This week, the long-awaited Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is released, a new Skylanders game is announced, using Apple Pay in Canada, and finding out how fast your Internet connection is. But first, using technology to recover your stolen bike.

Technology to safeguard your bike

We’re lucky here in the Lower Mainland because we can ride our bikes all year round. But more people are on bikes in the summertime, which is why the local police departments start publicizing bike security programs.

Here in North Vancouver, where I live, the local RCMP detachment is asking people to register bikes with them. The Get Your Bike Back initiative has you emailing pertinent details directly to the division so they can return your bike to you in the event it is stolen, and found.

A number of other police forces in the Lower Mainland, including the Vancouver Police Department, West Vancouver Police Department, and the RCMP detachments in Richmond and Surrey, are endorsing Project 529, an online community of cyclists where you can register your bike.

The Kamloops RCMP are also encouraging citizens to use Project 529.

It’s free to register your bike with Project 529, and police officers can use the information to track down stolen bikes.

The difference with Project 529 is that if your bike gets stolen, the entire community of users gets notified and can be on the lookout, too.

You can purchase a shield that you can put on your bikes to identify them as being registered with Project 529.

Or you can visit one of the B.C. bike shops that are part of the Project 529 community.

Find out how fast your Internet connection is

Ever wanted to know how fast your connection is?

Fast.com is new tool that can tell you how good your download speed is. It works with computers, mobile devices, and even smart TVs equipped with web browsers.

The tool was developed by Netflix. The better your download speed, the better the quality of your Netflix stream. It’s one way that the company is looking to respond to customers who may complain about the image quality.

Check your speed. You’ll probably discover that the problem is with your Internet provider, not Netflix.

And this is true for any of the streaming video services, including Crave and Shomi.

If you’re looking for more detailed information about your connection, including upload speed and things like latency, there are other services out there, including Speed Test.

Apple Pay in Canada now works with your debit card

A couple of months ago, some of the major Canadian banks rolled out with Apple Pay, the service from the Califonia-based company that enables you to make payments with your smartphone.

Now they’re all on board. As of last week, you can sign up your Interac debit card for the following institutions to work with Apple Pay:

• Bank of Montreal
• CIBC
• Royal Bank
• Scotiabank
• TD Canada Trust

Apple Pay also works with a number of credit cards (here’s the full list).

Last week, I went out to fill up my barbecue’s propane tank, and forgot my wallet at home. Didn’t matter. I was able to use my iPhone 6S+ to pay.

The next day, I used my Apple Watch.

I’m already used to not having to haul my wallet out. The faster we can get Translink’s Compass Card working with smartphones the better.

You can use Apple Pay at any merchant that has tap enabled on their terminal, so just look for the four curved lines that point to the right. You will need an iPhone 6 or later and Apple Watch paired with an iPhone 5 or later.

Video game update: Mirror’s Edge Catalyst releases, new Skylanders game announced

Next week I’ll be reporting in from E3 in Los Angeles about all things video games. But there’s some interesting video game news this week, too.

Yesterday, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst was released. Developed in Sweden by DICE and published by Electronic Arts, I’ve been waiting for a new game in this franchise since playing the first game in 2008.

The new game is a reboot of the story, but from what I’ve seen, it retains what made that first game so magical: running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop. What Catalyst does better than the first game is get rid of the weaponized combat. (Read more about Catalyst at the Straight).

The other big news was from Activision, and was an announcement of a new Skylanders toys-to-life game. With Skylanders: Imaginators, coming this October, players will be able to invent and create their own heroes to play with. (Read more about Imaginators at the Straight).