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There’s no denying how helpful Apple’s AirTags can be.
The tracker from Apple is small, relatively affordable, and helps keep track of everything from their keys to their pets. People have also found it helpful to toss a tracker in their luggage when travelling.
Janet Greaves had the same idea. The Ontario woman packed an AirTag in her luggage destined for Cuba. Unfortunately, Greaves didn’t get her luggage at her destination; her bag never left Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.
Travelling with Sunwing, Greaves was notified she’d get her bag when she returned, CTV Newsreports. The bag contained items worth approximately $4,000.
The promised return never happened. The airline told her the bag was in a “secure area” that couldn’t be retrieved.
According to posts Greaves shared on Twitter, she couldn’t locate the bag on her return, which remained at Pearson for 17 days. She communicated with the airline constantly, even offering to give them access to her phone to track the AirTag located in her luggage.
After sharing her story with CTV News, Greaves was reunited with her bag on January 14th.
At 10:30 this morning I picked up my incredibly distinctive bag. Thank you to @CTVNews for telling my story & to everyone that responded & retweeted my tweet. There are hundreds of people in the same situation. @SunwingVacay let’s find their bags that fast now too. pic.twitter.com/xsPPT0ezfI
Koodo and Virgin Plus have joined Fido in offering a $10/mo discount for 12 months on select plans to celebrate Lunar New Year.
Rogers flanker brand Fido first rolled out the discount on January 13th, and the other providers added similar discounts over the weekend.
Telus flanker brand Koodo will apply the $10/mo credit on plans $55/mo or higher. Koodo’s website also advertises that it will waive the $50 connection fee, although it’s worth noting that Koodo (as well as most other wireless providers in Canada) waive the connection fee for online orders already.
Koodo’s Lunar New Year plans as of January 16th, 2023.
Koodo plans are as follows:
$55/mo 8GB ($45/mo with the discount)
$60/mo 10GB ($50/mo with the discount)
$65/mo 15GB ($55/mo with the discount)
It’s worth noting that Koodo only offers the discount on bring-your-own-phone (BYOP) plans, so if you want to get a phone, you can’t benefit from the deal.
Virgin’s Lunar New Year plans as of January 16th, 2023.
As for Bell flanker brand Virgin Plus, it also offers the $10/mo credit for 12 months on $55/mo+ plans:
$55/mo 8GB ($45/mo with the discount)
$60/mo 10GB ($50/mo with the discount)
$65/mo 15GB ($55/mo with the discount)
Likewise, Virgin only offers the discounted price for BYOP plans, and it also specifies on its website that the discounted plans are available for “new activations only.”
You can check out Koodo’s plans here, Virgin’s plans here, or learn more about the Fido offer here.
Having maxed-out iCloud storage is all too common among iPhone users, and it often seems futile to even try clearing it out, or so I thought.
If you do video editing on your phone with TikTok and CapCut, you might get a ton of free space back by turning off iCloud storage features for those apps. I was able to salvage 30GB when I tried it.
To view what’s eating up the most iCloud space on your iPhone, open up the iOS Settings app. Tap on your name at the top of the page and then choose ‘iCloud.’
Underneath the graphic that shows what types of files are using storage, there should be a button called ‘Manage Account Storage.’ Tap on that, then choose ‘Backups’ from the list of items. Open up your Phone’s backups and wait for all the information to load. Once it does, it will show all the apps using your iCloud space and allow you to enable or disable individual apps manually.
As I mentioned above, when I did this for the first time, I disabled CapCut and TikTok and gained back 30GB of cloud storage. I assume this is cached video files since I often put drone footage on my phone, but let us know in the comments if you never post and TikTok is still eating up iCloud space.
Your Presto Transit card can show you a map of the TTC when scanned via Snapchat.
Shared by TTC Realm on YouTube roughly 10 months ago, the feature requires you to be connected to internet, but allows you to instantly check out a map of the TTC’s subway lines. Admittedly, it is easier to just type “TTC map” on Google and pull up the images, but this is a neat little trick to have up your sleeve.
To try out the feature, open Snapchat and point your camera at your Presto card. Long-tap on it, and the app should automatically start “searching for content based on your scene.”
It will then show you lenses “related to the marker you scanned,” with two results. Selecting “TTC Subway,” and/or “Toronto Subway Map” would show you the complete subway map, including the Bloor-Danforth (Green), Yonge-University (Yellow), Scarborough (Blue) and Sheppard (Purple) lines.
