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Mobile Syrup

Government’s policy direction for CRTC met with hope, skepticism

The CIRA is praising the government for its recent policy direction for the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

Directions from Innovation, Science, and Economic Development (ISED) focus on various topics, including offering affordable wholesale internet rates and increasing competition in the mobile wireless market.

CIRA, the organization responsible for managing the .ca domain, is commeding the government for telling the CRTC to focus on internet performance testing and results sharing.

“This new direction will guide and challenge the CRTC in a renewed focus on building a trusted internet–a mission at the core of CIRA’s work,” Byron Holland, CIRA’s president, said in a press release.

The Competitive Network Operators of Canada (CNOC) also responded with positivity. The organization advocates for competitive internet and telecom services. Geoff White, CNOC’s executive director and general counsel told Cartt.ca he’s happy the government didn’t “water down” the direction.

However, some hesitation exists. “…It’s important that the Minister and the CRTC take action urgently because there is a mass extinction event happening in the Canadian telecom sector, with smaller, independent operators struggling under years of a broken competitive framework,” he told the publication.

Open Media, which also advocates for affordable and accessible internet, said the policy is “too little, too late.”

While the organization agrees with the “bigger picture,” it says questions on topic related to the policy direction remain, including whether Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne will approve the Rogers-Shaw merger. “If Champagne greenlights that deal, he’ll be taking back the new competition gains and then some,” Matt Hatfield, OpenMedia’s campaigns director, said.

Sources: CIRA, Cartt.ca, Open Media 

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Mobile Syrup

Ted Lasso Season 3 gets first teaser, March premiere date

Apple has confirmed that the third season of Ted Lasso will premiere on Apple TV+ on March 15th.

The company confirmed the date in a short teaser in celebration of Valentine’s Day.

In the teaser, a variety of characters make their own version of the “Believe” poster, including Jamie (Phil Dunster), Roy (Brett Goldstein), Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) and Keeley (Juno Temple). Ted (Jason Sudeikis) and Beard (Brendan Hunt) then pop up at the end to admire the handiwork.

While the trailer doesn’t appear to reveal anything about the new season itself, it does confirm the premiere date, which is what everyone had been hoping to see. Last month, Apple simply confirmed a vague “spring 2023” premiere window.

It should be noted that March 15th is a Wednesday, making Ted Lasso the first Apple TV+ series to not drop on a Friday. The first episode will premiere on March 15th, with new episodes dropping every subsequent Wednesday.

Interestingly, Apple is only referring to this as the “third season” or, on the AFC Richmond Twitter account, the “new season.” There’s been speculation that this upcoming season would be the series’ last, especially given comments made by Sudeikis. However, it’s looking like Apple won’t be setting the record straight before the third season actually arrives.

While you wait for the next season of Ted Lasso, Apple has another comedy series from co-creator Bill Lawrence and Goldstein called Shrinking. 

Image credit: Apple

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Mobile Syrup

Google is working on a fix for Pixel 7 Pro’s jittery screen

Google’s October 2022-released Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro are undoubtedly some of the best flagship smartphones available on the market right now, with an upgraded Tensor G2 chipset, a premium camera bar finish, and variable refresh rate displays. However, the phones have had their fair share of issues since launch.

It was discovered last year that the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro’s batteries drain fairly quickly, with the phones consuming more than normal power when used in high brightness modes. The devices draw roughly 3.5W to 4W at around 600 nits. Worse, it can consume up to 6W at the Pixel 7 Pro’s peak brightness of 1500 nits. Some users have also reported instances where their Pixel 7 Pro’s buttons have fallen off. Users have reportedly been complaining about this issue since the launch of the Pixel 7 back in October, but a lot of the complaints came around New Year’s. Complaints have hit the Google Support Forums and Reddit.

Now, another issue that has been prevalent since the devices were released has come to light. Pixel 7 Pro users have reported instances where their phone feels laggy and janky to scroll, and Google is finally acknowledging the issue, as first reported by Android Police.

“We are aware of this issue and working on improvements for an upcoming software update,” a company engineer wrote in Google’s issue tracker thread. It’s the first time in the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro’s four-month existence that Google acknowledged the issue. A fix will likely be rolled out with the March 2023 feature drop. It’s worth noting that not all Pixel 7 series devices have had the issue.

We aren’t certain what causes the problem. There’s a possibility the Pixel 7 Pro’s 120Hz refresh rate display could be to blame. It’s worth noting that the issue primarily affects the Pixel 7 Pro, with only some Pixel 7 users complaining about the problem. MobileSyrup reporter Dean Daley has a Pixel 7 Pro and hasn’t run into the issue. Similarly, news editor Jon Lamont hasn’t encountered the problem with the Pixel 7.

