Canadian flag waving with Parliament Buildings hill in the background Ottawa,Ontario, Canada
The federal government continues to release details about a historic collaboration between the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario.
In July 2021, the two governments announced $1.2 billion to fund high-speed internet access to communities across Ontario. The announcement benefits 280,000 homes. The federal government has been releasing a steady stream of statements detailing which telecom companies will participate in the process.
Here is the most recent breakdown:
Bell received five contracts worth over $93 million to bring high-speed internet access to more than 16,000 households.
Digital Infrastructure Group received one contract worth $45 million to improve access for 13,448 homes.
Cogeco Connexion received two contracts totalling$6.2 million to improve access for 1,141 homes.
Keewaytinook Okimakanak received $59.4 million to benefit 3,242 homes.
Matawa First Nations Management received $62.6 million to bring high-speed internet to 689 households.
Illumination’s animated Super Mario movie has been delayed.
In an April 25th tweet, Nintendo confirmed that the film, which was originally set to hit theatres in December 2022, will now open on April 7th in North America.
This is Miyamoto. After consulting with Chris-san, my partner at Illumination on the Super Mario Bros. film, we decided to move the global release to Spring 2023–April 28 in Japan and April 7 in North America. My deepest apologies but I promise it will be well worth the wait.
A reason for the delay wasn’t provided, but Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario, apologized in the tweet and promised “it will be well worth the wait.”
While we’ve known about the Mario movie for years now, we haven’t actually seen any footage or even a still image from it. Last September, Nintendo finally revealed the main voice cast for the film, which includes Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, Jack Black and Bowser and Canada’s own Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong.
Anthony Lacavera, the founder and former CEO of Wind Mobile, is calling on the government to reject Rogers proposed offer to have Xplornet acquire Freedom Mobile.
Lacavera is also the chairman of Globalive, a group that has shown extreme interest in acquiring Freedom Mobile. According to the Globe and Mail, Lacavera sent a letter to several government officials, including François-Philippe Champagne, the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry.
The letter states Rogers omitted Globalive and other potential bidders in the process, denying Freedom Mobile was even for sale.
Lacavera warns the government to be “highly skeptical of any transaction presented to you that is a product of this non-competitive and engineered process, which appears to have as its goal the establishment of an anemic and ineffective owner of the fourth carrier business.”
The deal with Xplornet, also first reported by the Globe and Mail, is something Rogers isn’t commenting on. “We’re not going to comment on any rumours that are out there,” CEO Tony Staffieri said during the 2022 Q1 results conference call.
The government has not publicly commented on the sale, and Lacavera is utilizing that silence.
His most recent public plea comes through survey results commissioned by Globalive.
According to the results, 67 percent of respondents want the company to be sold to an independent carrier to ensure increased competition. 87 percent of respondents list a commitment to lower prices as the most critical factor in the sale of Freedom Mobile.
“It’s crucial that we continue to demand a transparent sale process on behalf of Rogers, and that the appropriate discretion is used at the federal level when choosing a final buyer. We are counting on Minister Champagne to make the decision that is in the best interests of Canadians,” Lacavera said.
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Apart from Twitter, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has made another less-talked-about deal in the past week.
SpaceX’s Starlink will now provide in-flight internet for Hawaiian Airlines’ trans-pacific fleet, which are flights to and from the continental U.S, Asia and Oceania.
We're proud to be the 1st major U.S. airline to select @SpaceX’s Starlink, which will provide the best internet connectivity in the air — free for our guests. Stay connected from the comfort of your seat. This is the future of flying.✨ https://t.co/ZBTwso36Kq.#Starlink#SpaceXpic.twitter.com/qxV2tRd4di
According to Hawaiian Airlines, the two companies are in the initial phase of implementing the agreement, and the wireless internet will be placed aboard select planes next year.
“When we launch with Starlink we will have the best connectivity experience available in the air,” said Hawaiian Airlines’ president and CEO Peter Ingram in its news release. “We waited until technology caught up with our high standards for guest experience, but it will be worth the wait. Our guests can look forward to fast, seamless and free Wi-Fi to complement our award-winning onboard Hawaiian hospitality.”
While not much else was revealed, Hawaiian Airlines did say that passengers will be able to connect to the internet without going through any registration or payment procedures. Additionally, the airline won’t deploy the service on its Boeing 717 aircraft that operate short flights between the Hawaiian Islands.
The deal also marks the first major partnership with an airline for SpaceX’s Starlink.
The Starlink service essentially beams down internet service through satellites in orbit down to antennas on earth. The service is currently available in parts of Canada as part of Starlink’s beta program, including locations in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Saskatchewan.
Bell is continuing its relationship with Amazon Web Services (AWS) by using the company’s wavelength to launch the first multi-access edge computing (MEC).
