This week in technology, Frank & Oak celebrate ridiculous growth, Ronda Rousey loses and wins, a gift-guide battle between BB-8 and R2-D2, Xbox One consoles get backwards compatibility, Canadian Videogame Aware finalists announced.

Frank & Oak atop Technology Fast 50

Montreal-based menswear retailer Frank & Oak was named the winner of this year’s edition of Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50.

The company got its start as an online-only retailer, but has expanded operation and now has 12 bricks and mortar locations in North America, including an atelier on Abbott off Hastings in downtown Vancouver.

Frank & Oak earned its top spot because of revenues over the past four years that were up 18,480%.

Richmond’s Corvus Energy was named second, with revenues that have increased by 16,943% since 2011. Corvus is bringing renewable energy solutions to the marine shipping industry with battery and hybrid power options.

Other B.C. companies on the list include

• HootSuite (7)
• Traction on Demand (11)
• Appnovation Technologies (12)
• Clio (20)
• QuickMobile (21)
• Avigilon Corporation (26)
• Zafin (28)
• Aquatic Informatics (37)
• Real Estate Webmasters (43)

PHEMI, a data warehousing company in Vancouver, was named to the “companies-to-watch” list.

Rowdy Ronda Rousey loses battle, but breaks another barrier

EA Sports announced last week that Ronda Rousey will be on the cover of UFC 2, a video game developed in Burnaby at EA Canada.

In a statement, Rousey, who lost her bantamweight championship the next day to challenger Holly Holm, said that she was “really happy to be involved with it”.

“As a gamer myself, it’s pretty surreal to be on the cover of the game and to have a woman on the cover of a UFC game shows a lot of progress,” she said.

Canadian Videogame Awards finalists announced

On December 6, in Toronto, the Canadian Videogame Awards will be given out. The annual celebration of video game development in Canada received more than 100 nominations, and some 54 games are among the list of finalists.

The event is open to the public (get tickets).

Among the finalists are a couple of games from Ubisoft (Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, Far Cry 4), Square Enix Montreal (Hitman: Sniper, Lara Croft GO), and BioWare (Dragon Age: Inquisition)

Vancouver studios named as finalists include:

• Klei Entertainment for Invisible, Inc. and Don’t Starve (Giant and Pocket Editions)
• EA Canada for FIFA 13
• IUGO Mobile for The Walking Dead: Road to Survival
• Archiact Interactive for Lamper VR 2
• Radial Games for Rocketsrocketsrockets
• Pixel Pi Games for Pulse
• Matt Thorson for TowerFall Dark World
• Kabam Vancouver for Marvel Contest of Champions
• Codename Entertainment for Crusaders of the Lost Idols (Victoria)

See the full list of finalists.

Xbox One now sports backwards compatibility

Late last week, Xbox One consoles started to get operating system upgrades that make it possible to stream your console play to any computer on the same network. So if someone in the house wants to watch The Walking Dead, you can still play Halo 5.

The console update also brings backwards compatibility and more than 100 Xbox 360 games can now be played on the Xbox One.

In addition to the feature, Microsoft announced that all future Games with Gold titles for Xbox 360 will be backwards compatible on the Xbox One, starting this month with DiRT 3 and Dungeon Siege III.

Games with Gold is a benefit for Xbox Live members that provides free and steeply-discounted games each month.

And for a limited time, you can get game bundles that include Xbox One and Xbox 360 games, which can all be played on the newer console:

• Buy Gears of War: Ultimate Edition (Xbox One) and get Gears of War, Gears of War 2, Gears of War 3, and Gears of War Judgment for free
• Buy Fallout 4 (Xbox One) and get Fallout 3 (Xbox 360) for free
• Buy Just Cause 3 (Xbox One) and get Just Cause 2 (Xbox 360) for free
• Buy Rainbow Six Siege (Xbox One) and get Rainbow Six Vegas and Rainbow Six Vegas 2 for free

Here’s the full list [http://www.xbox.com/BackCompat] of Xbox 360 titles that will be playable on your Xbox One.

Holiday gift guide: BB-8 and R2-D2 droids

The picks this week are for two cute little robots from two different Star Wars experiences.

Everyone knows and loves R2-D2, from the original trilogy and those other three movies. Well, R2 exists as a remote controllable robot from Thinkway Toys, and available at Toys R Us ($199). It’s also voice activated, so you can have a conversation with R2.

Okay, maybe “conversation” is overstating it a bit.

This R2 spins, walks, and moves, and even spins his head when he chirps at you.

Or maybe you’re more interested in the new droid from the new film. Well, there’s a robot for you, too.

The BB-8 from Sphero is also voice activated. Or you can control it with your smartphone, planning a route that it will then navigate autonomously. And just like R2, BB-8 has its own distinctive personality.

There’s a cheaper, radio-controlled BB-8 being sold at Amazon that does not seem worth the money, so don’t be fooled. Insist on the Sphero.

And because the resellers of the Sphero BB-8 on Amazon have spiked the price, you should just visit Best Buy to pick one up ($190).