BIG Admin
Rogers is reporting four percent revenue growth in its Q1 2022 report, driven by its wireless and media businesses.
Wireless revenue increased by seven percent year-over-year. Revenue came through roaming charges from the higher amount of travel as COVID restrictions continue to ease. A growing subscriber base from postpaid mobile phones also contributed.
More to come…
A few weeks ago, news broke that Snoop Dogg will soon be available in Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty: Warzone, Call of Duty: Vanguard and Call of Duty: Mobile. While the American rapper has been present in Call of Duty: Mobile since April 1st, he is now available as an operator in Warzone and Vanguard as well.
The new Snoop Dogg Operator bundle comes with a usable Snoop skin, a “Bong Ripper” gun blueprint, a “West Coast Bling” gun blueprint, a “Tha Shiznit” blueprint, “The Original Gangsta” emblem, a “Tactical Toke” highlight intro, “Finishizzle Movizzle” finishing move, “Hit this, fam” MVP highlight, a “Mellow Metal” charm and a “High Art” spray.
As one would imagine, the bundle is full of pot references, from the “Hit this, fam” highlight to the marijuana leaf-shaped “Mellow Metal” charm and “High Art” spray. The “Bong Ripper” gun blueprint has weed nugs instead of bullets, and all weapons in the bundle come with green weed Tracer Rounds.
The bundle costs 2,400 CP, which is $26.99 CAD.
The Snoop operator agent will have his own in-game voice lines, progression path and a biography. Like other operators, Snoop’s character can be levelled by getting regular and headshot kills, hipfire kills and wins while using him.
Additionally, through Snoop’s progression path, COD players can unlock “several XP and PPSH-41 Weapon XP rewards, as well as two Sprays, two Operator Quips, a Calling Card, a Sticker, an Emblem, a Weapon Charm, a Vanguard-exclusive Killcam Vanity, and four alternate Operator outfits.”
Image credit: Call of Duty
Source: Call of Duty
Skip Express Lane delivery door in Winnipeg. (CNW Group/SkipTheDishes)
After introducing its Skip Express Lane in Winnipeg, Edmonton, London, and downtown Toronto, food delivery service SkipTheDishes is now adding a new Skip Express Lane location in Calgary.
Skip Express Lane lets users pick baby products, pantry staples, snacks, fresh produce and meals from local favourites restaurants and businesses, with delivery fulfilment within 25 minutes.
According to the food delivery service’s press release, “there are currently a total of six fulfillment centres planned for Alberta.” We are not sure whether those are in addition to the centres in Calgary and Edmonton or not.
There are currently 15 Alberta-based hometown brands on Skip Express Lane in a specific category called “West Local Love.” Some of them are:
“Being on Skip Express Lane allowed us to offer a channel that’s easy for our customers to use with fast deliveries,” said Luke Wolters, CEO and Founder of Freebar Foods in Skip’s press release. “It has exposed us to new customers we couldn’t reach and has been great to help us grow.”
In addition to Alberta, Skip has one operational Express Lane site in British Columbia, two in Manitoba, and five in Ontario, with plans to expand into existing and new cities and provinces in the following months. According to the food delivery service, it will open 38 new fulfillment centres across the country by this summer, resulting in about 1,000 new jobs for Canadians.
The SkipTheDishes app is available on iOS and Android.
Source: SkipTheDishes
Telus is on a mission to plant its one-millionth tree this year, and it’s involving its customers to make it happen.
The Vancouver-based telecom company will plant a tree for every customer that buys a certified pre-owned phone between April 18th and May 1st. Customers can purchase from Telus, or its flanker brands, Koodo and Public Mobile.
Telus says buying a pre-owned phone is a “budget and planet-friendly option.”
According to a report from the Bureau of International Recycling, Canadians generated 638,300 tons of electronic waste in 2017. By 2025, Canada and the U.S. will collectively generate 9.25 million tons of e-waste.
“Environmental sustainability is one of the pillars of Telus’ commitment to a greater social purpose — to create stronger and healthier communities,” Geoff Pegg, head of sustainability, said.
Telus is partnering with Tree Canada to make the project happen. So far, the company has planted 800,000 trees. When this figure hits one million, it will be the equivalent of 20,000 acres of forest.
The program is part of the company’s plan to become a zero-waste, carbon-neutral company by 2030.
Their 2021 Sustainability Report further outlines the steps Telus will take to make its 2030 goal happen, including exclusively using renewable energy by 2025.
Image credit: Shutterstock
Source: Telus
Samsung’s Galaxy S22 series might be getting its May security patch in April.
According to the Telus update schedule, the S22, S22+ and S22 Ultra will get a security update and optimization patch on April 27th.
It’s unclear what the update will include, but the device receiving the update this early is impressive. This is the second month in a row that the phone received its monthly patch early. In March, the S22 series was scheduled to receive its monthly update on March 29th.
However, according to S22 users, the last update wasn’t exactly on time. It didn’t hit some users until at least a week later.
Seeing that the S22 series is scheduled to get its updates early is still pretty impressive. Hopefully, users will actually receive the update on the planned day.
Currently, only Telus’ update schedule calendar mentions the S22 May update.
Source: Telus
Remember the Japanese scientist from Meiji University who developed a prototype of the ‘lickable TV‘ that lets you taste what’s on the screen? Well, he’s back.
This time around, the scientist, named Homei Miyashita, with beverage company Kirin, has developed a gadget that is way more practical than the lickable TV. A set of electric chopsticks that enhance the taste of low-sodium (salt) food is Miyashita’s new breakthrough.
