Apple's Wireless AirPods are now available in Canada for $219

Updated on Tuesday, December 13, 2016 at 12:50PM by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Apple's long-awaited Bluetooth AirPods are finally available for order online. Canadians can expect to pay $219 (plus taxes) for a pair and if you order now, Apple is promising delivery by December 21. AirPods serve the purpose of pushing Apple's all-wireless agenda for their mobile products. An ideal companion to the iPhone 7 (which has no headphone jack but ships with Lighting earbuds as well as an adaptor), AirPods offer 24-hours of mixed use, have accelerometers and sensors that can determine when they are being worn plus they have beamforming microphones for enhanced voice quality. Note that AirPods will be made available in limited quantities as production ramps up. Hit jump for details.

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Smart stethoscope to come to Canada

A new smart stethoscope just got its Health Canada license and might be seen at your next doctor's appointment. Medical device company Eko gives the trusty stethoscope an update right on the 200th anniversary of the stethoscope's invention. The Eko Core wirelessly streams heart and lung sounds to a smartphone application. These sounds can even be saved to a patient's electronic health record, paving the way for easy sharing  of medical information with the doctors and other healthcare professionals involved in a certain case.

The Eko Core is available for purchase on Eko's site and through MedTach, a Canadian medical device distributor. The Eko Core Digital Attachment is a digital converter for analog stethoscopes and goes for $265. There's also the Eko Core Bundle Stethoscope that has the attachment pre-assembled to a cardiology-grade analog stethoscope. This costs $399.

Wi-Fi calling comes to iPhone users on Telus

Telus subscribers who have iPhone 6 or newer and who have updated to iOS 10.2 can now avail of the Wi-Fi calling feature. Wi-Fi calling diverts calls from cellular to Wi-Fi when cell signals aren't great. The feture, when enabled, should seamlessly switch a user's phone service between cellular and Wi-Fi when needed. It's another way to ensure better call quality. Telus iPhone users with the iOS 10.2 OS installedcan simply turn the Wi-Fi calling feature on their 'Settings,' under the 'Phone' section.

“We’re excited to announce that Wi-Fi Calling is now available to TELUS iPhone customers! iPhone customers can send or receive calls, text and multimedia messages as usual, but if they ever experience poor cellular coverage, their iPhone will automatically switch to an available Wi-Fi connection for a more optimal experience. Most importantly, there is no additional cost. Wi-Fi calls and messages are billed the same way as regular calls and messages sent through the TELUS network,” a Telus rep explained.

Source: TELUS

iOS 10.2 is now available for download with various new emoji, features and bug fixes

Apple has a surprise for iOS users today. iOS version 10.2 is now available for iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads. For Canadian users, we get over 100 new emoji created in surprising detail, the update also brings new settings and effects to Messages, including a timely celebration effect. Users of the iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus now have three new wallpapers, all users can now preserve camera settings, there's also a new headphone icon when you're connected to  Bluetooth headphones. On my daily driver iPhone SE, the update weighed in at 331 MB and took 25 minutes plus a restart to install. 

iOS once more shows its superiority in terms of software updates. Checking Settings > General > Software Update quickly brings up the download as an option. No other mobile OS does this as well or as efficiently. Hit jump for the full list of changes.

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