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Mobile Syrup

Severance’s Lumon Industries has its own LinkedIn page

Apple TV+’s science fiction thriller Severance tells the interesting story of Lumon Industries where the employees of the company sever their work lives from their personal lives. Now, Severance‘smarketing team has given Lumon Industries its own LinkedIn page.

The LinkedIn page is pretty creepy with terms like “Giving employees the best work environment they’ll never know with our patented and extremely safe Severance procedure.” It gives off “There is no war in Ba Sing Se” vibes from Avatar: The Last Airbender. The page also shows the founder’s nine core principles and introduces Innies that work with the Severed floor.

The LinkedIn page also has a series of videos that are called “Tour Lumon with Dylan G” giving a look at the Severed floor.

The Apple TV+ show stars Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Patricia Arquette, John Turturro, Zach Cherry and Christopher Walken.

“What is Severance? Imagine being able to come into work completely uninhibited by your home problems. Or imagine being able to go home and never think about work. Using a minimally invasive surgical technique, we are able to ‘sever’ your brain so that, essentially, you’ve got a part of you that works and a part of you that plays,” reads the LinkedIn page.

Source: LinkedIn

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Mobile Syrup

You can win these truly horrifying Sonic the Hedgehog Xbox controllers

Xbox and Paramount Pictures have teamed up on a contest to win a prize package inspired by the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie.

Specifically, entrants can snag a custom black Xbox Series S console with the video game movie’s versions of protagonist Sonic and antagonist Knuckles, as well as two controllers inspired by the hedgehog and echidna. However, these aren’t just your standard plastic gamepads — bizarrely, they’ve been given “textured” coatings to simulate Sonic and Knuckles’ fur.

On Twitter, fans were quick to point out that these hairy controllers won’t exactly mix well with palm sweat:

…Or food residue, for that matter:

If the console and/or (frightening) controllers are your thing, you can enter for a chance to win them over on Twitter by retweeting this Xbox tweet with the hashtag #XboxSonic2Sweepstakes. This method of entry is available in many countries, including Canada. The contest ends on April 4th.

As the title suggests, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a sequel to 2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog movie, which opened right before the start of the pandemic to solid box office performance and generally positive reviews.

In the new film, Sonic (Ben Schwartz) teams up with Tom (James Marsden) and Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) to stop Dr. Eggman (Newmarket, Ontario’s own Jim Carrey) and Knuckles the Echidna (Idris Elba) from conquering the world with the Master Emerald. Notably, the sequel was primarily shot in Vancouver, just like the first film.

Meanwhile, Sega’s next game in the long-running Sonic video game series, Sonic Frontiers, is set to hit consoles and PC in late 2022.

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Mobile Syrup

DoorDash’s ‘gas rewards’ program will help offset drivers’ fuel costs

Like Uber and Lyft, DoorDash will add a new relief system to help drivers offset rising fuel costs. However, unlike Uber and Lyft, DoorDash’s program will dole out “rewards” based on how much driving its drivers do.

In a statement to MobileSyrup, DoorDash explained:

“As gas prices have increased, we’ve taken time to listen to our Dasher community to understand how we can best support them. Based on those learnings, we’re launching a Gas Rewards program to help Dashers earn more and offset elevated gas prices. We’ll continue to monitor the evolving situation and explore additional resources in the coming weeks and months.”

As of March 14th, DoorDash has offered a weekly gas bonus for Dashers. The amount of money awarded is based on kilometres driven:

  • $5 extra for Dashers who accept and complete orders totalling 150km in a motor vehicle
  • $10 extra for Dashers who accept and complete orders totalling 280km
  • $15 extra for Dashers who accept and complete orders totalling 350km

DoorDash says these rewards work out to an estimated $0.58 to $0.66 per litre on top of normal DoorDash pay. The company plans to maintain the relief program through April and will continue to monitor gas prices.

The practice differs from Uber, which added a fuel surcharge of $0.50 for rides and $0.35 for Uber Eats deliveries. Lyft added a surcharge of $0.55 for rides. It’s worth noting that customers need to pay for these surcharges, while DoorDash says it’s not passing the cost of the gas rewards program onto customers.

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Mobile Syrup

Qualcomm, Trimble are introducing metre-level location tech for Android devices

If you’re terrible at directions, this technology will be able to help you out.

Newer Android phones with Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 or 2021’s Snapdragon 888 processor will be able to measure location data within one metre by using Trimble’s RTX GNSS correction services.

Trimble, a partner of Qualcomm, will let Android OEMs, service providers and app developers get more accurate location information. Trimble says that it can improve Android location accuracy by five times compared to current services, and it will enable features like lane-level guidance for car navigation systems.

