Author: Mobile Syrup

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Mobile Syrup

iOS 16.3 is now rolling out globally

Apple’s iOS 16.3 left Beta today and has rolled out to iPhone users globally with several new features, including a new Unity wallpaper for Black History Month, a new way to secure your Apple ID through Security Keys and changes to Emergency SOS calls.

‘Security Keys’ for Apple ID allows users to strengthen the security of their account by requiring a physical security key as part of the two-factor authentication sign-in process on new devices. This added layer of security can help protect users from potential breaches and hacking attempts. Additionally, Emergency SOS calls now require users to hold the side power button with the up or down volume button and then release the buttons in order to make an emergency call. The new approach is likely put in place to prevent inadvertent emergency calls.

In addition to these new features, iOS 16.3 includes several bug fixes and improvements for iPhone users. Check out all the new features and bug fixes in iOS 16.3 below:

  • New Unity wallpaper honours Black history and culture in celebration of Black History Month
  • Security Keys for Apple ID allow users to strengthen the security of their account by requiring a physical security key as part of the two factor authentication sign in process on new devicesSupport for HomePod (2nd generation)
  • Emergency SOS calls now require holding the side button with the up or down volume button and then releasing in order to prevent inadvertent emergency calls
  • Fixes an issue in Freeform where some drawing strokes created with Apple Pencil or your finger may not appear on shared boards
  • Addresses an issue where the wallpaper may appear black on the Lock Screen
  • Fixes an issue where horizontal lines may temporarily appear while waking up iPhone 14 Pro Max
  • Fixes an issue where the Home Lock Screen widget does not accurately display Home app status
  • Addresses an issue where Siri may not respond properly to music requests
  • Resolves issues where Siri requests in CarPlay may not be understood correctly

It’s worth noting that iOS 16 is compatible only with iPhone 8 and later released devices. To update to iOS 16.3, you can head to the Settings app > General > Software Update.

Source: Apple

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Mobile Syrup

dbrand’s latest lawsuit bait turns your Steam Deck into a Switch

Toronto-based dbrand is back at it again, and this time it’s nearly literally asking Nintendo to send an army of lawyers after it.

Valve’s impressive Steam Deck is undeniably very similar to Nintendo’s Switch in several ways, but mainly in its portability and ability to dock and be played on a television. It’s also, in some ways at least, the more powerful “Switch Pro” many people have been asking for.

While there are many things to like about the Steam Deck, it’s also kind of boring looking.

In an effort to spice up the Steam Deck’s design (and troll Nintendo in the process), dbrand has revealed a new ‘SwitchDeck‘ skin package that looks strikingly similar to the Switch’s iconic blue and red Joy-Con controller design. There are even rear cutouts for the Steam Deck’s back buttons and what looks like a censored Switch logo. (Is it blurred out on the actual skin? Who knows!) The Switch Deck starts at $49.95 USD (roughly $66.90 CAD).

Along with the trolly new skin, dbrand has also launched a new ‘Killswitch Case‘ that includes a heavy-duty case, skin and detachable Kickstand. Other Steam Deck protection products include a glass screen protector (I actually own one, and it’s great) and ‘Stick Grips’ thumbstick covers. dbrand’s SwitchDeck Case starts at $45 USD ( roughly $60.27 CAD).

While the Killswitch Case looks great, it’s also kind of bulky, which means the already massive Steam Deck will feel even bigger. I also find it hilarious dbrand seems to have sawed the Steam Deck’s sides off to make it look like a Switch in several promotional images, as seen below.

Switchdeck dbrand

Of course, dbrand recommends that people “don’t try this at home.” If you’re interested in buying this skin, it’s wise to act fast. Likely, it won’t be around for very long once it’s on Nintendo’s radar.

Back when the Steam Deck first released, I described it as the handheld of my dreams but cited several glitches, lack of game support and the difficulty I experienced getting emulators up and running on it. After picking the Steam Deck back up again this past weekend to dive back into Red Dead Redemption II, I’m happy to report that most of those problems have been solved. The handheld has come a long way in a brief period of time.

Source: @dbrand

Image credit: @dbrand

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Mobile Syrup

Microsoft announces multibillion dollar investment in OpenAI

Microsoft is continuing its partnership with OpenAI by investing in supercomputing systems to advance the company’s AI research.

“We formed our partnership with OpenAI around a shared ambition to responsibly advance cutting-edge AI research and democratize AI as a new technology platform,” Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, said. The move means Microsoft will be OpenAI’s exclusive cloud partner.

