Author: Mobile Syrup

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Mobile Syrup

Rogers expands its pure fibre network to New Brunswick

Rogers is investing nearly $200 million to improve network access in New Brunswick.

The investment will improve fibre connection in 314,000 homes and businesses, allowing them to access all Rogers services. The communities of Dieppe, Moncton, Riverview, and Shediac will be the first to see improvements.

The broadband connection delivers a better online experience and supports more devices, including gaming and smart home technology. Customers will also be able to access internet services that have download and upload speeds up to 1.5GB per second.

“It is important that we continue to invest in our communities to ensure that customers have access to faster and more reliable service than ever, especially as technology continues to evolve and the world becomes more connected,” Matt MacLellan, president of the company’s Atlantic Region, said in a statement. “We are excited to bring 100 percent pure fibre to New Brunswick and give residents and business owners access to the network of the future.”

The announcement is part of a string of recent investments the company has made in Atlantic Canada. The company was the first to provide 5G services to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and currently provides the service across 16 communities.

Source: Rogers

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Mobile Syrup

Microsoft to acquire Activision in deal valued at $68.7 billion USD

Source: https://news.microsoft.com/2022/01/18/microsoft-to-acquire-activision-blizzard-to-bring-the-joy-and-community-of-gaming-to-everyone-across-every-device/

Microsoft will acquire Activision in a deal valued at $68.7 billion USD (about $85.96 billion CAD).

Activision is the troubled publisher behind many popular games, including the Call of Duty series, World of Warcraft and Diablo. The deal far outranks most of Microsoft’s other acquisitions, both in gaming and beyond.

The Activision deal is significantly more than the $7.5 billion USD (about $9.4 billion CAD) purchase of Bethesda, and it’s larger than the company’s previous biggest acquisition, the $26 billion USD ($32.5 billion CAD) it paid for LinkedIn in 2016.

Microsoft says (via The Verge) that when the deal closes, it will be the “third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony.”

Further, the company plans to add many of Activision’s games to Xbox Game Pass once the deal closes. Xbox chief Phil Spencer said that Microsoft would “offer as many Activision Blizzard games as [it] can within Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, both new titles and games from Activision Blizzard’s incredible catalogue.”

Bobby Kotick will remain as Activision CEO

The deal follows months of sexual harassment claims against Activision Blizzard, which most recently saw dozens of employees exit the company over the scandals. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has also been under intense scrutiny after reports alleged he was aware of the “frat boy culture” at the company and actively worked to keep it quiet.

The Verge reports that Microsoft hasn’t detailed how it plans to deal with the issues at Activision Blizzard. However, Bobby Kotick will continue to serve as CEO.

“As a company, Microsoft is committed to our journey for inclusion in every aspect of gaming, among both employees and players,” says Xbox chief Phil Spencer. “We deeply value individual studio cultures. We also believe that creative success and autonomy go hand-in-hand with treating every person with dignity and respect. We hold all teams, and all leaders, to this commitment. We’re looking forward to extending our culture of proactive inclusion to the great teams across Activision Blizzard.”

Microsoft’s acquisition will further bolster its Game Pass subscription service, which The Verge reports has 25 million subscribers. The Bethesda acquisition was seen as a massive win for the number of popular titles it brought for the service — the Activision deal stands to bring even more.

Image credit: Microsoft

Source: Microsoft Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Are you excited for Pokémon Legends: Arceus?

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is only ten days away from launching, and I’m cautiously optimistic. I love Pokémon games, but this one has an entirely different style than any other title before, which I find exciting.

Legends: Arceus takes place before Pokémon gyms, and the player’s goal is to make the first Pokedex.

I love trainer verse trainer battles, but unfortunately, this part of the game might be missing, as this game seems to be set before trainers caught Pokémon.

Additionally, while many hoped for an utterly open-world game, the title is more like Monster Hunter than Legend of Zelda. This means it’ll lack a massive open world that many wanted, but I think I’m cool with that. Here’s what the Pokémon Company said to Kotaku.

In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Jubilife Village will serve as the base for surveying missions. After receiving an assignment or a request and preparing for their next excursion, players will set out from the village to study one of the various open areas of the Hisui region. After they finish the survey work, players will need to return once more to prepare for their next task. We look forward to sharing more information about exploring the Hisui region soon.

