Author: Mobile Syrup

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Mobile Syrup

Microsoft cutting 10,000 jobs through its third quarter

Microsoft is laying off roughly five percent of its workforce.

CEO Satya Nadella confirmed the figure in a blog post published less than 24 hours after rumours of layoffs began to swirl.

While the job cuts will be seen through the end of the company’s third quarter, some employees are being let go as early as today.

Times have changed, Nadella wrote. The increased digital spending recorded during the pandemic has reduced. The anticipated recession, which some countries are already facing, he says, represents a second reason for the layoffs. The company will continue hiring in “key strategic areas.” It’s also in the midst of trying to get its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard approved by global regulators.

“The next major wave of computing is being born with advances in AI, as we’re turning the world’s most advanced models into a new computing platform,” the blog post reads.

It’s unclear how many Canadian employees will be impacted. The company had 5,000 full-time employees in Canada as of May 2022.

The cuts align with measures several other tech companies have taken, including Meta. The company announced plans to reduce its workforce by 13 percent in November.

Image credit: Shutterstock 

Source: Microsoft

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Mobile Syrup

Twitter rolls out annual discounts for Blue subscribers, but iOS users aren’t included

Twitter Blue subscribers can opt to skip the monthly fee for a discounted annual option.

But the savings are only available on the web.

Canadians can subscribe to the web service for $10 a month or pay $105 annually, resulting in $15 of annual savings.

The annual option isn’t available for iOS pricing, which will see users pay $15 a month.

Twitter Blue allows people to buy the sought-after blue checkmark, a symbol that used to be rewarded to notable accounts before Elon Musk bought the social media platform. While the process to obtain a blue checkmark is no doubt easier, Twitter says a subscription won’t mean instant verification.

“All Twitter Blue features will be available immediately except the blue checkmark, which may take time to appear to ensure review of subscribed accounts meet all requirements.”

The Twitter help page outlining the specifics doesn’t state why iOS subscribers must pay more. However, it’s hard to forget Musk’s unhinged tirade against Apple last year. Musk accused Apple of hating “free speech in America” and said the company made threats “to withhold Twitter from the App Store.” But all of that seemed to be forgotten when Musk took a trip to Apple HQ.

Users who joined for a lower iOS price will see it changed to the new local price.

Source: Twitter Via: Reuters

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Mobile Syrup

Netflix offers first looks at 2023 slate, including new David Fincher and Zack Snyder movies

Netflix has released a new sizzle reel containing first looks at a variety of its big 2023 original movies.

Some of the most notable titles include the Adam Sandler-Jennifer Aniston comedy Murder Mystery 2 (March 31st), the Chris Hemsworth-led action flick Extraction 2 (June 16th), the David Fincher thriller The Killer (November 10th) and Zack Snyder’s sci-fi epic Rebel Moon (December 22nd).

See below for the full video:

It’s become customary for Netflix to share these film previews early in the year, but this one takes on added significance amid a slump in business for the streamer. In the past year, the company reported multiple quarterly losses and cancelled a slew of shows, which hasn’t exactly instilled consumers with optimism.

To help recoup costs, the streamer also launched a low-cost ad-supported tier in November while preparing a password sharing paywall for early this year. The latter move has been met with significant criticism, especially when it had previously made tweets like “love is sharing a password.” A specific rollout date for the password sharing paywall has not yet been confirmed.

Image credit: Zack Snyder

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Mobile Syrup

Rogers says Competition Bureau’s appeal based on ‘collateral attacks,’ calls for dismissal

Rogers, Shaw, and Vidéotron are asking the court to dismiss an appeal from the Competition Bureau.

The four parties will face the Federal Court of Appeal on January 24th to make their respective cases on Rogers’ takeover of Shaw and Vidéotron’s acquisition of Freedom Mobile.

The parties previously faced the Competition Tribunal in a weeks-long hearing to discuss similar feats. The tribunal supported the telecoms and rejected the bureau’s arguments. The bureau appealed, stating the tribunal errored in its decision.

The response from lawyers representing the three telecoms says the tribunal’s findings were “rigorous” and based on evidence.

“The legal errors [the Commissioner of Competition] relies on are collateral attacks on the tribunal’s assessment of the evidence and its findings of fact, dressed up as pure questions of law.”

The bureau filed its initial appeal on December 31st and updated it on January 10th. The bureau argues the tribunal should’ve mainly focused on Rogers’ merger with Shaw and not solely on Vidéotron acquiring Freedom Mobile. In its findings, the tribunal said it would have reached its conclusion either way. In its updated appeal, the bureau said the tribunal failed to explain how it would get the same conclusion, resulting in a legal error.

The respondents say the bureau’s appeal ignores several vital aspects, including that the commissioner was aware “of every aspect” of the Rogers and Shaw merger and “closely involved with Vidéotron.”

