Stories by Austin Blake

Apple’s new iPhone Air, the thinnest iPhone yet, held up against bending pressure but cracked during drop tests, according to Allstate Protection Plans’ latest breakability tests. In back-down drops from six feet, the iPhone 17 Pro survived with minor scuffs, while the iPhone Air’s rear panel cracked but the phone stayed usable. In face-down drops,...

Meta’s WhatsApp is rolling out a new feature that lets you translate messages right inside the app. If someone texts you in a language you don’t understand, just long-press the message and tap “Translate.” You can pick the languages you want, and once downloaded, they’ll stay saved for future use. It works in one-on-one chats,...

Rogers says its Citytv+ streaming service is now available directly to Canadians across all major platforms, including Apple and Android devices, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung TV, and online at citytvplus.ca. The service includes live channels and on-demand programming from networks such as Citytv, Bravo, Discovery, Food Network, FX, FXX, and HGTV. Shows range from Law...

Nintendo has added Zelda II: The Adventure of Link to its Nintendo Music app library, including both the NES and Famicom Disk System versions of the soundtrack. Fans highlighted the iconic Palace theme, with one Reddit user calling it “so damn good.” The Famicom Disk System release features a slightly different encounter theme compared to...

Walt Disney Studios today has announced the first trailer for the upcoming film, Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, is finally here. Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu is an all-new Star Wars adventure opening exclusively in theatres on May 22, 2026. The synopsis of the movie is as follows: the Empire has collapsed,...

This year’s iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPhone Air only have an eSIM this time around in Canada, finally killing off the physical SIM card. If you’re a Telus-owned Public Mobile customer with a physical SIM card, here’s a quick guide on how to switch over to an eSIM on...

Garmin has launched the Bounce 2, its latest kids’ smartwatch with built-in LTE. The new model lets parents call, text, and track their child’s location directly from the watch, without needing a phone. In Canada, the Bounce 2 costs $399.99 CAD—nearly double the original Bounce, which launched at $219.99. The data plans run $14.99 per...

Elon Musk’s xAI has released Grok 4 Fast (on Friday night), a new version of its AI system that focuses on doing more with less. The model is basically designed to think faster, cost less to run, and still score high on the kinds of tests researchers use to measure how “smart” these systems are....

The CRTC has ruled that smaller cellphone providers must get access to the entire network that Bell and Telus share, instead of being stuck with only half of it. Until now, when regional carriers like Freedom Mobile, Videotron, or Eastlink signed roaming agreements with either Bell or Telus, they were limited to that company’s portion...

After Bell expanded its 250GB global roaming plan to all Canadians (instead of being just for Quebec) to essentially copying Telus, Rogers has now followed suit, making its own global roaming plan available to everyone. While Rogers was the first to launch a global roaming plan, it was the last to make it available nationwide....

Telus is teaming up with Samsung to roll out Canada’s first commercial Radio Access Network Intelligent Controller (RIC). Simply put, this means Telus will start using AI-powered software to manage and improve its wireless network. Instead of relying only on physical hardware, the RIC is a software system that uses artificial intelligence to spot problems,...

Image: Austin Mann Travel photographer Austin Mann has taken his annual iPhone camera review to the Dolomites in northern Italy, cycling more than 150 miles (241 km) and climbing nearly 20,000 feet to test Apple’s latest iPhone 17 Pro. His verdict: the new 48-megapixel 4x telephoto lens is the biggest leap forward for photographers this...