It’s worth noting that the feature works with the old Green Presto card as well, though it populates only the “Toronto Subway Map” lens.
It’s worth noting that once a lens is loaded, your phone’s Snapchat camera needs to be pointed at your Presto Card for the TTC map to appear. Pointing it anywhere other than the Presto card will lead to the map not appearing.
Check out TTC Realm‘s video about the feature below:
HBO’s The Last of Us hits Crave tonight, Sunday, the 15th, at 9pm ET.
The show is based on the 2013 PlayStation video game of the same name. At the time of writing, I haven’t seen any episodes yet, but I will be watching it tonight. So this week’s question is: will you watch the first episode of The Last of Us?
If you want to learn more, then here are some things to read before watching the series.
Last year I reviewed some Ugreen chargingaccessories, but one Ugreen product I tested but didn’t have time to write about was the USB-C Triple Display Docking Station.
The docking station has become one of my most-used Ugreen accessories while also being tough to recommend. The biggest issue is the price — at $329.99 USD (about $442.10 CAD), it’s a tough sell.
It also might be hard to get in Canada. The device isn’t listed on Ugreen’s Amazon store in Canada, making Ugreen’s website the only place to get it. Ugreen’s shipping information notes that it delivers to “most areas of the United States,” with no mention of shipping to Canada. However, when I punched in my shipping information, it estimated delivery would take three-to-five business days and would be free of charge.
Cost and shipping aside, if you’re in the market for a dock that does it all, then Ugreen may have what you need here. This docking station sports the following:
SD and microSD card reader (104MB/s)
USB-C 3.1 (10Gbps)
USB-A 3.1 (10Gbps)
3.5mm audio jack
2x USB-A (5Gbps)
DisplayPort (4K@60Hz)
2x HDMI (1x 4K@60Hz, 1x 8K@30Hz)
USB-C Power Delivery: 100W
‘Host’ port – USB-C
RJ45 Gigabit (1000Mbps)
In other words, this docking station is absolutely loaded with ports, enabling a ton of functionality — assuming you’ve got a PC capable of taking advantage of all those features over USB-C. Over the last few months of 2022, I tested out several Windows laptops, most of which worked well with the Ugreen dock. I, unfortunately, can’t speak to how well MacBooks play with the docking station since I don’t have a MacBook, but Ugreen’s website suggests it should work fine.
In fact, the Ugreen docking station actually made my job reviewing laptops a fair bit easier since almost every major Windows laptop offers USB-C charging and display output over the same port. Thanks to that, I was able to quickly cycle new laptops into my workflow by just plugging them into the dock — with one plug, I had access to a whole second monitor, charging, my camera, and anything else I needed to plug in (such as my security key that, unfortunately, uses USB-A still).
A small gripe I have with the dock is that it requires a power source for charging and doesn’t come with an adapter in the box. It wasn’t a major issue for me since I already had other Ugreen adapters — I grabbed the 140W Nexode charger I had from a previous review, and that worked just fine. However, for anyone looking to buy one of these docking stations, it stings a little that the $330 USD price doesn’t include a power adapter (although you do get a USB-C cable). Granted, you don’t need a power adapter to use the dock, but if you want to charge your laptop, you’ll need to deliver power somehow.
Another note is the Ugreen website lists that you need to install ‘Displaylink’ software, but I didn’t install anything and had few issues with the docking station. The one problem I ran into was getting video output from the 8K HDMI port, which I think ultimately came down to a cable issue — not that it mattered much since I only had two monitors to connect to the dock at any given time.
You can learn more about the Ugreen USB-C Triple Display Docking Station here.
MobileSyrup utilizes affiliate partnerships. These partnerships do not influence our editorial content, though MobileSyrup may earn a commission on purchases made via these links.
Every week, MobileSyrup outlines some of the most notable movies and TV shows that recently hit Canadian streaming platforms.
Our ‘Streaming in Canada’ column typically focuses on new content from Amazon Prime Video, Crave and Netflix, but other services like Apple TV+ and Disney+ are mentioned when relevant. Premium video on demand (PVOD) platforms are also fair game as movies continue to come to digital early amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Finally, we’ll highlight shows or movies that are made by Canadian companies, involve notable Canadian cast or crew and/or are filmed in Canada.
