Technology

FILE - Amazon Echo and Echo Plus devices, behind, sit near illuminated Echo Button devices during an event by the company in Seattle on Sept. 27, 2017. Amazon’s Alexa might soon replicate the voice of family members - even if they’re dead. The capability, unveiled at Amazon’s Re:Mars conference in Las Vegas Wednesday, June 22, 2022, is in development and would allow the virtual assistant to mimic the voice of a specific person based on a less than a minute of provided recording. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)

Amazon’s Alexa could soon mimic voice of dead relatives

Company says capability currently in development

 

Rogers Communications says Nanaimo is the first city in Canada to receive the company’s high-speed, high-capacity 3500 MHz 5G service. (Darren Calabrese/Canadian Press)

B.C. city Canada’s first to connect to Rogers’ new high-capacity network

Company says 3500 MHz 5G debuting in Nanaimo will benefit wide range of clients

 

Data collected via LEO satellites is being used for earth surface GHG surveillance by a B.C. firm. (pixabay photo)

B.C. space-tech exposing greenhouse gas emissions to better combat climate change

Vancouver’s Metaspectral gets $150,000 from the The Canadian Space Agency to analyze satellite data

 

The Seamor Chinook ROV claw approaching a submerged pot, as seen from the navigation controller on the vessel. (Photo submitted)

Vancouver Island submersible craft grapples ‘ghost’ fishing gear from B.C.’s ocean floor

Seamor Marine involved in project to remove abandoned traps on northern coast

The Seamor Chinook ROV claw approaching a submerged pot, as seen from the navigation controller on the vessel. (Photo submitted)
Open Ocean Robotics CEO and co-founder Julie Angus poses behind one of the company’s boats. (Photo courtesy of Open Ocean Robotics)

Saanich ocean robotics company seeing sustainability success on the open sea

Open Ocean technology monitoring marine sanctuaries, will help protect resident orcas

Open Ocean Robotics CEO and co-founder Julie Angus poses behind one of the company’s boats. (Photo courtesy of Open Ocean Robotics)
London Drugs’ Harris Green Village location is heading into the future with ROLL-E, a robot that will deliver curbside orders to waiting customers. (Courtesy of London Drugs)

Victoria London Drugs location adding robot to delivery staff

ROLL-E will help deliver curbside orders to waiting customers

London Drugs’ Harris Green Village location is heading into the future with ROLL-E, a robot that will deliver curbside orders to waiting customers. (Courtesy of London Drugs)
Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, attends the opening of the Tesla factory Berlin Brandenburg in Gruenheide, Germany, March 22, 2022. Musk, who is now Twitter’s largest shareholder and newly appointed board member, may have thoughts on a long-standing request from users: Should there be an edit button? On Monday evening, Musk launched a Twitter poll about whether they want an edit button. More than 3 million people have voted as of Tuesday, April 5, 2022. The poll closes Tuesday evening Eastern time. (Patrick Pleul/Pool via AP)

Twitter, with new board member Elon Musk, says it’s testing an ‘edit’ button

Users want to fix mistakes, typos and ‘hot takes’

Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, attends the opening of the Tesla factory Berlin Brandenburg in Gruenheide, Germany, March 22, 2022. Musk, who is now Twitter’s largest shareholder and newly appointed board member, may have thoughts on a long-standing request from users: Should there be an edit button? On Monday evening, Musk launched a Twitter poll about whether they want an edit button. More than 3 million people have voted as of Tuesday, April 5, 2022. The poll closes Tuesday evening Eastern time. (Patrick Pleul/Pool via AP)
The Spectrum Thunderbots won the FIRST Robotics regional championship in early March in Victoria and qualified for next month’s FIRST Robotics championships in Houston. They’re currently fundraising for the trip. (Photo courtesy of Moira Chambers)

Saanich’s Spectrum Thunderbots taking aim at international robotics competition

FIRST robotics regional winners fundraising to reach championships in Texas

The Spectrum Thunderbots won the FIRST Robotics regional championship in early March in Victoria and qualified for next month’s FIRST Robotics championships in Houston. They’re currently fundraising for the trip. (Photo courtesy of Moira Chambers)
Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena. Under the management of GSL Holdings, the arena’s staff will soon use third-party facial verification to gain access to several areas. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)

Downtown Victoria arena moving to facial verification security for staff

City facility partners with Vancouver-based surveillance technology firm on project

Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena. Under the management of GSL Holdings, the arena’s staff will soon use third-party facial verification to gain access to several areas. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)
RCMP underwater recovery team members Cpl. Todd Kaufmann, left, Cpl. Steve Wells and Const. Tim Cucheran worked with ‘Fab’, a Seamor Marine Chinook ROV to recover a bulldozer operator’s body in Nunavut in February. (Photo submitted)

B.C. tech recovers body after bulldozer breaks through Arctic ice and sinks

Seamor Marine remotely operated vehicle used in deepest recovery operation in RCMP history

RCMP underwater recovery team members Cpl. Todd Kaufmann, left, Cpl. Steve Wells and Const. Tim Cucheran worked with ‘Fab’, a Seamor Marine Chinook ROV to recover a bulldozer operator’s body in Nunavut in February. (Photo submitted)
A trash collector making his daily rounds. Calgary-based VDQ-NRG hopes to build a plant in Sooke and take household waste and produce biofuels. (File - Black Press Media)

