Author: Mobile Syrup

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Mobile Syrup

Bell outage impacting voice services in Ontario

Some Bell customers in Ontario are experiencing issues with voice services.

The Bell Support Twitter page gives no details as to what may be causing the issue but says the company is working towards a solution.

According to reports shared with DownDetector, issues appeared to begin just after 2:30pm ET. Impacted customers appear to be located across the province, including in Toronto, St.Catherines, Ottawa, and Mississauga.

The issue is also impacting Virgin Plus customers. Lucky Mobile, which is also a Bell flanker brand, hasn’t shared a similar message.

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Mobile Syrup

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 5 reported to sport 108MP Camera Sensor

Samsung is preparing to launch its Galaxy S23 series at its Unpacked event on February 1st, but that doesn’t mean work on the company’s other flagships has come to a halt.

Samsung is developing its next generation of foldables, and according to rumours, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is set to receive a massive camera upgrade.

The information comes from Vietnamese publication The Pixel (via 9to5Google). Reportedly, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 will debut with a 108-megapixel camera sensor, similar to the one found in the Galaxy S22 Ultra, with support for OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) and dual-pixel auto focus, as well as an f/1.7 aperture and a 26mm equivalent focal length. Additionally, the upcoming device is also expected to have a 64-megapixel telephoto sensor with 2x optical zoom and a 12-megapixel camera with an ultra-wide lens.

Further, the report also suggests that the Z Fold 5 will feature a S-Pen slot to store/charge the stylus when not in use. Note, the Z Fold 4 does not feature a slot for the S-Pen.

From what we know so far about the device, Samsung is trying to make the Z Fold 5’s display crease less visible. Samsung is reportedly using a “droplet” hinge for the Z Fold 5, which will allow the flagship to form a teardrop shape when closed, resulting in a less evident crease.

For more on Samsung’s foldables, check out our review of the Fold 4 and Flip 4.

Source: The Pixel Via: 9to5Google

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Mobile Syrup

Koodo emailing customers about $5/mo bill increase starting in February

Telus’ flanker brand Koodo is raising prices again for some customers. In a recent email sent to some Koodo customers obtained by MobileSyrup, Koodo said customers would see a $5/mo increase starting on the February bill.

The email reads as follows:

“As mentioned on your January bill, the monthly service charge for the above lines on your account will increase by $5/month. You’ll start to see this monthly increase on your February bill.”

This is the second such price increase in just six months — at the end of July 2022, Koodo said “a small number of Koodo customers on select legacy rate plans will see a $5 increase on their next billing cycle.”

MobileSyrup has reached out to Koodo for more details about this latest price increase and to see if it similarly targets customers on legacy rate plans.

Thanks Lisa!

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Mobile Syrup

Twitter may have intentionally shut out third-party apps

Several third-party Twitter apps suddenly stopped working on January 12th. Four days later and there are still problems, along with some evidence that the move was intentional.

According to a report from The Information (it’s paywalled, but both The Verge and Daring Fireball detailed the report’s contents), a message posted to an internal Twitter Slack channel confirmed that what was happening to third-party apps was on purpose. Specifically, one cited message said outright that “third-party app suspensions are intentional.”

Other messages seen by The Information discussed when Twitter would publicly announce the decision about third-party apps. A product marketing manager responded that the company had “started to work on comms” but there was an ETA when it would be ready.

These details don’t inspire much confidence that Twitter will fix things. As a quick refresher, Twitter has long offered an API for third-party clients to access the platform. Although the API has gone through many changes over the years, the ability for any developer to build their own client for accessing Twitter arguably helped the whole platform flourish in the early days and has also helped push Twitter to improve its first-party clients.

While Twitter can do what it wants, the shuttering of the third-party API will be particularly disappointing. It likely won’t be a death blow to Twitter — advertisers fleeing the platform seem poised to do that — but losing beloved third-party clients could be the final straw for some people.

