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Mobile Syrup

Volkswagen reveals new electric sedan coming to Canada in 2024

Volkswagen recently unveiled its newest electric vehicle, the ID.7 Sedan, with plans to bring the car to Canada by 2024.

The ID.7 will be the German car manufacturer’s first all-electric vehicle in the upper-middle class and the company’s third fully electric passenger vehicle to come to the Canadian market, following the ID.4 SUV in 2021.

Volkswagen has also confirmed that the North American version of the sedan will be manufactured at the Volkswagen Emden plant in Emden, Germany.

The all-electric car will launch in China and Europe later this year in two versions, the Pro S trim with an 86 kWh battery and the Pro trim with a 77 kWh battery. The Pro S houses a motor that can go up to 200 kW, and the Pro trim can fast charge up to 170 kW.

Both trims offer 282 horsepower, with the Pro S having a superior range of around 700 kilometres compared to the Pro’s projected range of 615 km.  The company says the ID.7 is “suitable for long-distance travelling and fleet customers.”

Apart from having two different trim levels, the ID.7 hosts some exciting features for an all-electric, including a panoramic sunroof that can switch from opaque to transparent glass via touch or voice command.

Additionally, the sedan comes with an improved version of Volkswagen’s Travel Assist system for hands-free driving. It now features ‘Swarm data’ to better predict objects around the vehicle.

Combined with lane change assistance and Park Assist Pro, now with an adaptive memory function, the ID.7 is loaded with technology-infused features.

Volkswagen ID.7 marks another EV from the company, with the car being the sixth fully electric vehicle to join its zero-emission lineup. 

Although there are currently no pricing options for the sedan, the model is set to arrive in Canada in the back half of 2024.

In addition to the ID.7, Canadians will be introduced to Volkswagen’s all-electric microbus, the ID. Buzz in 2024.

Image credit: Volkswagen

Source: Volkswagen Via: Electric Autonomy

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Mobile Syrup

MobileSyrup’s Best Buy Mother’s Day Gift Guide [2023 Edition] V3

Mother’s Day is quickly approaching. To help the gift-hunting process, we’ve put together a list of several exciting devices that moms will surely love. This year, we take a look at a number of audio solutions, smart home gadgets and other devices.

Mother’s Day lands on Sunday, May 14th and now is a great time to consider what special gift to buy this year.

For more deals from Best Buy and the retailer’s full Mother’s Day guide, follow this link.

MobileSyrup utilizes affiliate partnerships and publishes sponsored posts. These partnerships do not influence our editorial content, though MobileSyrup may earn a commission on purchases made via these links. This gift guide is sponsored by Best Buy.

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Mobile Syrup

New rumour suggests 15-inch MacBook Air will arrive with two M2 variants

Often-reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has taken to Twitter with the latest scoop on the elusive 15-inch MacBook Air.

First off, he says the laptop will arrive sometime in 2023.

This new model will serve as the latest addition to Apple’s extensive laptop portfolio. It will reportedly arrive with two M2 processor options — each with different configurations of cores, according to Kuo.

Previous reports indicated the 15-inch Air might arrive with either an M2 Pro or M3 chip, though this now appears less likely. Kuo says that the M3 series of chips are only just gearing up for mass production, starting in the second half of the year.

Shipment estimates for the new Air in 2023 are expected to be in the 5-6 million unit range, Kuo says.

This larger variant of the existing 13-inch Air has long been the subject of speculation. It remains unclear whether we’ll officially hear about the new product at WWDC this June, or if we’ll have to wait a bit longer.

Source: Ming-Chi Kuo Via: Apple Insider

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Mobile Syrup

SpaceX Starship launch starts promising, ends in flames

SpaceX launched its next-generation Starship cruise vehicle on April 20th above the company’s Super Heavy booster rocket in a test flight.

The rocket did manage to get off the ground and briefly take flight. Unfortunately, the combo exploded moments later, making for an anti-climactic finish to a highly-anticipated event. Thankfully, no passengers were aboard the rocket and no one was hurt.

