Author: Mobile Syrup

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Mobile Syrup

Valve’s portable Steam Deck is more repairable than you think

Though Valve initially informed Steam Deck buyers that repairing the handheld console themselves likely isn’t a great idea, that might not entirely be the case.

Teardown experts iFixit dismantled a production Steam Deck to confirm that the portable is actually pretty easy to repair — at least for the most part. The device opens easily, features clear white labels on most major components and is even pretty modular, allowing you to fix or replace components without taking the entire Steam Deck apart.

For example, the SSD can be replaced with one screw, thumbsticks easily pop out and even the display just requires a suction cup and minor heat to remove. That said, iFixit also says that replacing the Steam Deck’s battery is a “rough” process and that its USB-C port/microSD card slot are attached directly to its motherboard.

“But, we also found a lot to like. The opening procedure is simple and straightforward; there’s above-average modularity for most components; and you only need one Phillips screwdriver for all your repairs,” writes iFixit in its blog post regarding the Steam Deck’s repair process. “The storage solution here outclasses a lot of current laptops. Overall the Steam Deck nets a 7 out of 10 on our repairability scale.”

iFixit says that it will sell official Steam Deck replacement parts on its website. Valve’s Steam Deck starts at $449 and is expected to start shipping towards the end of February.

Image credit: iFixit

Source: iFixit Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Bell and Telus offering the fastest fiber services in several provinces and cities: analysis

Bell offers Prince Edward Island residents upload speeds 12 times faster compared to the combined speeds of other broadband providers in the area, according to data collected from Speedtest Intelligence in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Speedtest is a tool by Ookla that tests fixed broadband and mobile performance data worldwide.

The recent analysis examines fiber connectivity across Canada, focusing on Bell and Telus, given they serve different parts of the country. Their speeds are compared to the average speeds of other companies that serve the area.

Bell also offered faster median download speeds compared to the market average in New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Québec. Telus offered faster services in Alberta and British Columbia.

Bell also led with upload speeds compared to other fixed broadband offerings in New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, PEI, and Québec. Telus led in upload speeds for Alberta and British Columbia.

Image credit: Speedtest

Bell and Telus don’t provide service in Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, and Yukon, impacting services in each province.

For example, the average download speed in Saskatchewan is 68.43Mbps, and the upload speed is 17.04Mbps. This is much slower than the speeds in New Brunswick. Serviced by Bell, the download speed is roughly 160Mbps, and upload is around 120Mbps.

“Infrastructure improvements like laying fiber are very expensive as they often require providers to dig up city streets to physically lay new lines. This often means that fiber deployments are limited to areas with high population density where providers are more likely to recoup costs.”

The analysis shows laying down fiber is worth the cost. In Halifax, for example, fiber upload speeds by Bell are 11.4 times faster than other fixed broadband options. Bell also offered faster upload speed in London, Montréal, Québec City and Toronto. Telus offered faster upload speeds in Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver, compared to other options.

Source: Speedtest

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Mobile Syrup

Chatr offering 2GB of bonus data on $35/mo+ plans for six months

Rogers’ flanker brand Chatr Mobile is running a flash sale until February 21st that grants customers 2GB of bonus data for six months.

The offer is available to new activations of ‘Talk, Text & Data’ plans priced $35/mo and up. Chatr notes that the data bonus will expire if the account becomes inactive or if the plan is changed before the end of the six-month period.

Chatr’s eligible plans are as follows (not including the 2GB bonus data):

  • $70/mo 20GB, unlimited Canada-U.S. talk
  • $60/mo 15GB, unlimited Canada-U.S. talk
  • $50/mo 10GB, unlimited Canada-U.S. talk
  • $40/mo 4.5GB, unlimited Canada-wide talk
  • $35/mo 2GB, unlimited Canada-wide talk

All Chatr plans also include call display, call forwarding, group calling, and unlimited text to Canada, the U.S., and internationally.

Moreover, customers who sign up for Chatr’s ‘auto-pay’ program will get a 500MB data bonus applied to their plan.

You can learn more about the offer here.

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Mobile Syrup

Shaw to hike costs of legacy Crave packages March 1st

Shaw is hiking the price of its legacy Crave packages by $2 come March 1st.

According to a recent report from iPhone in Canada, customers who purchased the legacy Crave and Legacy Crave+STARZ packages with Shaw will see the change.

While Crave is a streaming service owned by Bell Media, it’s also available through numerous TV providers.

Shaw says the current Crave package cost won’t increase because it’s not the same product as the legacy package as STARZ content isn’t included, iPhone in Canada reports. Customers opting to leave their legacy package behind won’t be able to go back to it later.