Microsoft didn’t reveal the value of its investment. However, the news follows rumours the tech giant is making a $10 billion investment in OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, and is looking to add the chatbot to its applications. This isn’t the first time Microsoft provided funding to the company, as it invested $1 billion back in 2019.

The news means Microsoft is prepared to challenge Google and its reported plans to release several AI products, including a chatbot of its own.

“Microsoft shares our values and we are excited to continue our independent research and work toward creating advanced AI that benefits everyone,” Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, said on Microsoft’s investment.

ChatGPT rose in popularity just before the new year. Its ability to produce human-like answers lead to a surge in use, along with concerns of bias and unreliability. The service is free to use, but the company appears to be exploring monetizing options.

Image credit: Microsoft 

Source: Microsoft

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Mobile Syrup

Apple’s 2024 iPad Pro could feature significant redesign

At least regarding design, Apple’s iPad Pro line has looked pretty much the same for the last few years.

That could soon change if a new rumour reported by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is true. In his most recent Power On newsletter, Gurman says that this is a “light year” for the iPad line, including the iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad mini and entry-level iPad. However, he expects that to change in 2024 when the iPad Pro receives a significant redesign and a new OLED display.

It’s unclear what could change in this redesign, but 9to5Mac speculates the 2024 iPad Air could feature a glass back instead of an aluminum unibody and a MagSafe charger. Given how useful MagSafe is and that it’s likely coming to most Qi-compatible Android devices, it makes sense Apple would bring it to its high-end iPad. I’m also on board with switching the rear to glass like the iPhone has featured for the last few years — as long as it’s just as durable.

In other Apple-related rumours, Gurman says that Apple’s M3 chip could release later this year in the MacBook Air and iMac.

Source: Bloomberg Via: 9to5Mac

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Mobile Syrup

Apple’s next MacBook Air and iMac to feature 3nm M3 chip

It looks like we might have to wait a little longer than some may have assumed for an iMac refresh.

According to Bloomberg’s often-reliable Mark Gurman, Apple’s M3 will arrive later this year or early next year and will appear first in a refreshed iMac and MacBook Air. Apple just revealed its 5nm new M2 Pro and M2 Max chip for the MacBook Pro (2023), so if we see the M3 this year, it likely won’t be until next fall. Apple’s colourful 24-inch iMac (2021) released back in 2021, and the MacBook Air (2022) was the first device to feature its M2 chip.

According to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the company that makes Apple’s chips, 3nm chip development can improve speed by 15 percent and reduce power use by 30 percent when compared to 5nm chips.

In other MacBook-related rumours, Gurman recently reported that Apple is working on a touchscreen MacBook Pro with OLED display tech that could launch in 2025. For more on Apple’s new MacBook Pro (2023), check out this story where I unpack how the laptop’s new M2 Pro chip benchmarks.

Gurman also says that Apple’s iPad Pro line will receive a “major” redesign next year.

Source: Bloomberg

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Mobile Syrup

ChatGPT Professional access appears for some users

Earlier in January, OpenAI said it’s exploring monetization options for its ChatGPT chatbot, which is reportedly costing the company roughly $100,000 USD (about $134,000 CAD) per day, or roughly $3 million USD (about 4 million CAD) per month.

During the time, OpenAI had shared a waitlist for an “experimental” paid version of ChatGPT, called “ChatGPT Professional,” which would offer a more reliable service, with faster response times, no throttling and “at least” twice the daily number of answers compared to the free version.

Now, some users have reportedly been granted access to “ChatGPT Professional,” and the paid service costs $42 (roughly $56 CAD). OpenAI has not officially confirmed this test or made any announcements regarding the launch of the paid subscription. Further, it is important to note that ChatGPT Professional features and pricing may change before the paid service officially launches.

According to users who have been given early access to the pro tier, $42 USD a month gets you faster response speed, more reliable access, and “priority access to new features.” To get access to the ChatGPT Professional, users need to fill out an access form available on the company’s Discord. Anyone can fill up the ‘Professional ChatGPT access’ form, which contains questions regarding how you would use ChatGPT and what price you’d pay for the paid service.

Would you be interested in paying roughly $56 CAD a month for an upgraded AI chatbot, or is the free version good enough for most? Let us know in the comments below.

Elsewhere, there have been reports of malicious actors publishing fake versions of the ChatGPT on both the App Store and the Play Store. These “copycat” apps use similar icons and names to ChatGPT and are making a profit by charging users for the free service. Read more about it here.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

The CRTC’s new chair wants to focus on MVNOs, internet pricing

One of Vicky Eatrides’ first priorities as the new chair of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) appears to be the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) regime.

