Stories by Austin Blake

Streaming service Hayu has released its list of new reality shows coming in October 2024. Highlights include the season premiere of the 15th season of The Real Housewives of New York City, while season 9 of The Real Housewives of Potomac debuts in the first week of October as well. Below Deck Sailing Yacht season...

Apple is rethinking its film strategy following poor box office results for several high-budget titles, according to sources familiar with the matter, reports Bloomberg. Despite breaking ground on a new 536,000-square-foot office in Culver City, California, which will serve as its regional headquarters, Apple’s shift is expected to impact its presence in the film industry....

Montreal's fire department is advising residents to avoid charging devices such as smartphones and tablets overnight, following a huge fire at the Port of Montreal that involved 15,000 kilograms of lithium-ion batteries. The blaze prompted the evacuation of around 100 residents and a temporary lockdown for others nearby. Firefighters spent the night extinguishing the fire,...

OpenAI has announced the rollout of its new Advanced Voice feature for ChatGPT, now available to paid Plus and Team users through the mobile app on iOS and Android. This feature blows Apple's Siri out of the water and there's no way we can ever see the latter catching up at this point. The headline...

Live Nation has revealed plans for a new 50,000-seat outdoor stadium in north Toronto, aiming to host top-tier global music performances. Scheduled to open in June 2025, the venue will be located on land formerly part of Downsview Airport. The project will be developed in collaboration with Northcrest Developments, which had previously intended to build...

At its latest Connect event today, Meta unveiled significant updates to its AI products. Meta AI, now used by more than 400 million people monthly, has become smarter, more interactive, and offers new multimodal features. With 185 million people using Meta AI weekly, the platform continues to grow, and Meta says it expects it to...

The TTC board has decided to proceed with its plan to discontinue free Wi-Fi access at subway stations, while agreeing to explore the option of introducing internet access at bus bays in the future. A proposal by Councillor Josh Matlow to reconsider keeping free Wi-Fi on subway platforms did not pass on Tuesday. Matlow expressed...

Sony's September 2024 State of Play packed a range of game reveals, updates, and announcements over its 30-minute runtime. Here’s a summary of the key highlights: Astro Bot: Team Asobi revealed new speedrun levels and introduced 10 new Special Bots to rescue this Fall. Ghost of Yōtei: Sucker Punch announced a new PS5 title featuring...

Several key Canadian film and TV development programs face uncertainty as Netflix Canada has paused its sponsorship of arts organizations, reports the Globe and Mail. Since 2017, Netflix has invested over $25 million in initiatives supporting more than 1,200 Canadian creators. However, programs such as Vancouver’s Pacific Screenwriting Program (PSP), Hot Docs, and the imagineNATIVE...

Roku has launched the 2024 Roku Ultra, which it is calling its most advanced streaming player yet, which includes a remote with new backlit buttons. The 2024 Roku Ultra gets a new quad-core processor, offering a 30% boost in speed compared to previous models. It supports 4K streaming, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, and Dolby Atmos. Wi-Fi...

Sony has announced the return of its "State of Play" event, scheduled for Tuesday, September 24, 2024. The broadcast will provide updates and news on more than 20 upcoming PlayStation 5 and PS VR2 titles from studios around the globe. The event will last over 30 minutes and starts at 3pm PT/6pm ET on September...

Amazon has introduced its In-Garage Delivery service to Prime members in Canada, offering a more secure way to receive packages. The service allows couriers to place deliveries directly inside customers' garages, helping to protect packages from theft and bad weather. Previously only available in the US, it's now landed in Canada. "At Amazon, we're obsessed...