Author: Mobile Syrup

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Mobile Syrup

EU USB-C deadline set for December 28, 2024

Earlier this year, the European Union decided to make all new smartphones — including iPhones — use USB-C. However, a specific deadline for when phones would need to comply with the regulation wasn’t set. At least, it wasn’t until now.

The EU has published the new USB-C legislation in its ‘Official Journal,’ which means the rules will enter into force in 20 days’ time. Then the individual EU member states will have a maximum of 24 months to apply them as national law, which means the official date is December 28th, 2024.

Along with smartphones, the regulations will apply to devices, including tablets, digital cameras, headphones, and handheld video game consoles. The regulation will eventually apply to laptops, but not until April 2026. Moreover, the rules only apply to devices offering wired charging. In other words, a device that only charges wirelessly wouldn’t be forced to use USB-C. This has been discussed as a potential loophole for Apple to avoid putting USB-C on the iPhone by releasing a portless iPhone that can only charge wirelessly. It’s unclear if Apple will actually do that, however.

Speaking of Apple, it already confirmed plans to comply with the new rules, but technically the company wouldn’t need to do so until the release of its 2025 iPhone. The 2024 iPhone will arrive in September, ahead of the deadline to include USB-C. That said, analysts have indicated Apple will make the change in 2023, at least for the ‘Pro’ iPhones.

Source: @EURLex Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

More Pixel Fold renders surface online with specs

Leaker OnLeaks is back, this time with details about Google’s long-rumoured foldable Pixel. In combination with the website Howtoisolve, OnLeaks shared renders showing off the so-called Pixel Fold along with some specs.

First, the site notes that the Pixel Fold is expected to release in May 2023 sporting a design similar to Google’s current series of Pixel phones. Per the renders, the Pixel Fold will feature a large camera bar with three cameras, although it won’t be connected to the edges of the phone like on the Pixel 7.

Howtoisolve reports that the phone’s dimensions will measure roughly 158.7 x 139.7 x 5.7mm (8.3mm with the camera bump) when unfolded. The foldable will reportedly sport Google’s Tensor G2 chip, come in ‘Silver’ and ‘Black’ colours, USB-C charging, and will have a 5.79-inch cover display with a hold-punch selfie camera and a 7.69-inch inner display with a hole-punch selfie camera on the right side.

Moreover, Howtoisolve suggests the Pixel Fold might support a pen, sport 12GB of RAM, run Android 13, and cost $1,799 USD (roughly $2,443.27 CAD).

While all these details line up well with previous Pixel Fold leaks, suggesting they’re accurate, I’m not sure I buy Howtoisolve‘s claim of “~100% accurate rumors.” As with any leak, take a healthy dose of skepticism.

Source: OnLeaks, Howtoisolve

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Mobile Syrup

Motorola unveils Moto G Play (2023) with 5,000mAh battery

Motorola has unveiled its newest budget-tier smartphone, the Moto G Play (2023). Sporting an ultrawide display, a 16-megapixel triple camera system and a 5,000mAh battery, the G Play (2023) sounds like it could be a pretty decent mid-range device.

Motorola announced the phone as part of its 12 Days of Moto giveaway running from December 5th to 16th, which includes giveaways of devices for the traveler, the eco-concious, the gamer, and more. The new Moto G Play will be one of the giveaway devices — U.S. and Canadian consumers can enter to win one on December 8th. You can learn more about that on Motorola’s Instagram channel.

The company also detailed the specifications of the Moto G Play (2023). It includes a 6.5-inch HD+ display with a 90Hz refresh rate, 32GB of built-in storage, and more. Check out the full spec sheet below:

Moto G Play (2023)

Display

6.5”, HD+ (1600×720) | 269ppi, 20:9 , IPS TFT LCD | 90Hz refresh rate

Processor

MediaTek Helio G37

RAM

3GB

Storage

32GB, up to 512GB with microSD card

Dimensions (in.)

167.24 x 76.54 x 9.36mm

Weight

203g

Rear Facing Camera

16-megapixel sensor f/1.22, 2-megapizel macro f/2.4, 2-megapixel depth f/2.4

Front Facing Camera

5-megapixel f/2.4

OS

Android 12

Battery

5,000mAh

Network Connectivity

4G LTE, 3G, 2G

Sensors

Fingerprint reader, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer, Ambient light sensor, e-Compass, Hotspot, Barometer

SIM Type

Nano

Launch Date

January 12, 2023

Misc

Colours: Navy Blue

Display

Moto G Play (2023)

6.5”, HD+ (1600×720) | 269ppi, 20:9 , IPS TFT LCD | 90Hz refresh rate

Processor

Moto G Play (2023)

MediaTek Helio G37

RAM

Moto G Play (2023)

3GB

Storage

Moto G Play (2023)

32GB, up to 512GB with microSD card

Dimensions (in.)

