Author: Mobile Syrup

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Several telecom companies waive text and long-distance call fees to Iran

A number of telecom providers have waived fees associated with texts and long-distance calls to Iran to allow Canadians to reach their loved ones.

Telus and Koodo customers can make calls and texts without added fees until October 14th. Rogers, Fido and Chatr Mobile customers have until October 17th. Bell, Shaw and Freedom Mobile also have an October 17th deadline.

While Vidéotron shares the same time limit, the company is only waiving call charges to Iran.

The outpour of announcements comes as Iran’s residents protest the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died while in the custody of the “morality police.” Iran has long tried to dictate how its residents dress and what they say.

Innovation Minister, François-Philippe Champagne, praised various telecom companies on Twitter following their announcements. “The ability to communicate is essential for those taking a stand in the name of freedom and equality,” he tweeted.

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Here’s the content coming to CBC Gem in October 2022

CBC has shared the full list of movies and shows coming to its ‘Gem’ video streaming service in October 2022.

You can view the full list of content below:

October 1st

  • In My Skin: Season 2
  • We Are Black and British
  • Mysteries of Mental Illness
  • The Falconer
  • In Full Voice

October 2nd

  • Moonshine: Season 2
  • Heartland: Season 16
  • The Great Canadian Baking Show
  • Mixed Doubles Curling Super Series – streaming live

October 3rd

  • Call the Midwife: Season 10

October 4th

  • Hodan’s Story

October 5th

  • Paris Paris

October 7th

  • Devil in the Dark
  • Marketplace: Season 50
  • The Next Step: Season 2

October 10th

  • Jamie’s Ultimate Veg

October 11th

  • Woman’s Volleyball World Championship streaming live

October 12th

  • Diggstown: Season 4

October 14th

  • Tribal
  • Travel Man: 48 Hours In…
  • L’essence Des Souvenirs – Itinéraire D’un Apprenti Parfumeur

October 15th

  • The Ravenous (Les Affamés)

October 21st

  • Blindness
  • She Never Died
  • White Elephant
  • Blood Quantum

October 24

  • Come to Daddy
  • Bitten: Seasons 1-3
  • Ridley Road

October 28th

  • 5150 Elm’s Way
  • Call the Midwife: Season 10 Anniversary Special
  • Glorious Holiday
Categories
Mobile Syrup

Ministers Champagne and Freeland met telecom companies following Hurricane Fiona

Canada’s Innovation Minister met with telecom companies on the same day Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston posted a letter outlining his disappointment in those companies during Hurricane Fiona.

Minister François-Philippe Champagne says he met with executives from Bell, Rogers, Telus, Eastlink, and Xplore, along with the Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland. Houston named all of these telecom companies, except Xplore, in his letter.

In a statement shared on Twitter, Minister Champagne says companies made situation reports and network status’ available. There is no mention of Houston’s letter or his disappointment. Instead, Champagne’s statement appeared positive, reminding readers of the recent agreement of assistance between telecom providers. 

“More importantly, we reminded them of their commitment to transparency in that agreement, which includes providing clear and timely communications to keep Canadians and relevant authorities informed about responses and restoration efforts during major network outages.”

The statement goes on to say telecom providers were told to review any logistical and procedural gaps concerning emergency response plans and to work with their partners.

It’s not clear if Minister Champagne met with the companies before or after receiving Houston’s letter.

Image credit: @TimHoustonNS/Twitter

Source:@FP_Champagne/ Twitter

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Best Buy’s new Happy Hour sale is currently live

Best Buy Canada is holding a ‘Happy Hour’ sale with items that have been voted by shoppers on a limited-time discount.

The sale started today, Thursday, September 29th, at 3pm ET/12pm PT, and will end later today 8pm ET/5pm PT.

Check out the winning offers below:

JBL Xtreme 2 Rugged/Waterproof Bluetooth Wireless Speaker – Black: $249.99 (save $150)

Lenovo Chromebook C340 15.6 -inch Touchscreen 2 in 1 Chromebook (marketplace seller): $249.99 (save $250)

Ultima Cosa Presto Bollente Espresso Machine with Frother & Coffee Grinder – Stainless Steel: $349.99 (save $350)

Polk Audio Signa Solo Sound Bar: $129.99 (save $20)

Click & Grow Smart Garden 9 (SG9S8US) – Grey: $159.99 (save $100)

Google Chromecast with Google TV (4K) – Snow: $49.99 (save $20)

Seagate FireCuda 530 Heatsink 500GB NVMe PCI-e Internal Hard Drive (ZP500GM3A023): $99.99 (save $55)

Check out Best Buy’s Happy Hour deal page 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.

Categories
Mobile Syrup

PlayStation Stars launches in Canada on October 5

Earlier this year, Sony announced its ‘PlayStation Stars‘ loyalty program for players. This program is free to join and incentivizes players to tackle new challenges while playing on PlayStation consoles.

Now, the experience is finally launching in Canada on October 5th.

In the program, you earn rewards by completing a variety of campaigns and activities. For instance, the ‘Monthly Check-in’ campaign requires you to play any game to receive a reward. Other campaigns task you with earning specific trophies or being among the first to earn a platinum trophy in a specific region for a blockbuster title.

The rewards for PlayStation Stars come in two types, loyalty points and digital collectibles. Points can be redeemed in a catalogue that could include PSN wallet funds, exclusive digital collectibles and select PlayStation Store products. PS Plus members enrolled in PS Stars automatically earn points for purchases in the PS Store.

