Notable Life

Last year I first laid eyes on the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL, and it was that magical love at first sight—though deep inside my mind, there was a subtle, nagging feeling that something was slightly off, even if I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Fast forward to today (I’m still thinking about it), with the newly introduced Google Pixel 11 series, Google has officially made my feelings stronger. Google has been playing the long game in Canada, and it’s finally paying off.

Apple’s products, the iPhone included, have proven themselves comparably excellent against most competitors, especially on security. But when it comes to genuine product and technology innovation, one question is worth asking honestly: how many features has the iPhone actually introduced to the market first? If you haven’t heard of the N+1 formula, the idea is simple: take an existing feature, add your own spin, and make it better and more refined than the original.

Three days ago, I picked up my second EV–Sorry, BEV. B for battery. When I took delivery of my first, a Tesla Model X, in 2018, “EV” was a sufficient descriptor. Electric Vehicle. Easy. Now, we must wrap our heads around PHEV, EREV, HEV, NEV, FCEV….. WTFEV. The confusion extends throughout the EV market as a whole. On one hand, Tesla is printing money and making Elon Musk the richest guy in the world (recently, on my morning commute, I counted seven Teslas stopped at the red light with me).

Inside Freixenet’s All Access Pass – Electric Island experience: a King West brunch, a black-and-gold Cava Carriage, and a sunset dance floor overlooking the Toronto skyline. Story time, Notable folks. I opened my DMs to an invite to Freixenet’s exclusive All Access Pass experience for Electric Island 2026, which included VIP festival entry, a rooftop brunch, a flowing supply of Cava, and (yes, this is real) a ride to the venue in the Cava Carriage. I RSVPed as quickly as my fingers could type.

Canada’s live music industry is a heavyweight. The broader live music sector — concerts, festivals, electronic dance music, and everything in between — contributes billions to the national economy every year. But that’s the whole scene. What happens when we zoom all the way in on a single event? What does VELD Music Festival’s three-day takeover of Downsview Park actually pump into Toronto? Let’s do some PLUR math.

Buying a Ford Mustang is supposed to feel like a reward—a statement car, a status symbol, a big-ticket purchase you can be proud of. So it stings a little when the newest headline about your car isn’t about horsepower, but about a recall. That’s the reality many owners are facing after Ford’s latest safety action, which affects the Mustang, Mustang GTD, and Mustang Mach-E. Ford recently announced two new U.S. safety recalls affecting a combined 110,626 vehicles.

I live 500m from where the shooting occurred. I’ve come to know the owners and staff of many of the restaurants and shops along what is known as Hillcrest Village. Our kids go to school together, we see each other walking dogs, but mostly I’m a patron of the small businesses that give the neighbourhood its flavour. The coffee shop knows my drink, the butcher knows my cuts, the ice cream shop knows I’m addicted to ice cream.

Canada’s immigration story is impossible to miss. Whenever I’m at a grocery store in a major Canadian city, there’s a 90% chance I’ll bump into a fellow immigrant—staff and shoppers alike. It’s wild to see how government policy plays out on the ground: from recent arrivals on temporary foreign worker or student permits to first-generation families who built lives here decades ago and their nth-generation kids. It really feels like Canada’s entire history in one aisle.

Swatch had the most important watch release of 2026 with the Royal Pop. There was unprecedented hype as soon as the product was announced, leading to a disastrous product launch. Is the hype dead? Is the Royal Pop attainable? From a watch nerd who wears both an Audemars Piguet and a Swatch, here are some thoughts on the Royal Pop. People lost their minds over the release of the Royal Pop, the collab between the prestigious Audemars Piguet and the cheap and cheerful Swatch.

Ten months in, Apple’s thinnest iPhone yet has quietly become its biggest commercial disappointment in years. Here’s what real users are saying—and whether the iPhone Air is actually worth buying in 2026, even amidst price drops and special offers. When the iPhone Air launched in September 2025, it was pitched as Apple’s most daring design pivot since the iPhone X.