Moto G Play (2023)

167.24 x 76.54 x 9.36mm

Weight

Moto G Play (2023)

203g

Rear Facing Camera

Moto G Play (2023)

16-megapixel sensor f/1.22, 2-megapizel macro f/2.4, 2-megapixel depth f/2.4

Front Facing Camera

Moto G Play (2023)

5-megapixel f/2.4

OS

Moto G Play (2023)

Android 12

Battery

Moto G Play (2023)

5,000mAh

Network Connectivity

Moto G Play (2023)

4G LTE, 3G, 2G

Sensors

Moto G Play (2023)

Fingerprint reader, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer, Ambient light sensor, e-Compass, Hotspot, Barometer

SIM Type

Moto G Play (2023)

Nano

Launch Date

Moto G Play (2023)

January 12, 2023

Misc

Moto G Play (2023)

Colours: Navy Blue

The Moto G Play (2023) will be available starting January 12th, 2023, in the U.S. and Canada. Motorola didn’t provide any additional details about Canadian pricing or availability beyond saying the G Play would be available “at Motorola.ca and through select carriers and national retail locations.”

In the U.S., the G Play (2023) will cost $169.99 USD (about $232.11 CAD).

Images credit: Motorola

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Mobile Syrup

How to watch The Game Awards 2022 in Canada

One of the biggest nights in gaming is nearly here.

On Thursday, December 8th, The Game Awards will take place for the ninth consecutive year. Here’s everything you need to know.

When

Beginning at 4:30pm PT/7:30pm ET, the ceremony promises a slew of game reveals on top of the distribution of the titular awards.

How to watch

As always, the Los Angeles-based show, which his produced and hosted by Canada’s Geoff Keighley, will be livestreamed across the world. In Canada, you’ll have a number of ways to tune in, including:

The show will also be screened in IMAX in select theatres.

The nominees

In 2022, the six games up for the coveted Game of the Year award are:

  • A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo/Focus Home Interactive)
  • Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
  • God of War Ragnarök (Santa Monica Studio/PlayStation)
  • Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/PlayStation)
  • Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive)
  • Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Monolith Soft/Nintendo)

A breakdown of Canadian nominees can be found here. The full list of nominees can be found here.

What to expect

As usual, Keighley has already teased some of what we can see. This includes:

  • A performance of “Blood Upon the Snow” from God of War Ragnarök by Hozier
  • Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’s Daniel Craig, Rian Johnson and Jessica Henwick are presenting
  • The first-ever gameplay reveal of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
  • Final Fantasy XIV director Naoki Yoshida appearing for a “special” presentation (expected to be Final Fantasy XVI, a game he’s producing)
  • Former Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aimé is presenting

What are you most excited to see at the show? Let us know in the comments.

Image credit: The Game Awards

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Mobile Syrup

Select SanDisk SD cards discounted by 29 percent

The tech deals just don’t stop coming. Sandisk has more savings in store for all your storage options this holiday season.

Below are some of the company’s deals on SD Cards:

MobileSyrup utilizes affiliate partnerships. These partnerships do not influence our editorial content, though we may earn a commission on purchases made via these links that helps fund the journalism provided free on our website.

Source: Amazon Canada

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Mobile Syrup

Sonos and Ikea raise the Symfonisk Lamp speaker to new heights

Ikea and Sonos have turned the excellent Symfonisk Lamp into a taller floor lamp.

This new version works with the existing Symfonisk lampshades, so it can be customized to varying degrees and comes in black. It looks like an existing Sonos Symfonisk Lamp, but it features three thin metal legs extending from the base to make it standard floor lamp height.

It’s an interesting choice and it seems like one that was made with low-cost in mind rather than good design. For example, the cable still runs out of the speaker portion, not the lamp’s base. Routing this cable through the leg of the lamp would have gone a long way toward making it look more premium.

Beyond that the new lamp feautres play/pause controls, volume buttons and is wrapped in a premium-looking fabric design.

This new Symfonisk Lamp is set to hit store shelves in Janurary of 2023. You can read our previous reviews of Ikea and Sonos’ colaberations below. It’s unclear how much the Symfonisk Lamp costs in Canada but MobileSyrup has reached out to Ikea for more information.

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Mobile Syrup

Extra sauce and Japanese food, here’s what Canadians ordered on Uber Eats this year

Uber Eats is one of Canada’s leading food delivery services, with thousands of people ordering across the country every year.

In 2022, there were endless possibilities. But according to the company’s annual Cravings Report, which summarises what Canadians ordered over the past year, Japanese is the top rate cuisine in Canada. Fries are rated as the most requested side; miso soup is fourth.

