While Riley is away, Marc and Dan go over the new recreational drone regulations in Canada, including weight, height restrictions, and proximity to people/buildings/animals; Uber's self-driving cars aren't as autonomous as we assumed, they said goodbye to their president, and they might be coming to Manitoba; Super Mario Run is coming to Android on March 23; Google Home isn't as good as we'd hoped it would be.

Speed round:

Recommendations

Links:

• New rules for flying recreational drones in Canada revealed | CBC News
• Report: Uber’s autonomous cars drove 20,354 miles and had to be taken over at every mile | Recode — Some of Uber’s self-driving cars aren’t driving as smoothly as the company hoped they would.
• Uber President Jeff Jones Quits Amid Company Scandals | NPR — After less than a year as president of Uber, Jeff Jones is leaving the embattled ride-hailing company, Uber confirms.
• Uber, union legislation to be revealed Monday | CBC News — The speculation over legislation pertaining to unions, tuition caps and even Uber's entry into the Manitoba market is expected to end on Monday when the Progressive Conservatives introduce a swath of much-anticipated bills in the afternoon.
• Super Mario Run is coming to Android on March 23rd | The Verge — Android users will get version 2.0.0 upon release, while iPhone users will get an update to the version on the same day. The update will add some new playable characters to the game.
• Ron Amadeo on Twitter: "A re-review of Google Home, 7 months in | Twitter
• Where to buy the LG G6 in the U.S. | Android Central
• Netflix is ditching five-star ratings in favor of a thumbs-up | The Verge
• Netflix is testing a button for skipping the opening credits | The Verge
• Spotify may restrict major album releases to its paid subscribers | Android Central
• Zelda Ocarina Of Time Controlled Home Automation | YouTube

Marc got a new microphone (check it out here) and we're officially back on Google Play Music and Stitcher!

On to the real stuff: we talk about video game developing in Canada; Facebook Messenger Day, and some alternatives to Messenger if you decide to jump ship; Pandora Premium and streaming radio in general; Plex; renewable energy.

Speed round:

Recommendations:

Links:

• Canada takes its $3 billion video game industry seriously as it pushes sector to new limits | Financial Post
• People Aren’t Happy With Facebook’s Annoying New Feature, ‘Messenger Day’ | Techvibes — You could try to pivot your service into making them core, but that doesn’t mean you should.”
• Live at SXSW: The Vergecast Part 1 | The Verge — Skip to 09:13: Facebook Messenger Day
• Pandora Premium: the original music streaming giant is ready for prime time | The Verge — For the most part, Pandora Premium is exactly what you would expect it to be: a $10-a-month service with millions of songs that you can listen to at will and save offline whenever you want.
• Plex Media Server on Cloud | Plex
• Renewable energy now Australia’s cheapest power option | Eco News — Traditionally, gas power has been Australia’s cheapest source of reliable power.
• Tesla battery packs power the Hawaiian island of Kauai after dark | CNBC — In Hawaii, the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) is now drawing energy from 272 Tesla power packs to provide electricity after dark.
• Could the city of Guelph run solely on renewable energy? | CBC News — It might seem like a pipe dream, but it's a goal some communities around the globe are setting.
• Google kills off the Captcha, ensuring humans don't need to see the most annoying thing on the internet | The Independent — Google now says that its Captcha technology has become so clever that it doesn't even need to interact with humans at all.
• Intel to acquire self-driving tech company Mobileye in $15 billion deal | IT World Canada News
• LinkedIn fails to reach agreement with Russia on restoring access to site | The Globe and Mail — Russia blocked access to LinkedIn’s website last year after a court found the firm guilty of violating a law that requires companies holding Russian citizens’ data to store it on servers on Russian soil.
• Technology News | Canadian Business
• #trypod hashtag | Twitter
• Apple’s website now has a useful list of smart home gadgets that work with HomeKit | The Verge — It now sorts products by category instead of brand, and notes whether or not the devices are actually available for purchase or not (along with links to purchase those that are).

