Review – Google Nest Thermostat
The Google Home app uses a step-by-step process to guide you through the installation of the Nest Thermostat and there’s a point where an animation suggests, for safety reasons, to shut down the main power before taking the next step. Just shutting down power to your heat & air conditioning should be fine, but I... Read More
Review – PlayStation 5 Console Edition
Imagine just the body of an electric guitar. The PS5 is the same size, thickness and with it’s aerospace-like white shells, has the kind of sculpted presence you get from a musical instrument. It’s certainly the largest game system I’ve used, but thankfully is lighter and easier to shift and move about than it looks.... Read More
Highlights From My First Year On Global News Morning
To celebrate my first year of tech reports on Global News Morning, here’s a montage of fun moments. Thank-you so much for watching.
A New Generation Of Mac, PlayStation, And Xbox Systems
It’s a week of launches on Global News Morning with Apple’s silicon giving us a new generation of Macs and both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X igniting a new world of video games.
Review – Xbox Series X
Every new generation of hardware makes the claim of being faster, more responsive, but the Xbox Series X actually lives up to it. It boots up faster, launches apps quicker, loads you back into a game immediately thanks to a new feature called Quick Resume, and the controller now wakes up right away so you... Read More
Review: LEGO Art Portraits & Mario Kart Open Circuit
<br><br>Health + iPhone Health Records – Free<br><br>Starting with three Canadian hospitals you can download your medical records into the iPhone’s Health app which then organizes them in with the health data generated by your fitness devices and apps. Allergies, conditions, immunizations, lab results, medications, procedures, and vitals can finally be kept in one place. <br><br>Osirix HD... Read More
Watch Dogs: Legion Review – 3 Stars
Legion feels more like a Grand Theft Auto spinoff than a Watch Dogs sequel. You spawn into a hyper-active city and walk for blocks to steal a car and get to a meeting to trigger a short mission in an effort to rise in the ranks of a criminal organization. It could be called Elite... Read More
Review – iPhone 12 & iPhone 12 Pro
The iPhone 12 carries forward the design influences from Leica cameras first introduced with the iPhone 4. It has the same flat back, thin profile, and aluminum frame yet manages to squeeze a larger 6.1” screen into a slim body ideal for sliding into side pockets or purse compartments. The iPhone 4 was a personal... Read More
Review – Google Nest Audio Smart Speaker
There is a physical switch on the back of the Nest Audio speaker that, for now, you won’t find on any other smart speaker. It turns off the microphone used by Google Assistant, meaning that it can’t listen in on your life or respond to any commands. This is essential if you’re about to have... Read More
Review – Apple’s 8th Generation iPad
The first thing that caught my eye with the 8th generation iPad was Apple’s marketing that it could “grab files from anywhere (even one of these)” referring to a USB drive. I’ve tried connecting a range of different USB drives using an Apple adapter and half of them worked, but the rest gave the error... Read More
Super Mario 3D All-Stars Review – 4 Stars
A collection that refreshes three Super Mario adventures, Super Mario 3D All Stars also includes the soundtracks for all three games, just as you’d find them if bought on CD or iTunes. We use snippets of Mario’s themes on our weekly Tech Corner radio report on CJAD, so it’s a delight to explore the music... Read More
Review: First Gadgets To Use Artificial Intelligence
As Apple releases new devices powered by Machine Learning, I review the first set of consumer devices on sale in Canada that use Artificial Intelligence. Oral B iO Series 7 Toothbrush – $350 This artificially intelligent toothbrush senses the way it’s stuck in your mouth, using vibrating bristles to “feel” the surface of your teeth... Read More
Scott Pilgrim Interview With Edgar Wright, Ellen Wong & Bryan Lee O’Malley
It’s the tenth anniversary today of the release of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World in theatres so to celebrate I’m posting my conversation with director Edgar Wright, creator Bryan Lee O’Malley, and star Ellen Wong who played Knives Chau. Enjoy. Kris – There’s a big difference between watching a movie in a theatre and sitting... Read More
Samsung UV Sanitizer Review