Does your Pixel 7 or Pixel 7 Pro’s display feel jittery to scroll? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: Google Issue Tracker Via: AndroidPolice

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Mobile Syrup

Twitter flooding For You feeds with Elon Musk’s tweets

Several Twitter users are noticing significantly more Elon Musk in their ‘For You’ feed just days after he fired a Twitter engineer during a meeting about his plummeting view counts.

As detailed by The Verge, Twitter’s For You page is full of tweets from Musk and Musk’s replies to other tweets. The publication’s senior editor, Tom Warren, shared a clip of his For You feed showing seven Musk tweets and replies in a row. Not everyone appears to be afflicted with the Musk feed — my Twitter For You remains blissfully Musk-free — but even some people who don’t follow Twitter’s CEO have encountered the new feed.

Musk acknowledged the issue early Tuesday morning, tweeting that Twitter will “make adjustments to the uh… ‘algorithm.’”

As mentioned up top, the For You change comes just days after reports emerged that Musk fired a Twitter engineer after the engineer tried to explain to Musk why his tweets received less engagement than before (the reason being that Musk’s popularity had waned, which Musk clearly didn’t take well.)

The Verge notes that Twitter rolled out a change to fix Musk’s “visibility” issue over the weekend after Musk tweeted that the problem resulted in “up to 95 percent of my tweets not getting delivered at all.”

Chances are that change and the flood of Musk in people’s feeds are connected. It remains to be seen what impact, if any, Musk’s “adjustments” have on the number of his tweets on the For You page. For the time being, it serves as another reason to avoid the For You page.

Source: Elon Musk Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

BeReal adding Spotify integration, enabling users to share favourite songs

French social media app BeReal is said to be developing its own Spotify integrations. The platform has been steadily gaining more attention, attracting a larger audience. It appears as though users will soon be able to share their favourite songs with followers.

For the uninitiated, BeReal enables users to capture and share a photo every day at a different time. It’s designed to encourage users to share authentic moments with friends and followers, given the small window of opportunity. Now, it’s been discovered that users will be able to add music via Spotify alongside sharing a selfie or a photo.

Developer and app analyst Alessandro Paluzzi discovered this work-in-progress. As it’s been shared, BeReal’s music integration allows users to share a song from Spotify with their followers when posting their picture within the allotted window. It’s believed that the feature will launch for both iOS and Android.

On top of music, users can share podcasts when creating content for the platform. BeReal is said to be able to automatically detect when a song or podcast is being listened to. A link to navigate to the content within Spotify is also shared. The app also displays a message reading, “Listen to music or podcasts when you take your BeReal to share it with your friends.”

At the time of writing, it’s unclear when BeReal’s integration of Spotify will be available to all users.

Hive intended to integrate Spotify into its core social platform. Harkening back to the days of MySpace, an option to link their Spotify account to Hive was once active. However, since shutting down its servers as a result of a security issue, this no longer seems possible.

Header image credit: BeReal

Source: Alessandro Paluzzi via 9to5Mac

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Mobile Syrup

Here’s how to rewatch the Rihanna concert (aka Super Bowl halftime show) again

Watching the Super Bowl halftime show is a time-honoured tradition for many.

But it doesn’t have to be exclusive to the game. There are many ways for people to rewatch a halftime show. And with Rihanna’s performance this year, you definitely want to jump on the bandwagon.

Canadians can relive the performance a number of ways. One of the easiest is to watch it on the NFL’s YouTube channel (linked here).

Apple Music users can also access the performance on the platform, which you can access here. This is a given as Apple Music sponsored the halftime show.

Since you do need to subscribe to access this option, non Apple Music users would find it best to head to the NFL’s YouTube page.

While you’re there, you might want to checkout the league’s Super Bowl commercial.

Image credit: NFL/YouTube/ screenshot 

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Mobile Syrup

Beats Studio Buds and Beats Studio 3 Wireless Headphones are up to 43 percent off

Déjà vu. You bet!

Beats’ Studio 3 headphones are back in the mega sale section on Amazon for up to a sweet 43 percent off, which equals a savings of up to $200.

The Beats’ Studio 3s come in six colour variants: ‘Blue,’ ‘Red,’ ‘Grey with Gold’ accents, ‘Porcelain Rose,’ ‘Matte Black’ and ‘White.’ Beats’ Studio 3 Wireless headphones feature Apple’s W1 chip, up to 22 hours of battery life and with the noise cancellation turned off, the headphones should last up to 40 hours.