In this week's episode: the Nintendo Switch is having some issues—but still succeeding; WikiLeaks released a massive bombshell about the CIA's surveillance abilities (and we argue about it, of course); Uber adds yet another item to their list of 2017 PR disasters (and as of now we officially don't support them).

Speed round:

Recommendations

Links:

• Nintendo responds to Switch Joy-con controller connectivity issues | Mobilesyrup — Nintendo Switch’s left Joy-con repeatedly disconnected and lost its Bluetooth signal with the console.
• Nintendo says dead pixels on the Switch's tablet are 'normal' and not defects | Mobilesyrup — the Japanese gaming giant doesn’t consider dead pixels a manufacturing defect with the console.
• Vault 7: CIA Hacking Tools Revealed | WikiLeaks — By the end of 2016, the CIA's hacking division, which formally falls under the agency's Center for Cyber Intelligence (CCI), had over 5000 registered users and had produced more than a thousand hacking systems
• Uber silent on use of secret 'Greyball' tracking tool in Canada | CBC News — Uber used Greyball to watch the watchers.
• Uber Finally Coming to BC This Year, Province Announces | Techvibes — Uber tried to launch in Vancouver years ago, but was forced to leave after the city immediately imposed prohibitive restrictions on its operations.
• Scotiabank for iOS Gets iMessage Extension for Interac e-Transfers | iPhone in Canada — Scotiabank has updated their iOS app to support sending money via iMessage to friends and family.
• Hey, Siri: RBC Now Allows Customers to Transfer Money by Voice Command | Techvibes — “Building on the explosive growth of our free person-to-person payments products, we’re excited to provide the ability for our clients to now send free money transfers from their chequing accounts using Siri.”
• Investors see Snap’s IPO as ‘too big to fail’ | The Globe and Mail
• Snap stock fell another 10 percent on Tuesday | Recode
• There’s a secret version of Tinder for hot people and you can’t use it | The Verge — Tinder seems to be operating a secretive, invite-only tier of its hugely popular dating app.

Marc is away sick this week, but while he's gone we talk about: Uber's many struggles (in addition to the accusations of systemic misogyny and discrimination, they're also getting sued); some exciting news from Mobile World Congress, including a new Nokia 3310 and a Sony Xperia with an insane camera; Amazon is selling games on Twitch (and giving streamers a cut of the sales); Google Assistant is coming to Nougat and Marshmallow; MasterCard is bringing Qkr to Canada.

Speed round:

Recommendations

Links:

• Sony Unveils Xperia XZ Premium, Which Can Record at 960 FPS | Techvibes
• Nokia 3310 | Business Insider
• Uber says it’s not behind the phone calls to investigate Susan Fowler’s personal life | Recode — "Uber is in no way involved,” a spokesperson said. “This behavior is wrong."
• Uber Misled Public About Its Self-Driving Car That Was Caught Running a Red Light | Daring Fireball — Another case where lying has made a situation much worse.
• A note on our lawsuit against Otto and Uber – Waymo | Medium — In 2016, Uber bought a six-month old startup called Otto and appointed its founder (a former employee on our self-driving car project) as its head of self-driving technology. At the time, it was reported that Otto’s LiDAR sensor was one of the key reasons Uber acquired the company.
• Twitch to sell games in streamer-supporting initiative this spring | PC Gamer — "Soon the best place to watch and share games will be the best place to buy."
• Mastercard Expands Mobile Order-Ahead Platform for Retailers and On-The-Go Consumers | Business Wire — Qkr! with Masterpass enables consumers to seamlessly order and pay for goods and services via their smart phone without having to wait in line or for a restaurant server.
• Google Assistant Goes Beyond the Pixel to Take on Apple's Siri | Bloomberg — Until now, Google's Pixel smartphone, introduced in October, has been the only handset with the company's automated assistant.
• Apple Says Third-Party iPhone Screen Repairs No Longer Fully Void Your Warranty | Mac Rumors — Previously, an iPhone with a third-party display was not eligible for any authorized repairs under warranty.
• Samsung updates Gear VR with new accessory: a handheld controller | Ars Technica — With help from Oculus, Samsung makes its VR headset controls more accessible.
• Text adventures are back from the dead | Polygon — “Think of playing a game in your car,” he says. “So you’re stuck in traffic, and you’ve got this game on your Bluetooth. You’re playing this game while you commute. This is an art form that has not yet been fully developed.”
• Mozilla acquires Pocket to gain a foothold on mobile devices | The Verge — Mozilla said Pocket, which it will operate as an independent subsidiary, would help bring the company to mobile devices, where it has historically struggled to attract users.

