Dec. 27 & 28, 2025 Show Notes
Final Weekend of 2025 Edition
🎙️ Show airs live
Saturday: 10:05am-Noon PT
🔁 Rebroadcast
Sunday: 1:05pm-3pm on C-FAX
🎧 Podcast
Anytime
Your crew this Boxing Week weekend:
Ricky Winter
Co-Host
Tech Experience Manager at London Drugs Tillicum
store +1 250-360-2753
The Podcast
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Tech Talk – December 27, 2025 by Tech Talk with Alan Perry
Looking to score tech deals before the year wraps up? On this week’s episode of Tech Talk, Alan Perry welcomes Ricky Winter, Tech Experience Manager at London Drugs Tillicum, for a deep dive into Boxing Week sales. They discuss where the best deals are, how they compare to Black Friday, and what shoppers should know before heading out. They also explore this week’s tech news — including why rising AI hardware demands could make 2026 a tough year for buying new phones and gadgets. Plus, Ala
Or, you can subscribe to "Tech Talk with Alan Perry" (it's free) on any podcast app including these…
Best Boxing Week Deals
Almost all tech gear is on sale somewhere for Boxing Week, although most of the sale prices are not quite as low as they were for Black Friday Weekend.
The highlights of what we've found are listed below; to avoid disappointment, we recommend you check online to see if there is still stock left before heading to the stores.
And please be kind to the staff — they're working long hours this week, and many stores can't recruit as many staff as they'd like to have.
Mobile phone plans
The best deals are being offered by Quebec-based Freedom Mobile and by Telus-owned Public Mobile, which has boosted its offers to almost match Freedom's.
- Freedom is offering $39/70GB and $40/100GB with Canada/U.S./Mexico use, with activation fees waived, and is also offering for the first time, a $35/100GB Canada/USA (no Mexico) plan…and all of these rates are guaranteed to not increase as long as you stay on the same plan…
- Public Mobile has boosted data on its plans to offer very similar deals to Freedom — a great option if Freedom isn’t available in your area…
You can also get $35/100GB Canada/USA plans from Rogers, Bell, and Telus dealers, but you must be a new customer, and you'll have to pay a $80 one-time Connection Fee to switch. Also, be aware that those rates can be increased by the carriers at any time.
Mobile phones
This year, Quebec-based Freedom Mobile once again has, by far, the best Boxing Week deals.
Here are a few examples compiled by MobileSyrup.com that show how much better their deals are than the deals being offered by the other carriers:
Best Buy, Staples, London Drugs, Andre's, Visions, and others are offering bonus gift cards up to $300 when you buy a new phone from them on a two-year contract on one of the big three carriers, but most of those contracts come with plans that start at $115/month.
iPads
Staples has the 11th-gen base model Apple A16 iPad (10.9" screen) on sale for $400 — a $100 saving — while stock lasts, through Dec. 31…
StaplesCanada
Apple iPad 11" - A16 Chip - Wi-Fi - 128 GB - Blue
The 11-inch iPad is now more capable than ever with the superfast A16 chip, Liquid Retina display,1 advanced cameras, fast Wi-Fi 6, USB-C connector and four gorgeous colours. iPad delivers a powerful way to create, stay connected and get things done - all for a surprisingly affordable price.
Staples also has the 11" M3-powered iPad Air on sale for $650 — a $150 saving — while stock lasts, through Dec. 31…
StaplesCanada
Apple iPad Air 11" - M3 Chip - Wi-Fi - 128 GB - Space Grey
The 11-inch iPad Air. Built for Apple Intelligence. Supercharged by the lightning-fast Apple M3 chip. It features a stunning Liquid Retina display, a 12MP Center Stage front camera for even better video calls and blazing-fast Wi-Fi 6E. And it works with Apple Pencil Pro, Magic Keyboard and Smart Folio, so you can multitask, study, work, play and create from anywhere.
Other stores will price-match if they have stock, but most are out of stock.
Laptops
London Drugs has a 16" ASUS Vivobook Windows 11 laptop powered by a Ryzen AI-5 340 processor with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD for $800 - a $400 saving…
They also have a slightly-smaller 15" Windows 11 Vivobook powered by a 13th-gen Intel Core i7 processor with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD for $700 — also a $400 saving…
TV's
Atlas Audio Video Unlimited is repeating its Black Friday special of a Sony Bravia 55" A95L OLED for half price — just $1998! Some stores will price-match if you ask, while stock lasts…
Visions Electronics has Samsung's 77" OLED on sale for the same price — $1998 — a $1600 saving…
Andre's Electronic Experts has lowered the price on Samsung's 55" QLED set to $498 — a $250 saving — and other stores like London Drugs and Visions which had put it on sale for $600 are now matching Andre's $498 price while stock lasts…
Virtually all TV's are on sale at one store or another, so shop around!