“The suggestion that the sale of Freedom was a “trial balloon”–some kind of litigation stratagem to catch [the commissioner] by surprise–is unfaithful to the record and unhelpful to this court,” the respondents say. “Having now withdrawn his claim that the Tribunal ‘rushed to judgment,’ he makes no fairness argument before this court.”

The response further revealed Rogers and Shaw presented the bureau with two potential buyers for Freedom Mobile before continuing with Vidéotron.

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Mobile Syrup

Apple announces 2nd generation HomePod launching February 3

Apple has announced its new 2nd generation HomePod. The speaker offers Siri, computational audio, Spatial Audio and smart home automation with Siri.

The new HomePod is available to pre-order today, with it launching on February 3rd, and costs $399 CAD.

Apple is using a seamless, acoustically transparent mesh fabric with a backlit touch surface that illuminates from edge to edge. It also comes in both white and midnight, a new colour for the HomePod that is made with 100 percent recycled mesh fabric with a colour-matched woven power cable.

The HomePod uses a rich deep bass and offers stunningly high frequencies as well. Apple is using a custom-engineered high-excursion woofer, built-in bass EQ mic, and beamforming array of five tweeters around the base that work together for a better acoustic experience. It also sports an S7 chip combined with software and system-sensing tech to offer advanced computational audio.

The smart home speaker also uses room sensing technology with sound reflections (which sounds like echo location) from nearby surfaces to tell if it’s against a wall or freestanding and adapts the sound in real-time. It also has precise direction control of its beamforming teeters to help immerse the listener.

You can use the HomePod to create a home theatre experience with Apple TV 4K. You can make the HomePodc the audio system for all devices connected to the TV and control what’s playing on the Apple TV hands-free.

And with Find My on HomePod you can ask Siri for the location of friends or loved ones or get it to locate other Apple devices with Find My.

Another cool feature of the device is Sound Recognition, which can listen for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and send a notification directly to the user’s iPhone if the sound is identified. The built-in temperature and humidity sensor can measure indoor environments, so a user can create automation that closes the blinds or automatically turns on the fan when a room temperature is reached.

Of course, with Siri, you can search by artist, song, lyrics, decade, genre, mood or more. Siri also allows users to have the HomePod wake them up with a good morning or set automation like “Hey Siri, open the blinds daily at sunrise.”

Siri will make a confirmation tone when it’s requested to control an accessory that may not show a visible change.

The HomePod offers Matter support, which enables home products to work across ecosystems while also maintaining the highest level of security. Apple is all about protecting customer privacy, which is why all smart home communications are end-to-end encrypted, so they can’t be accessed by Apple. And Siri requests aren’t stored.

HomePod is designed to minimize environmental impact, says Apple, and offers 100 percent recycled gold, a first for the HomePod, in the plating of its circuited boards, and 100 percent recycled rare earth elements in the speaker magnet.  It also features redesigned packaging that eliminates plastic wrap, and 96 percent of the packaging is fibre base, which brings Apple closer to its goal of removing all plastic from its packaging by 2025.

Apple’s original HomePod launched in 2018, but was discontinued after three years. Since then it has been pushing the HomePod mini, which launched in 2020, so it was time we saw a new smart speaker

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Mobile Syrup

Google Stadia dies today — pour one out

Today is January 18th, 2023, which means it’s Google Stadia’s last day on Earth.

At 11:59pm PT/2:59am ET, the game streaming service will officially shut down. Google confirmed this end of service date last September, although many had seen it coming.

Originally launched in November 2019, Stadia has had a rough lifecycle due to a poor pricing model, slowly growing catalogue with almost no exclusives, the shuttering of its first-party studios and a lack of communication. In its September 2022 blog post announcing the shutdown, Google admitted that Stadia “hasn’t gained the traction with users that we expected.”

Going forward, Google says it aims to leverage the technology powering Stadia in other ventures. “We see clear opportunities to apply this technology across other parts of Google like YouTube, Google Play, and our Augmented Reality (AR) efforts — as well as make it available to our industry partners, which aligns with where we see the future of gaming headed,” said Google in its September 2022 blog post.

In the months leading up to Stadia’s demise, Google had already licensed Stadia to companies like Capcom, which the Japanese gaming giant used to power a Resident Evil Village demo that can be streamed within a browser. Google has also enabled Bluetooth support for its well-received Stadia controller so it can connect to other devices after Stadia shuts down.

Developers like Bungie have also noted that Stadia’s infrastructure has helped with remote development amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

It remains to be seen what else Google might do with Stadia’s tech, but for now, let’s pour one out for an ambitious platform that never took off.

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Mobile Syrup

Stability AI under fire for unlawfully using content from Getty Images

Stock content giant Getty Images is taking legal action against an AI firm, stating that the company infringed upon Getty’s intellectual property rights, “including copyright in content owned or represented by Getty Images.”