So while there will be large open regions that will require players to travel by sky, water and land, players will have to return to the Jubilife Village, which serves as a base.

Alongside this new world (well, it’s the Sinnoh region before the time of Gym leaders), there will be Pokémon we’ve never seen before, crafting, new battle styles and more.

One of the things I love most about Pokémon games is discovering new Pokémon and changing my outfits, which this game should have quite a bit of. And although it might lack trainer versus trainer battles (I could be wrong about this), I’m still hoping Legends: Arceus satisfies my love for battle.

The game launches exclusively on the Nintendo Switch on January 28th.

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Mobile Syrup

Microsoft tests an integrated YouTube follow button on Edge

Microsoft is testing a new way for viewers to subscribe to their favourite content creators on YouTube via its Microsoft Edge browser.

Available only to some testers in Edge’s Canary Developer Build, the new ‘follow’ button appears in the top address bar, as first noticed by Reddit user ‘Leopeva64-2.’

The ‘follow’ button is a part of the browser’s deeper integration with YouTube that adds the followed channels to a new ‘Collections’ tab in Edge’s top right toolbar, where you can view an RSS-like feed of content from all creators you follow.

According to Leopeva64-2, the feature is still in its early development phase, as is evident with the white background over dark theme panel as seen below:

The feature is part of Microsoft’s Controlled R0llout and is currently available to a few testers only. The tech giant hasn’t shared any official information about the new feature, though if the testing goes well, we should hear more about it soon.

Image credit: u/Leopeva64-2

Source: Reddit (Leopeva64-2)

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Mobile Syrup

DJI’s FPV Combo is $400 off at a variety of retailers

DJI’s FPV Combo first-person drone package is currently on sale at various retailers.

With a 4K camera, S Flight Mode, Super-Wide 150-degree field of view, HD low latency transition, and more, the DJI FPV Combo is $400 off at $1,299.99 CAD.

The promotion is available at Best Buy, Amazon Canada, London Drugs and Visions. The Fly More Kit and Motion Controller offerings are on sale on Amazon.

This sale ends on January 20th.

The combo also features DJI first-person view goggles version two. The drone can record 4K/60fps video at up to 120Mbps and more.

Source: RedFlagDeals

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Mobile Syrup

Bell Media launches news website to expand French-language service Noovo Info in Quebec

Bell Media today unveiled noovo.info, a website dedicated entirely to news, which represents the final piece to Noovo’s multi-platform news division. (CNW Group/Bell Media)

Bell Media has launched a new platform featuring news articles, video reports, columns, and features called noovo.info.

Noovo Info is the company’s French-language division and covers happenings across Quebec through TV, radio and digital formats.

The company focuses on presenting news in different ways, including distributing information on social media through dedicated content on Instagram and TikTok to reach younger audiences.

Noovo Info launched a year ago, and the website is the final piece of the platform’s news division.

Some voices part of the digital editorial team are journalist Camille Lopez, columnist Léa Stréliski, and emergency physician Dr. Alain Vadeboncoeur. 

The platform also features exclusive content, such as recent reporting by Audrey-Ruel Manseau. Her report, Dans Les Limbes De La DPJ – Le Calvaire Des Parents Innocents, looks into good parents suspected of child abuse and the hurdles they go through to clear their name and reclaim their children.

“With the deployment of a new digital destination that increases the reach of Noovo Info, Bell Media continues to invest in Noovo and create a healthy competition within Quebec’s media landscape,” Karine Moses, Bell Media’s senior vice president of content development and news, said in a statement. “Bell Media maintains its commitment to build a modern, original and distinctive voice while reaching wider audiences on all platforms.”

Image credit: Bell Media 

Source: Bell Media

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Mobile Syrup

Google honours Betty White’s 100th birthday with Search easter egg

Betty White, who died at the age of 99 on December 31st, was 17 days shy of her 100th birthday.

To celebrate the birthday of the late White, Google is showering users with rose petals as a nod to Rose, White’s character from The Golden Girls.

Today, when you type in White’s name on Google, it unlocks an animated easter egg with the message that says “Thank you for being a friend,” the title of “The Golden Girls” theme song.

White had a long-running career in TV and film that spanned more than 60 years, including Hot in Cleveland, The Bold and the Beautiful, Ladies Man, and as a starring cast member of The Golden Girls from 1985 until 1992. White even hosted Saturday Night Live at the age of 88.

