Author: Mobile Syrup

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Mobile Syrup

Futurama revival coming to Disney+ Canada in 2023

Following yesterday’s announcement that Futurama is being revived for the U.S. streaming service Hulu, Disney has confirmed that the series is coming to Disney+ Canada as well.

Production will begin later this month ahead of a premiere sometime in 2023. Original creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen will return alongside many of the cast, including Billy West (Fry), Katey Sagal (Leela), Tress MacNeille (Mom), Maurice LaMarche (Kif), Lauren Tom (Amy), Phil LaMarr (Hermes) and David Herman (Scruffy).

However, John DiMaggio, the voice of Bender and other characters, has not yet signed on. Per Deadline, DiMaggio wanted a deal similar to West and Sagal, but has not been given that. Therefore, his roles are currently being recast, although Deadline notes the producers have a desire for him to return. DiMaggio, for his part, has been sharing fan support on Twitter while issuing his own statement:

“Thanks for the concern and the props, everyone. I really appreciate it. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you posted, but until then… CHEESE IT! #bendergate,” tweeted DiMaggio.

Futurama originally ran from March 1999 to August 2003 on Fox before being cancelled. Comedy Central later picked up the series, and it aired on its network from 2008 to 2013. All 140 episodes of the series are currently streaming on Disney+ Canada.

Image credit: Fox

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Mobile Syrup

Garmin Instinct 2 Solar offers ‘unlimited’ battery life

Well, this is unheard of.

Garmin says that its Instinct 2 series smartwatch offers unlimited battery life due to its solar technology features.

This unlimited battery life is only available with its larger 45mm Instinct 2 Solar models when the wearables are set to smartwatch mode. The smartwatch can also only keep this unlimited battery life when you’ve spent three hours per day outside in 50,000 lux conditions. For context, 50,000 lux sun conditions could even be an overcast day.

Additionally, the Instinct 2 Solar features health and wellness features such as VO2 Max and sleep score, hydration tracking, menstrual cycle tracking, pregnancy tracking, stress tracking, HIIT workouts, heart rate tracking and a leaderboard. The Instinct 2 also features free apps, widgets, watch faces, data fields and more.

Garmin is selling the Instinct 2 in Canada for $579.

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Mobile Syrup

The COVID Alert app cost millions. Was it of any use?

The COVID Alert app was presented as the solution to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus when released in July 2020.

But almost two years later, it hasn’t been as helpful as initially thought, policy experts told CBC’s radio show Cost of Living. 

“I don’t think the COVID Alert app made much of a difference in our fight against COVID,” Peter Loewen, director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto, told the show.

The outlet notes the app cost $21 million to develop and promote. More than 371,000 notifications were sent between its launch and January 31.

The app uses Bluetooth signals to exchange codes with other phones that have the app. Users who spend 15 minutes near another positive user are alerted.

It doesn’t track personal information, like names or locations. It also doesn’t track if those who received a notice of exposure completed any further testing.

“It’s simply impossible to say that the app did anything of significance,” Jason Millar, an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa, told Cost of Living.

“You should be extremely skeptical of anyone who claims they can measure the app’s success in preventing cases or saving lives… There is no data that I’ve seen to support the claim that it did anything of the sort.”

Source: CBC/Cost of Living

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Mobile Syrup

Koodo downgrades $58/15GB plan to 10GB, Virgin still offers 15GB plan for now

Telus’ flanker brand Koodo has removed the $58/mo 15GB plan promotion from its website, following in the steps of Rogers’ Fido brand, which ditched its $58/15GB plan on February 7th.

Koodo was always going to remove the $58/15GB — when the provider added it back in January, the promotional plan was clearly listed as a limited-time offer. However, unlike Fido, Koodo didn’t specify an end date.

The plan was originally a $58/10GB offer with a bonus 5GB of data tacked on. That extra 5GB bonus is no longer available, but the $58/10GB plan is — not that I’d recommend taking it now that the 5GB bonus is gone.

If you’re looking for a 15GB plan, Bell’s Virgin Plus still had its $58/15GB promo plan live at the time of publication. It’s not clear how much longer Virgin will keep the plan around now that Koodo and Fido have removed it.

Koodo’s other plans remain unchanged:

  • $30/mo no data, unlimited minutes and messaging
  • $52/mo 8GB data, unlimited minutes and messaging
    $58/mo 10GB data, unlimited minutes and messaging

There’s also an assortment of ‘Starter’ plans ranging from $15/mo with 250MB of data to $45/mo with 6GB of data, but these plans are only available to customers that bring their own phone and some are limited to 3G data speeds.

You can check out all of Koodo’s plans here.

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Mobile Syrup

Pokémon meets Wordle with ‘Squirdle’ where you have to guess the Pokémon

I love Wordle, but it looks like I might have a new favourite word puzzle game. Pokémon die-hards will be pleased to learn about Squirdle, a letter-based guessing game that’s a spin on the Wordle puzzle concept.

In Squirdle, you have to guess the correct Pokémon out of all 898 Pocket Monsters. The game doesn’t use blocks for letters, though. Instead, the blocks represent the following: generation, elemental type 1, elemental type 2, height/weight, in that order.