In a recent statement, Getty Images revealed that London, U.K.-based Stability AI unlawfully copied and processed “millions” of Getty’s images that were protected by copyright without a license, and because of this, legal proceedings in the High Court of Justice in London are to commence.

Stability AI runs a tool called ‘Stable Diffusion,’ which allows users to type in a few words of text and mash-up a mix of images related keywords. According to Getty, the tool has been using material picked up from the interent, and its catalogue without permission.

It’s worth noting that Getty Images has provided licences to AI companies for purposes related to training artificial intelligence systems. However, according to Getty, Stability AI did not seek a license, and instead, “chose to ignore viable licensing options and long‑standing legal protections in pursuit of their stand‑alone commercial interests.”

Further, according to Getty Images CEO Craig Peters in an interview given to The Verge, Getty Images has issued Stability AI with a formal notification called a “letter before action,” warning the AI firm about the impending lawsuit in the U.K. On the other hand, according to The Verge, it got in touch with a press representative for Stability AI who said that the “Stability AI team has not received information about this lawsuit, so we cannot comment.”

Elsewhere, Stability AI is already facing a class action lawsuit in the States, reportedly filed by three artists claiming the AI tool is using their images and their copyright has been infringed, according to Barrons.

Back in October, 2022, Shutterstock, another stock content giant, announced it’s partnering with OpenAI’s DALL-E 2 to bring AI-generated content to its platform. Learn more about the development here.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: Getty Images Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Twitter finally acknowledges third-party app issue

Days after several third-party Twitter apps stopped working, Twitter finally seems to be acknowledging the problem.

Well, sort of.

A tweet from the Twitter Dev account blames the stoppage on enforcing “long-standing API rules.”

“Twitter is enforcing its long-standing API rules. That may result in some apps not working,” the tweet reads.

As previously reported, several third-party apps stopped working on January 12th. The move was thought to be intentional at the time, and according to Twitter’s latest statement, that seems to be the case.

Twitter has offered API allowing third parties to access the platform for years, letting developers build their own ways to access Twitter.

The company failed to provide any further explanation, including why it randomly started to enforce its “long-standing” rules without warning.

Source: @TwitterDev Via: iPhone in Canada

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Mobile Syrup

Samsung S23 series might cost $100 more than predecessor

Samsung’s flagship smartphones might be pricier this year.

Galaxy S23 series pricing information obtained by 9to5Google suggests the phone will cost $100 more than the S22 line. 9to5 specifically cites Australian pricing information, where the S23 (128GB model) is said to cost $1,350 AUD, compared to last year’s $1,249 AUD price.

The publication also details the entire S23 series’ cost, with a $100 increase across each model compared to last year. The S23+ will start at $1,650 AUD and the S23 Ultra at $1,950 AUD.

With conversion, this means the Galaxy S23 could cost roughly $1,262 CAD, the S23+ about $1,543 and the S23 Ultra approximately $1,824. This is a significant price increase in the Canadian market, as the S22 started at $1,099. While we’ll see a price increase in Canada with the S23, it’s unlikely the smartphone will cost that much more here (my guess is the S23 will cost roughly $1,199 CAD).

That said, in the past, Samsung has added what seems like a Canadian premium cost, with devices being more expensive in Canada when compared to other regions, even after conversion. With this in mind, it’s still possible we’ll see a 128GB S23 that costs more than $1,200 CAD.

Samsung previously offered the 256GB S22 at the same price as the 128GB S22, so I’d definitely keep an eye out for launch deals.

It’s worth pointing out these are just rumours and that it’s still unclear how much the smartphone will actually cost. Samsung will officially reveal the S23’s Canadian pricing and availability on February 1st.

Follow MobileSyrup for all of the Canadian pricing details following the Galaxy S23’s reveal.

Source: 9to5Google

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Mobile Syrup

Google’s Pixel 7 occasionally freezes when watching YouTube in full-screen

Google’s Pixel 7 and 7 Pro have experienced a few issues since launch, now including a problem that occurs when watching videos in full-screen mode on YouTube.

According to several reports, the app causes the device to freeze when watching YouTube in full-screen mode and trying to exit the app by swiping up on the navigation bar (either going back to the home screen or the Recents menu).

The video player becomes static and touchscreen taps and swipes no longer work. Audio will sometimes continue to play and hardware buttons also stop working. Some users say they can lock the screen after a few moments.

According to 9to5Google, they haven’t had this issue with other streaming apps. The publication also believes this is a system/Android issue and isn’t a problem on the app level. This problem doesn’t occur if you watch videos on the regular player.

9to5 says that this doesn’t happen every time you watch videos on YouTube, and there’s no apparent pattern.

I haven’t had any problems, and I haven’t heard anything from Jon on the team, either.

Source: 9to5Google