Author: Mobile Syrup

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Elon Musk compares Justin Trudeau to Hitler in latest edgelord move

Elon Musk, one of the key minds behind Tesla, SpaceX and Starlink, is at it again.

In what can be described as something a 14-year-old boy that’s spent far too much time swearing at people in Call of Duty might do, Musk posted a meme comparing Canada’s democratically elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Adolf Hitler.

Why might one of the world’s wealthiest men make such an offensive move, you might be wondering? Well, Musk is offering commentary on the ongoing vaccine-mandate/anti-vaccine occupation in Ottawa and the Canadian government’s efforts to curb its funding through cryptocurrency.

Musk’s post shows the Nazi dictator behind the genocide of 6 million Jewish people with the caption “stop comparing me to Justin Trudeau. I had a budget,” in reply to crypto-focused news outlet CoinDesk’s report that the Canadian government has frozen 34 crypto wallets tied to the occupation.

While undeniably offensive, the meme is also inaccurate given Trudeau’s government passed a budget last summer — though this happened after two years of not having one, according to The Daily Beast. Trudeau’s government recently controversially invoked Canada’s Emergencies Act in an effort to cut off funding from the occupation movement, giving financial institutions the ability to freeze the accounts of people involved in the blockades.

This isn’t the first time Musk has voiced his support for the occupation. Last week, the Tesla CEO tweeted “Canadian truckers rule” and has also suggested that the Canadian government is suppressing the demonstrations.

In an amusing turn of events, Musk tweeted a meme poking fun at people who mention Hitler when talking about politics back in late January.

Musk moved from South Africa to Canada in 1988 to attend Queen’s University in Ontario before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania.

Source: @elonmusk 

Via: The Daily Beast, Gizmodo 

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Virgin Plus adds February 22 end date for $58/15GB plan

Bell flanker brand Virgin Plus added an end date for its promotional $58/mo 15GB mobile plan.

If you spend much time on MobileSyrup, you’ve likely seen some of the ongoing $58/15GB saga. In short, the Big Three flanker brands, Koodo, Fido and Virgin Plus, all have offered $58/10GB plans with a 5GB data bonus since about mid-January.

So far, Koodo and Fido have both clearly labelled their plans as limited-time offers, with Fido even slapping a date on its version. However, after removing the plan on February 17th, Fido brought it back a few days later.

Virgin Plus, which has consistently listed the $58/15GB promo plan as a limited-time offer, now lists February 22nd, 2022 as the end date for the offer. It remains to be seen whether Virgin keeps to that end date, or if it re-adds the plan like the others.

At the time of publication, both Fido and Koodo still offered the $58/15GB promo plan. Interestingly, Koodo has removed text from its website that indicates the plan was a limited-time offer. MobileSyrup has reached out to the provider for more details about the change.

You can check out Virgin’s plan here and Koodo’s plan here.

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Telus adds speed caps of 250Mbps and 1Gbps to its mobile plans

Vancouver-based national telecom Telus has added speed caps to its “unlimited” data plans.

According to the details listed on Telus’ website, the carrier’s three primary plans cap speeds at 250 megabits per second (Mbps) or 1 gigabit per second (Gbps). These speed caps differ from the reduced speed Telus applies to customers who go over their data limits.

The carriers plans, at the time of writing, remained unchanged:

  • ‘Unlimited 20 5G’ – $80/mo 20GB (250Mbps speed cap)
  • ‘Unlimited 40 5G+’ – $90/mo 40GB (1Gbps speed cap)
  • Unlimited 50 5G+’ – $100/mo 50GB and Canada-U.S. talk and text (1Gbps speed cap)

These speed caps apply to customers’ data buckets — once you go over that allotment, Telus will still throttle speeds to a maximum of up to 512Kbps as before.

Considering Canada’s ‘Big Three’ carriers tend to copy each other, Telus’ addition of speed caps is rather concerning. That said, it’s worth noting that as of publication, Rogers and Bell still only applied the 512Kbps speed cap to data beyond the plan’s bucket. Moreover, it’s frustrating to see yet another restriction applied to what are already some of the most expensive mobile plans in the world.

There are ways carriers could add speed caps that might be good. For example, a system similar to home internet where customers pay based on speed but have unlimited usage could appeal to some users. Alternatively, offering speed-capped plans with a discount may also be an option. But applying speed caps to already-limited (and incredibly expensive) data buckets isn’t acceptable.

Not to mention that 5G in Canada remains sub-par. Since I switched to 5G, I haven’t seen mobile speeds exceed about 150Mbps on my phone — on my old LTE plan, I frequently saw speeds as high as 300Mbps.