It’s currently unclear if this technology will work with older devices. However, it seems likely since it’s compatible with Snapdragon 888 devices.

It’s worth mentioning that location data within one metre seems like an invasion of privacy, but it can be beneficial in terms of getting lost.

This technology won’t be available until the second quarter of the year.

Source: Trimble

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Mobile Syrup

Telus introduces new Esports Affiliate Program

One of Canada’s largest telecom companies is asking gamers across the country to work on commission.

Telus’ new Esports Affiliate Program allows gamers, influencers, and content creators, to make money by promoting Telus.

“By partnering with us, we’ll work to enhance your brand and make the online gaming community a safer, more friendly place,” the company says on a community message posted to their website.

There are five different levels of referrals, and the company is willing to work with anyone “regardless of follower size and experience.”

The carrier’s website states users will earn money based on the referrals they make. The number of referrals will also determine what level they’re at. For example, to stay at the lowest level, Bronze, participants must make five referrals to the company in a year. They’ll earn a “commission on every sale” and $10 0ff internet and Optik TV each.

It’s not clear how much the commission is. The number of referrals and benefits increases along with the levels.

The company promises to help gamers expand their influence and pay them up to $20,000 in sponsorships. Those who are sponsored (aka work for the company) will also have access to employee discounts.

Source: Telus

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Mobile Syrup

Netflix is getting three new mobile games in March, including an FPS

Netflix has revealed three new games that are coming to its platform on Android and iOS in March.

Notably, one of these titles is PikPok’s Into The Dead 2: Unleashed, a first-person shooter (FPS) sequel that comes 10 years after the original mobile game. In Unleashed, players must save their family during a zombie apocalypse using guns, melee weapons, explosives and more. A specific release date has not yet been confirmed; Netflix simply says “coming soon.”

In the meantime, there are two other games that are available as of March 22nd.

The first, This is a True Story, is a puzzle game that was developed by Frosty Pop in collaboration with Charity: Water, a non-profit that brings clean and safe drinking water to developing nations. With that in mind, the game follows a Sub-Saharan African woman on her daily excursions to get water for her family.

Finally, there’s PikPok’s Shatter Remastered, an updated version of the 2009 brick-breaking PS3 game.  Shatter Remastered features a bunch of power-ups, boss battles and special attacks that players can use to achieve high scores.

These three titles are part of the Netflix Games catalogue, which is available at no additional cost to Netflix users on Android and iOS.

Source: Netflix

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Mobile Syrup

Bill C-11 heats up discussion at Canadian Heritage Committee meeting

The Government of Canada’s website says Bill C-11 will support Canadian creators, but at least two content creators don’t believe this to be true.

Darcy Michael and Oorbee Roy told the Canadian Heritage Committee they have concerns on how Bill C-11, also known as the Online Streaming Act, will regulate creators.

“I’m very concerned about how this is going to affect all of us artists, especially in the digital space,” Roy told the committee.

Roy, also known as @auntyskates on TikTok, is a content creator and skateboarding mom who shares videos of herself performing tricks on a halfpipe. She started her TikTok account in February 2021 to share some positivity, and amassed 100,000 followers in four months.

Darcy Michael (@thedarcymichael) is a comedian and actor who previously worked for broadcast corporations and currently creates his own content. He starred in CTV’s comedy series Spun Out and has a stand-up comedy special on Crave. After a deal with Bell Media to make a sitcom fell through, followed by a series of similar rejections and the onset of the pandemic, Michael decided to take his talents to social media. 18 months after first joining TikTok, his account has amassed over 2.7 million followers. The content he makes reaches 40 to 60 million every month on the app alone.

“For the first time in my career, I’m reaching Canadian households that I could have only dreamed about before,” Michael told the committee.

Bill C-11 focuses on making Canadian content more accessible and applies the same rules as broadcasters to streaming companies. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) will govern these rules.

But questions remain on how far the regulations will go and how Canadian content will be made more accessible.

Michael said the CRTC would impact creativity if they have any say on what is goes through an algorithm compared to user-generated content. “User-generated content exists because it works. It’s popular because it works,” he said. “Much like all the politicians here are a result of user-generated votes.”

The meeting soon got heated when MP Chris Bittle said the CRTC wouldn’t regulate content that creators uploaded and asked Michael to cite the specific section of the bill he’s concerned with, interrupting him many times.

Michael answered Bittle multiple times, citing concerns about the broadness of the act and the possible involvement of the CRTC. Michael said Bittle’s answer doesn’t alleviate his concerns about the CRTC.

No answer satisfied Bittle, who continued his stern questioning until MP Rachael Thomas raised a point of order, saying Bittle was “harassing the witness” as Michael had answered his previous questions.

