Brad Moon

Mobile World Congress officially starts on Monday, but the biggest, most highly anticipated reveal of the show took place at a special Samsung event on Sunday. The Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge are now official. Here’s what you need to know about Samsung’s two new flagship smartphones.  

Logitech is one of the industry leaders when it comes to peripherals, add-ons and accessories. The company sells a lot of gear. So it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that when Logitech sent tablet cases and keyboards to review, a box stuffed full of different examples would show up at the door. Included in the mix were the Keys-To-Go ultra portable keyboard, AnyAngle protective case, Ultrathin Magnetic Keyboard cover and Ultrathin Keyboard Folio. Logitech also covered off multiple devices and provided a bright range of colours. Here’s what I thought of the cases and keyboards.

With 802.11ac (Gigabit Wi-Fi) now mainstream, we are currently in the midst of a big wireless router replacement cycle. I’ve tested so many routers in the past year that I’ve lost count. Despite the potential payoff of a new router, many people are reluctant to make the upgrade. Routers can be intimidating, and once our Wi-Fi is working, it’s such an integral part of our homes now that we’re naturally reluctant to do anything that might rock the boat. After getting a taste of what the latest generation of 802.11ac routers can do, I finally made the jump myself, replacing my own aging router. And to help you understand everything that’s involved, I chronicled every step of the process. Hopefully this account of one person’s Wi-Fi router upgrade will help to demystify the process and show why it’s worth doing.

When buying any PC, memory and storage are important. With a laptop, even more so, since upgrading after the fact may not be an option. You want to get it right, but there are lot of acronyms, numbers and technical terms in play. In this piece I’ll cover off what you should know about memory and storage when buying a laptop, including RAM, VRAM, ROM, SSDs and cloud storage.

Microsoft set the standard for convertible laptop PCs when it released the Surface Pro 3. But the success of the latest Surface also opened the door for competition from other PC makers. The HP Envy x2 is a great example of how this class of ultra-portables just keeps getting better. With features like an even bigger 13.3-inch display, dual BeatsAudio speakers and a backlit keyboard, the HP Envy X2 is worth a look for anyone considering a Windows 8.1 convertible PC.  

2015 is living up to expectations as an exciting time for smartwatch fans. We’re seeing Android Wear smartwatches hit their stride, the Apple Watch is due out in a matter of weeks and now Pebble—the company that really helped kick off the whole thing—is back with an exciting new model. Pebble Time was just announced, offering everything we love about the original Pebble and Pebble Steel (including that amazing battery life), while adding a colour display!

There are some beautiful and powerful laptops out there, especially if you have an unlimited budget. Trying to keep things more reasonable—under $1,200 for example—it can be pretty tough to get both performance and looks in one package. The Dell Inspiron 7000 Series 15.6-inch touchscreen laptop is one of those rare PC notebooks that offers both specs and looks, without breaking the bank.

The display is one of the most important features to consider when choosing a new laptop. The display is the way you’ll be interacting with that laptop, so getting it right is critical. Resolution, size, aspect ratio, glossy or matte, touchscreen support, viewing angles, brightness, colour accuracy, response times—there are a lot of factors to consider. Pick a laptop with the wrong display and you’ll quickly dread using it. But at the same time, if you want a portable PC for casual use, you also don’t need to pay extra for a professional grade display. Buying a laptop? Here’s what you should know about displays.  

Distracted driving has become a big problem now that we all have smartphones. With all your music on your phone, texts coming in nonstop, directions to where you are going right there on your phone display and the occasional voice call coming in, it’s really tempting to pick up that iPhone and look. Don’t do it. Using a hand held device while driving a vehicle is illegal in every province (except Nunavut). And it’s just plain dangerous. However, there is a solution and a pretty elegant one at that. Upgrade your in-car entertainment system with a new Pioneer audio deck and go hands-free!

When buying a laptop, there are some features that get all the attention: the display, for example and the CPU. Something that doesn’t always get the focus it deserves is connectivity. Ignoring this can have serious ramifications when it comes to actually using a new laptop—connectivity is not something that should be taken for granted. So when it comes time to buy your next laptop, here are the connection options you should consider.