Source: Variety 

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Mobile Syrup

Samsung users find issue with Google Keep’s numbered lists

Some Samsung users are experiencing a strange problem with Google’s Keep app. This problem was initially spotted on a Google forum in late November and was first reported by 9to5Google.

The problem causes users who are adding new items to Google Keep with an auto-numbered list, or when navigating the note, you’ll get additional copies of the number.

Interestingly, the issue seems only to affect users who upgraded to Android 12. The phones that seem to be experiencing the problem include the Galaxy S21, S20 and Note 20. Google Keep is probably one of my most-used apps, and I haven’t experienced the issue on an S21 Ultra, Z Fold 3 or S21 FE.

So far, the only way to fix this is to edit the list from a laptop or with your web app.

Google has acknowledged the issue and says that their Keep team is looking into the problem.

Source: 9to5Google, Google Forums

Image Credit: 9to5Google

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Mobile Syrup

Tesla Full Self Driving beta comes to Canada in 2-4 weeks

Elon Musk himself has said that Tesla will roll out the Full Self Driving (FSD) beta in Canada over the next 2-4 weeks.

If I had to guess, we’ll likely see it in 2-4 months, but on occasion, Musk’s tweets have been known to accurately reflect Tesla product timelines, so it could be here sooner.

That said, the middle of winter in the peak of the snowy season seems to be a strange time to roll out a car technology that relies on clear roads and clean sensors, but hey, go off, Musk.

This isn’t the first time Musk has stated that Canadians would get FSD. On Boxing day in 2021, the eccentric CEO said that it would be coming to Canada very soon. There have been reports of some owners getting into the beta in Canada, but a wider rollout hasn’t happened yet.

On January 17th, Tesla is boosting the cost of its full self-driving software in the U.S. to $12,000 USD (roughly $15,000 CAD). So far Canada has been excluded from that price hike, but I’d still expect it to arrive once more Canadians start gaining access to the FSD beta. The current cost for the package in Canada is $10,600.

Image credit: Tesla 

Source: @elonmusk Via: Tesla North

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Mobile Syrup

Dozens ‘exited’ Activision Blizzard over misconduct, CEO tried to keep departures quiet: report

Thirty-seven employees have “exited” from Activision Blizzard amid the gaming publisher’s workplace misconduct scandals, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing internal documents.

A further 44 employees have been disciplined, Activision Blizzard spokesperson Helaine Klasky told the outlet.

Since last summer, the company has been facing a lawsuit from California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing alleging years of fostering a “frat boy culture” that led to sexual harassment, unfair hiring practices and other forms of mistreatment of women.

However, given the ambiguity surrounding the word “exited,” it’s unclear exactly how many of those 37 people left voluntarily versus being pushed out. Likewise, Activision Blizzard wouldn’t specify exactly what form of disciplinary action has been taken against the 44 other employees.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports that Activision Blizzard collected around 700 employee complaints who expressed concerns of workplace misconduct, although the company denied this to the outlet. Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard CEO, also reportedly shut down the release of a company report summarizing all of the above information to address the allegations. According to The Wall Street Journal, Kotick felt the report would make the company’s issues seem bigger than what has already been revealed.

Kotick himself has been the subject of immense scrutiny, especially following a November report from The Wall Street Journal alleging that he not only knew about the “frat boy culture,” but actively worked to keep it quiet. More than 1,000 Activision Blizzard employees quickly signed a petition calling for Kotick to resign, although the executive has said he would only consider doing so if the workplace issues aren’t fixed “with speed.”

Activision Blizzard is also facing a strike from dozens of developers at its Raven studio, which works on its massively popular Call of Duty: Warzone game. The workers were protesting the sudden termination of a dozen quality assurance (QA) contractors. The ABK Workers Alliance, which represents employees at Activision, Blizzard and King, has condemned the company for its “silence” over these protests.

All the while, Warzone players have been reporting numerous bugs in the game. Speaking to The Washington Post, multiple unnamed QA testers attributed these issues to the QA workers who were laid off from Raven. “You can’t just lose some of your hardest-working people and expect nothing to happen,” one of them told The Washington Post.

A GoFundMe has been set up to support the ABK Workers Alliance — you can check that out here.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Source: The Wall Street Journal