On this week's episode: sexism and harassment at Uber, and the renewed #DeleteUber movement as a result; the Caavo streaming box might actually fix television — if it ever comes to Canada; Samsung's chief got arrested, which is another spot on their already speckled record; Facebook is taking yet another swing at Snapchat.

Speed round:

Recommendations

Links:

• Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber | Susan J. Fowler
• #DeleteUber is making a comeback | The Verge — In the last 24 hours, #DeleteUber was sent out by over 1,000 Twitter users in 1,388 posts, with a potential 30,124,190 impressions, according to Keyhole. That’s almost 5 million more impressions than the weekend of January 27th, when the hashtag first started gaining steam.
• Exclusive: The Caavo streaming box is built on game-changing machine vision for TV | The Verge — Caavo has built an AI that simulates a human user to control any device you might attach to a TV
• Samsung boss Lee arrested in South Korean corruption scandal | BGR — Lee is accused of bribing a close friend of President Park Geun-hye to obtain favors from the government needed for him to secure leadership succession at Samsung.
• Samsung rating safe after arrest | CNBC — strong metrics will continue to underpin the tech giant's credit rating
• WhatsApp’s new multimedia feature continues Facebook’s mimicry of Snapchat | The Globe and Mail — Facebook’s moves are unfolding at a critical moment for Snap.
• Watch the first trailer for Alto’s Odyssey | The Verge — We finally have our first look at the sequel to Alto’s Adventure.
• Spectacles | Snap Inc.
• World’s first rideable hoverbike looks cool as hell but will probably kill you | The Verge — The manufacturers say they wanted to combine a motorcycle with quadcopter drone technology to create “an extreme sports instrument.”
• BlackBerry demands royalties from Nokia, files patent-infringement suit | The Globe and Mail — “BlackBerry seeks to obtain recompense for Nokia’s unauthorized use of BlackBerry’s patented technology,”
• Dubai aims to have passenger-carrying drone taxi in service in July | The Globe and Mail — Dubai hopes to have a passenger-carrying drone regularly buzzing through the skyline of this futuristic city-state in July.
• Best Android games according to you | Android Central — By our very own Marc Lagace

Dan's back! On this week's episode: IBM's Watson got a job — with the University of New Brunswick; PayPal and their censorship of a small Manitoba newspaper; driverless cars in the US and Canada; coding as the next blue collar job.

Speed round:

Recommendations

Links:

• IBM's Watson computer gets job fighting cybercrime | CBC News — "Now he gets a job and makes us some money," quipped Caleb Barlow, vice-president of IBM Security.
• PayPal freezes Canadian media company's account over story about Syrian family | CBC News — "You may be buying or selling goods or services that are regulated or prohibited by the U.S. government," PayPal said in an email to News Media Canada.
• Automakers are seeking broad exemptions from safety rules for self-driving cars | The Verge — elected officials from both sides of the aisle appear to be on board, aiming to craft legislation that would relax regulations on autonomous vehicles.
• Car wars: Why 'Canada is deal last' in the potentially huge self-driving industry | Financial Post — http://www.theverge.com/2017/2/14/14613056/facebook-video-autoplay-sound-turned-on-default
• The Next Big Blue-Collar Job Is Coding | WIRED — What if we regarded code not as a high-stakes, sexy affair, but the equivalent of skilled work at a Chrysler plant?
• Google Maps lets you save and share favorite places with launch of Lists | TechCrunch
• Uber is facing a lawsuit after a man’s wife learned of his affair from its app notifications - The Verge
• Engineers on Google's self-driving car project were paid so much that they quit | The Verge
• Sony develops cell phone camera sensor capable of 1080p 1,000 fps | Sony Global
• Video: super slow-mo with Sony's new sensor | YouTube
• New Google artificial intelligence learns to be 'highly aggressive' - Business Insider
• BONUS LINK: Jeff Bridges' behind-the-scenes film photos