The CRTC published the rules governing MVNO agreements in October. According to Cartt.ca, Eatrides’ wants telecom providers to inform the commission of updated negotiations.

“We are going to follow up soon to figure out where those negotiations are between the larger players and the regional providers,” Eatrides’ told the publication.

MVNOs will function in addition to existing mobile networks and requires network infrastructure and spectrum investment from regional providers to gain access.

Internet pricing also appears to be a priority for the new chair. “What we’ve done on the internet side is clearly not having the desired effect that we wanted, and so we’re looking at coming up with a better model with respect to… wholesale access,” she told Cartt.ca.

In 2019, the commission said internet rates needed to be lowered and introduced a proposal to do so. However, it backtracked in 2021, stating the decision had errors.

Eatrides takes over the role from Ian Scott.

Source: Cartt.ca 

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Mobile Syrup

Microsoft to stop selling Windows 10 Home, Pro at end of January

Starting January 31st, Microsoft will stop selling Windows 10 downloads.

The move shouldn’t come as much of a surprise — Windows 11 has been around for a while and Microsoft plans to officially stop supporting Windows 10 on October 14th, 2025. The Verge spotted updates to Microsoft’s online store to note that it will stop selling Windows 10 Home and Pro downloads at the end of the month.

However, Microsoft would only confirm its own plans to The Verge, which indicates Windows 10 will still be available from third parties beyond the January 31st deadline. At the very least, it’s not clear what will happen to Windows 10 licences available from the likes of Amazon.

The Windows 10 downloads being removed include licence keys, which are needed to activate and use the download. In it’s place, Microsoft is — naturally — recommending Windows 11.

The Verge notes that Microsoft launched Windows 10 in July 2015 with a focus on running like a service with continuous updates. At one point, the company even pitched it as the “last version of Windows,” although Microsoft eventually changed its tune on that.

Anyway, if you’re not interested in Windows 11 but need a copy of Windows to get you through the next two years, you can grab Windows 10 from the Microsoft store until January 31st.

Source: Microsoft Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro could feature thinner, curved bezels

Even though the iPhone 15 Pro is several months away from release, that hasn’t stopped leaks from appearing about Apple’s upcoming high-end smartphone.

According to a rumour from reliable leaker ‘ShrimpApplePro‘ (yes, that really is their Twitter handle, and it does include an anime profile photo), Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max could feature thinner, more curved bezels than the iPhone 14 Pro/Pro Max. This would give the smartphone an almost Apple Watch-like look regarding its overall design.

ShrimpApplePro says the iPhone 15 Pro will still feature a flat display and that only its bezels will be curved, and that this look will also be featured in the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. That said, the lower-end iPhone 15 devices won’t offer thinner bezels. Finally, the leaker says that Apple will stick with the same size as the iPhone 14 series for its iPhone 15 lineup, including the ‘Plus’ line.

As cool as curved bezels sound, this could make buying a glass screen protector for the iPhone 15 Pro difficult and expensive. I’ve also never been a fan of the curved glass Samsung’s flagship S series offers and find that it often results in accidental display presses.

Other recent iPhone 15 rumours include Apple possibly ditching the ‘Max’ name for ‘Ultra,’ as well as offering specific features in its larger high-end smartphone, including a periscope lens.

Source: @ShrimpApplePro Via: MacRumors

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Mobile Syrup

Nvidia’s eye contact feature looks creepy as hell

Earlier this month, Nvidia rolled out an update to its Broadcast software for live streaming and video conferencing. The update brings several new features and enhancements, like Vignette Effects for Virtual Backgrounds, but none of it matches up to the creepy energy of the Eye Contact effect.

Eye Contact is exactly what it sounds like — an effect that makes it look like you’re maintaining eye contact with the camera. Eye Contact uses AI to replace your eyes with simulated eyes that are aligned with the camera. The feature is still in beta, so unsurprisingly, it’s not particularly reliable.

But when it does work, it looks super weird.

Thankfully the other Broadcast features are less horrifying to the human psyche. The Vignette effect mentioned above can be combined with a subtle background blur to give your webcam an AI-simulated bokeh, which actually looks pretty good in Nvidia’s samples.

Nvidia also said it enhanced the Blur, Replacement, and Removal Virtual Background effects with temporal information, which can help achieve better segmentation and stability. That means the AI can make better decisions, and when mistakes do happen, users should see fewer occurrences of the background popping in and out.

Those interested can learn more about the Broadcast 1.4 update here.

Header image credit: Nvidia

Source: Nvidia