Source: Telus

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Get Mario-themed accessories with HelloFresh meals starting Feb. 26

Germany-based HelloFresh’s Canadian arm has partnered with Nintendo Canada on special Super Mario-themed meal kits and a contest with a Nintendo Switch as the grand prize.

The partnership and the promotion come roughly a month before Mario Day, which is on March 10th.

Starting Saturday, February 26th, HelloFresh will offer four family-friendly meal options, which according to the company, are easy and “fun for chefs of all ages to prepare.” These four meals would only be available for two weeks and would include official Mario-themed activities and accessories, including place cards and cup wrappers.

Additionally, each meal box will contain a card with more information on how you can enter the HelloFresh x Nintendo contest, which includes a Nintendo Switch system, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario Maker 2, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe game, four weeks of HelloFresh four-pack meal and additional Mario-themed products as prizes.

Lastly, if you’re not a current HelloFresh customer, sign up for an account with code ‘NINTENDO7M,’ and you can get up to seven free meals with your first three HelloFresh boxes.

Learn more about the promotion here.

Image credit: Nintendo

Source: Nintendo

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Get Mario-themed accessories with HelloFresh meals starting Feb. 26

Germany-based HelloFresh’s Canadian arm has partnered with Nintendo Canada on special Super Mario-themed meal kits and a contest with a Nintendo Switch as the grand prize.

The partnership and the promotion come roughly a month before Mario Day, which is on March 10th.

Starting Saturday, February 26th, HelloFresh will offer four family-friendly meal options, which according to the company, are easy and “fun for chefs of all ages to prepare.” These four meals would only be available for two weeks and would include official Mario-themed activities and accessories, including place cards and cup wrappers.

Additionally, each meal box will contain a card with more information on how you can enter the HelloFresh x Nintendo contest, which includes a Nintendo Switch system, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario Maker 2, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe game, four weeks of HelloFresh four-pack meal and additional Mario-themed products as prizes.

Lastly, if you’re not a current HelloFresh customer, sign up for an account with code ‘NINTENDO7M,’ and you can get up to seven free meals with your first three HelloFresh boxes.

Learn more about the promotion here.

Image credit: Nintendo

Source: Nintendo

Categories
Mobile Syrup

DJI’s 2021-released OM5 discounted down to $143

DJI’s September 2021-released OM5 smartphone gimbal is currently discounted at one Canadian retailer.

London Drugs has the mobile stabilizer available for $143.99, down from its original price tag of $179.99, as shared by RedFlagDeals user ‘Rhinogator.’

The OM5 combines the capabilities of a stable gimbal with a built-in selfie stick, making the versatile product a solid buy for all kinds of content creators.

The gimbal sports a 1,000mAh, which stands good for about six hours of usage. Its grip has three clicky buttons; one joystick, an up/down toggle for zooming in and out and a trigger button.

Pulling the top of the gimbal out reveals an 8.4-inch extension rod that conveniently transforms the mobile stabilizer into a telescopic selfie pole.

The OM5 can be an excellent tool for short-video creators on platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels, but at the same time, it can also be a handy device to take along with you on vacation.

I reviewed the gadget back in November and was complacent to see how simple it is to operate. You can read the review to learn more about the device here or head to London Drugs to purchase the gimbal for $143.99.

Via: RedFlagDeals

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Eve officially announces its glossy 4K gaming monitor

Glossy gaming monitors have a clear edge over matte variants They produce a clearer, brighter and more vibrant image, with the only drawback being that they cause glare under direct light.

That’s why companies typically prefer developing matte gaming monitors, even though they make the image look a little dull and diffused.

Now, as reported first by Gizmodo, Eve is working on a solution and has officially announced an upgrade to its 2021-released Spectrum monitor. After working with LG, Eve is setting up to add glossy screens to its 4K 144Hz Spectrum and QHD 280Hz Spectrum models.

“One of the reasons why there are no glossy gaming monitors on the market is because of the amount of additional R&D and factory recalibration required,” reads the company’s blog. “Glossy coatings require additional changes to the polarizer film, which is an integral part of the LCD module. The Polarizer is a filter that controls light waves and makes the display content visible.”

According to Eve, working with LG allowed it to modify the polarizer film to generate a glossy look with more contrast and clarity than matte displays.

The company sent over an engineered sample to Dave2D, who, right off the bat, said that the glossy display “is so much nicer to look at and provides a way better visual experience than the regular retail unit (matte model), though he mentions glare as a drawback.

While Eve hasn’t revealed a potential release date or the monitor’s cost, the company did say that those interested should stay tuned for further updates. The company says it’ll drop information about the monitor on its newsletter and Discord server.