Dan's in Mexico, but while he's gone we talk about: the Super Bowl light show behind Lady Gaga (and the tech behind it); Alexa's new integration with Plex; Marc's Canadian Tire smart bulb; an Ottawa hospital's foray into 3D printing and all the medical perks it brings; Canadian banks taking a page out of Silicon Valley's book; laser engraving cheese (it'll make sense when you listen, we promise).

Recommendations

Links:

• Lady Gaga's Super Bowl Drones | WIRED — It’s probably the first time you’ve seen 300 drones flying in formation, but it’s almost certainly not the last.
• Sprint customers used 5TB of data at the 2017 Super Bowl | Android Central — That's three times as much as the 2016 Super Bowl and eight times more than the 2015 game. And the network speed was nothing to sneeze at, either.
• Alexa now supports Plex commands | Android Central — With Alexa, you can make requests to play specific content on whichever Plex-enabled devices you have around your home.
• Ottawa Hospital opens 1st medical 3D printing program in Canada | CBC News — The 3D printing program, which is the first based in a Canadian hospital, is a partnership with the University of Ottawa. 
• The tech rockstars taking over Bay Street | Financial Post — Canada’s staid big banks realize they must adapt — and quickly — to preserve their comfortable position in an increasingly digital world.
• SR: PEI photo lab develops film at a loss | CBC News — "We are trying to keep it as cheap as we can so people can continue using film, because we love photography," said Keyvan.
• Boeing's new spacecraft to use more than 600 3D-printed parts | CBC News — key components in the United States manned space program are being built with additive manufacturing.

On this week's (admittedly rather bleak) show: HMV Canada is closing all stores; Facebook is bringing fake news filters to Canada; Trump is making the tech world angry; Fitbit is laying off 6% of its workforce; Twitter is combating harassment (finally).

Recommendations

Links:

• HMV goes into receivership | CBC News — Legal documents state that closing stores must cease operations by April 30.
• Google and Facebook working to filter fake news in Canada | CBC News — "We're actively working to bring this feature to Canada in the near future," said a source at Google who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about it publicly.
• Canada's tech sector denounces Trump's immigration ban | CBC News — "As a community, we stand together in opposition to the marginalization of people based on their birthplace, race, or religion,"
• Fitbit will lay off 110 employees | The Verge — Fitbit released preliminary results for its upcoming fourth quarter earnings report, and the news isn’t good.
• Twitter VP promises ‘long overdue’ harassment fixes this week | The Verge — “Now we're thinking about progress in days and hours not weeks and months.”
• The game that made Dan famous in Russia | Greed.js — He's kind of a big deal
• SR: LG's monitor doesn't like routers
• SR: Android gives you 7 ways to Google
• SR: Lots of people access friend/family Facebook accounts without permission — Digital spies are often thought of as government spooks, or shadowy online groups pilfering data from afar in headline-grabbing attacks. But for many of us, the greatest threat can come from those we know and love.
• SR: MacBook Touch Bar banned from bar tests
• SR: IKEA made hackable furniture
• SR: Video: robot barista can make lattes in 20 seconds
• SR: Dropbox takes on Google Docs

This week we start with a PSA: iOS 10.2 had some serious security vulnerabilities, so go update your iPhone to 10.2.1 immediately. Other stuff this week: LG G6 rumours; Google has re-launched Voice and—guess what—it does messaging now; a review of Apple AirPods by friend-of-the-show and computer engineer Jonathon Goguen; Sprint bought a third of Tidal; Google's "Instant Apps" and what they might mean for the future of mobile browsing.

** Recommendations**

Special Guest: Jonathon Goguen.