The company has described the incident as a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.”

Despite the explosion, the rocketship was an impressive feat before it took off, standing at a staggering 120m tall (394 ft.) The launch was conducted just east of Brownsville, Texas, at the company’s Starbase spaceport and test facility. The launch was scheduled for an hour-and-a-half debut flight to space.

Although an unpredicted explosion was not what SpaceX had planned, the act of getting the booster rocket off the ground in one piece for the first time represents a milestone for the company. Had the launch been fully successful, the Starship system would have been seen as the most powerful launch vehicle on Earth.

Both the Super Heavy booster and the upper-stage Starship vessel are reusable components, meaning they could fly back to earth for soft landings post-launch. Neither piece was recovered from the launch, with both crash landing at sea.

CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter (the platform the multi-billionaire also owns) to congratulate the SpaceX team on the launch. He also stated that he has “learned a lot for next test launch in a few months.”

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: @SpaceX Via: CBC News

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Mobile Syrup

Tesla announces Cybertruck delivery event for later this year

Big news coming out of Austin, as Tesla is reportedly planning to hold a delivery event for the futuristic Cybertruck in the third quarter of this year.

According to The Verge, CEO Elon Musk spilled the beans about the event to Tesla investors on the company’s most recent earnings call. The electric car company will begin manufacturing the Cybertruck this summer with plans for volume production having been previously slated for sometime in 2024.

During the earnings call, Musk allegedly told investors that it “takes time to get the manufacturing line going, and this is really a very radical product.” He added that the Cybertruck is not made the way other cars are made.

If you remember anything about the battery-electric light-duty truck that was revealed back in November of 2019, you’d understand the CEO’s point. The Cybertruck is unlike anything on the market right now, especially in terms of looks, with the vehicle sporting a stainless steel exterior that Tesla coined as an “exoskeleton.”

News of a delivery event is promising, considering that the Cybertruck has been delayed on multiple occasions up to this point. The launch was initially planned for 2021 before being moved back to last year, and then once again moved to this year.

Although there have been reports of pricing for the truck, with a three-motor model teased at $70,000 USD ($94,309 CAD). Tesla has warned that final pricing and specs have not yet been determined.

Interested in how a windshield wiper might work on the Cybertruck? Check it out here.

Image credit: Tesla

Source: The Verge Via: Engadget

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Mobile Syrup

CBC wants Twitter to change its label to ‘Publicly-funded media’

The Global Task Force is urging Twitter to change the “Government-funded Media” labels designated to several accounts.

The CBC is part of the group and received the label last week before CEO Elon Musk changed its label to “69 percent Government-funded Media.”

The group says the “misleading label” was also assigned to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) and Radio New Zealand (RNZ).

The CBC points to Twitter’s policy, that states government-funded media might see government officials involved in the editorial content in some way. That’s ” clearly not the case with ABC, CBC/Radio-Canada, KBS or RNZ,” a CBC press release says.

If any label is to be applied to these accounts, it should be “Publicly-funded media,” the broadcaster says.

After all, it’s a change Twitter has already implemented for several BBC Twitter accounts. Originally labelled “Government-funded Media,” Twitter changed it after opposition from the broadcaster.

“Twitter’s approach to labelling on the basis of funding misunderstands the fundamental concept of public service media: they are publicly funded organizations that are statutorily independent of government influence. This model has served audiences well in democratic countries for much of the last century.”

Members from several media outlets around the world, including the BBC, KBS, and CBC, make up the task force.

Image credit: CBC/Twitter

Source: CBC

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Mobile Syrup

Bell to bring fibre internet services to 7,000 locations in Leamington, Ont.

Bell is expanding the reach of its pure fibre internet services in Leamington, Ontario.

Under the expansion, residents and businesses will have access to parallel speeds up to 3Gbps, along with other Bell services, including Fibe TV.

“Residents need accessible, affordable and reliable internet connections more than ever to stay connected at home or at work,” Bruce Furlong, Bell’s senior vice president of network, said.

