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Raptors’ Fred VanVleet plays Halo with up-and-comer Deniya Prawl in new Samsung ad

Samsung Canada dropped a new brand campaign to highlight how its ecosystem of devices can help Canadians connect.

In a video spot from Samsung, Toronto Raptors shooting guard Fred VanVleet uses Samsung tech to connect with up-and-coming Canadian basketball star Deniya Prawl. Samsung hooked VanVleet up with a Galaxy Z Fold 4, Neo QLED 8K TV “and some other Samsung products” to surprise Prawl, who’s rocking a similar TV set-up but with the Galaxy Z Flip 4 instead.

The pair hop into a game of what appears to be Halo Infinite for a few minutes before VanVleet calls Prawl with Google Duo to ask her a series of questions about basketball. While on the call, VanVleet walks down to the room where Prawl is to introduce himself.

The whole video is meant to highlight how Samsung devices, like TVs and phones, work together. For example, when VanVleet calls Prawl, the incoming call appears on her Samsung TV.

You can watch the video above or at the link here.

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6 Questions you need to ask about your ISP’s network

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Twitter employees quit in droves following Elon Musk’s demand for ‘hardcore’ policy

Twitter’s days could be numbered.

Following an ultimatum from new Twitter CEO Elon Musk demanding remaining staff adopt a “hardcore” policy of “long hours at high intensity” or leave the company with three months of severance, hundreds of employees have reportedly opted to depart their roles at the social media giant.

In an email sent to Twitter employees on Wednesday, Musk said that “going forward, to build a breakthrough Twitter 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly competitive world, we will need to be extremely hardcore.” The awful Elden Ring player asked employees to click “yes” by 5pm ET/2pm PT if they wanted to continue working for the beleaguered social media giant. Those who didn’t respond would be considered to have quit and no longer working for “Twitter 2.0.”

The New York Times reports that hundreds of employees opted to leave Twitter rather than continue to work under Musk’s new regime. According to The Verge, employees posted farewell messages and salute emojis in Twitter’s internal Slack, stating that they did not respond to Musk’s request.

However, Musk appears to have walked back some of his earlier comments regarding a blanket ban on working from home, according to an internal memo, though he emphasized managers will still be fired if remote team members underperform.

Further, Twitter closed all of its office buildings and suspended badge access, with the social media giant’s offices set to reopen on November 21st. Platformer‘s Zoe Schiffer says that Musk and his leadership remain unsure of what employees clicked “yes” on the Google form in his email.

Musk laid off roughly half of Twitter’s 7,500 employees earlier this month. It’s believed that following these latest departures from the social media platform could make it unable to continue to run adequately — but don’t worry because, according to Musk, “the best people are staying,” and he’s “not super worried.”

Earlier this week, Musk fired several employees who criticized him in tweets and internal messages.

All of MobileSyrup‘s Elon Musk x Twitter coverage can be found here.

Source: The Verge, Engadget, The New York Times, @ZoeSchiffer

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Southwestern Ontario getting new 382 area code

Some southwestern residents and businesses will see a new area code this summer.

On June 17th, 2023, those currently served by the 226, 519, and 548 area codes will have access to a 382 area code.

The new number results from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunication’s (CRTC) February 2022 decision calling for more area codes to meet the demand for new numbers.

“The introduction of a new area code creates millions of additional telephone numbers without affecting the existing numbers,” Kelly T. Walsh, program manager of the Canadian Numbering Administrator, said in a press release.

The demand for new phone numbers has led to the introduction of new area codes across the county, including in Manitoba and Quebec.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: Telecommunications Alliance

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Uber testing Audio Recording safety feature in Calgary

Uber is bringing a new safety feature to Calgary.

Audio Recording allows riders and drivers to record audio during their trip. Uber will only be able to access the recording if the driver or rider reports an issue and shares the audio with the company.

Uber says privacy will be protected, and audio recordings are encrypted and stored on the device of the person making the recording.

Riders and drivers can start taping after the trip has begun. To access the feature, select the blue shield on the map to pull up the safety toolkit. Click ‘audio recording’ and give permission to the microphone. Select ‘start.’

While Calgary is the only Canadian city where the feature is currently available, Uber says it will roll out Audio Recording to the rest of the country in the new year.

Image credit: Uber

Source: Uber

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OnePlus confirms Snapdragon chipset in upcoming flagship

OnePlus posted to its Chinese Weibo account that its next flagship will feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset.

This isn’t surprising since each new OnePlus flagship phone always features most recent Qualcomm chipset. The post also mentions that OnePlus will be the first to use the chip, which seems strange since OnePlus phones usually follow in the footsteps of Oppo. However, it’s starting to shape up like the next OnePlus flagship will release in China before the end of 2022.

For context, the company basically did the same thing with the OnePlus 10 Pro last year, which it released on January 4th in China, and then came to North America in the spring.

Rumours about the phone suggest it will drop the “Pro” sub-title and will be called the OnePlus 11, which could be a refreshing change of pace if the company can stick to a cohesive product strategy for more than a year at a time.

The OnePlus 11 is expected to feature a 50-megapixel primary camera and a 48-megapixel ultrawide shooter. The 2x telephoto is also being bumped up to 32 megapixels which is an exciting count for a mobile camera. The company needs to work on its telephoto, so if this is true, it will be a welcome change.

Other leaked specs include 16GB of RAM, a 6.7-inch display and 100-watt fast charging. OnePlus also clarified around the launch of the 10T that the new flagship would continue with Hasselblad camera tech and the much-loved alert slider. The only issue is that if this phone drops the ‘Pro’ moniker, it might not be the next flagship to get those features.

