This week, a new way to get your movie tickets on your smartphone and a Ford Fusion drives itself around in the dark. But first, there’s a new Dyson fan available, but it’s much more than just a fan.

Dyson’s new fan opens a window to the connected home

The newest tech device from Dyson combines air purifying and air circulation in the form of the Dyson Pure Cool Link. It’s also the first device from the company that can be controlled with a smartphone.

The new fan is equipped with Dyson’s air multiplier technology, which creates a smooth flow of air without any fan blades, and an efficient motor. It also has a replaceable HEPA filter that the company says removes 99.97 percent of pollutants and allergens from your interior air.

An Environmental Protection Agency study cited by Dyson found that air pollution inside our buildings can be up to five times worse than outside.

The HEPA filter in the Pure Cool Link can remove particles as small as .03 microns, including tobacco smoke, carbon dust, and cooking oil smoke. It can filter out of the air volatile organic compounds, asbestos, and fumes.

Because the purifier is built into a fan, it means that air is not only cleaned, but circulated as well.

But the real disruption in the Pure Cool Link is that it is connected, which means you can control it with the free Dyson Link app, available for Android and iOS.

As Dyson releases more devices for the connected home, you’ll be able to access those with your smartphone, too.

The Dyson Pure Cool Link comes in two models, one sized for a desk or table ($500) and a tower for the floor ($600), and two colours, blue iron and white silver.

Other high quality air purifiers are larger, create more noise, and can cost over $400. Considering that, the Pure Cool Link, which is quiet and attractive and is as good or better at cleaning the air, is a bargain.

Landmark Cinemas chain introduces Atom Tickets ordering

Landmark Cinemas, which has movie theatres in Alberta, B.C., Manitoba, and scattered throughout Ontario, has selected California’s Atom Tickets to provide moviegoers with the opportunity to purchase tickets with their mobile devices.

The Cineplex theatre chain has had smartphone and online ordering for years, but this is the first time that Landmark, with 46 theatres across Canada, has let customers order with an app.

More than just letting you skip the line at the ticket booth — and the concession, because you can also pre-order your popcorn — you can choose to let Atom’s app to connect to your social channels, so you can “rally” your friends to join you at the film.

The Atom app actually provides information about all movies playing at all theatres near you, but you’re only able to purchase tickets and concession items for Landmark theatres.

And in the month of April, as a way of celebrating the new functionality, people who create an Atom profile are getting their first ticket free.

Driving at night, without lights, and without a driver

Tesla and Google aren’t the only car manufacturers playing around with robot cars. Last week, Ford released a video taken at its test track in Arizona showing a Fusion driving itself around a track in complete darkness.

Many autonomous car systems make use of cameras, many of which require light to operate. Ford’s system is using LiDAR (light detection and ranging), which works with 3D maps of the environment to navigate.

The night-vision glasses worn by the engineers show the laser pulses being sent out by the LiDAR array on top of the vehicle.

Cheezy suspense music aside, the fact that the Ford Fusion was able to navigate a track in complete darkness just shows how close we are to true autonomous vehicles.