Source: The Information Via: Daring Fireball, The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

MacBook Pro with Wi-Fi 6E spotted in Canadian regulatory filing

Apple has sparked speculation that a new MacBook Pro is on the way after filing an unreleased model with the identifier ‘A2779’ in the Canadian Radio Equipment list database, as first spotted by @wadepenner on Twitter (via MacRumors).

The filing comes amid rumors that Apple has a product announcement planned for tomorrow, Tuesday, January 17th, leading many to believe the filing and announcement could be related to the long-awaited 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips.

According to sometimes credible Apple leaker Jon Prosser, Apple will make a product announcement via a press release tomorrow, Tuesday, January 17th, prompting me to believe that the regulatory filing could have something to do with the announcement.

Based on the filing, the new MacBook Pro would support Wi-Fi 6E, which extends Wi-Fi to the 6GHz band for increased bandwidth, faster speeds, and lower latency, in contrast to the current 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros, which support the standard Wi-Fi 6, which is limited to the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.

Currently, only the latest-generation iPad Pro supports Wi-Fi 6E and 6GHz wireless bands.

It’s worth noting that the idea about Apple’s upcoming announcement being related to new MacBooks is just speculation, and one that you should take with a grain of salt. Whatever might be the case, we’ll get a certain answer tomorrow.

You can keep an eye on the MobileSyrup home page, Twitter and/or Facebook for all the latest news from Apple tomorrow. In other Apple-related rumours, recent reports indicate that the tech giant could have plans to release a touchscreen MacBook Pro in 2025.

Source: @wadepenner Via: MacRumors

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Mobile Syrup

Apple could be working on a touchscreen MacBook Pro

It looks like the touchscreen MacBook Pro of some people’s dreams could finally be coming.

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, a touchscreen MacBook Pro might arrive in 2025, and “if all goes according to plan,” the technology could make its way to Apple’s other laptops. In Microsoft’s Windows world, most laptop manufacturers feature touchscreens in their devices, so this is Apple once again playing catch-up with its key competitors in some respects.

This rumour isn’t surprising given how touch-oriented macOS’ design has been for the past few years, alongside the tech giant’s efforts to make iPadOS more desktop-like with the addition of trackpad and mouse support. On the other hand, Apple has long been publicly against the concept of a touchscreen laptop. However, that position may have changed following Jony Ive, the company’s former chief of design, leaving the company.

Apple has also experimented touch controls via the MacBook Pro (2016)’s ill-fated Touch Bar. The tiny OLED strip allowed users to access contextual virtual buttons based on what the laptop had open at the time. Unfortunately, app support wasn’t widespread, and Apple killed off the feature with its current MacBook Pro (2021).

As someone who has never found touchscreen controls very useful with Windows laptops, I’m not thrilled about a touchscreen MacBook Pro. Any task I can accomplish with a touchscreen, I can likely perform more quickly and efficiently with a trackpad. That said, it doesn’t hurt to have options, and a wide audience of users out there that prefer touchscreen controls.

Source: Bloomberg

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Mobile Syrup

Google Translate expands offline language options

Google Translate has 33 new languages that can be used offline.

According to a Google blog post, users can download the languages beforehand and translate text when they don’t have an internet connection.

The new languages include:

  • Basque
  • Cebuano
  • Chichewa
  • Corsican
  • Frisian
  • Hausa
  • Hawaiian
  • Hmong
  • Igbo
  • Javanese
  • Khmer
  • Kinyarwanda
  • Kurdish
  • Lao
  • Latin
  • Luxembourgish
  • Malagasy
  • Maori
  • Myanmar (Burmese)
  • Oriya / Odia
  • Samoan
  • Scots Gaelic
  • Sesotho
  • Shona
  • Sindhi
  • Sundanese
  • Tatar
  • Turkmen
  • Uyghur
  • Xhosa
  • Yiddish
  • Yoruba
  • Zulu

Once you’ve updated the app, you can access offline languages by selecting the languages and tapping the download button.

Source: Google

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Mobile Syrup

Bill Gates confirms preference for Android over iPhone

In a recent ask me anything (AMA) session on Reddit, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates confirmed that he continues to use an Android smartphone, and hasn’t made the switch to either the iPhone, iPad, Mac or his own company’s Surface Duo.