Customers in Kingston, Ottawa, and Peterborough, Ontario, are rated as being the most polite, saying “please” and “thank you” in their order instructions.

Residents in Canada’s largest cities, Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, are the pickiest eaters and the most often to add special instructions to their orders. Toronto residents ask for “hot sauce on the side,” Vancouverites want “no green onion,” and Montreal wants “extra sauce.”

Residents in the three cities are also responsible for making the most expensive orders on the platform. One Toronto Uber Eats customer spent $1,048.01 on a burger restaurant. A Vancouver customer shelled out $1,039.01 for Japanese cuisine, and a Montreal customer spent $893.54 at a cheese shop and bakery.

DoorDash released a similar report outlining its top delivery trends in 2022. You can read that here.

Image credit: Shutterstock 

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Mobile Syrup

Google to introduce ‘related topics’ to Search in the ‘coming days’

Bangkok. Thailand. January 24, 2016:A woman is typing on Google search engine from a laptop. Google is the biggest Internet search engine in the world.

Google is making it easier for users to find the exact search results that they’re looking for.

Originally, when users search for something on Google Search, they can filter the results to just show ‘Videos,’ ‘Images,’ ‘News,’ ‘Books,’ ‘Shopping,’ and more. Starting now, users would see an easy-to-scroll list of related topics alongside the above-mentioned filters at the top of the Search result page, as shared by Google in its latest blog post.

As an example, if you’re searching for “Dinner Ideas,” expect to see related topics like ‘healthy,’ ‘easy,’ ‘quick,’ and more at the top of the results. Tapping on any of the related topics adds to your query, allowing you to refine your search without having to type out your complete query.

“Topics are dynamic and will change as you tap, giving you more options and helping you explore new areas. For example, if you tapped on ‘healthy,’ you might see ‘vegetarian’ or ‘quick’ appear next,” says Google. 

The way Google shows the relevant related topics is based on what it understands about how people search and from analyzing content across the web.

“Both topics and filters are shown in the order that our systems automatically determine is most helpful for your specific query,” says Google. “If you don’t see a particular filter you want, you can find more using the “All filters” option, which is available at the end of the row.”

The feature is rolling out over the coming days for English users in the U.S. for the Google app on iOS and Android, as well as for mobile web users.

Learn more about related topics here.

Image credit: Google

Source: Google

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Mobile Syrup

Bitmoji-like Avatars now rolling out on WhatsApp

After rolling out Communities, 32-person video calls, polls, 1,024 user groups and more back in November,  WhatsApp is now rolling out custom avatars on the messaging platform.

“Your avatar is a digital version of you that can be created from billions of combinations of diverse hair styles, facial features, and outfits,” reads WhatsApp’s blog post about the feature. “On WhatsApp you can now use your personalized avatar as your profile photo or choose from one of 36 custom stickers reflecting many different emotions and actions.”

An avatar is essentially a digital version of you, with fully customizable features, including hair, clothing, accessories, facial features and more. The WhatsApp 3D avatars would look and operate similarly to Snapchat’s Bitmoji and Apple’s Memoji.

To create an avatar, tap ‘Settings’ and look for ‘Avatar.’ Tap on ‘Avatar’ and follow the steps to create a digital version of yourself. The feature is currently rolling out, and isn’t available to use widely.

Once created, your avatar will automatically be added to a new sticker pack, stickers from which can be sent in texts. Additionally, your avatar can also be used as your profile picture.

“For many people this will be the first time creating an avatar and we’ll continue to deliver style enhancements including lighting, shading, hair style textures, and more that will make avatars even better over time,” says WhatsApp.

Image credit: WhatsApp

Source: WhatsApp

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Mobile Syrup

Microsoft’s Xbox Series S Holiday Edition is $309 at Amazon

Amazon Canada currently has the Xbox Series S Holiday Edition console available at a slightly lower price tag, when compared to other Canadian retailers.

Amazon has the 512GB storage console available for $309.99, while other Canadian retailers, including Best Buy and Walmart, have the console listed for $319.99.

The Series S is Microsoft’s current-gen entry-level console, which supports all of the same games as its more powerful sister console, the Series X, at the same frame rates (up to 120fps) but at a lower resolution (max 1440p). The Series S is completely digital, while the Xbox Series X can run digital and physical games.

The console is backwards compatible, which means several Xbox One and Xbox 360 games can be played on the Series S console, offering solid value for the money spent.

Buy it at Amazon for $309.99.

MobileSyrup utilizes affiliate partnerships. These partnerships do not influence our editorial content, though we may earn a commission on purchases made via these links that helps fund the journalism provided free on our website.

Image credit: Amazon

Source: Amazon