Printers
London Drugs has the lowest price of the year — $160 — on a refurbished Epson Eco-Tank printer which comes with bottles of ink in the box good for literally two years of printing for most people!
These refurbished printers are virtually indistinguishable from new ones, and we've had no problems with them at all.
The ET-2850 feeds paper from the top, so it's ideal if you also want to print photos or on card stock.
Costco has a new 2025 business-grade model, the ET-3958, which has an ADF (auto document feeder) for scanning multi-page documents) on sale for $350 — a $100 saving — and it comes with two bonus extra black ink bottles, which is an additional $70 saving…
Costco Wholesale
Epson EcoTank ET-3958 Wireless All-in-One Colour Supertank Printer with Two Bonus Black Ink Bottles
Epson EcoTank ET-3958 Wireless All-in-One Colour Supertank Printer with Two Bonus Black Ink Bottles Includes: 2 bonus 502 Black ink bottles (127 ml/ea.) Print, Copy, Scan Cartridge-free printing Wireless mobile printing 2-year limited warranty with registration
Other tech gear
Lexar's SL300 1TB external SSD is on sale for just $97 — a $63 saving — at London Drugs…
Logitech mice, keyboards, and mouse/keyboard combos are on sale for up to 50% off at London Drugs, Staples, Best Buy, and other stores.
Walmart has Apple AirPods 4 on sale for $139 — save $41 — and other stores will price-match if you ask, while stocks last…If Santa brought you a new phone that has wireless charging, London Drugs has a great IQ brand high-speed wireless charger (model IQMGS1V) on sale for half-price — $15…
London Drugs has Sennheiser's great 450BT over-the-ear headphones on sale for $100 — that's a $130 saving!
Atlas Audio Video Unlimited has Sony's popular WHCH520 over-the-ear wireless headphones on sale for $49 — that's half price!
Tech News Of The Week
Items start at #10, so the numbers don't get thrown-off if we add more security items above!
Tip: if an item in these Show Notes has the icon on the right in the upper-right corner, you can click/tap on it to make the additional info open in a new tab.
10) If you're planning to buy new tech gear next year, you might want to buy it this year before prices soar due to AI RAM demands
2026 isn’t shaping up to be a good year to buy a new phone, or any new tech in general.
RAM (Random Access Memory) is the 'short term memory' in tech gear; it usually comes in ever-smaller strips of chips. RAM temporarily stores the info your device is currently using, so it can work faster without constantly checking with a SSD (solid-state drive) or HDD (slower, spinning High Density Drive).
Because AI data centres and computers running AI systems require large amounts of RAM, prices of RAM are skyrocketing. Reports suggest phones, tablets and computers are all about to become more expensive due to this RAM inflation, and now, new reports suggest that phone specs could actually start going backwards because of RAM inflation.
- Due to soaring RAM prices, smartphones in 2026 are expected to be more expensive while featuring less RAM than 2025 models.
- High-end 16GB RAM models may nearly disappear, and 12GB and 8GB models could see massive reductions in availability as makers revert to 8GB and 4GB RAM, respectively.
- Phone makers are caught between pricing pressures and reduced availability of consumer-grade DRAM as RAM manufacturers prioritize HBM (High-Bandwidth Memory) supply for enterprise customers.
11a) If you have an LG TV made in the past four years, you'll soon see a Copilot shortcut, but LG says they'll 'soon' let you delete it
Online fury erupted this week after an LG TV owner claimed that a firmware update installed unremovable generative AI software on their smart TV.
LG has since admitted that it used a webOS update to install a shortcut to the Copilot web app, which opens in the TV’s integrated web browser. However, LG, like other companies, has failed to prove why people need their non-computing devices, such as computer mice or earbuds, to provide instant access to third-party chatbots.
LG says it will let people delete the Copilot icon from their TVs soon, but it still has plans to weave the service throughout webOS. LG says Copilot will help users find stuff to watch by “allowing users to efficiently find and organize complex information using contextual cues.” LG also ays Copilot would “proactively” identify potential user problems and offer “timely, effective solutions.”
Some TVs from LG’s biggest rival, Samsung, have included Copilot since August. Owners of supporting 2025 TVs can speak to Copilot using their remote’s microphone. They can also access Copilot via the Tizen OS homescreen’s Apps tab or through the TVs’ Click to Search feature, which lets users press a dedicated remote button to search for content while watching live TV or Samsung TV Plus.