Launching in September at Samsung.com/ca, Best Buy, Costco, & The Source for $69.99 CND. We put down our phones, we wash our hands, and then we pick up our phones again and given how easily touchscreens can collect smudges and fingerprints it’s only natural to wonder if our mobile addictions might be undoing all the... Read More
Paper Mario: The Origami King – Four Stars
By far the most unpredictable Mario game, Origami King is a silly, abstract, witty adventure full of party poppers, piñatas, and papier-mâché beasts. Despite the name, it’s not about folding paper or exploring the geometry of shapes to think about things differently, but instead the theme is about transformation, of our flat hero, the paper... Read More
The Ghost of Tsushima – Four Stars
This is not an easy game to pick up and play. The Ghost of Tsushima is entrenched in the samurai culture of Japanese cinema and fiction and so presents a journey that is measured, methodical, and meditative. It uses a complex combat system with many button combinations across a variety of different weapon systems, beyond... Read More
Animal Crossing: New Horizons 4 1/2 Stars (out of 5)
With New Horizons Nintendo has reached the point in developing their virtual life simulation where once you’ve gone through the introductory period of establishing a home, building up community relationships, and mastering the various tools and tasks, you’ll want to keep playing, again and again, and again. Unlike the previous Animal Crossing editions, it no... Read More
Animated Face Mask & Fashion Tech Hoodie
This week on Global News Morning I model the latest tech fashion and discuss Apple’s announcements at WWDC. As co-founder of MakeFashion, Chelsea Klukas has spent years running tech fashion runway shows that began in Calgary before touring the world. People often asked if she could be commissioned to craft illuminated wedding or prom dresses,... Read More
The Last of Us Part II – 3 1/2 Stars (out of 5)
Viruses, face masks, quarantines. It’s hard to avoid the unintended parallels with our current reality in The Last of Us Part II, especially as the zombies, known as the infected, now take a back seat. Gone is any effort to understand the virus, to find a cure, or come up with new ways to manage... Read More
Fun Audio Tech For Kids, Parents Under Lockdown
For my latest Global News Morning report Jenn and I have fun playing with the latest free audio games aimed at giving people under lockdown fun and I review the latest noise-cancelling earbuds. Sennheiser Momentum 2 True Wireless Earbuds I’ve tested a range of audio gear the past two decades and have gotten used to... Read More
Using Tech To Cope With Covid-19
As we all stay home to save lives, many of us are using technology to cope. I look at some different approaches for Global News Morning. If you’ve taken a tour of a house with a real estate agent, you might remember them pointing out which rooms get the best sunlight at different times of... Read More
Helping Out With Coronavirus Tech
This week on Global News Morning I share a collection of Coronavirus-themed software and websites so you can help make a difference. Plus, I review HP’s new Elite Dragonfly notebook computer which includes a great recycling story. The first consideration in buying any computer is that it’s the right tool for the work you do,... Read More
Bose Audio Sunglasses Review & Crazy Google Phone Addiction Apps
This week on Global News Morning I review Bose’s Frame Sungasses, share Google’s crazy phone addiction apps, and mark the official start of production of driverless cars. It would be a big mistake to dismiss Bose Frames as a novelty or gimmick. Yes, they are sunglasses that act like wireless earbuds with speakers built into... Read More
Crazy Tech At CES
Here’s my picks of some of the crazy tech innovations on display at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. h and check out this fun, behind-the-scenes reaction.h
Galaxy Fold Review & Other Innovations
Watch my take on the Samsung Galaxy Fold, finally on sale in Canada, plus some other picks of fun, new technology on Global News Morning.
Watch My Google Stadia Review & Fun VR Picks
This week on Global News Morning I offered my review of Stadia, Google’s new video game stremin service, and shared with Jennifer Valentyne and Liem Vu new vrtual reality experiences about The Berlin Wall.
Special to The Sun: Montreal Recycling Lab
Appearing in The Sun newspaper Monday, July 15th, here’s the online version of my article on Lavergne’s secret plastic recycling process.
