Stories by Austin Blake
Disney+ Canada Teases 2025 Lineup with New Originals and More
Disney+ Canada has dropped a preview of what’s coming to the platform through the rest of 2025, including new seasons of returning series and a few high-profile debuts. A new teaser gives a glimpse of what subscribers can expect, including more episodes of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the long-awaited King of the Hill revival,...
New Public Mobile Plans Drop—With Higher Prices and Fewer Perks
Telus-owned Public Mobile has revamped its plans list today, and they are worse than before. Last week, Public Mobile started to tighten its plan lineup, while also announcing Canada-US Mexico promo plans would end on July 7. Today, we now see the full extent of new changes, where only five total 4G and 5G plans...
Apple’s Top AI Engineer Jumps Ship to Meta in Poaching Blow: Report
Apple’s artificial intelligence efforts just took another hit. According to a report from Bloomberg, Ruoming Pang—the executive leading Apple’s foundation models team—is leaving the company to join Meta. He’s the latest in a string of high-profile hires by Mark Zuckerberg’s new AI “superintelligence” group, which is poaching the best people through large compensation offers. Sources...
TikTok Pulls Millions in Arts Sponsorships Amid Ottawa Crackdown
TikTok is ending its sponsorship of several major Canadian arts organizations, including the Juno Awards and the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), as it prepares to shut down its Canadian operations under a federal directive. The company said it is complying with an order issued by Ottawa last November, which requires TikTok to wind down...
Woman Sues Rogers After SIM Swap, $534K in Bitcoin Stolen
A woman from Squamish, B.C. says she lost more than $534,000 in Bitcoin—now worth over $1.8 million—after a hacker hijacked her phone through a SIM swap scam. The case is now heading to private arbitration after a recent B.C. Supreme Court decision. Raelene Vandenbosch, a pharmacy manager from B.C., is suing Rogers and Match Transact....
Montreal Drivers Told to Switch to New Parking App Before July 31 [Update]
Montreal’s parking agency is phasing out its current mobile app and asking drivers to download a new one before the end of July. Update July 15: Agence de mobilité durable de Montréal has confirmed with us July 28 as the final end date. The P$ Mobile Service app will stop working on July 31, and...
Apple’s ‘F1’ Races Toward $300 Million US at the Box Office
Apple may finally have its first blockbuster at the box office. The racing film F1, starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, has earned over $200 million US globally and is expected to top $300 million US (about $408 million CAD) by the 4th of July weekend. “This is a movie that will run and run...
Freedom Mobile Debuts VR Escape at Calgary Stampede
Freedom Mobile is joining the Calgary Stampede this year as the new presenting sponsor of the event’s Grandstand Show—and bringing along a virtual reality attraction to go with it. From July 4 to 13, Stampede visitors can try the Freedom Mobile Worry-Free Escape, a VR experience set up on the Midway. The installation offers 360-degree...
Bell Joins Telus in 3G Shutdown—Here’s When It’s Happening
Following Telus’ recent 3G shutdown announcement, Bell has confirmed it will begin phasing out its own 3G/HSPA network in Manitoba by December 31, 2025. The move is part of Bell’s plan to improve its 4G and 5G networks nationwide it says. Bell and Telus share infrastructure across much of Canada, so both providers are following...
Unifor to CRTC: Don’t Let Streamers Duck Broadcasting Rules
Unifor, the union representing Canadian media workers, is calling on the federal broadcasting regulator to stop giving foreign streaming services a free ride. At the last week of the CRTC's hearing today, July 3, Unifor’s media director Randy Kitt argued that companies like Netflix, Disney, and Apple should be treated the same as Canadian broadcasters...
Public Mobile Tightens Plan Lineup, Promos Gone July 7
Telus-owned Public Mobile has continued to tweak its plan offerings and now it has finally trimmed down both 4G and 5G plans, while setting a specific end date to promo plans, according to changes made on its website on Thursday. Previously, we told you a “limited time” label showed up, but now that has changed...
WhatsApp Adds AI Support, Voice Calls and More for Businesses
WhatsApp is rolling out new features to make it easier for businesses to reach customers, manage campaigns, and offer support—all from one place. Announced at Meta’s Conversations 2025 conference in Miami on July 1, the updates focus on making WhatsApp more useful for marketing and customer service. Businesses can now manage ads across WhatsApp, Facebook,...