“This year, Prime Day will take place in July in more than 20 countries. During Amazon’s annual shopping event, Prime members will be able to save on products from national brands and small businesses across every category,” reads the report.
It’s worth noting that Amazon increased the Prime subscription cost in Canada earlier this month. The regular Prime membership now costs $2 more monthly, coming in at $9.99/mo or $20 more annually ($99/year).
Similarly, the cost of Prime Students has also been increased from $3.99/mo to $4.99/mo.
Like always, the event is expected to span two days (48 hours), so make sure you have your subscription ready around the end of July. Additionally, if you don’t want a long term commitment, Prime’s one-month free trial should get you through the two-day event.
Canadian astronauts will soon need to be wary of committing crimes on the lunar surface.
According to the CBC, Canada recently amended its criminal code to include crimes committed by Canadian astronauts during trips to the moon and on its surface.
The criminal code already includes crimes related to Canadian astronauts on the International Space Station, stating that any crime committed on the ISS is considered to have occurred in Canada.
This shift in the criminal code relates to the Canadian Space Agency and the Artemis program involving NASA, which will send people back to the moon at some point in the next decade but possibly as early as 2025.
Canada plans to contribute a robot arm (the Canadarm 3) to the Lunar Gateway, a base orbiting the moon. A Canadian astronaut part of the Artemis 2 mission aims to travel to the moon and back without landing.
It’s also possible that this change in the Canadian criminal code is tied to someone in the Canadian government being overly excited about the third season of For All Mankind launching on Apple TV+ on June 10th, 2022.
As first reported by MacRumors, a recent update to the AirTag adjusts its built-in speaker to emit sound as loud as possible in order to make it easier to find.
It’s also worth noting that the feature is being gradually rolled out to users, with only 1 percent of AirTag owners receiving it this week, 10 percent on May 3rd, 25 percent on May 9th and all users on May 13th, according to MacRumors. The new firmware build number is 1A303 (firmware version 1.0.301).
To check what firmware your AirTag is running, head to the ‘Find My’ app on the iPhone, tap the ‘Items’ tab and select your AirTag from the list. The Bluetooth tracker’s serial number and firmware should be visible.
Back in February, Apple announced a suite of features that aim to curb the AirTag’s use surrounding car theft and other tracking-related crimes, including ‘Precision Finding’ that points iPhone users to unknown nearby AirTags. The company also released a notification stating that using an AirTag to track people is a crime in several regions around the world.
Elon Musk’s tenure at Twitter hasn’t even officially begun, but a new Bloomberg report suggests that the world’s richest man intends to cut costs and jobs in a bid to generate financial returns.
The snippet of information comes from unnamed people familiar with the matter, who say that while in talks with bankers to acquire along for the $44 billion USD (about $56 billion CAD) purchase, Musk floated the idea of cutting both jobs and company costs. “He didn’t go into details about which departments or positions might be affected,” said the unnamed source.
Additionally, new subscription tiers might be coming to the social media platform, as Musk was heard discussing subscription services to drive recurring revenue.
While we aren’t entirely sure how Musk intends to lead Twitter, his statement in the company’s acquisition press release suggests that his focus is primarily on free speech.
“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” said Musk. “I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential — I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”
The second-gen Amazon Fire TV Cube is the first streaming device with Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids (ASHA) capabilities.
People with hearing loss that use the Fire TV Cube would now be able to connect compatible Bluetooth-enabled hearing aids to the streaming device. According to Amazon, “improving TV sound quality” was the top-requested feature among hearing aid users.
Compatible hearing aids would be able to connect to the Fire TV at the system level, allowing users to experience audio not only from their favourite apps but also from Alexa, music, navigational sounds, and more, by pushing encoded audio data from the streaming device directly to the hearing aid’s antenna receiver.
Compatible hearing aids include the Bluetooth models from American hearing technology company Starkey.
Here is how you can enable the feature on your Fire TV Cube:
To pair your hearing aids, visit Fire TV Settings, Accessibility, select Hearing Aids, and follow the on-screen instructions to connect them, much like you would with Bluetooth headphones.
To control the streaming volume, use the Fire TV remote like you otherwise would.
For an optimal experience, we recommend customers connect over a 5Ghz wifi network, within 10 feet and in line of sight to Fire TV Cube. Due to the small size of hearing aids, their radio antennas require closer proximity for the best connection. Customers with 2.4GHz wifi can still enjoy the feature, with range that varies depending on spectrum congestion.
Amazon aims to expand Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids (ASHA) support to more of its devices.