11b) TV makers are being sued for secretly taking screenshots of what we're watching so they can target us with ads
If you have a TV made by Sony, Samsung, LG, TCL or HiSense, software inside the TV is likely secretly taking screenshots of what you're watching and sending them back to the TV manufacturer so that info can be sold to advertising companies.
The state of Texas is suing the five TV makers, saying that's a grossly illegal invasion of privacy.
“These companies have been unlawfully collecting personal data through Automated Content Recognition (‘ACR’) technology,” Texas A-G Ken Paxton’s office alleges in a news release that contains links to all five lawsuits. “ACR in its simplest terms is an uninvited, invisible digital invader. This software can capture screenshots of a user’s television display every 500 milliseconds, monitor viewing activity in real time, and transmit that information back to the company without the user’s knowledge or consent. The companies then sell that consumer info to target ads across platforms for a profit.
Using ACR, each company “secretly monitors what consumers watch across streaming apps, cable, and even connected devices like gaming consoles or Blu-ray players,” and harvests the data to build profiles of consumer behavior and sell the data for profit, the complaints say.
If you want to turn off this hidden monitoring, it can take more than 15 clicks!
For example, on my Samsung TV, I hade to open Settings and then go to Additional Settings, General Privacy, Terms & Privacy, Viewing Information Services, and, finally, “Disable". I also had to find and turn off additional toggles for Interest-Based Ads, Ad Personalization, and Privacy Choices.
The process is different, but just a complicated for the other brands.
(We suggest you use an AI agent like CoPilot, ChatGPT, or Gemini to find out how to turn off Automated Content Recognition technology on your brand of TV.)
The TV makers are refusing to comment, now that the legal action has been filed.
12) Apple iPhone 17 Pro wins ‘Best Camera’ in Canadian Smartphone Awards
Naming a smartphone ‘Best Smartphone Camera’ of the year is difficult because beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but MobileSyrup.com narrowed it down to three finalists here in Canada.
The website says the Galaxy S25 Ultra captures great detail with its 200-megapixel camera, but the Pixel 10 Pro and the iPhone 17 Pro offer more favourable pictures with vibrant yet accurate colours, great detail and high dynamic range. These handsets also take solid selfies with the Pixel 10 Pro sporting a 42-megapixel camera and an iPhone 17 Pro that can change the aspect by accurately detecting the people in the viewfinder.
Brad Bennett, MobileSyrup’s previous Bad Boy of Tech and whiz at cameras, was incredibly impressed by the iPhone 17 Pro series this year and found it incredibly impressive. “Truthfully, anyone with a genuine interest in photography will be delighted with this phone, even if some of the newer features are geared towards professional videographers. If you need a small professional phone to shoot LOG video, this is the best option,” he said in his review of the phone.
And the fact that it can take amazing pictures and videos with no compromises.
While the iPhone 17 Pro is the phone with all-around best cameras, if you are someone who cares more about selfies, though, both the Pixel 10 Pro and the 10 Pro Fold can use their primary camera to take selfies by using their foldable capabilities.
13) iPhone tip: how to restore missing Phone app Favourite numbers
If you have an iPhone and have updated it to iOS 26, you'll see that your Favourites and Voicemail buttons at the bottom of the phone app has disappeared…
This is because Apple has rolled-out a cleaner 'unified' look for the app, which now just show Calls, Contacts, Keypad, and Search.
If you want your Favourites and Voicemail buttons back, it's fortunately easy to get them back!
- Tap on the Calls button
- In the upper-right, tap on the three cascading lines
- Tap on Classic
Your Favourites and Voicemail buttons will reappear!
15) Listener question answered: yes, you can install a larger SSD on a Mac mini, and it's way cheaper than buying one with a bigger SSD
Sam in Oak Bay got a Mac mini as a Christmas present, but it came with just a 256GB SSD and he has more than 410GB of photos and videos and music on the Mac it'll replace.
He thought about returning it and buying a Mac mini which has a 512GB SSD and 24GB of RAM, but that would cost an extra $600. He could use an external SSD for about $150, but wondered if a larger SSD could be installed internally.
We initially thought not, as the memory on most Macs is not micro-soldered directly onto the motherboards, but it turns out you can replace the SSD on a Mac mini!
16) WhatsApp is now available on an Apple Watch
As well as reading and responding to messages, for the first time WhatsApp on Apple Watch will now support many requested features:
- Call notifications: You can see who’s calling without needing to look at your iPhone.
- Full messages: You can read full WhatsApp messages on Apple Watch — even long messages are visible directly from your wrist.
- Voice messages: You can now record and send voice messages.
- React to messages: We’ve added the ability to send quick emoji reactions to messages you receive.