Sooke eyed for new $55-million biofuels plant

Calgary-based company plans to convert garbage to energy

A trash collector making his daily rounds. Calgary-based VDQ-NRG hopes to build a plant in Sooke and take household waste and produce biofuels. (File - Black Press Media)
University of Victoria health information science professor Elizabeth Borycki says the pandemic has accelerated advances in patient-centred information technology. (Courtesy of UVic Photos)

COVID driving evolution of health information technology: UVic expert

Patient choice at the forefront of pandemic tech, Prof. Elizabeth Borycki says

University of Victoria health information science professor Elizabeth Borycki says the pandemic has accelerated advances in patient-centred information technology. (Courtesy of UVic Photos)
Voxel Bridge art

Technology as art

The dazzling Voxel Bridge installation

  • Nov 19, 2021
Voxel Bridge art
The icons of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp can be seen on the screen of a smartphone in Kempten, Germany, Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. The six-hour outage of Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp on Monday was a headache for many casual users. But the outage was far more serious for many people worldwide who rely on the social media sites to communicate with relatives, friends and neighbors and run their businesses. It’s a stark reminder that many of the most popular ways to communicate are controlled by one company, Facebook. And any lengthy outage can have severe implications. (Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa via AP)

Outage highlights how vital Facebook has become worldwide

For small businesses, the outages meant hundreds or thousands of dollars in lost revenue

The icons of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp can be seen on the screen of a smartphone in Kempten, Germany, Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. The six-hour outage of Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp on Monday was a headache for many casual users. But the outage was far more serious for many people worldwide who rely on the social media sites to communicate with relatives, friends and neighbors and run their businesses. It’s a stark reminder that many of the most popular ways to communicate are controlled by one company, Facebook. And any lengthy outage can have severe implications. (Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa via AP)
The five-week program pairs seniors with youth in the name of digital literacy. (WorkLink Employment Society)

Digital literacy program in Langford, Sooke pairs teens with 55+

WorkLink program’s first cohort boots up in October

The five-week program pairs seniors with youth in the name of digital literacy. (WorkLink Employment Society)
FILE - In this Friday, Sept. 17, 2021 file photo, The app Smart Voting is displayed on an iPhone screen in Moscow, Russia. Big Tech companies that operate around the globe have long promised both to obey local laws and to protect civil rights while doing business. But when Apple and Google capitulated to Russian demands and removed Smart Voting, a political-opposition app from their local app stores, it raised worries that two of the world’s most successful companies are more comfortable bowing to undemocratic edicts — and maintaining a steady flow of profits— than upholding their stated principles.(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

One plug to charge them all: EU demands universal charger for phones

EU wants to cut down on the 11,000 metric tons of electronic waste residents throw out every year

FILE - In this Friday, Sept. 17, 2021 file photo, The app Smart Voting is displayed on an iPhone screen in Moscow, Russia. Big Tech companies that operate around the globe have long promised both to obey local laws and to protect civil rights while doing business. But when Apple and Google capitulated to Russian demands and removed Smart Voting, a political-opposition app from their local app stores, it raised worries that two of the world’s most successful companies are more comfortable bowing to undemocratic edicts — and maintaining a steady flow of profits— than upholding their stated principles.(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
Dexter Macaisa, team lead for assembly process and development at Central Saanich’s Redlen Technologies, works on component of the company’s ground-breaking new CT technology. Canon recently paid $341 million to acquire the remaining 85 per cent of the company after having purchased 15 per cent earlier. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)

CEO believes Central Saanich’s Redlen can hit $1 billion in revenue after purchase by Canon

Glenn Bindley also predicts that company will boost region’s high-tech reputation

Dexter Macaisa, team lead for assembly process and development at Central Saanich’s Redlen Technologies, works on component of the company’s ground-breaking new CT technology. Canon recently paid $341 million to acquire the remaining 85 per cent of the company after having purchased 15 per cent earlier. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)
A woman looks at the Quebec government’s new vaccine passport called VaxiCode on a phone in Montreal, Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues in Canada and around the world. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Police complaints filed after politicians’ vaccine passport QR codes allegedly hacked

Codes contain name, date of birth and information about the vaccinations a person has received

A woman looks at the Quebec government’s new vaccine passport called VaxiCode on a phone in Montreal, Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues in Canada and around the world. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Less than 40 per cent of rural and remote communities in B.C. have access to high-speed internet. (File photo)

61,000 rural B.C. homes supplied with high-speed internet since 2019: project update

The project aims to provide high-speed internet coverage to rural and remote areas of the province

Less than 40 per cent of rural and remote communities in B.C. have access to high-speed internet. (File photo)
FILE - This Tuesday, July 28, 2020, file photo shows the icon for the Tinder dating app on a device in New York. The use of dating apps in the last 18 months of the pandemic has surged around the globe. Tinder reported 2020 as its busiest year. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File)

Dating changed during the pandemic, apps are following suit

New tools will allow users to get to know people better online

FILE - This Tuesday, July 28, 2020, file photo shows the icon for the Tinder dating app on a device in New York. The use of dating apps in the last 18 months of the pandemic has surged around the globe. Tinder reported 2020 as its busiest year. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File)