That all being said, the phone doesn’t seem to be stacking up to have insane amounts of potential. However, OnePlus is offering great discounts on its 2022 models for Black Friday, so keep your eyes on its site if you want a OnePlus flagship at a discount.

Via: Android Police

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Here are all of Google’s Black Friday deals: Pixel 7 Pro, Nest Hub Max, Chromecast and more

Google has revealed all of its Black Friday deals, and many of them are far better than expected.

First off, there’s the Pixel 7 for $649.99 ($150 off), the Pixel 7 Pro for $879 ($300 off) and the Nest Doorbell for $169.99 ($70 off), just to name a few notable deals.

Below is a full list of all of the tech giant’s Black Friday offers

Pixel 7 — $649.99 (save $150, regularly $799.99)

Pixel 7 Pro — $879 (save $300, regularly $1,179)

Pixel 6a — $499.99 (save $100, regularly $599.99)

Nest Hub Max — $149.99 (save $80, regularly $229.99)

Nest Hub (2nd gen) — $64.99 (save $65, regularly $129.99)

Nest Cam (Wired) — $89.99 (save $40, regularly $129.99)

Nest Cam (Battery) — $179.99 (save $60, regularly $239.99)

Nest x Yale Lock with Nest Connect — $279 (save $80, regularly $359)

Nest Doorbell (battery) — $169.99 (save $70, regularly $239.99)

Nest Learning Thermostat — $249 (save $80, regularly $329)

Nest Thermostat — $129.99 (save $50, regularly $179.99)

Chromecast with Google TV — $59.99 (save $15, regularly $69.99)

Chromecast with Google TV HD — $29.99 (save $10, regularly $39.99)

Google Wifi 1-pack — $99.99 (save $40, regularly $139.99)

Google Wifi 3-pack — $199.99 (save $80, regularly $279.99)

Nest Mini — $34 (save $35, regularly)

For a round-up of all of our Black Friday deals, follow this link. You can find all of the top deals at Canadian retailers here.

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Only Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro will feature faster USB transfer speeds: report

It looks like only Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro will likely feature a USB-C speed upgrade over Apple’s soon-to-be-dead proprietary Lightning port.

According to often-reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will feature “USB 3.2 or at least Thunderbolt 3.” On the other hand, the iPhone 15 will continue to offer USB 2.0 speeds, despite making the jump to USB-C. Apple’s recently released 10th-gen iPad also suffered from a very similar fate regarding USB-C speeds.

If Kuo’s report is accurate, this means that the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max could transfer data at roughly 40Gbps, which is good news for anyone that shoots raw photos or ProRes video and isn’t fond of lengthy Wi-Fi or data file uploads via Photos.

Following the EU mandating that all new smartphones must feature USB-C if they feature a charging port, Kuo, along with several other notable leakers, predict that Apple’s 2023 iPhone line will make the move to USB-C. The EU’s requirement goes into effect in 2024.

Other iPhone 15 series rumours include that only the high-end version of the smartphone will get the A17 chip, while the standard iteration will still feature this year’s A16 chip. There are also some reports indicating that Apple has plans to further differentiate the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max by changing the larger device’s name to the iPhone 15 Ultra and adding features like dual selfie shooters.

Source: @mingchikuo Via: 9to5Mac 

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Dyson reveals some of its upcoming Black Friday discounts

Dyson Canada has released an early sneak peek of its Black Friday sale starting online on November 24th.

Check out some of the upcoming deals below:

V8 vacuums

Dyson V8 Absolute: $499.99 (regularly $649.99)

Dyson V8 Animal: $399.99 (regularly $549.99)

Dyson V8 Origin: $349.99 (regularly $499.99)

V11 vacuums

Dyson V11: $699.99 (regularly $849.99)

Fans and air purifiers

Dyson Cool Tower Fan: $299.99 (regularly $449.99)

Dyson Humidifier: $399.99 (regularly $599.99)

Dyson Purifier Cool Autoreact Fan: $499.99 (regularly $699.99)

Dyson Purifier Cool Purifying Fan: $549.99 (regularly 749.99)

It’s worth noting that the sale pricing isn’t live yet. You can find the discounted deals online starting November 24th. The deals end on December 1st, or until supplies last.

For a round-up of all of our Black Friday deals, follow this link. You can find all of the top deals at Canadian retailers here.

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.

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Google’s One VPN now available on Windows and Mac

Google’s One VPN service was available exclusively on Android until earlier this year.

Back in February, Google announced that it is expanding One VPN to be available on iOS and iPad OS. Now, ten months later, Windows and Mac users can access One VPN directly on their machines, as shared by 9to5Google.

To access the client, head to ‘http://one.google.com/benefits’ from your Windows or Mac machines, and click on the “VPN protection for multiple devices” card, highlighted in the screenshot below:

It’s worth noting that to access the VPN client, you need to be subscribed to Google One’s ‘Premium’ 2TB plan. The plan gives users access to an additional 2TB of Drive and Photos storage, 10 percent back in store credits when you spend money in the Google Store, extended Google expert support, and more member perks.

The plan costs $13.99 per month or $139.99 annually.

Google’s One VPN service for Windows and Mac will be available in the countries where it has already been available for Android and iOS devices, which includes Canada, the United States, Spain, France, Germany and Mexico, to name a few.

Image credit: Google 

Source: 9to5Google