- A great media experience: You’ll see clear images and stickers on your Apple Watch.
- Chat history: You can see more of your chat history on screen when reading messages.
17) If Santa brought you iPods Pro, here are some must-try features
Did you just unwrap new AirPods Pro? If so, there is a lot more to the experience than just listening to music and podcasts. Here are some recommendations for new AirPods Pro users…
18a) It is not a good idea to leave a laptop plugged-in all the time. But, it is also not a good idea to let it run out of power, either.
Andy Betts at MakeUseOf.com has written an excellent article outlining the best ways to not accidentally shorten the life of a laptop battery…
18b) How to extend the battery life of a MacBook
Charles Martin has written a great article for AppleInsider.com on some easy things you can do to measurably extend both the battery life and battery health of a MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.
One of his tips, which initially might sound counter-intuitive, is to temporarily turn off the new built-in Battery Health Management service for when you want your MacBook Air or Pro to be 100% charged for an upcoming session away from power.
19) We suggest you turn off Bitlocker encryption on Windows PC's
We're huge fans of technology that helps keep your documents, photos, passwords, music, etc. secure from being stolen or accessed by others.
But, sometimes things can go too far, and accidentally make it impossible for you to access your own stuff! In the Windows world, the chief cause of that is usually Bitlocker encryption.
To be clear, Bitlocker encryption is phenomenal for people who want to ensure that no-one can access their stuff if their laptop or desktop PC is stolen. It works by encrupting the entire drive, not just individual files, so if someone removes your hard drive and connects it to another device, they can't read the data without the decryption key.
And there's the catch for most average computer users: if you lose your 48-character decryption key, no-one can help you regain access to that drive.
The key is securely stored within your Microsoft account, but we've had numerous people who lost access to their account because they forgot their password and didn't understand the critical importance of making sure they had a current mobile number and email address on file to help.
As a result, unless you have very sensitive material on your computer and are prepared to safely store your Bitlocker decryption key in multiple places, we suggest you turn-off Bitlocker encryption.
Here's how…
1) in the seach box at the bottom of your screen, type Device Security and at the top of the column that appears, click/tap on Device Security System settings..
2) in the screen appears, if you see Data encryption, click on Manage device encryption in blue if you see that. (If you don't, your computer is either too old or not powerful enough to support Bitlocker.)
3) in the screen that appears, if Device encryption is turned on, turn it OFF, and you'll get a blue progress-bar as your drive is decrypted.
If you want to keep Bitlocker encryption turned-on, you can access your 48-character Recovery Key and then porint it out and store it in a very secure place by going to aka.ms/MyRecoveryKey.
20) If you're a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscriber, there's an important change you should make, to avoid a 45% price-hike!
If you have a Microsoft 365 Personal of Family subscription (which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive and Skype), Microsoft has quietly upped the renewal price by 45% to pay for the addition of CoPilot Pro artificial intelligence features. Those powerful features are impressive, but most people will never need them.
There's a hidden way to downgrade your subscription back to the previous price of $79 CAD for 365 Personal and $109 CAD for 365 Family — but you have to make the change before your subscription renews, or you'll be charged the much-higher price of $115 for 365 Personal and $145 for 365 Family.
To do the downgrade, sign into your Microsoft account at Account.Microsoft.com, click on Subscriptions, then click on Manage, and where it shows your Microsoft 365 subscription, click on "Cancel subscription", and you'll see a screen that looks like this…
Click on "Switch plan", and then click on "Buy", and it'll downgrade you, and when your subscription renewal comes up, it'll renew at the old price.
Important: if your subscription is not set for Auto-renewal, you won't get the option to downgrade. To remedy that, click on the Turn on Auto-renewal button, put in your credit card info, and once it confirms that your subscription is set for auto-renewal, then click on “Cancel subscription” and then on "Switch plan" and choose the downgrade.
23) We've also started compiling a list of our favourite phone apps
The "Our Favourite Apps" list — which will have a lot more added in the coming weeks — is on our home page, and you can also get to it by going to Tech-Talk.ca/apps.
We've had a wonderful Canadian Christmas, not just with our two Grade 10 international students — Natsuki from Osaka in Japan and Sofía from Madrid in Spain — but also with Natsuki's mother Masaki and younger brother Sosuke, who flew here for a whirlwind five-day visit!
We, along with Suzanne's brother Richard, and our good friends Rick and Zack, took them to see some of our decorated homes and to Butchart Gardens…
Natsuki's mother and brother got to taste their first turkey with all the trimmings, and they and Sofia and our friend Zack made traditional Japanese, Spanish, and Hungarian dishes to go with it!
…and finally, our "Sign Of The Week"…
And so it goes…