In addition, the Beats Studio Buds are also on sale for 21 percent off at $139 and $149, respectively.

Check them out here at Amazon Canada

MobileSyrup utilizes affiliate partnerships. These partnerships do not influence our editorial content, though we may earn a commission on purchases made via these links that helps fund the journalism provided free on our website.

Source: https://amzn.to/3x7PYCT” data-lasso-id=”636512″>Amazon Canada

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Mobile Syrup

The Last of Us crew’s new lighting solution was born out of Calgary’s weather adversity

Ahead of the latest The Last of Us episode airing, SlashFlim sat down with episode cinematographer Eben Bolter to talk about how the entire episode was shot to look like it was being lit directly by the moonlight.

Bolter also talked about the efforts undertaken by the production team to shoot and illuminate the scenes, some of which were filmed on a soundstage. Bolter described the scenes in the latter half of the episode, set in a cul-de-sac in Kansas City, as “a massive, expensive undertaking” that required filming for four consecutive weeks at night, and that it was “probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to light in my life.”

The team’s aim was to create a naturalistic lighting look for the episode, rather than a polished, cinematic appearance, which they believed could appear “too lit, and too slick, and too fake.” Alberta’s unpredictable weather didn’t make things easy either, forcing the team to find creative solutions to the lighting problems.

The scenes weren’t shot in small spaces either, which is normally the case for moonlit shots. “I wanted to scale up the concept of how I would’ve lit it on a small scale, on a huge scale,” said Bolter, while describing the 2,000ft cul-de-sac.

Harsh Calgary snow and strong winds didn’t help the team’s case either, which made it necessary to invent a new lighting solution.

“If you’re in an interior, like a soundstage, we would just rig them in the ceiling. But we were out in the middle of nowhere. In Calgary, the wind can get up to 100 miles per hour. So if I was using balloon lights and the wind gets up, they will have to come down, we would have to stop filming. And we had too much to do, we couldn’t do that.”

The team set up four grids of 100 light each with no fabric. The decision to have to fabric was to allow the wind to pass through. “In total, we had 400 of these lights on these huge cranes hanging over the set, which gave us the soft ambience but without any fabrics,” Bolter said. “So that when the wind got up, and it did get up to 50, 60 miles per hour, it just passed through them and we could keep filming.”

The lighting resulted in stunning cinematography for the episode that showcased the depth of violence in both the human and monster of the world.

Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin also discuss the episode’s unique set and lighting in the latest episode of HBO’s The Last of Us Podcast.

Image credit: SlashFilm

Source: SlashFilm

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Mobile Syrup

The Last of Us Part 1 is 29 percent off right now

With the hype surrounding Naughty Dog’s Last of Us at an all-time high thanks to the adaptation airing on Crave in Canada and on HBO and HBO Max in the U.S., it’s not surprising that Sony has discounted The Last of Us Part 1.

The September 2022-released title is currently available for $63.89 on the PlayStation Store, marking a $26 or 29 percent discount from its original $89.99 price tag. The digital deluxe edition of the title is discounted by 25 percent too.

At other retailers, including Best Buy, Amazon and GameStop, the title is still listed for its full retail price.

The Last of Us part 1 is a PS5 exclusive, though it is available to pre-purchase on Steam for a discounted price of $69.99. The game releases on PC on March 28th. It’s worth noting that the title plays nearly identically to the original 2013 PS3 action-adventure title, just with improved graphics. A comparison between the original game and the remake can be seen below:

Elsewhere, Toronto’s own Lamar Johnson has a major role in the new The Last of Us episode.

Image credit: PlayStation Store

Source: PlayStation Store

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Mobile Syrup

Here are some Netflix Valentine’s Day hacks

Netflix has some pretty cool hacks for those looking for the perfect movie to watch on Valentine’s Day.

If you want to check out all the romantic movies on the app, type 8883 in the search bar.

If you’re looking for a specific type of romance film, check out these codes:  31273 for classic romantic movies, 36103 for quirky romance, 5475 for romantic comedies, 1255 for romantic dramas, 502675 for romantic favourites, 7153 for romantic foreign movies, 9916 romantic independent movies, 35800 for steamy romantic movies.

If you’re like me and have perfectly curated Netflix suggestions and don’t want these movies to ruin your algorithm. When you’re done watching, head to your account and click on your profile. Following that, head to “viewing activity,’ and click on the ‘hide’ icon to get rid of whatever romantic movies from your history. 

Next week Netflix will start IP locking its services; if you want to know what will happen to all the people freeloading off your Netflix account, you can learn more here. And if you want to see what’s on Netflix this month, check out our monthly ‘What’s coming to Netflix’ post.