The move allows end-users to better access higher speeds and lower latency associated with Bell’s 5G network and cloud services in regions with AWS. Doing so will enable several industries, including retail, transportation, and manufacturing, to access growth opportunities and customer experiences.
MEC moves traffic and services away from the cloud and closer to customers. AWS Wavelength is deployed on 5G networks and reduces latency and network hops needed to connect from a 5G device to an AWS-hosted application.
“With our ongoing investments in supporting emerging MEC use cases, coupled with our end-to-end security built into our 5G network, we are able to give Canadian businesses a platform to innovate, harness the power of 5G and drive competitiveness for their businesses,” Jeremy Wubs, senior vice president of product, marketing and professional services at Bell Business Markets, said.
The service is only available in Toronto, and Bell says it will add more wavelength zones.
Smart lighting company Nanoleaf’s ‘Lines’ normally come with nine 28-cm (11-inch) long white coloured light bars, along with white hexagonal connector pieces, but the Toronto-based has just added two new matte skins to the light’s accessories, allowing you to completely change the look of the smart lights to match your personal style.
The new matte black and matte pink coloured skins are simply lightweight snap-on covers for the Nanoleaf Lines, and come with nine skins (for the light bars) and nine mounting caps (for the hexagonal connector pieces).
#NEW Nanoleaf Lines Skins are available NOW! Transform your Lines layout with snap-on Lines Skins in Matte Black or Matte Pink 😈
If you don’t know about Nanoleaf’s Lines, they’re a set of bar smart lights that radiate light onto the wall they’re attached to. The new skins don’t only change the look of the Lines when they’re turned off, but also when they’re turned on. Read MobileSyrup staff reporter Jonathan Lamont’s review of the smart light to learn more about it.
Grocery delivery service Instacart has added Canadian retailer Giant Tiger to its roster.
The family discount store has 180 stores across the country. Customers can shop for various products, including grocery, health, and beauty. Deliveries will take as little as an hour.
“This partnership will help more Canadians to experience Giant Tiger’s fun and easy shopping experience and solidify our position as Canada’s favourite discount retailer,” Simon Rodrigue, senior vice president of Giant Tiger, said.
Customers can pick Giant Tiger as their select store on the Instacart app, along with 750 other retailers.
The Instacart mobile app is available on iOS and Android.
Qualcomm is getting ready for another chip launch, and this time it’s the upgraded version of its Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor.
The processor is internally codenamed ‘SM8475,’ but it will be officially named the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+, and could officially launch by May or June.
Numbers on the SM8475 (Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+) are quite good. Expecting an overall 10% jump compared to 8 Gen 1. Thermals are good, chip is stable and battery life is slightly better compared to the out going model on test machines. Looking at an early June commercial release…
The news comes from tipster Yogesh Brar, who revealed that the chip will sport a 10 percent performance boost over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. Additionally, the chipset is expected to offer better thermal management and battery life.
Brar also states that we’ll see a June commercial release for the processor.
If you have a new phone and you’re looking to protect it with a trendy-looking case that’s also good for the environment, then you’ve come to the right place.
I’ve been testing 0ut the Lavender iPhone 13 Pro case from a Canadian company Pela, and it’s my new favourite case for two main reasons.
One is the soft-touch feel. Above all else, a case needs to feel good in my hand, and the combination of flax shive and plant-based biopolymers that the company uses is incredibly soft. Imagine the smooth back of the Nexus 5x, but better, with more cushion and in tons of eye-pleasing colours.
That leads to my second favourite point. The cases come in a huge array of designs, but the pleasing pastel-inspired hues that the company uses as its standard colours are fantastic. I’ve been testing out the Lavender colourway, and the flax inside of it gives it a bit of a speckled effect that looks really nice. If it’s not for you, there are cases with graphics, other colours and even clear cases with compostable bumpers.
Finally, it wouldn’t be a good case without protection, and the Pela’s iPhone 13 case holds up there too. The model I’m using is quite rubbery, so it offers a decent amount of impact resistance. The case also fits snuggly onto my iPhone and doesn’t add too much bulk to it either. If you opt to use a standard Pela case and a Pela liquid screen protector, the company even offers a guarantee that it’ll fix your screen if it breaks.
I’ve been using this case on my phone for about a month now and it’s held up like a trooper. There was even a day when it got packed tightly in my bag and ended up getting some black scuffs on the edges, but after a few more days of use, they washed away.
My favourite thing about the case has to be its colour, but the company’s green mission is a close second. As a tech reviewer, I go through a lot of plastic waste and specifically, a lot of phone cases. Having a case that I know isn’t going to end up in a landfill offers peace of mind, and having it be as stylish as a Pela case is a huge plus on top of that.
If you’re interested in learning about how these cases are made the company has a great video on it that you can watch below.