A word of caution to those interested. The past two years have been tough for small-time tech players, considering that even the biggest names in tech have faced supply chain issues. Eve has faced criticism from potential buyers about its delayed shipping timeframes, with customers having to wait months to receive their Spectrum monitors.

The company talked about issues it was facing with its shipping partners and macro supply chain issues in this blog post. Since then, Eve has hired a new global logistics manager and is in talks with third-party logistic companies and distribution partners. The company plans to offer standard and express shipping from local warehouses, instead of shipping each product from Hong Kong, like it originally did.

“This ensures that shipping costs are kept as low as possible, and delivery time is as short as can be,” reads the blog post.

While the update sounds optimistic, I wouldn’t hop on the pre-order train, and would rather wait to see how efficiently the company handles shipping for the upcoming glossy monitors.

Image credit: Eve

Source: Eve Via: Gizmodo

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Halo TV series to begin streaming on Paramount+ Canada on March 24

The long-awaited Halo TV series will premiere in Canada exclusively on Paramount+ on March 24th, Paramount has confirmed.

This is the same date that the show drops on Paramount+ in the U.S. For some time, it was unclear whether the series would come to Paramount+ in Canada, given that the service has a far thinner catalogue than its U.S. counterpart.

It’s been a long time coming for the show, which has been in development hell for several years. Amblin Entertainment, Steven Spielberg’s production company, is co-producing the series, with Xbox-owned Halo developer 343 Industries consulting.

The series isn’t intended to be canon or a direct adaptation of the iconic sci-fi shooter games, 343 has said.

Halo stars Ymir, B.C.’s Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief, Natasha McElhone as Dr. Catharine Halsey, Charlie Murphy as Makee, Shabana Azmi as Admiral Margaret Parangosky, Bokeem Woodbine as Soren-066 and Jennifer Taylor as the voice of Cortana (reprising her role from the games).

In related news, Paramount has revealed that the show has already been renewed for a second season.

-Thanks, Sachin

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Samsung and Best Buy are offering freebies with the latest Galaxy Tab S8 line

Samsung Canada and Best Buy are offering a solid deal on the newly-revealed Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 series.

From today until February 24th, if you pre-order a Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 or S8+ directly from Samsung, you will get a Book Cover Keyboard Slim and a pair of Galaxy Buds 2 for free. If you go for the top-of-the-line Tab S8 Ultra, then you’ll receive a free Book Cover Keyboard (not slim) along with a pair of Galaxy Buds 2.

Similarly, pre-ordering the Tab series for Best Buy would net you the same freebies, and unlike Samsung Canada’s February 24th deadline, Best Buy’s promotion is active till supplies last.

Check out the Tab S8 series pricing below:

Galaxy Tab S8 128GB: $899.99 at Samsung and Best Buy

Galaxy Tab S8 256GB: $999.99 at Samsung and Best Buy

Galaxy Tab S8+ 128GB: $1,149.99 at Samsung and Best Buy

Galaxy Tab S8+ 256GB: $1,249.99 at Samsung and Best Buy

Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra 128GB: $1,399.99 at Samsung and currently sold out at Best Buy

Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra 256GB: $1,499.99 at Samsung  and currently sold out at Best Buy

Learn more about the newly-revealed tablets here.

Image credit: Best Buy

Categories
Mobile Syrup

There are now more than 500 million Epic Games accounts: Epic

Epic Games has revealed that users have created more than 500 million Epic Games accounts.

The company didn’t reveal any further details, so it’s unclear how many people are actively using their accounts and buying games.

For years, Epic has been trying to position the Epic Games Store as a competitor to Steam through initiatives like lower revenue cuts from developers, free games and exclusives. The company has also acquired studios like Psyonix (Rocket League) and Mediatonic (Fall Guys).

However, it’s unclear exactly how well those efforts have been paying off. Based on findings from the Epic v. Apple trial, we know that Epic had racked up $330 million USD (about $418.6 million CAD) in unrecouped costs in 2020 alone from compensating companies for offering their free EGS games.

Of course, Epic isn’t hurting by any stretch. Fortnite alone continues to print money, while countless companies license its Unreal Engine platform. With respect to that latter point, Epic says nearly 50 percent of announced “next-gen” games (presumably meaning PS5/Xbox Series X and S) are being developed with its engine. Non-gaming properties like The Mandalorian also use Unreal Engine.

As well, Epic confirmed that more than six million people have downloaded the free “next-gen” Matrix Awakens experience, which was a tech demo for Unreal Engine 5.

Via: VentureBeat