Author: Mobile Syrup

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Mobile Syrup

Russian state agency blocks Facebook

Russia’s communication and mass media state regulator Roskomnadzor has blocked social media giant Facebook.

The agency says Facebook has restricted access to various accounts on the platform associated with news backed by the Russian State, including Russia Today and Sputnik.

The statement goes on to say the restriction of Facebook is “to prevent violations of the key principles of the free flow of information and unhindered access Russian users to Russian media on foreign internet platforms.”

Many tech platforms have already restricted activity in Russia. Google has paused its ad sales, and Microsoft and Apple have restricted sales of their services.

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Mobile Syrup

CRTC collecting comments on RT’s presence on Canadian airwaves

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is collecting comments on the presence of RT in Canada.

RT is an English-language news channel financed by Russia. The CRTC made the move after receiving a request from the Governor in Council requesting the CRTC to determine if RT should remain an option in Canada.

A report is due on March 17th at the latest. Interveners have until March 8th to provide comments.

The move comes after various Canadian broadcasters, including Bell, Roku, and Rogers removed RT from their channel lineups. The CRTC authorized RT for distribution in 2009.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted on February 28th the government was going to ask the CRTC to review the presence of RT on Canadian networks. The House of Commons passed a motion to issue the order on the same day.

“The Government of Canada has concerns as to whether programs broadcast by [RT] would violate regulations made by the Commission under the Act, if those programs had been broadcast by a licensed Canadian programming undertaking,” the CRTC’s states in its call for comments.

Source: CRTC

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Mobile Syrup

Google pauses ad sales in Russia

Kitchener, Ontario, Canada – September 30, 2019: Google sign in the Google Canada Kitchener-Waterloo office.

Google has put its ad sales in Russia on hold as its war on Ukraine continues.

A Google spokesperson told The Verge, “the situation is evolving quickly,” and it will provide more information “when appropriate.”

The company did not provide details on potential financial losses. Google also blocked RT, an English-language news channel funded by the state government, from earning ad dollars on its associated websites.

Google was previously criticized by Roskomnadzor, a Russian agency responsible for monitoring media, for displaying ads about the conflict, a report from The Wall Street Journal states. The agency said the ads were “false political information” about Ukraine.

The move comes after several tech companies pulled their services from Russia. Microsoft and Apple paused sales in Russia, and Netflix halted future projects connected to the country.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Telus discounts its 40GB and 50GB plans by $5/mo for a limited time

Vancouver-based national carrier Telus has discounted two of its “unlimited” plans by $5/mo and raised another by $5/mo

Telus’ $90/mo 40GB plan now costs $85, while its $100/mo 50GB plan now costs $95. Both changes are marked as limited-time offers — it’s not clear how long they’ll stick around.

The $85/40GB offer is particularly good — as far as $85/mo plans go — since it’s the same price as Telus’ $85/25GB plan, but with an extra 15GB of data. More importantly, however, is that the $85/40GB plan doesn’t have the 250Mbps data speed cap that the 25GB plan has. Instead, the 40GB plan has a 1Gbps speed cap.

If the data speed caps sound weird to you, that’s likely because they’re new. Telus added speed caps to its mobile plans back in February. On the one hand, 250Mbps is probably more than enough speed for the majority of mobile users. On the other hand, it’s yet another restriction applied to obscenely expensive mobile plans. Plus, Telus applied speed caps to its flanker brand Koodo too.

It’s also worth noting that when Telus added the speed caps to its plans, the base 20GB plan cost $80/mo. Sometime between February 17th and now, Telus changed that plan to $85/mo for 25GB — it’s not entirely clear when that change happened.

Regardless, if you’re in the market for a plan with 40GB of data, Telus’ new $85/40GB plan is an all right offer by comparison — both Rogers and Bell offer $95/mo 45GB plans, but I’d happily take $10/mo in savings for 5GB less data.

You can view Telus’ plans here.

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Mobile Syrup

Last-minute details leak about Apple’s 3rd-gen iPhone SE

Just a few days ahead of Apple’s March 8th keynote, reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has shared a few more details about Apple’s rumoured 3rd-gen iPhone SE.

According to Kuo — who posted the information to their new Twitter account — the new iPhone SE will be available in three storage variants: 64GB, 128GB and 256GB. In comparison, the 2nd-gen iPhone SE was only available in 64GB and 128GB storage versions.

Further, Kuo says that Apple plans to ship between 25 million and 30 million iPhone SE units in 2022.  The analyst also mentions that, unfortunately, the new iPhone SE won’t be available in new colours, with Apple sticking to the familiar ‘White,’ ‘Black’ and ‘Red’ designs.

In fact, the smartphone will look very similar to the iPhone 8 once again, according to Kuo. Other details continue to corroborate earlier reports, including the jump to an A15 chip and 5G compatibility.

9to5Mac says it verified that the account is owned by Ming-Chi Kuo. For a full recap of everything we expect to see at Apple’s March 8th event, follow this link.

Source: @mingchikuo Via: 9to5Mac

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Mobile Syrup

Microsoft halts new sales in Russia amid invasion of Ukraine

Microsoft president Brad Smith announced that the company will “suspend all new sales” in Russia in a blog post published on March 4th.

The company behind Windows and Xbox is just the latest to announce a stop to some services in Russia amid the ongoing illegal invasion of Ukraine.