Green means you guessed the correct Pokémon, red means you’re wrong and up and down arrows represent newer, smaller or lighter. Yellow also means you managed to get one of the two types correct.

Below is an example of a Squirdle game board:

While I have pretty extensive knowledge of Pokémon, finding the correct one out of all 898 is no easy task.

Source: Squirdle

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Mobile Syrup

Telus reports record fourth quarter for mobile customer growth

Telus is reporting its best fourth quarter on record regarding mobile and fixed customer growth.

The telecom giant said it added 272,000 customers to its base, an increase of 19,000 compared to the fourth quarter of 2020.

There were 193,000 mobile additions. 112,000 of these were mobile phones, and 81,000 were connected devices.

“Our industry-leading customer growth was driven by our team’s passion for delivering outstanding customer experiences, which once again contributed to strong client loyalty across our key product lines, including blended mobile phone, internet, Optik TV, security and voice churn all below one percent for the year,” Darren Entwistle, Telus’ president and CEO, said in a statement.

More details to come.

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Mobile Syrup

Telus partners with Google Cloud and NXN Digital to improve future of smart cities

Telus is working with Google Cloud and NXN Digital to create smart solutions that will help municipalities improve residents’ experiences.

Telus combines its network with data analytics and infrastructure from Google Cloud and digital service provider NXN Digital’s “smart city as a service” platform.

“Our smart digital services integration and delivery platform provide the agility districts, municipalities, and urban centers need to rapidly adopt future technologies and break down data silos through one cohesive platform that seamlessly connects all systems, [Internet of Things] technologies, and data sources together,” Ghazi Atallah, CEO of NXN Digital, said in a statement.

The collaboration will allow cities of any size to control everything from traffic signals to reduce congestion to data analytics for city planning.

The partnership enables Telus to be a single point of contact for several smart solutions and ensure full cooperation between IoT sensors, management platforms, and cloud infrastructure.

“By partnering with proven leaders, we’re excited to expand the capabilities of our technology in urban and rural communities through projects that make communities and businesses more efficient, productive and safe,” Navin Arora, president of Telus business solutions said in a statement.

Source: Telus

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Mobile Syrup

WOW! mobile rolling out retail text feature for improved shopping experience

Retail employees at WOW! mobile can now connect with customers via text to provide a personalized shopping experience.

The mobile company is partnering with the business messaging platform Statflo to expand. A statement from Statflo says the mobile boutique is known for its customer experience, and this new application allowing for two-way conversations will enhance that.

“Our retail teams love the ability to text customers while maintaining total compliance around the conversation,” Scott Grover, the national sales director at WOW! mobile, said in a statement.

Image credit: WOW! mobile/ Facebook 

Source: Statflo Inc.

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Mobile Syrup

Twitter is testing out a YouTube-like video playback speed feature

Russia, Kazan Sep 2 2019: Twitter application icon on Apple iPhone X smartphone screen close-up. Twitter app icon. Social media icon. Social network

Twitter is testing out a new feature that will let users adjust video playback speed (similar to YouTube and Netflix) on the web and Android.

The new feature is currently in testing, and has been rolled out for select users only.

Judging by the image in the announcement Tweet, users would be able to press a gear icon on the top right of the video tab and adjust the playback speed in .25 increments, ranging from 0.25x on the slow side to 2x on the fast side.

The Tweet doesn’t go into much detail, and as is the case with every Twitter Support announcement, the comment section is filled with bots, so nothing constructive could be deduced from the engagement.

The Verge, however, got a statement from Twitter spokesperson Joseph Nuñez who said the playback speed option will be available across Tweet Videos, Amplify Videos, Voice Tweets, videos in DMs, and Video Live Replays.

Funnily enough, while Twitter’s own post shows the feature in action on an iOS device, the playback speed functionality is currently only being tested for Android and web. Twitter didn’t reveal when we can expect the feature to be rolled out widely.

Source: @TwitterSupport

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Mobile Syrup

Xplornet to connect Sundre, Alberta residents with fibre broadband

Xplornet says it’s working to connect Sundre, Alberta residents to fibre broadband over the course of the year.

Doing so will allow 1,300 homes and businesses in the small town to access the internet from a fibre-to-the-premise network.

Canada’s largest rural-focused broadband provider is making a private investment in the expansion but has also received $1.8 million in funding from the federal government’s Universal Broadband Fund.

“We’re proud to continue investing in the province and to work with the Government of Canada to ensure that all rural Albertans can experience the benefits of fast and reliable internet connectivity,” Bill Macdonald, the company’s executive vice-president of business development, said in a statement. “This is especially important as more of the world moves online, including how we learn, work and connect with family and friends.”

The project will be completed in phases. The first phase will finish in June, granting  100 homes and businesses access to the network. The remaining phases will also be delivered over 2022, but a specific timeline is not available at this time.

The expansion is part of Xplornet’s mission to deploy scalable fibre and 5G wireless technology in its network to meet the needs of rural Canadians. The organization is investing $500 million by 2025 to achieve this.

Source: Xplornet