Roy explained that if the content from broadcasters is regulated, independent creators like herself and Michael will have to compete to get viewers, but her point didn’t seem to get across to everyone listening.

Government officials haven’t approved Bill C-11 at this time.

Image credit: Canadian Heritage Committee/ screenshot 

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Mobile Syrup

Uber partners with Flo to incentivize driver to go electric

Uber Canada shared several key statistics and its focus going forward on its 10th Canadian anniversary last week. One of its major goals moving forward is to focus on sustainability and reducing its carbon footprint.

The mobility as a service and food delivery provider has already partnered with non-profit organization Plug’n Drive to support its drivers in making the switch to electric vehicles (EV), and now, Uber is partnering with Flo to help increase EV adoption in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.

“FLO’s collaboration with a major ridesharing platform like Uber Canada is significant, as it brings together two major players in the transportation sector in Canada,” said Chris Thorson, FLO’s VP and chief marketing officer. This will “encourage drivers to switch from gas vehicles to electric ones, and reduce transportation’s carbon footprint in Canada’s biggest hubs.”

As a part of the partnership, both Uber and Flo employees and users will benefit. Flo members in the above-mentioned cities will receive a 50 percent discount, up to $10, on their first trip with Uber Green, Uber’s electric/hybrid ride option, whereas Uber drivers can claim a $100 discount on Flo’s Home Residential Chargers.

The partnership will also likely help Uber drivers transition to electric vehicles, furthering the company’s aim to operate as a zero-emission platform globally by 2040. In Canadian cities like Montreal and Vancouver, the company aims to achieve the same goal by 2030.

Read more about the partnership here.

Source: Uber

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Mobile Syrup

Users report GPS issues with Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Ultra

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is the company’s latest premium device; however, new reports are claiming a weird issue with the handset. Some users have reported an issue with Google Maps (or other GPS-related apps), according to Samsung’s community forums.

The reports indicate that users are having issues connecting to GPS. Users are seeing a “cannot find GPS” error when attempting to use location services.

Some say that restarting the device makes it work for a bit, but then it will stop again. Others claim they’ve spoken to customer service and were told to wait for a software update. It’s unclear if this issue is affecting Canadian users as well.

However, there doesn’t seem to be an official response from Samsung yet. We’ve reached out to Samsung for any further information.

Source: Samsung Community Forum Via: SamMobile

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Mobile Syrup

Microsoft adds new constant reminder that Windows 11 doesn’t support your PC

Windows 11 will soon get a new desktop watermark that will display in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen on PCs that don’t meet the operating system’s strict hardware requirements.

As spotted by Ars Technica, the change is currently live in the Windows Insider Release Preview channel that serves up release-candidate builds a few days or weeks ahead of official deployment. Build 22000.588 adds the warning message, which reads:

“System requirements not met. Go to Settings to learn more”

The message presumably appears on PCs that don’t meet one or more of the system requirements of Windows 11 — requirements that stirred up significant debate back when Microsoft announced the OS.

Windows 11 watermark | Image credit: Ars Technica

A short, simple summary is that Microsoft added various system requirements to Windows 11 to improve the baseline security of Windows. Unfortunately, many of those requirements resulted in dropped support for a wide range of devices from pre-2018. Requirements include support for TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot, as well as running certain up-to-date CPUs.

Part of the controversy around Windows 11 hinged on TPM 2.0 support — something that many PCs had, but was turned off by default. In other words, many people had PCs (often custom-built ones) that could meet the requirements if they enabled TPM 2.0, although it often wasn’t clear how to do that. By now, though, most people will hopefully have figured this out.

Still, that leaves tons of perfectly fine, albeit old, Windows machines out there that can’t run Windows 11 because Big Daddy Gates said so (obviously this is a joke and Bill Gates likely had no impact on this since he stopped handling day-to-day operations at Microsoft in 2008). For example, Ars noted that it saw the message on a PC that supports TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot, but runs an unsupported 6th Gen Intel Core CPU.

Moreover, although Microsoft added all these system requirements, it also allowed users to work around them and install Windows 11 on unsupported PCs. That said, the company warns people about doing that during the install process and the company has threatened to withhold updates from unsupported systems (but hasn’t done so yet).

All this means is that people with unsupported PCs on Windows 11 will start seeing the watermark reminding them that their PC is unsupported soon, assuming they keep on top of updating their PC. At this time, it doesn’t appear that the update impacts functionality at all, besides adding the watermark. So, if some text on your screen doesn’t bug you, there’s not much to worry about (and if it does bug you, there might be a way to remove it if you’re tech-savvy).

Perhaps the most worrisome part is that the addition of the watermark could herald future changes that further separate supported and unsupported Windows 11 PCs.

Source: Ars Technica