The announcement specifically addresses new sales and doesn’t mention existing service contracts, nor did it address why. The Verge points out that Microsoft has recently focused on cloud and support services — cutting off existing contracts would be “devastating” for both organizations and individuals using Windows, Office, Microsoft 365, Azure, and Xbox products in Russia.

“We are coordinating closely and working in lockstep with the governments of the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom, and we are stopping many aspects of our business in Russia in compliance with governmental sanctions decisions,” Smith wrote.

Moreover, Smith wrote that Microsoft would “continue to work proactively to help cybersecurity officials in Ukraine defend against Russian attacks, including most recently a cyberattack against a major Ukrainian broadcaster.”

The move comes after Ukraine asked Sony and Microsoft to pause operations in Russia and Belarus. Microsoft’s ban on new sales in Russia also comes amid restrictions from several tech giants, including Apple and Netflix.

Source: Microsoft Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Alberta father says mobile game Township cost his daughter thousands of dollars

Mobile game Township allows users to build a town of their choosing by harvesting crops and selling them to make a profit.

It’s available as a free download on iOS and Android, with options to make in-app purchases. The game has thousands of five-star reviews on each platform.

But an Alberta father is cautioning others that apps labelled as free aren’t always so. Many free apps and games offer in-app purchases to earn money — Epic Games’ Fortnite is perhaps one of the best examples of this model. The game is free to play but earns money off of cosmetics that alter the appearance of your in-game character are available for purchase.

Unfortunately, sometimes in-app purchases can be designed to entice people to spend money, such as by blocking game progress or by making it hard to tell you’re using real money. There are also many scams that rely on in-app purchases to make money.

Jerry Marion told Global News his 18-year-old daughter got addicted to the game over the holiday season, racking up a $4,986 tab.

Marion said his daughter was confused over the fact she was using real money and believes the game capitalized on the isolation she was feeling at the time.

“She thought it was simply just credits that were being accumulated, and as the dollars were racking up, it wasn’t hitting her credit card,” he said.

Global News reports the father’s attempt to resolve the charges with Township developer Playrix didn’t lead anywhere. Marion reached out to Apple twice as well but was only issued a refund after he spoke with Global News.

Marion said corporations and parents both have a role to play when considering vulnerable people and how to protect them.

“[Parents] have to be more conscious of where we’re setting up the ability to spend money, and I think from my daughter’s perspective, it was a bit confusing for her,” Marion told the news outlet. “But I think she really understands now that as you go through these addictive cycles, you have to find ways to get out of them.”

Image credit: Township/Android

Source: Global News

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Mobile Syrup

Rogers replaces $110/65GB plan with $100/50GB plan

Toronto-based national carrier Rogers changed one of its four ‘Infinite’ plans. The company’s $110/mo now costs $100, but comes with 15GB less data than before.

Overall, it appears to be a relatively minor change going from $110/65GB to $100/50GB. Nothing else about the plan appears to have changed, nor has Rogers adjusted any of its other plans.

That means customers who subscribe to the new $100/mo plan still get access to 5G (if they have a 5G-capable device and live in one of the few regions with 5G coverage), 50GB of “unlimited” data, and unlimited calling and texting in Canada and the U.S.

The unlimited data option, as with other Rogers Infinite plans, means that customers can use data at full network speed for the first 50GB. Beyond that, Rogers throttles data speeds to a maximum of up to 512Kbps. Customers can continue using data at the significantly reduced speed.

Rogers also still has its six months of free Disney+ offer going on, which is great for any customers who don’t already have Disney+.

The company’s other plans are as follows:

  • $85/mo 25GB
  • $95/mo 45GB
  • $175/mo 100GB

Ultimately, I’m not sure how “worth it” the new $100/50GB plan is for customers who don’t need the U.S. calling package. Unless you frequent the U.S., you might be better off saving the $5/mo — I don’t think most people will miss the 5GB of data. Those that do frequent the U.S., however, will benefit from the built-in U.S. calling and texting and can save money on roaming costs.

You can learn more about the plan here.

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Mobile Syrup

Is the Steam Deck here to stay? [SyrupCast 254]

On this week’s SyrupCast, the team ditches the usual two-week release cadence to drop an emergency episode focused on Valve’s new Steam Deck.

Patrick O’Rourke spends roughly an hour telling Brad Bennett about his experience with the Steam Deck so far — and yes, we now know that Proton is just the Linux translation layer and not the handheld’s OS.

As always, you can listen to the show on your favourite podcast platform or watch the video version on our YouTube channel.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Direct download link

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Mobile Syrup

Kirby and the Forgotten Land demo is now available

If you want to play Kirby and the Forgotten Land before the game launches on March 25th, a new demo that features three levels from the game’s first world is now available.

In this world, you can try out the new Mouthful Mode that allows Kirby to swallow objects like cars, water balloons, a scissor lift, a pylon and more.

In the demo, players can take on the game’s first boss and at the end, you’ll get a ‘Present Code’ upon completion. When Kirby and the Forgotten Land is officially released, this code unlocks in-game items.

Like other Kirby games, you’ll be able to copy enemy abilities as you travel across an unknown world. The title also features a local co-op where the second player takes control of Bandana Waddle Dee.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land releases on March 25th. MobileSyrup will have more on the game in the coming weeks.