Montreal’s Plastics Recycling Breakthrough
Montreal-based The Lavergne Group has unveiled a new plastic recycling process that can turn waste plastics into brand new “virgin” plastic without the use of additives. From The Aaron Rand Show on CJAD 800 AM, here’s Kris Abel’s Tech Corner report with details from his tour of The Lavergne Group facility. lavergne.ca/www.iheartradio.ca/cjadwww.krisabel.com
Watch My Latest Show Reels
A quick glimpse into the different areas of my media career, here’s three show reels for my work in television, radio, and podcasts.
What’s On Richard’s Desk & Best HAYZ Show Openers
From the podcast I did with Richard Crouse called Hey All You Zombies, here’s two clip collections. The first is a tour of the many, many unusual oddities that populate Richard’s desk and the second a Best Of collection of the inventive show openers we came up with each week for the series on Google... Read More
Ryan Reynolds Is Affectinately Jokesy With IMAX Spirit Bears
Ryan Reynolds uses his jokesy storyteller voice as narrator of the new IMAX film Great Bear Rainforest and I can imagine that must have worried executives at first as it’s the delivery that allows him to easily slide out crass lines for Kevin Smith and the Deadpool movies, but it works here, it really works,... Read More
Meet Dino Zuul, A Most Remarkable Canadian Fossil Discovery
From the launch of Zuul: Life Of An Armoured Dinosaur, an extraordinary dinosaur fossil and an entirely new species of ankylosaur now on display at the Royal Ontario Museum, please enjoy these two short films I created for social media. Watch: An incredible Canadian discovery, Zuul the dinosaur named after the Ghostbusters demon dog opens... Read More
My 1000 Favourite Films From 100 Years Of Cinema
It was in 1918 that Cecil B. DeMille kicked off the movie industry we know today with his first feature Western, The Squaw Man. As a fun, year-end centenary project, I’ve used IMDB to put together a list of my 1,000 favourite films from across all one hundred years. Film has remained a strong passion... Read More
A Life Of Precision Burns, Falls, And Explosions – Legendary Stunt Man Dwayne McLean
Canada AM’s Kris Abel chats with pioneering stunt man Dwayne McLean in this 2010 chat about the nature of doing a variety of stunts for movies and television and what’s like to be in the moment when your life is on the line to pay the bills. Watch Dwayne’s stunt driving demo with Shane Cardwell... Read More
Astronaut David Saint-Jacques Is Ready For Launch!
This is the extended version of my chat with Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques, featured on the Aaron Rand Show on CJAD. For more info: www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronauts/c…aint-jacques.asp
Social Spiders & Tarantula Behaviour With Dr. Linda Rayor
Surrounded by live spiders at the Fear & Fascination exhibit, Kris Abel chats with Dr. Linda Rayor about the social behaviour of tarantulas and huntsmen spiders. A behavioural ecologist, Linda works at Cornell University where she also is involved in their STEM outreach programs. www.rom.on.ca/en/spiders blogs.cornell.edu/naturalistoutreach/ www.youtube.com/user/naturalistoutreach www.youtube.com/channel/UCaL6Fn_Exyfe2tzBMI4cHVw
Golden Spider Silk Cape, Exploring The Wondrous Fabric
I chat with Doug Currie about spider silk fabric at the Spiders: Fear & Fascination exhibit https://www.rom.on.ca/en/spiders
Milking Spider Venom, My Chat With Arachnologist Gil Wizen
At the Spiders: Fear & Fascination exhibit, I interview arachnologist Gil Wizen of the Royal Ontario Museum to explore the live demos he’s performing as part of the exhibit.
Vivienne Tam On Designing Notebook Computers, A What She Said Party Chat
From our archives we’re taking you back in time to a Sex And The City 2 party in New York 2010 where Kris Abel met with fashion designer Vivienne Tam to discuss her work on designing two special edition notebook computers for Hewlett-Packard. For more info visit: www.viviennetam.com
Ella Kitzul on Black Bear Rehabilitation
This is the extended edition of Kris Abel’s chat with black bear rehabilitation expert Ella Kitzul who shares the process behind rescuing and releasing injured and orphaned bear cubs. For more information visit bearwithus.org/ This was recorded at the premiere of Pandas, the new IMAX film about rehabilitation efforts for Giant Pandas. For more info... Read More