Stories by Austin Blake

The flanker brands of Rogers, Telus and Bell have tweaked their plans this month, bringing some changes compared to July. Fido has started offering 10GB of bonus data for its plans, trying to entice new customers to subscribe. Virgin Plus also has matched Fido saying its plans now include a 10GB data bonus. Check out...

AI startup Perplexity says it’s ready to pay a whopping $34.5 billion US ($47.5 billion CAD) to buy Google’s Chrome browser, according to the Wall Street Journal. The offer is nearly double Perplexity’s own $18 billion US valuation, with the company claiming several big investors have agreed to fully fund the deal. The timing is...

The federal privacy commissioner has released updated rules on how organizations in Canada should handle biometric data such as facial recognition scans and fingerprints. The guidelines, aimed at both public and private organizations, come after a public consultation held from November 2023 to February 2024. Officials say the technology can make access to services more...

Grok 4, the latest version of xAI’s chatbot, is now free for everyone — with limits. “The free tier allows a small number of queries per day. Beyond that requires subscription,” said Elon Musk. Paid plans include SuperGrok at $300 per year and SuperGrok Heavy at $3,000 per year. The free version of Grok lets...

Some Telus internet customers are spotting special renewal offers inside the Telus app—and in some cases, they’re cheaper than what Telus loyalty staff are quoting over the phone. One Reddit user said they saw an in-app offer for $70/month on a two-year term for PureFibre Gigabit, with pre-authorized payments, unlimited data, and savings of $65/month....

Bell is teaming up with AI-powered search engine Perplexity to give certain customers a year of free access to the AI search tool’s premium version, Perplexity Pro—normally worth about $300. The deal makes Bell the exclusive telecom partner for Perplexity in Canada. Eligible Bell Mobility customers will start receiving redemption codes in the coming days, while...

Freedom Mobile recently launched a back to school deal that’s only available for students, which is a lower cost version of its 100GB back to school deal from late July. The company’s website is advertising a $44/100GB Canada-US-Mexico plan only for students (after autopay). You can use your talk, text, and data no matter where...

Nova Scotia-based Eastlink says it is “deeply disappointed” with the federal government’s move to let the biggest telecom companies use the networks of smaller, regional providers. In a statement Thursday, Lee Bragg, Executive Vice Chair of Eastlink, warned the decision will hurt long-term competition. “This will have negative and meaningful impacts on competition, counter to...

Netflix has locked down the exclusive streaming rights for the 2027 and 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup in both Canada and the United States, marking the first time the tournament will be broadcast on a streaming service in Canada. That's a big win for soccer fans, as Netflix just makes it easy to watch from...

It’s been nearly two months since a Telus cell tower was vandalized and toppled in Thorhild County, north of Edmonton—and residents say they’re still struggling without reliable service. About 150 people in the area have been left with little to no cell signal after the tower was knocked down and stripped for copper in mid-June....

A Sonos employee has admitted that a recent software update did, in fact, tweak the company’s speaker sound profile—despite initially saying otherwise. Posting under the username KeithFromSonos on Reddit, the employee walked back previous comments that there had been “no changes” to the sound following the latest firmware update. He explained that there were “a...

Roblox content on YouTube has reached a major milestone, surpassing 1 trillion total views. To celebrate, YouTube has launched a virtual museum inside Roblox, now open to all players as of August 7. Called “YouTube’s Roblox Museum,” the in-game exhibit features more than 120 digital artifacts that highlight key moments, creators, and community achievements. The...