Digital collectibles, on the other hand, are digital representations of things that fans enjoy including figurines of iconic characters from games. The digital collectibles can be arranged on a display case within the PS app. At launch, by joining, all members will receive the Star Gazer Telescope. PlayStation will also have Punto the gondolier from Ape Escape 2, PocketStation, Toro and Kuro celebrating, and more, as some of the first digital collectables for members to earn or acquire.

PlayStation Stars is free to join, but you’ll need an adult account for PlayStation Network and to accept the program’s terms and services.

Source: PlayStation Blog

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Xplore details plans to extend fibre services in Quebec

Aerial view of mobiel phone cell tower over forested rural area of West Virginia to illustrate lack of broadband internet service

Xplore says it will bring service to 6,000 homes and businesses in the communities of Val-des-Sources, the MRC Papineau and the MRC Pontiac, Quebec.

Xplore’s plans will feature download and upload speeds up to 1Gbps and unlimited data.

“Access to gigabit speeds will ensure that more people who live and work in rural Quebec communities will be able to connect without compromise,” Allison Lenehan, Xplore’s president, said.

The announcement is part of the Quebec government’s Operation Haute Vitesse program, focusing on providing high-speed internet to residents in the province. Xplore will connect more than 20,000 locations under the program. The company says it will make further investments, and collectively, 3,200 kilometres of fibre will be deployed across the province.

Image credit: Shutterstock 

Source: Xplore

Categories
Mobile Syrup

The next big Microsoft Flight Simulator update is all about Canada

The next big update to Microsoft Flight Simulator is focused entirely on Canada.

Launching September 29th, the appropriately named World Update XI: Canada brings a bunch of Canadian destinations and missions to the acclaimed flight simulator. In total, 12 urban regions and 89 hand-crafted points of interest are featured.

Altogether, World Update XI features:

  • Five hand-crafted airports, including B.C.’s Castlegar/West Kootenay Regional Airport, Victoria International Airport and Vancouver Island
  • Three bush trips (Vancouver Island, Newfoundland and the Canadian Rockies)
  • Three landing challenges (Castlegar, Barkerville and Calgary)
  • Three discovery flights (Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto)

As with all previous World Updates, the Canadian expansion is available for free to all Microsoft Flight Simulator players, whether you own the game or play via Xbox Game Pass. Earlier this year, the game added a big crossover with Paramount’s Top Gun: Maverick, and a free 40th Anniversary Edition adding aircraft from older games is set to arrive in November.

Microsoft Flight Simulator is now available on Xbox Series X/S and PC (plus Game Pass), as well as Xbox One and mobile devices via Game Pass’ Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming service.

Image credit: Xbox

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Google will shut down Stadia, refund all purchases

Google published a blog post on September 29th announcing it will shut down its Stadia game streaming platform and refund all purchases in January 2023:

“We will be refunding all Stadia hardware purchases made through the Google Store, and all game and add-on content purchases made through the Stadia store. Players will continue to have access to their games library and play through January 18, 2023 so they can complete final play sessions. We expect to have the majority of refunds completed by mid-January, 2023.”

The company directs players to its Help Center for more information on the refund process.

In the blog post, the company notes that the service “hasn’t gained the traction with users that we expected.” However, Google also notes that it sees opportunities to apply Stadia tech elsewhere, including on YouTube, Google Play, and augmented reality (AR) efforts. Google also plans to keep the tech available for industry partners.

The news comes amid continued cancellations of Google projects. The company recently shuttered its Pixelbook division and reduced funding for its experimental software division, Area 120. Employees on the Stadia team will be distributed to other parts of the company.

Source: Google

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Telus picks Palo Alto Networks to assist with 5G network security

Telecom giant Telus has selected Palo Alto Networks to protect its stand-alone core network and IoT infrastructure.

Palo Alto Networks, an American cybersecurity company, will utilize its “Zero Trust approach,” a security framework that covers various controls, including network, endpoint, and cloud.

“We know security is a top priority for our customers, and we are deeply engaged in keeping people safe while optimizing our customer experience on our world-leading network,” Ibrahim Gedeon, Telus’ chief technology officer, said.

“The 5G market is rapidly evolving, propelling innovations through data insight and AI, and it is critical that we implement robust solutions that allow for flexible growth, without compromising security.”

Image credit: Shutterstock 

Source: Palo Alto Networks

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Tim Hortons celebrates National Coffee Day with a Roblox game

Following Walmart, Tim Hortons has hopped the metaverse bandwagon via Roblox.

The company announced on September 29th, that it is celebrating National Coffee Day with a new Roblox game, alongside the launch of limited-edition Tims Run Club apparel IRL (in-real-life).

The Roblox Tim Horton game is called the Tims Speed Run challenge, and is essentially an obstacle course with all things Tims that actually looks fun. Only if it awarded real Tim points would it be deemed perfect.

Players would have to run through the course while avoiding or jumping over “mountain-sized” Tims coffees, hopping across spinning donuts and bagels, dodging Timbit boulders, and picking up golden coffee beans for bonus points, all while carrying a tray of Tims. We’ve all been there.

There apparently is also an in-game TimShop, where users can redeem the coins they’ve won/collected  “for exclusive wearables, items & merch.” There’s even a badge called ‘Tims Trendsetter’ that gets awarded to you when you purchase “three Tims merchandise items from the shop.”

Learn more about the experience in Roblox here.

Image credit: Roblox

Source: Tim Hortons