It’s worth noting that Starkey’s hearing aids are available in Canada, though we are not sure if the new feature is limited to the United States or not. MobileSyrup has reached out to Amazon and will update the story when said information is available.
Learn more about the new hearing accessibility feature here.
One of the surprise TV hits of the year is Severance.
The Apple TV+ sci-fi thriller series has received rave reviews for its gripping mystery-filled story about people who undergo a procedure to separate their work and personal memories for a shady corporation.
Here’s the trailer:
And here’s the incredible, haunting opening title sequence:
The series, created by Dan Erickson and co-directed by Ben Stiller, stars Adam Scott, Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, John Turturro, Tramell Tillman, Patricia Arquette and Christopher Walken.
If you’re like me and have devoured the show since its finale earlier this month, you might be looking for something to fill the void until the now-confirmed second season. With that in mind, we’ve rounded up 10 shows and movies that are similar to Severance, be it through story, themes or general vibes. As you’ll notice, many of these feature sci-fi concepts and/or people rebelling against morally corrupt companies, just like Severance.
Without further ado, here are eight shows (and two movies) to watch after Severance.
Black Mirror
When people talk about “cautionary media tales about technology,” Black Mirror is pretty much the go-to modern example. Outside of a few exceptions, the Charlie Brooker-created series has quite the bleak outlook on both current and hypothetical sinister uses of technology. On the whole, it’s darker than Severance, although it does explore different genres through a sci-fi lens, including romance (“San Junipero”), horror (“Playtest”) and black comedy (“National Anthem”). Best of all, each episode is standalone, so you can dip your feet into whichever sounds most appealing.
Stream Black Mirror on Netflix. It’s also worth noting that a standalone film, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, is also available on Netflix. Unlike the Black Mirror episodes, though, it’s an interactive “choose-your-own-adventure” experience.
Brazil
While this list is mostly focused on shows, we’re including a couple of movies based on cited influences by Severance creator Dan Erickson.
Set in a dystopian society, Terry Gilliam’s Brazil follows a bureaucrat who becomes the enemy of the state when he pursues the woman of his dreams. Jonathan Pryce, Kim Griest, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond and Ian Holm star.
Unfortunately, Brazil isn’t currently on a streaming service. You can, however, rent it on premium video on demand (PVOD) platforms like iTunes and Google Play for $4.99 CAD.
Devs
This show is probably the closest 1:1 comparison to Severance, in that it’s a conspiracy-ridden sci-fi thriller that follows a software engineer investigating the death of her boyfriend at a shady tech company.
The miniseries was created by acclaimed Ex Machina filmmaker Alex Garland and stars Sonoya Mizuno, Nick Offerman, Jin Ha, Zach Grenier and Toronto’s own Alison Pill.
Another show, another mysterious company. This anthology series follows an unconventional wellness company and its ‘Homecoming Initiative,’ which helps soldiers re-transition into civilian life.
Based on Gimlet Media’s podcast of the same name, Homecoming was created by Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg and features two different stories in each season. The first season features Julia Roberts, Bobby Cannavale, Shea Wigham and Toronto’s own Stephan James, while Season 2 stars Janelle Monáe, Joan Cusack, Chris Cooper and James.
Runtime: Two seasons (17 episodes at 24 to 37 minutes each) Genre: Psychological thriller
Hazel escapes from a toxic marriage with tech billionaire Byron Gogol, only to discover that her husband is tracking her through a chip he implanted in her head.
While that’s an undeniably creepy premise, the show is a dark comedy overall, featuring fun performances from Cristin Milioti (Hazel), Billy Magnussen (Byron) and, especially, Ray Romano as Hazel’s sex doll-loving dad.
Runtime: Eight episodes (first season) Genre: Sci-fi, dark comedy
Two strangers, Annie (Emma Stone) and Owen (Jonah Hill), connect while undertaking a mind-bending pharmaceutical trial in a retro-future New York City.
Notably, Patrick Somerville, who was the showrunner of Made For Love, created this miniseries, which was itself based on one from Norway. No Time to Die director Cary Joji Fukunaga also helmed every episode of Maniac.
Runtime: Ten episodes (26 to 47 minutes each) Genre: Psychological, dark-comedy
Here’s another film that Erickson has said influenced Severance, and it’s easy to see how. The Peter Weir-directed film follows a man (Newmarket, Ontario’s own Jim Carrey) who discovers that his seemingly ordinary life was actually a reality TV show.
Unfortunately, like Brazil, The Truman Show isn’t actually on a streaming service at the moment. Instead, you can rent it on PVOD platforms like Google Play ($3.99) and iTunes ($4.99).