According to Kirin’s report, Japanese adults consume anywhere between 9.3g and 10.9g of salt daily, which is higher than the World Health Organization’s recommendations and can cause severe health implications like hypertension and kidney diseases. The main use-case for the chopsticks is to help people maintain a low-sodium diet while not having to compromise on the food’s taste.
The chopsticks connect to a wristband-like device that powers the cutlery and uses electrical simulation to transmit weak sodium ions directly into your mouth when you grab a bite, creating a false sense of saltiness. According to the research, the chopsticks are able to enhance the salty taste in low-sodium food by about 1.5 times.
While what has been developed now is just a prototype, Miyashita, along with Kirin, plan to improve the prototype before releasing the chopsticks to the public next year.
Image credit: Kirin
Source: Kirin
Canada and Ontario flags in front of skyscrapers in Toronto
The governments of Canada and Ontario will collectively provide $56 million in funding to bring high-speed internet to 6,500 homes.
Funding will cover six projects in First Nation communities and homes in rural northern and southwestern Ontario.
The move is part of both governments initiatives to bring high-speed internet to residence across the province.
“Reliable high-speed internet allows us to learn, attend school and work remotely, and it allows small businesses to serve customers. But too many rural communities still do not have access to high-speed Internet,” Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister, said. “Broadband access is critical for our country’s economic growth and recovery, and our government is committed to making sure no community is left behind.”
The two governments also shared details Tuesday relating to a $1.2 billion funding announcement they collectively made in July 2021. The money will bring high-speed internet to nearly 280,000 rural Ontario households.
Image credit: Shutterstock
Netflix has confirmed that for the first time in more than a decade, it has lost subscribers.
In its latest earnings report, the company revealed that it dropped 200,000 net paid subscribers in Q1 2022. According to Netflix, this drop is due to the suspension of its business in Russia, which led to a loss of 700,000 subscribers. Had that not happened, Netflix claims it would have had 500,000 net additions in Q1 2022.
In any event, the streamer says it expects to lose another two million in the second quarter.
“Our revenue growth has slowed considerably,” wrote Netflix in an April 19th letter to shareholders. “Streaming is winning over linear, as we predicted, and Netflix titles are very popular globally. However, our relatively high household penetration — when including the large number of households sharing accounts — combined with competition, is creating revenue growth headwinds.”
Previously, Netflix has expected to add 2.5 million net subscribers during Q1 2022, with analysts predicting around 2.7 million. For context, Netflix added 3.98 million paid users this time last year.
Revenue, meanwhile, came in at $7.87 billion USD (about $9.33 billion CAD), slightly under analysts’ expectations.
Netflix says it now has 222 million paying households. Interestingly, the company claims more than 100 million additional households are using the service through account sharing. The streamer announced earlier this year that it will test a paywall on password sharing in select foreign countries, although it claims there are no current plans to do this in Canada.
The company also recently raised prices — for a second time in Canada within 2 years — which contributed to a loss of 600,000 subscribers in the U.S. and Canada during the most recent quarter. This was “largely the result of our price change which is tracking in-line with our expectations,” Netflix said.
One of the company’s efforts to diversify its catalogue is the recent launch of Netflix Games, although it’s unclear how many people are currently playing the mobile-only titles.
Update: 19/04/2022 at 5:04pm ET — Updated with more information from Netflix’s release.
Google’s ‘Switch to Android’ app has started rolling out to the public, according to TechCrunch.
The app reportedly is expected to reach 10 percent of users by end of day on April 19th, and 100 percent over the next couple weeks.
Previously, the best way to switch to iOS was to back up contacts, calendars, photos and videos to the iPhone Google Drive app. Now, the Switch to Android app offers a more streamlined experience, but on the developer side, it uses the same data types as Google Drive.
The Switch to Android app also offers instructions about the transfer process, such as how to disconnect from iMessage so that you’re able to get texts on your Android device.
Currently, the app only works with Google Pixel handsets on the receiving end, but Google will add more devices later.
TechCrunch spotted the Switch to Android app on the App Store before Google’s official announcement. Following that, The Verge noted that the app was removed from the App Store. And now the app is back.
Via: TechCrunch
Months away from its launch, rumours surrounding whether Samsung’s Galaxy Fold 4 will feature an S Pen are already circulating.
Galaxy Z Fold4 will not have built-in S Pen. Fold4 will be a little smaller and thinner. This is correct. No one likes a brick.
— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) April 19, 2022
According to the well-known Samsung tipster, Ice Universe, the Fold 4 will not sport a built-in S Pen. Instead, the device is tipped to be slightly smaller and thinner than last year’s model because “no one likes a brick.” While it’s true that no one likes a brick-like smartphone, rumours regarding the device featuring S Pen support have been swirling for the last few months.
That said, we recently reported a rumour regarding the S Pen entering production, though that doesn’t necessarily confirm that the Galaxy Fold 4 will feature a built-in storage slot.
As someone who uses the Galaxy Fold 3 as their main Android device, I’d prefer a foldable handset that’s smaller/thinner and that doesn’t come with the S Pen. In my review of the Galaxy S22 Ultra, I noted that the S Pen wasn’t worth the extra cost, and I imagine I’ll hold the same opinion when the Fold 4 is revealed.
As always, approach these rumours with an air of skepticism, but I hope Ice Universe is right about this one.
Samsung’s Galaxy Fold 4 is rumoured to launch sometime in August alongside the Galaxy Flip 4 and a mystery foldable device.
Source: @UniverseIce