Stories by Austin Blake

Bell has finished constructing its first direct-to-device satellite ground station in Québec. This new facility is a big step to providing mobile coverage to Canadians in areas well beyond the reach of traditional cell towers. The ground station is designed to connect with AST SpaceMobile’s satellite constellation. Once the system is fully operational, it will...

We're well into July so let's take a look at prepaid plans from the Big 3, compared to prices in June. Public Mobile (Telus), Lucky Mobile (Bell), Chatr (Rogers) and Fizz (Quebecor) have all made changes to their prepaid plans. Here are the changes to prepaid plans in Canada for July 2026: Public Mobile $35/50GB...

Bell has swept up 10 Speedtest Awards in the latest round of independent testing from Ookla, with the results covering both internet and wireless performance, released today. On the internet side, Bell took Best Internet, Fastest Internet, Top-Rated Internet, and Best ISP Gaming Experience. On wireless, it grabbed Fastest 5G Network, Best 5G Network, Fastest...

Spotify is testing a new way for subscribers to interact with their music library by introducing a conversational voice and text assistant. The feature, called Talk to Spotify, is rolling out in a beta phase to select markets right now. The streaming giant announced the update on Tuesday, explaining that eligible users can now have...

The smartphone market is having a rough time due to high prices, down to its lowest levels since 2013, but Apple is somehow doing fine. A new preliminary report from Counterpoint Research says global smartphone shipments fell 11% in the second quarter of 2026, the worst Q2 since 2013. This was due to the shortage...

Waze is pushing out a batch of updates that lean on Google's Gemini AI to make navigation feel more like a conversation and less like tapping through menus. The Google-owned app announced the changes today, and they cover everything from motorcycle routing to a quieter voice option. Riding a motorcycle isn't the same as driving...

Amazon Prime members in Canada can now add last-minute items to an order that is already on its way. The retail giant has officially launched a new feature called Add to Delivery, designed to save shoppers from placing multiple orders when they forget a staple item. You may have seen this implemented over the past...

Telus's plans for two AI data centres in Vancouver could hit a wall, with a city councillor pushing to pause them until the city sorts out some actual rules. OneCity Vancouver Councillor Lucy Maloney is bringing a motion to council on July 15 called "Addressing the Risks of Digital Infrastructure," according to CTV News. If...

Freedom Mobile is marking this year’s Calgary Stampede with both massive plan discounts and a unique virtual reality experience for attendees. The carrier is offering exclusive "Stampede Offers" that are available to customers for 20 months. These limited-time plans significantly boost data buckets compared to their standard website pricing: $30/25GB + 1GB Roam Beyond $35/175GB...

Telus is asking the CRTC to let carriers lock new phones to their network for up to 60 days after purchase, and the company says it plans to start doing it on July 30 whether or not the regulator signs off first. The carrier filed a Part 1 application with the CRTC on May 22,...

This has turned into an unofficial AI announcement week it seems. Just this morning during a livestream event, OpenAI has launched a major update called ChatGPT Work, introducing an autonomous AI assistant capable of handling multi-step corporate projects across multiple workplace applications. The new agentic experience is rolling out globally with a deep focus on...

SpaceXAI (formerly xAI until it was rebranded by SpaceX) has rolled out Grok 4.5 to the public, a new AI model built specifically to handle serious coding and engineering work rather than casual chatbot conversations. Grok 4.5 runs on the company's new V9 foundation, which packs 1.5 trillion parameters. What does that mean? That's a...