Links:

• The New iOS Update Fixes Big Security Holes, So Get It Now | WIRED — “It can add files, delete files, or execute any actions,” says JP Taggart, senior security researcher at Malwarebytes. “Want to record conversations and forward them to someone else? It can do that. Want to install additional malicious software? It can do that. Want to uninstall programs on the affected phone? It can do that. Want to hide these actions, programs and files from the user? It can do that too.”
• The new Google Voice | TechCrunch — the new Google Voice feels more like a viable alternative to your default messaging client
• This is LG's G6 smartphone, coming February 26th | The Verge — LG has set a February 26th date for the unveiling of the G6, its next flagship Android phone, and The Verge has obtained the first image of the upcoming phone.
• Google starts testing Instant Apps in the wild | TechCrunch — Ideally, Instant Apps gives you the speed of a light web page with all of the benefits of a native app.
• SR: You can now say "Computer" to wake up an Echo — That's right, you can now use "Computer" as a wake word for your Amazon Echo!
• SR: Samsung comes clean about the Note 7

We're down a Dan this week (boo), but we filled the hour anyway. On this episode: the latest dope on the Nintendo Switch; the new Nvidia Shield TV; Microsoft's new Xbox update; why Samsung's Note 7 kept blowing up (it's officially out); an Apple AirPods competitor; Tesla is stealing employees from Apple; and Essential, a new smartphone contender brought to us by Andy Rubin.

Recommendations

Links:

• The Nintendo Switch will launch on March 3rd for $299 — In essence, the Switch brings together the home console and portable sides of Nintendo’s business. The actual game console is housed in a tablet, which can connect to a television through a dock. According to Nintendo, the tablet has has a battery life ranging from 2.5 to 6 hours depending on the game; the company estimates a game like Breath of the Wild will last around three hours, for instance. (The Switch also charges over USB-C.)
• Nintendo America on Twitter: what's in the box
• Nintendo Switch will get its own paid online service | The Verge — a premium online service would replace its previous model of letting players access multiplayer for free. Nintendo stresses that it will be an improvement over its past game-specific services.
• Nvidia’s new Shield TV | The Verge — if you have the original and were hoping for an upgrade, you won’t really find much of one here.
• Microsoft is finally rebuilding the Xbox One dashboard for speed | The Verge — “Every Xbox One will see an update coming to the Guide that will make it faster to complete common tasks,”
• Galaxy Note 7 investigation results leaked early | Phandroid — The battery couldn’t breathe and the safety software didn’t work. It was a perfect storm for phone failure.
• The Bragi Headphone is finally shipping | The Verge — The Headphone is available on Bragi’s website now for $149.99, with Bragi estimating that orders should arriving within two weeks.
• Tesla Is Snatching Apple's Stars to Make Itself the New Apple | WIRED — Apple’s innovation machine is losing another key cog to a company that has lured so many others away from the House That Jobs Built.
• Report: co-founder of Android preparing to launch new phone company | Bloomberg — Just over two years after leaving Google, Andy Rubin is preparing to take on the smartphone industry he helped create.
• Facebook no longer clearly labels edited posts | The Verge — In order to check whether a post has changed, you need to click the drop-down menu on the top right corner of post and see if “View edit history” is available.
• Microsoft bought an AI startup from Toronto | The Verge — with this acquisition we are, as Wayne Gretzky would say, skating to where the puck will be next — machine reading and writing.”
• Nissan picks London for first European on-road autonomous car tests | Reuters — The government has said it wants to encourage the development and testing of autonomous driving technology in Britain, helping build an industry to serve a worldwide market it reckons could be worth around 900 billion pounds ($1.1 trillion) by 2025.
• Stolen Razer Project Valerie appears on Chinese auction site | HEXUS.net — The machines, which went missing from the Razer Press room about 4pm PST on Sunday, 8th January, have now surfaced in mainland China.
• SpaceX lands its Falcon 9 rocket at sea, following first launch since August | The Verge — The feat brings the total number of recovered SpaceX rockets to seven, as two other Falcon 9 vehicles have successfully touched down on solid ground after a launch.
• Facebook rolls out fake news filter in Germany | The Verge — German politicians have warned of the effect that fake news could have on federal elections slated for this fall, following a spate of fabricated articles and hoaxes during the US presidential election.