Gates, who has been vocal about his preference for Android in the past, revealed that he is currently using a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, which he received directly from Samsung Chairman JY Lee. Before the Z Fold 4, Gates was reported to be using the Galaxy Z Fold 3, and he had even travelled to South Korea to meet with JY Lee and collect the device.

Gates went on to explain that the foldable screen size of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 means that he doesn’t need to use a tablet as he can rely on his Android-powered smartphone and an unnamed Windows “portable PC.”

“I have a Samsung Fold 4 which JY Lee the Chairman of Samsung gave me when I saw him in South Korea to update my Fold 3. Of course I use Outlook and a lot of Microsoft software on it. The screen size means I don’t use a tablet but just the phone and my portable PC — a Windows machine,” wrote Gates.

In an interview in 2021, the world’s former richest man elaborated that the preference comes down to Android manufacturers being “more flexible” regarding Microsoft’s software integration, and the company’s apps being pre-installed on Android smartphones.

“Some Android manufacturers pre-install Microsoft software in a way that makes it easy for me,” he said.

The reasoning may seem odd to some, considering the availability of Microsoft apps on the App Store for iPhone. However, Gates has previously stated that while he keeps an iPhone on hand for testing purposes, it’s not the device he uses on a daily basis.

Check out the full Reddit AMA here.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: Reddit ‘u/thisisbillgates‘ Via: 9to5Mac

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Mobile Syrup

Twitter dangling free ads in plea to attract advertisers

Since Elon Musk took over the platform last year, Twitter has been in a downward spiral of changes.

These changes contributed to several advertisers backing out from displaying their ads on Twitter. But now, in a desperate plea to win back advertisers, Twitter appears to be offering free advertisements.

According to emails reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Twitter is offering to match advertisers’ spending up to $250,000, provided they spend half a million dollars on ads by February 28th.

The offer comes with Super Bowl right around the corner. The WSJ reports that the sports event is Twitter’s biggest revenue-generating day of the year. “Advertisers in recent years have flocked to Twitter during the Super Bowl to generate buzz around their big game marketing efforts.”

Several advertisers, including GroupM, which manages ads for Google, L’Oréal, Bayer, Nestle and others, took part in a mass exodus by advising clients against advertising on the platform, citing moderation concerns. Marketing agency Cosette also offered the Government of Canada similar advice.

In what seemed to be an attempt to gain ground, SpaceX took out advertising space. Like Twitter, Musk also serves as the CEO of SpaceX, which typically doesn’t purchase large advertising campaigns on the platform.

It’s yet to be seen if Twitter’s “special offer” will be beneficial.

All the details on the ongoing Twitter saga are available here.

Source: Wall Street Journal 

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Mobile Syrup

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 could feature less noticeable display crease

Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Fold 5 could feature a far less visible display crease.

According to a patent uncovered by South Korean site Naver (via SamMobile), Samsung could adopt a “droplet” hinge that allows the Fold 5’s screen to form a teardrop shape when closed. Though there have been improvements to the hinge since the launch of the first Galaxy Fold, the U-shaped display crease is still very visible.

If Samsung does make this move, it won’t be the first foldable to adopt a droplet hinge. Oppo’s Find N2 and Motorola’s 3rd-Gen both feature this style of crease (neither device was officially released in Canada).

According to Naver, Samsung patented its teardrop hinge back in 2016. It’s unclear why the tech giant didn’t opt to use the technology earlier, but it could be related to water resistance. Samsung first introduced an IPX8 rating to its foldable line with the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Flip 3.

On top of the droplet hinge, the Fold 5 could sit entirely flush when closed, unlike earlier versions of the smartphone. This would make the foldable easier to slide into a pocket and prevent debris from getting in between its displays.

Given Samsung likely won’t launch its new foldables until this coming August, we have a few months to wait to find out for sure. Later this month, Samsung is expected to launch its flagship Galaxy S23 series. For more on Samsung’s foldables, check out our review of the Fold 4 and Flip 4.

Source: Naver Via: SamMobile