Brad Moon

If you own an Apple iPhone and a vehicle, your in-car experience is about to get the upgrade you’ve been waiting for. Apple’s CarPlay—the ultimate hands-free, iPhone-powered experience—is now available in Canada. Even better, you don’t have to buy a new car to get it! Pioneer’s NEX multimedia systems are your first chance to get Apple’s CarPlay in your own vehicle. You can give your vehicle the sound system you always wanted, while also gaining integrated Apple Maps, hands-free calling and messaging, your music, third party apps and Siri voice control with Pioneer NEX. 

A smartwatch that lives up to expectations was elusive for decades, but in the past few years technology has begun to catch up to the dream. The commercial success of pioneers like the Pebble helped bring smartwatches to the mainstream in 2014, Samsung’s commitment to the devices resulted in multiple generations of Gear smartwatches in a single year and Android Wear ushered in the era of round-faced models like the Moto 360. 2015 looks to be even better as app stores take off, manufacturers tweak their designs and the Apple Watch arrives.

One of the most confusing aspects of buying a laptop is the processor, or CPU. It’s not difficult to figure out which CPU a laptop has—in fact, processor specs are one of a laptop’s primary bragging points. But what does it all mean? Is AMD better than Intel? What’s a core and what’s the difference between having two (dual-core) four (quad-core) or six (hexa-core)? How can one Intel Core i5 CPU be so much faster than another Intel Core i5 CPU? The answers to these vexing questions and more as I outline what laptop buyers should know about processors.

2014 was an exciting year for smartphones. Among other things, it was the year of the phablet, with even long-time big screen holdout Apple getting into the game with the new iPhone 6 Plus. I’ve had the opportunity to use the big iPhone (I opted for the more modestly sized iPhone 6 myself), but what I want to talk about today is the latest version of the smartphone that started the whole phablet thing: the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. The newest Galaxy Note was a late arrival, hitting Canadian shelves at the end of October, but after spending a few weeks with the device early this year I can definitively say two things: worth the wait and still the phablet to beat in 2015.

Given the amount of money we spend on things like smartphones, tablets and PCs it’s understandable that physical protection—cases, covers, screen protectors and laptop bags—are big business. What’s on these devices is often overlooked, though. If your basement floods and your PC is submerged you can buy a new PC. If you haven’t backed up the data on that computer’s drive, you have a much bigger problem and files like your digital photos, school work  and music could be gone for good. Don’t let that happen. Here’s how to protect your data like a pro.

Smart thermostats, smoke detectors, door locks and appliances have gone mainstream and are finding their way into more homes than ever. What sometimes gets lost in the list of cool things those smart devices can do is that they are connected. Without an Internet connection, most of them fizzle. Poor Wi-Fi means a poor user experience and for many people, their wireless router is the weak link in the smart equation. In this post, I’ll review the network and computer essentials for a smart home that lives up to the billing.

There will come a time when a new PC is in your future. Maybe it’s your first, or maybe you’re moving on from an older computer that just didn’t make sense to upgrade. Making the decision to buy a new PC is one thing, but picking the right one? That’s a lot tougher, especially when you begin to wade through all the specs and promotional material. Don’t make your choice based on who has the best marketing department. I’ll help you to choose your next PC like a pro, so you end up with a computer you’re happy with.

Many of us have an older PC or laptop kicking around that simply isn’t cutting it. The easy solution is to buy a new one. But there’s a cost to doing that and it isn’t always necessary. A relatively small investment in parts, software and labour can often make an old computer run like new. It may not be quite so fast as the current crop of PCs, but you can make it zippy enough that using it is enjoyable again. And if you still have an eye on an upgrade to a new model, you’ll have a nice machine to pass down to someone else. Here’s how to boost performance on an old PC or laptop like a pro.

Chances are you own a smartphone or a tablet—perhaps both. And if you do, you probably realize that you are carrying a very valuable piece of gear with you. They don’t just give these things away … You may not realize just how fragile these devices are, but when you think about it they have at least one entire side that’s a sheet of glass and the electronics within are sensitive to dust, moisture and physical shocks. Then there’s the data on your mobile device which often includes digital photos, your web browsing history, e-mail, instant messages and passwords. That thing is a ticking time bomb! However, if you protect your tablet or smartphone like a pro, you can make the most of it on the go—like it was meant to be used— without losing sleep. Here’s how to do it.  

Microsoft just wrapped up its Windows 10 event and the future is looking very interesting indeed. Even more so considering Microsoft’s version of the future arrives later this year. We saw Windows 10 as expected (it looks like the OS that will finally get you off Windows 7) and a very compelling demonstration of how this operating system will unify your devices —from the PC to smartphone, tablet and Xbox One. Microsoft also dropped some hardware surprises, including HoloLens, the company’s take on augmented reality. Here’s what you need to know about what went down in Redmond.