“Through our own fully-funded investments in world-class broadband networks, Bell continues to deliver on our purpose of advancing how Canadians connect with each other and the world.”

The news follows the company’s recent announcement to expand pure fibre internet in Essex Centre and Harrow.

Source: Bell

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Mobile Syrup

Apple set to introduce an in-app interface for billing problems

Apple is outlining its plans to streamline the fix for recurring subscription billing issues in an upcoming update.

Announced on its developer website, the Cupertino-based company says, “Starting this summer, if an auto-renewable subscription doesn’t renew due to a billing issue, a system-provided sheet appears in your app with a prompt that lets customers update their payment method for their Apple ID.”

The current process forces the user to exit the app they are in and navigate through the settings app to update their payment information.

With this update, a new overlay “sheet” will prompt users to resolve the issue within the app itself. Apple says that no action is required on the part of app developers to adopt the change.

The new feature will be made available in the summer on devices running iOS and iPadOS 16.4 or newer, according to Apple.

Source: MacRumors via Apple

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Mobile Syrup

Google Pixel Tablet rumoured to cost €600-€650

The Google Pixel Tablet has been leaked a lot in the past few weeks, and we’re now seeing another rumour from the reliable leaker Roland Quandt.

While 9to5Google was previously able to leak that there will be two storage configurations, they were unable to say what those configurations are. Quandt has revealed that the Pixel Tablet will come in 128GB and 256GB variants. Quandt has also unveiled that the Pixel Tablet will cost around €600 (roughly $880 CAD) to €650 (roughly $960 CAD), which is pretty expensive for a tablet, but likely this means that it comes with its dock.

However, it’s worth noting that the iPad in Europe costs €580 (roughly $860 CAD), so it’s possible that Google is trying to match up with its competition.

A leak on Amazon showed the tablet’s dock retailing at $120, but considering it wasn’t from Google itself, it’s hard to say that’ll be the cost of the dock.

The Pixel Tablet is expected to launch alongside the Pixel Fold and Pixel 7a on May 10th at Google I/O. Other rumours about the Pixel Tablet indicate that the device will feature 8GB of RAM, Tensor G2 and more.

Source: Roland Quandt

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Mobile Syrup

Bell offered to buy BAI contract with Telus, commit to joint TTC build: Bibic

When Rogers announced its deal to acquire BAI Canada, and thus its exclusive rights to provide wireless access to all TTC users, it came as a surprise to Bell.

Mirko Bibic, Bell’s president and CEO, said the company unsuccessfully spoke about building a joint, open-access model with BAI, TTC, and City officials multiple times over the past 10 years.

“This is why we were surprised to learn that the TTC has seemingly approved the transfer of BAI’s exclusive contract to Rogers in what appears to be a closed door, backroom deal,” Bibic wrote. “It is astounding that this important project would be awarded to one party without a transparent open-bid process designed to maximize the benefits for TTC riders.”

Bell also asked the TTC to add a condition of approval to the transfer that would see an open access, joint build model, similar to other local transit systems in Vancouver, Ottawa, and Montreal. The April 19th letter states the transit system was yet to offer a response.

The letter comes after a request from Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne for Bell, Telus, Québecor and Rogers to work together to offer all TTC riders access to wireless services.

Bell has put three options on the table. The first is that Rogers agrees to work with national providers on a joint build. The move involves the companies funding the build but Rogers not charging carriers to access the network.

The second option involves Bell and Telus being allowed to buy the contract through a partnership, committing to an open network. Bibic says the two companies made the offer to the TTC after Rogers announced the acquisition and included a $10 million bonus for the TTC to use on “discretionary projects.”

The third option sees ISED and the CRTC ordering Rogers to commit to an open access, joint build system.

Last week, Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri said the company was open to discussing connectivity with Bell and Telus. “There’s no intent to prevent any customer, regardless of what network they’re on, to have access within the TTC subway system.”