and clear, while Drake sounded, as usual, totally adequate. To test visual quality, I walked around New York, where I attracted glances that combined admiration and curiosity in somewhat the way i.am+ aims to combine fashion and technology. I again heard will.i.am say, “I could ramble on for hours and hours,” and, walking, felt much the same.
Beauty enthusiasts rejoice! Beauty Week at Hudson’s Bay is back in Toronto for another year. It’s time to stock up on all of your fall essentials and, maybe discover some new ones.
From Friday, August 18 to Sunday, August 27, you can expect a truly elevated beauty experience in-store with incredible special offers, limited-time gifts, and exciting activations.
If you’re a diehard beauty lover, you’ll already know that Hudson’s Bay is the place to shop thanks to its extensive range of over 195 skin and makeup brands from both luxury labels and masstige brands — including Tata Harper, Estée Lauder, YSL, Nars Cosmetics, Bobbi Brown, and so much more.
Throughout The Bay’s Beauty Week, visitors can take in some at-counter activations and interactive expert-led tutorials, where there will be chances to get makeup touch-ups from top-tier brands, try a spritz of the most alluring fragrances, and sample tons of new products.
This year’s Beauty Week highlight is the ‘Best in Beauty’ tote, a meticulously-curated selection of 30 deluxe samples from an array of top-tier brands like Dr. Barbara Sturm and Shiseido spanning skincare, fragrance, and makeup — all in a super sleek bag.
The tote, which is valued at over $300, is retailing for just $39 and is a fantastic way to explore new products (without breaking the bank). However, there is a limited quantity, so if you want to get your hands on one, you’ll need to be fast.
Wondering exactly what Beauty Week’s free gifts with purchases entail? If you spend over $95 at Lancôme, you will receive a six-piece set valued at $130. Or, you can get an Estée Lauder gift valued at $170 with purchases over $80. (And that’s just to name a few.)
If you’re a Hudson’s Bay Rewards member, you’ll also get $20 in Hudson’s Bay rewards when you spend over $100 on beauty.
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) have several non-combat jobs, some of which do not require a college degree or past work experience.
Life in the forces has several benefits, such as paid education plans (college, university and graduate-level programs), 20 paid vacation days, health and dental coverage for you and your family, maternity and paternal leave, and pension plans. You can learn more about the benefits in detail here.
And to make it easier to gauge if you qualify, the listings also include related civilian jobs to see if it’s your ideal role.
Financial services administrator
Related civilian jobs: Financial records entry clerk, financial manager, accounting technician, bookkeeper, budget officer, cashier clerk, business planner technician, and verification manager.
Description: You’ll help budget resources for all military activities besides providing financial assistance.
Education: You need to have completed Grade 10.
Duties: As a financial services administrator, you’ll be responsible for bookkeeping and managing budgets. You’ll also provide support in accounts payable and accounts receivable.
Work environment: Those in this role work at CAF bases, on ships or overseas. You might also be expected to help special operation units, recruiting offices, schools, and medical organizations.
Postal clerk
Related civilian jobs: Mail clerk, mail sorter.
Description: You’ll provide postal services to members and their families at bases and establishments.
Education: Grade 10. No previous work experience or related career skills are required.
Duties: As the postal clerk, you’ll handle mail duties.
Work environment: Besides a postal office, you may work on a ship or a mobile postal van. You might be expected to serve with Royal Canadian Navy, the Army, and the Royal Canadian Air Force in Canada and abroad.
Dental technician
Related civilian jobs: Dental assistant, dental hygienist.
Description: You’ll be helping dental officers provide dental services to CAF members, their families, and dependents.
Education: Level II dental assisting diploma from an accredited college or a National Dental Assisting Examining Board (NDAEB) certificate.
Duties: Those in this role will be responsible for various responsibilities, including disinfection and sterilization of dental equipment, applying rubber dams, placing cavity liners, and controlling bleeding. In addition, you’ll assist in laboratory procedures like creating casts, custom trays, and mouthguards.
Work environment: This role will require you to work in a military dental clinic, a Mobile Dental Clinic, an Air Transportable Dental System, or onboard a ship. You might be expected to work on a base in Canada or other operations in other parts of the world.
Human resources administrator
Related civilian jobs: Records administrator, data entry supervisor, receptionist, office manager, executive assistant, payroll clerk, and information management technician.
Description: Provide administrative and general human resources support.
Education: Grade 10. No previous work experience or related career skills are required.
Duties: In addition to human resources administration and services, you’ll be handling pay and allowances, managing automated pay systems, and maintaining personnel records.
Work environment: HR administrators work at all CAF bases in Canada. They also work on ships and overseas to support the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, or Royal Canadian Air Force operations.
Medical assistant
Related civilian jobs: Emergency medical responder, ambulance and first aid attendant, registered nursing assistant, licensed practical nurse, and hospital orderly.
Description: Successful candidates will help treat the sick and injured in CAF units. You’ll be assisting and supporting nursing and medical officers.
Education: Minimum of Grade 11 biology, Grade 10 physics or chemistry, and Grade 10 math.
Duties: You’ll provide initial care and essential life support treatments in trauma cases. You’ll help with health assessments (hearing and vision tests, perform basic lab procedures, etc.) and initiate and manage medical records and reports. You’ll also be expected to provide support and first aid during training exercises.
Work environment: Medical assistants may serve with the Royal Canadian Navy, the Royal Canadian Air Force or the Canadian Army as part of the Canadian Forces Health Services Group. Those in this role are exposed to the same risks as the forces they support.
Porter Airlines is once again stirring the pot among Canadian airline rivals, now going after Air Canada’s Aeroplan members by offering to match their loyalty status to an equivalent of their own.
The beloved airline, which recently ranked as having the best cabin service in North America, challenged the competition for the second time this year, after previously deploying a similar tactic against WestJet in the spring.
Earlier in April, Porter presented customers with a limited-time offer to match the loyalty status of WestJet’s patrons with VIPorter levels.
Now, they’re offering Aeroplan members to seamlessly transition to an equivalent VIPorter Avid Traveller status based on their existing membership tier.
Members can then take advantage of an array of travel perks that come with flying Porter, including seat selection, baggage, and flight changes.
For those currently holding an Aeroplan membership, there are two ways to acquire the Avid Traveller status for the rest of 2023:
Status-Based Match:
- Aeroplan 25K members = VIPorter Venture
- Aeroplan 35K members = VIPorter Ascent
- Aeroplan 50K, 75K, and Super Elite = VIPorter First
Flight Segments-Based Match:
- 5 flight segments = VIPorter Passport
- 8 segments = VIPorter Venture
- 17 segments = VIPorter Ascent
- 28 or more segments = VIPorter First
Members will have to first submit their applications on Porter’s website. Registration will remain open until September 6, 2023.
In order to maintain their membership level through 2024, customers will have until the end of 2023 to reach the following reduced qualifying spend (QS) targets:
- Passport = $500 in QS
- Venture = $750 in QS
- Ascent = $1500 in QS
- First = $2500 in QS
Over the past year, Porter has launched an aggressive expansion strategy, including everything from introducing longer flights on newly-purchased jet planes flying out of Toronto Pearson, free WiFi, and a new all-inclusive economy experience.
With Canadians losing both Swoop and Sunwing as WestJet incorporates both into their mainline business, Porter’s direct competition is welcome to keep prices competitive.
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