London Free Press

Landlines get a welcome online upgrade

By Steve Tilley, QMI Agency

I know very few people under the age of 35 who have a traditional landline telephone. What was once a staple of virtually every Canadian home is now seen by some - especially younger urbanites - as an unnecessary and expensive throwback in the age of ubiquitous cellphones.

Shaped to fight

By Steve Tilley, QMI Agency

An overwhelming amount of choice in consumer electronics might be the dictionary definition of a first-world problem. But at some point we have to ask ourselves: How much is too much?

Sonos music systems pump up the volume

By Steve Tilley, QMI Agency

When you get to deal with cool gadgety stuff on a daily basis like I do, it's sometimes hard to get truly excited by the latest, newest thing.

Tech essentials for back to school

By Steve Tilley, QMI Agency

True story: I still have nightmares about school. Literal nightmares, in which I dream that it's the first day of classes and I've shown up woefully unprepared, unsure of what my courses are or where my locker is or why I'm not wearing any pants.

HP steps into the tablet ring

By Steve Tilley, QMI Agency

There's a fine line between bravery and foolhardiness, between informed optimism and blind faith.

The laptop fairytale

By Steve Tilley, QMI Agency

Like Ponce de Leon seeking his fountain, Jason seeking his Golden Fleece or Indiana Jones seeking that bloody chalice, I've spent many years questing for an object that I'm not sure even exists: the perfect laptop computer.

Gaming room

By Steve Tilley, QMI Agency

First, the good news: It's summer! Now for the bad, worse and even worse news: The kids are out of school, they're stuck indoors because it's raining, and all they want to do is play video games and break stuff. Simultaneously, if they can manage it.

What's better for vacation, a book or e-reader?

By Steve Tilley, QMI Agency

With summer officially here, it's not just the temperature that's heating up: the debate over whether electronic books are better or worse than old-school tomes seems to spark a surprising amount of passionate discussion among avid readers.

Rock around the clock

By Steve Tilley, QMI Agency

I've always said dads are the easiest family member to buy presents for. They tend to be fairly laid back, they like lots of cool stuff and when it comes right down to it, the perfect Father's Day gift doesn't have to be anything more than a big hug.

Grad gifts to set them up for summer

By Jesse Michaels, QMI Agency

To paraphrase that old chestnut, it really is the most wonderful time of year - for grads at least. Free from school and looking forward to an 'endless summer' will make many a graduate happy.

Flying the coop

By Steve Tilley, QMI Agency

As we glide into the summer months, those of us who are not blessed with large backyards start daydreaming of an escape from the sticky city, noisy neighbours and the same four boring walls we wake up to every day.

'L.A. Noire' most realistic

By STEVE TILLEY, QMI Agency

L.A. Noire is the latest interactive entertainment epic from Rockstar Games, the company behind the Grand Theft Auto series and last year's fantastic Western saga, Red Dead Redemption.

'DiRT 3' has torque

By STEVE TILLEY, QMI Agency

DiRT 3 is the latest in a long line of rally games that speaks to my dormant dream of offroad racing.

Mac attack

By Steve Tilley, QMI Agency

Remember those "I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC" commercials? Of course you do, they were on TV up until last year. Right before Justin "I'm a Mac" Long moved onto more important projects, such as the Alvin and the Chipmunks sequel.

Object of my projection

Object of my projection

New tablet could put laptops out to pasture

By STEVE TILLEY, QMI Agency

The other day when I fired up my laptop to check my e-mail, I was astonished to see more than 800 new messages in my inbox, only a portion of which were the usual Nigerian princes telling me I’d won the European lottery sponsored by Viagra and payable in replica Rolexes.

'Portal 2' takes on new dimensions

By STEVE TILLEY, QMI Agency

Portal 2, the follow-up to 2007's sleeper hit by the makers of Half-Life, will make you laugh. It will also make you gasp, shout and bite your lip in quiet amazement.

Spring to life

By STEVE TILLEY, QMI Agency

As leaves begin to reappear on trees and grass starts to push up through previously snow-sodden ground, another springtime phenomenon is blooming: the full-on, all-out tablet computing craze.

Framing it right

By STEVE TILLEY, QMI Agency

There is no sharper a double-edged sword than the one wielded by high-tech gadgetry.

The great update

By STEVE TILLEY, QMI Agency

You say you want a revolution. But will you settle for a moderate makeover?

Free your iPad 2 from bulky cases

By STEVE TILLEY, QMI Agency

It’s a source of ongoing irony that Apple spends incredible amounts of time and energy designing devices that are slim, sleek and beautiful, and then we turn around and hide them inside bulky cases.

Getting in on the action

By Steve Tilley, QMI Agency

There are a lot of words you could use to describe the soldiers vs. aliens shoot-em-up Battle: Los Angeles.

Pure Google

By STEVE TILLEY, QMI Agency

There's something to be said for stripping away the fat and flash to get at the purest possible essence of a thing. Like organic whole foods versus processed, packaged junk.

Dyson vacuum put on a diet

By STEVE TILLEY, QMI Agency

Garbage on the floor. Broken glass in the carpet. Nasty-looking hairy stuff smooshed into the couch.

Best supporting objects

By STEVE TILLEY, QMI Agency

When we watch a really good movie - an Oscar-worthy movie, say - we can't help but empathize with the characters.