Upload
After dying prematurely, a computer engineering grad gets “uploaded” into a virtual afterlife and must adjust to the pros and cons of his new existence.
The Office‘s Greg Daniels created the series, which gives you an idea of the tone (i.e. it’s not dark like Severance). Notably, Upload stars Toronto’s own Robbie Amell and was also filmed in Vancouver.
Runtime: Two seasons (17 episodes at 24 to 46 minutes each) Genre: Sci-fi, comedy-drama
High-paying guests visit a technologically-advanced Wild West-themed amusement park, which is run by android “hosts.”
Based on Michael Chrichton’s 1973 film of the same name, Westworld was created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy and features an ensemble cast that includes Evan Rachel Wood, Thandiwe Newton, Jeffrey Wright, James Marsden, Anthony Hopkins, Tessa Thompson and Aaron Paul.
Runtime: Three seasons (28 episodes at 57 to 91 minutes each) Genre: Sci-fi, dystopian
Honourable mentions: This is focused on streaming, but we’ll also quickly shout out some video games. Erickson has publicly noted that The Stanley Parable — a first-person narrative PC game about a worker in an office building that’s getting a new release on consoles — influenced Severance. As well, Remedy’s third-person shooter Control — a mind-bending adventure set in an eerie bureau — has some strong visual and thematic ties to Apple’s show.
Are you also obsessed with Severance? Which of these shows and movies do you like or, alternatively, are considering watching for the first time? Let us know in the comments.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has officially revealed new details regarding its upcoming virtual reality (VR) headset. The company is tentatively calling the headset Project Cambria and is positioning it to focus on work-related use cases.
During Meta’s latest earnings call, Zuckerberg touched on Project Cambria. However, in a Facebook post, the CEO went into more detail on what’s in store for the headset.
“Later this year we’ll release a higher-end headset [than the Oculus Quest 2], codenamed Project Cambria, which will be more focused on work use cases and eventually replacing your laptop or work setup,” said Zuckerberg during the call.
Zuckerberg described the Cambria as a “premium device” and claims it features “improved ergonomics and full-colour passthrough mixed reality.” Meta also appears to be developing new features for the headset, including eye tracking and face tracking. Zuckerberg claims that your avatar can “make eye contact and facial expressions” when using Project Cambria.
Recently uncovered Renders of Project Cambria courtesy of tipster Brad Lynch reveal that Meta’s upcoming headset features a more minimalist design aesthetic. When compared it to Meta’s Oculus Quest 2, Cambria looks more lightweight, and the head strap running across the middle of the headset appears to be removed. Finally, Meta may also be leaning towards a darker colour pallet with the overall design.
Project Cambria will likely be a cornerstone of Meta’s metaverse ambitions. While Zuckerberg refrains from revealing more details, he assures eager VR users that the company will reveal more information about the headset “in the months ahead.” An exact release window for Project Cambria remains unknown.
During its latest earnings call, Meta revealed that its Reality Labs division is losing close to $3 billion USD (roughly 3.8 billion CAD) each quarter. The division is in charge of producing the company’s virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) hardware and software. However, Reality Labs is seemingly only pulling in roughly $650 million USD (about $832 million CAD) in revenue.
The heavy investment in VR/AR and the metaverse is apparent when comparing that staggering number to the first quarter of 2021. Meta Reality Labs lost $1.8 billion USD (approximately $2.3 billion CAD) while only pulling in $534 million USD (roughly 683 million CAD) in revenue, according to 2021’s full-year results.
Reality Labs employs roughly 17,000 staff members and paints a picture of where some of that money goes each quarter.
However, despite the substantial loss, Meta’s overall revenue is only rising. Over the three-month period ending March 31st, 2022, Meta reports revenue of $27 billion USD (about $34 billion CAD). This amount is said to be made largely due in part to the “Facebook family of apps.” This helped drive a total of $26 billion (roughly $34 billion CAD) in revenue.
News of Meta’s losses also come when CEO Mark Zuckerberg divulged more details on its upcoming VR headset codenamed Project Cambria. Said to be an upgraded headset to the Quest 2, Project Cambria has a focus on work. Zuckerberg claims the headset has eye-tracking and facial tracking designed for digital avatars. The headset is expected to release later this year.
Hardware innovations are yet another driving force in a loss. However, if Meta’s investment in the metaverse and VR pays off, any accumulated losses could balance out down the road.
That said, Meta does still have several competitors in the VR space. Valve, Sony, and other VR headset manufacturers all provide digital experiences to users in some form or another. However, Meta’s Horizon Worlds platform and its provided experiences will ultimately be what sets the company apart.