Amazon Prime Video
Hunters (Season 2) [Amazon Original]
Amazon Prime Video Canada release date: January 13th, 2023 Genre: Conspiracy drama Runtime: Eight episodes (46 minutes to 1 hour, 6 minutes each)
In this second and final season, The Hunters must track down Adolf Hitler while being threatened by a ghost of Meyer’s past.
Hunters was created by David Weil (Invasion) and stars Logan Lerman (The Perks of Being a Wallflower), Al Pacino (Scarface), Lena Olin (Alias), Jerrika Hinton (Grey’s Anatomy) and Quebec’s Saul Rubinek (Jerry and Tom).
An Amazon Prime Video subscription is included at no additional cost with an Amazon Prime membership, which is priced at $99/year.
The full list of movies and shows hitting Amazon Prime Video Canada this month can be found here.
Apple TV+
Servant (Season 4) [Apple Original]
Leanne’s dangerous battle with the Church of Lesser Saints continues while the Turner family must grapple with who she and the child in their home really are.
Servant was created and written by Tony Basgallop (What Remains), while M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense) serves as showrunner and Toby Kebbell (Black Mirror), Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under), Nell Tiger Free (Game of Thrones) and Rupert Grint (the Harry Potter franchise) co-star.
Apple TV+ Canada release date: January 13th, 2023 (first episode, new episodes every Friday) Genre: Psychological horror Runtime: 10 episodes (around one hour each)
Find out what’s coming to Apple TV+ in January and February here.
Crave
The Climb
Crave release date: January 12th, 2023 (first three episodes, three new episodes on January 19th and then the final two on January 26th) Genre: Reality competition Runtime: Eight episodes (between 30 minutes to an hour each)
Aquaman star Jason Momoa teams up with famed rock climber Chris Sharma on this competition series in which amateur climbers are put through a rigorous series of challenges. The winner takes home a sponsored climbing ambassadorship and $100,000 cash prize.
Crave release date: January 15th, 2023 at 9pm ET (first episode, new episodes every Sunday at 9pm ET) Genre: Drama Runtime: Nine episodes (between 1 hour and 1 hour, 30 minutes each)
A hardened smuggler must escort a teenage girl across a post-apocalyptic U.S., becoming closer as they depend on one another for survival.
Based on the PlayStation game of the same name, The Last of Us was created by Neil Druckmann (writer/co-director of the original game) and Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and stars Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian), Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones), Gabriel Luna (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Merle Dandridge (Greenleaf), Anna Torv (Fringe) and Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation).
It’s worth noting the series was filmed in Alberta and is believed to be the biggest TV production in Canadian history.
Crave release date: January 15th, 2023 (first episode, new episodes every Sunday) Genre: Drama Runtime: Seven episodes (around one hour each)
After a terrible accident, a grieving Michael finds his life upended by the arrival of Assistant U.S. Attorney Olivia Delmont.
Based on Israeli TV series Kvodo, Your Honor was created by Peter Moffat (Criminal Justice) and stars Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Hope Davis (In Treatment), Michael Stuhlbarg (Call Me By Your Name), Sofia Black-D’Elia (The Night Of) and Carmen Ejogo (True Detective).
A standard Crave subscription is priced at $19.99/month, with Starz costing an additional $5.99/month. A mobile-only subscription is also available for $9.99/month.
The full list of movies and shows hitting Crave this month can be found here.
Disney+
Koala Man
Disney+ Canada release date: January 9th, 2023 Genre: Animated comedy Runtime: Eight episodes (24 to 25 minutes each)
An ordinary middle-aged Australian man masquerades as a koala-themed superhero at night.
Koala Man was created by Michael Cusack (Smiling Friends) and features the voices of Cusack, Sarah Snook (Succession), Demi Lardner (So You Think You’re Funny), Hugh Jackman (Logan) and Jemaine Clement (What We Do in the Shadows).
Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight (Season 2) [Netflix Original]
Netflix Canada release date: January 12th, 2023 Genre: Animated comedy Runtime: 12 episodes (23 to 45 minutes each)
Po and the Dragon Knights must journey across the world to find the legendary Tianshang weapons.
Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight is based on Dreamworks’ Kung Fu Panda movies and features Jack Black and James Hong reprising their respective roles of Po and Mr. Ping while Rita Ora (“R.I.P.”) joins the cast.
The full list of movies and shows hitting Netflix Canada this month can be found here.
Paramount+
Mayor of Kingstown (Season 2) [Paramount+ Original]
Paramount+ Canada release date: January 15th, 2023 Genre: Drama Runtime: TBA
Mike must deal with the fallout of the brutal ending of the first season.
Mayor of Kingstown was created by Taylor Sheridan (Yellowstone) and Kingston, Ontario’s Hugh Dillon (Flashpoint) and stars Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker), Dianne Wiest (Bullets Over Broadway), Dillon and Emma Laird (In Conversation With a Goddess).
2023 is just two weeks old, but the telecom news isn’t coming in slowly. Some companies have already released Q1 financial results for the year, while others have changed the way they’ll make financial donations.
As a recap, here’s almost everything that happened in Canada’s telecom sector this week.
Business
Bell is changing its donation method for Bell Let’s Talk Day. The company typically gives five cents for every message shared on the day. But it’s now retiring the practice for a $10 million donation instead. It’s unclear why Bell went this route.
The telecom giant also rolled out 3Gbps speed and 5G+ in Atlantic Canada. The latter service is now available in Moncton, Riverview, Mount Pearl, and Halifax.
ISP TekSavvy says Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne must block Rogers’ $26-billion takeover of Shaw. Peter Nowak, the company’s spokesman, said ISPs are being “squeezed out,” and the Minister must take action.
The Competition Bureau is set to face the Federal Court of Appeal on January 24th to argue against the Competition Tribunal’s approval of Rogers’ merger with Shaw. In its original appeal, the bureau argued the tribunal should’ve solely focused on the Rogers-Shaw merger instead of Vidéotron’s commitment to acquire Freedom Mobile. The tribunal said it would’ve reached its conclusion to support the larger merger either way. In its updated appeal, the bureau said the tribunal failed to explain why that would’ve been the case.
SaskTel has launched Cloud PVR service on maxTV Stream, allowing users to record up to 300 hours of content.
The University of Waterloo is leading a group of companies and academics to create technologies that will protect Canada’s national security through 5G. École de technologie supérieure in Montréal, University of Regina, BlackBerry, NoviFlow, Rockport Networks and Rogers are part of the consortium.
Shaw reported adding 12,000 new wireless prepaid customers in the first quarter of 2023. However, the company’s overall revenue decreased.
Cogeco also released its Q1 financial results for the year, bringing in $762 million in revenue. Despite the revenue increase, the company projects growth will slow this year.
The House of Common’s industry and technology committee will hold a second hearing on Rogers’ merger with Shaw, according to The Globe and Mail.
Deals
Public Mobile is offering new customers 5GB of bonus data per month for eight months. Read the details here.
Koodo and Virgin have increased the cost of their unlimited talk and text plans to $33/ month. This is a significant price increase, considering the plans used to close $27 back in August 2022.
Fido has discounted some of its plans by $10/month for Lunar New Year. More specifics are available here.
Google is going ahead with the shutdown of Stadia on January 18th, and is giving a final parting gift to Stadia users.
As announced on Friday, January 13th, in a Stadia community post, Google will release a “self-serve” tool that would bring Bluetooth support to Stadia controllers, giving the controllers actual utility after the platform’s death.
We've also got Bluetooth news: next week we'll be releasing a self-serve tool to enable Bluetooth connections on your Stadia Controller.
Google launched the Stadia Controller alongside the platform back in November 2019. It was specially designed to reduce input latency when streaming games. Instead of connecting with Bluetooth like a regular controller, the Stadia controller connected directly to your Wi-Fi network, and used a pairing code to connect to the device you would be playing Stadia on.
It’s worth noting that Stadia users have been able to claim a refund for the Stadia controller, so the new Bluetooth support means that the controller is now essentially free, and users would be able to use it with other devices.
In addition to Bluetooth support, Google also released its last game to the platform on Friday. ‘Worm Game,‘ is a title that “came to Stadia before Stadia came to the world,” says Google. “Worm Game is a humble title we used to test many of Stadia’s features, starting well before our 2019 public launch, right through 2022. It won’t win Game of the Year, but the Stadia team spent a LOT of time playing it, and we thought we’d share it with you.”
