The Canadian Wireless and Telecommunications Association has announced a plan to help curb smartphone thefts in Canada: when someone reports their phone as being lost or stolen, their device is placed on a 'blacklist' that stops the thief from activating it. But it might not be enough to stop thieves entirely.

On November 8, the CWTA unveiled a plan to prevent stolen phones from being reactivated. Canadian wireless carriers agreed to set up a database of all stolen phones reported to them, preventing the thieves or their unsuspecting customers from connecting the phone to any network in Canada, the CBC reports.

[ Related: Wireless carriers and law enforcement zeroing in to combat rising cellphone thefts in U.S. ]

According to the CBC, the information will be given to an international database that flags that specific phone as being stolen. Carriers will only activate devices once they've established that they haven't been stolen.

Newly re-elected President Barack Obama didn't just make history by becoming the second Democrat since WWII to win a second term in the White House: he set a new record for Twitter.

Since posting it last night, this tweet from the @BarackObama Twitter account and photo of the Obamas hugging has been re-tweeted over 664,000 times:

While presumably written by a campaign aide and not Obama himself (he signs all tweets written by him "-bo"), the tweet nonetheless went viral and surpassed the record for the most re-tweeted message of all time.

[ Related: Michigan voters clear the road for a new Detroit-Windsor Bridge ]

According to CBC, the previous record was held by Justin Bieber for his tweet following the death of a fan, which received approximately 223,000 re-tweets:

Obama did send out one tweet himself that evening,

Walmart-Mattel pop-up toy store (handout photo)Scrooges, rejoice! With the launch of a new virtual pop-up toy store along Toronto's PATH system, there will be one less reason for you to have to venture into a real mall this holiday season.

Walmart and Mattel have launched the pop-up store in the largest underground shopping complex in the world to help Toronto commuters pick up gifts for little ones while they're on the go.

To 'shop' in the virtual store, customers approach one of the two walls of three-dimensional toy images with their smartphone, scan the QR code displayed beneath the toy's image, charge the purchase to a credit card and have their selection shipped to them for free. Alternatively, customers can use the QR code to find the product themselves on the Walmart Canada website.

"As Canadians become increasingly comfortable with e-commerce, we see mobile commerce taking off," said Melissa Chau, Brand Manager for Mattel Canada, in a press release. "In fact, the most recent statistics show that four out of five consumers

The AppTag Laser BlasterCompanies are finding all kinds of ways to capitalize on augmented reality technology, ranging from Starbucks seasonal promotions, to creatures leaping out of t-shirts, to television hosts being your own personal tour guide in museums.

But one of the most innovative (not to mention fun) uses we've seen for it yet has to be this home-use laser blaster, which turns your iPhone, iPod or Android smartphone into a laser tag battle arena.

Now, I've had my heart broken by at-home laser tag technology before: somehow, those vests and guns that arrived in a big box on Christmas morning never lived up to the experience of running for your life in a black light-decorated renovated warehouse. The App Tag Laser Blaster, however, looks like it takes out the biggest problem that previous at-home versions had: you don't need to aim at a tiny target in order to land a hit. Check out this promo video by Hex 3 to see the laser blaster in action:

To use the blaster, players download the free AppTag app,

When Apple made its second round of product announcements last month, people were focused on the big reveal: the iPad Mini. But as the newness of the device wears off (especially since it was released worldwide on Nov. 2), Apple fans are noticing some of the overlooked products from that day, and one of the things people are excited about is the new iMac.

The new iMac (Getty Images)

Sure, Phil Schiller gave it some love during the announcement ("look how thin that is!" he cried to the audience), but it takes some time to absorb just how remarkable that super-thin monitor is.

[ Related: Apple announces new 13-inch MacBook Pro Retina Display ]

This begs the question, though: how does Apple manage to get it just that thin? Wired's Christina Bonnington was curious too, and has found out how the tech giant managed to back an entire 27-inch iMac into just five millimetres of thickness — without turning to OLED technology.

Optical bonding: "Apple is using optical bonding (lamination) of the [LCD] panel to a sheet of

Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey gestures during an interview with Reuters.How do you know that the holidays are coming soon? Is it the decorations going up in the shopping malls? Or the Christmas-themed music worming its way into your regular lineup on the radio?

No, it has to be the moment everyone's favourite (or most loathed) media baroness proclaims to her devout followers what products they should be buying for their friends, loved ones and themselves this year.

And it looks like she's given the green light, a very needed boost, to Microsoft's new tablet, the Microsoft Surface RT.

[ Related: Angry grandmother tries to shut down Microsoft Surface launch event ]

In the upcoming holiday issue of O, out Nov. 6, Oprah Winfrey lists 48 of her 'Favourite Things,' in an annual and highly anticipated feature. Here's what she had to say about the tablet:

"The Surface, Microsoft's first tablet, feels like a Mercedes-Benz to me, people! The full-size keyboard built right into the cover makes work easy, the very smart kickstand makes watching a movie or Skyping a

The timing couldn't be any better.

With the Disney purchase of Lucasfilm Ltd having reinvigorated the iconic sci-fi franchise, mobile gaming giant Rovio is set to bank on the hype with the release of 'Angry Birds Star Wars.'

The next iteration of the massively popular 'Angry Birds' franchise is set for release on November 8, and all indications point to yet another smash hit.

The critically acclaimed 'Angry Birds in Space' was regarded as a "meteoric success." Rovio's latest release, an 'Angry Birds' spinoff entitled 'Bad Piggies,' reached number 1 on iTunes just hours after its release.

[ Related: Rovio's 'Bad Piggies' hits number 1 in iTunes store hours after launch ]

Couple this successful trend with the strength of the 'Star Wars' franchise and it's safe to assume Rovio has yet another hit in the works.

Watch the lightsaber-wielding Luke Skywalker bird and the laser-firing Princess Leia bird as they attack the Bad Piggies in the preview video below:

(Photo courtesy of BGR)

Need to

It looks like four years of hard work is really paying off for Google as the company made two announcements on Tuesday which show the Android platform is becoming a growing threat to Apple's iOS.

Seeking to take on Apple's Siri voice-search software, which was a key feature to draw in customers to the iPhone 4S and 5, Google has released its enhanced voice search service for iOS, CNET reports.

Available now in the App Store, Google Search now lets you search the web with voice commands on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Like Siri, the app speaks the results back to you. The voice enhancement comes as an update to the pre-existing Google Search app for iOS, which also improve compatibility with the iPhone 5.

[ Related: Privacy issues online evolving too fast for regulation, Google tells MPs ]

The voice search won't have quite the same functionality as Siri, of course, as it isn't integrated with built-in apps in iOS, like Mail and Calendar, the same way Siri is. However CNET reports