Impacted customers started receiving notifications on their bills starting January 1st.

Check out the latest releases on Crave here.

Source: iPhone in Canada

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Mobile Syrup

Rogers increased several plan prices by $5 or $10 per month

Rogers increased the price of three of its four plans by $5 or $10, but also tacked on slightly higher data amounts.

The changes apply to Rogers’ ‘Infinite’ plans, which offer “unlimited” data, although a better way to look at it is overage-free data.

The “unlimited” data is actually a set bucket of data that customers can use at typical network speed — once customers go beyond that allotment, Rogers throttles speeds to a maximum of up to 512Kbps download and upload. However, customers can continue using data at the throttled speed without being charged overages.

Rogers new plan prices are as follows:

The plans also include unlimited Canada-wide calling, texting, and picture and video messaging, enhanced voicemail, call and name display, call waiting, forwarding and group calling, and more.

It’s worth noting that the $110/mo plan now includes unlimited Canada-U.S. calling and texting. That change actually brings the plan more in line with Bell and Telus, which both offer Canada-U.S. talk and text on their more expensive plans (although both offer the plan at $100/mo with 50GB of data).

Moreover, Rogers also increased the monthly discount given for additional lines from $15/mo to $20/mo. That means that each extra line added to your Rogers account is $20 cheaper, although for most people the monthly bill will still end up being slightly more expensive (e.g. three lines with the old $80/mo plan and $15 add-a-line discount would come to $210/mo total, while the new $85/mo plan and $20 add-a-line discount would total to $215/mo).

Beyond that, Rogers’ plan perks have changed too. Customers can still get six months of free Disney+ with select plans, but it appears that the six months of free Apple Music offer is no longer available.

You can check out all of Rogers’ plans here.

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Mobile Syrup

More than half of Apple Music subscribers have tried Spatial Audio

Apple claims that over 50 percent of Apple Music users are ‘Spatial Audio’ listeners.

While this sounds great, the quote from Apple Music vice president Oliver Schusser doesn’t offer a lot of context. Does this mean that subscribers have listened to one Spatial Audio track, or are users regular Spatial Audio listeners?

Billboard’s report says that there are now four times as many songs mastered in Spatial Audio on Apple Music compared to last September.

These stats shine a light on Spatial Audio, but none of them are specific, and only point toward the fact that the new music format is growing.

One statistic to come out of the report that interests me is that popular artists like Post Malone and Taylor Swift experienced 40 and 50 percent gains in listeners respectively when they remasted their back catalogues in Spatial Audio. The statistic is a bit murky since those artists already have large fan bases and Apple pushes their Spatial Audio content in popular Spatial Audio playlists.

In the future, it would be great to see how many people are listening to Spatial Audio with AirPods, how many are listening with head-tracking and how many people are actively seeking out and enabling the feature in Apple Music’s settings.

That said, I’m a pretty big fan of Spatial Audio, so I am glad that it at least appears to be gaining some traction, especially since it can add a lot of depth to audio played over Bluetooth. However, Apple still needs to work out some of the audio format’s issues. For instance, when I’m using AirPods and watching YouTube on Mac or iPhone, an awful-sounding fake Spatial Audio head tracking effect will often be added to videos mastered in stereo.

As more Atmos-enabled speakers hit the market, it seems likely that Atmos-enabled content will become increasingly common. However, when I peer outside of my tech bubble, I don’t see a lot of regular consumers clamouring for new Atmos soundbars and headphones.

Source: Billboard, iMore, 9t05Mac

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Mobile Syrup

Rogers expands Pro On-the-Go to Kelowna, B.C.

Toronto-based national carrier Rogers announced an expansion of its Pro On-the-Go service to Kelowna, B.C.

Pro On-the-Go, for those unfamiliar with the service, offers personalized one-on-one support and phone delivery to Rogers customers at no extra cost. Rogers’ ‘Pros’ will hand-deliver a new device and help guide customers through the set-up process. In a blog post, Rogers describes Pro On-the-Go as the “Rogers retail experience right at home.”

Rogers says that Pro On-the-Go is now available to over 16 million Canadians and the service is now in key markets across B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, and Nova Scotia. The carrier plans to expand to more locations later this year.

Moreover, Rogers said that its Pro On-the-Go team has adapted a “safety-first” approach amid the ongoing pandemic, noting that Pros “closely adhere to all public health guidelines.”

Speaking of the pandemic, Rogers previously said Pro On-the-Go usage tripled in May 2020 during COVID.

Those interested can learn more about Pro On-the-Go and the expansion to Kelowna here.

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Mobile Syrup

TekSavvy expands fibre-to-the-home network to Tupperville, Ontario

Source: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/teksavvy-launches-super-fast-fibre-internet-service-in-tupperville-851678510.html

Chatham, Ontario-based internet service provider (ISP) TekSavvy launched its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) service in Tupperville, Ontario.

TekSavvy says the expansion comes as part of an ongoing investment to “provide affordable connectivity to the Chatham-Kent community via a high-speed fibre-optic network.” Fibre service is now available to 96 homes and businesses in Tupperville and comes as part of the Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) regional broadband program.

The high-speed fibre network will deliver internet speeds of up to 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps). TekSavvy says all its fibre plans come with unlimited data so customers can surf, stream, game, and more without fear of going over.

Moreover, TekSavvy said that residential customers signing up for its fibre internet service can take advantage of a current promotion that discounts the monthly bill by $20 for the first 12 months of service on the ‘Fibre 1000 Unlimited’ package.

Those interested can learn more on TekSavvy’s website.

Header image: TekSavvy

Source: TekSavvy

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Mobile Syrup

We have a battle royale version of Wordle now

What happens when a recent craze meets a long-time craze?

The head-turning crossword-like word guessing game Wordle now has a battle royale version. But instead of eliminating others with guns and grenades, you use your wit and agility.

First spotted by Polygon, the new game is called Squabble, and it pairs you up with multiple other players online. The game remains the same, you get six guesses to guess a five-letter word. You only get 100 seconds to guess the word, and each wrong alphabet results in less time remaining, whereas every correct alphabet results in an increase in the time left. You either win by guessing the right answer or you run out of guesses or time.

There are two game modes; Blitz and Squabble Royale, with the former one containing two to five players, and the latter with six to 99 players.

In true battle royale fashion, the game concludes only when one player is left, so even if you guessed the answer to the first puzzle, you might need to continue the winning streak until other players have been eliminated.

To top it off, the game allows you to make a lobby and invite your friends so that you all get frustrated simultaneously.

Image credit: Squabble

Via: Polygon

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Mobile Syrup

Apple has several refurbished iPhones, iPads and Macs in stock

Apple Canada currently has several refurbished iPhones, iPads and Macs in stock.

While the discounts only amount to about $300 to $400, the devices are guaranteed to work like new, given Apple’s stellar reputation when it comes to refurbished products.

Below are some of the most notable deals:

iPhone

iPhone 11 Pro 64GB: $939 (regularly $1,244)

iPhone 11 Pro 256GB: $1,059 (regularly $1,384)

iPhone 11 Pro 512GB: $1,309 (regularly $1,654)

iPhone 11 Pro Max 64GB: $1,059 (regularly $1,354)

iPhone 11 Pro Max 256GB: $1,169 (regularly $1,494)

iPhone 11 Pro Max 512GB: $1,409 (regularly $1,764)



Find all refurbished iPhones here

iPad

10.5-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi + Cellular 256GB (2017): $809 (regularly $1,099)

10.5-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi + Cellular 512GB (2017): $1,029 (regularly $1,349)

11-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi 64GB (2018): $649 (regularly $919)

11-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi 512GB (2018): $979 (regularly $1,309)

11-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi + Cellular 512GB (2018): $1,149 (regularly $1,509)

11-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi 1TB (2018): $1,199 (regularly $1,569)

11-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi + Cellular 1TB (2018): $1,369 (regularly $1,769)

11-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi + Cellular 512GB (2020): $1,269 (regularly $1,459)

11-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi 1TB (2020): $1,319 (regularly $1,509)

11-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi + Cellular 1TB (2020): $1,489 (regularly $1,709)



Find all refurbished iPads here

Mac

13.3-inch MacBook Pro Apple M1 Chip with 8‑Core CPU and 8‑Core GPU (2020): $1,439 (regularly $1,699)

13.3-inch MacBook Pro 2.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 with Retina display (2020): $2,039 (regularly $2,399)

Mac mini 3.0GHz 6-core Intel Core i5 (2018): $1,189 (regularly $1,399)

24-inch iMac Apple M1 Chip with 8‑Core CPU and 8‑Core GPU, Gigabit Ethernet: $1,569 (regularly $1,849)

24-inch iMac Apple M1 Chip with 8‑Core CPU and 8‑Core GPU, Gigabit Ethernet (Blue): $1,779 (regularly $2,099)

27-inch iMac Pro 3.2GHz 8-core Intel Xeon W with Retina 5K display: $4,819 (regularly $5,669)



Find all refurbished Macs here

Source: Apple