Author: Mobile Syrup

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Mobile Syrup

Humble Choice to retire Mac and Linux offerings starting February 1

After announcing changes to its Humble Choice subscription model, Humble has revealed that it will retire all DRM-free (Digital Rights Management) Mac and Linux titles from its Humble Trove.

Humble users will now need to download a new client to manage titles through the company’s newly established subscription service, which begins on February 1st. The main drawback is that it is only compatible with Windows.

Up until now, the company added new titles to the Trove every month as part of Humble Choice subscriber perks. The company will now offer 10 PC games to subscribers every month, for a cost of $12/month. None of these new titles will be for Mac or Linux OS, and current Mac/Linux users have until January 31st to download any games that they wish to keep in their personal collection.

As shared by Reddit user ‘Shnapple8,’ Humble Choice subscribers are receiving an email from Humble, notifying them about the upcoming change and letting users know that they can download the Mac or Linux games from Humble Trove if they wish to have access to their titles post-February 1st.

Check out a screenshot from the email below:

It’s worth noting that Humble will not deliver updates for Mac/Linux games you download and said games will only have updates for Windows via Humble.

Learn more about the shift and Humble’s new subscription model here.

Image credit: Shnapple8

Source: Humble

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Mobile Syrup

Valve’s Steam Deck portable should start shipping at the end of February

Those disappointed when Valve revealed back in November that the Steam Deck’s release would be delayed until 2022 will be pleased to know that the gaming giant has confirmed that shipments will start in February.

Early pre-orders will likely ship in the February release window, with later orders arriving a few months later. Of course, given we’re still in a pandemic and chip shortage/manufacturing delays are common, there’s a possibility this shipping date could shift.

Valve also says that it shipped “hundreds” of Steam Decks to developers last month to ensure their titles are compatible with the handheld’s controls and AMD chip. Valve’s gaming retail platform Steam will also display a green checkmark on titles that have been tested and are compatible with the Steam Deck. As someone that was skeptical about game compatibility when the Steam Deck was first revealed, this is a good sign.

While it’s great to see Steam revealing more information about the Switch-like Steam Deck, it’s still unclear how much its dock that allows titles to be played on larger displays will cost.

Source: Valve

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Mobile Syrup

Telus says its 5G network now reaches 70 percent of the Canadian population

Telus announced that its 5G network now reaches 70 percent of the Canadian population.

In a press release posted on the Vancouver-based national telecom’s website, Telus said that 744 Canadian communities now benefit from its “blazing fast” 5G network. The expansion is part of the company’s $54 billion investment in infrastructure and operations through 2024.

Further, Telus says it’s ahead of schedule on connecting Canadians to 5G, with the 744 urban and rural communities connected so far clocking in at 129 more communities than planned for this year.

The carrier went on to break down how many communities have access to its 5G network in different regions:

  • British Columbia: 202 communities
  • Quebec: 245 communities
  • Alberta: 151 communities
  • Manitoba: 14 communities
  • Ontario: 105 communities
  • Atlantic Canada: 27 communities

Telus wrapped up by highlighting several partnerships involving 5G, such as the collaboration with GM that will see the manufacturer’s 2025 vehicles offer built-in connectivity with Telus 5G, or work with IBM on 5G edge computing.

While it’s good to see Telus expanding 5G connectivity to more places, it remains unclear how much of the network, if any, uses the 3,500MHz spectrum auctioned off last year. Telus did not respond to questions about 3,500MHz deployment before publication (and we’ll update this section if there is a response).

3,500MHz spectrum is critical to 5G as it occupies part of what’s considered mid-band or ‘Sub-6‘ 5G. Mid-band 5G spectrum offers significant speed and latency benefits over low-band 5G, which operates on similar spectrum to 4G networks. It differs from high-band 5G, or mmWave, which offers greater speeds but much shorter range.

The deployment of 3,500MHz spectrum should usher in more tangible benefits for Canadians with 5G-capable devices.

You can read Telus’ announcement in full here.

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Mobile Syrup

Shoppers Drug Mart offering up to 30,000 points on $100+ purchases

Shoppers Drug Mart is back again with another PC Optimum points bonus deal. These deals go live starting January 14th and run until January 20th.

From January 14th until January 16th, when you spend $60 on “almost anything in-store” you’ll get 20,000 points. Also, between those dates, when you spend $100 or more on cosmetics, haircare, skincare or fragrance products online, you get 25,000 points. However, these two promotions can’t be combined.

But you might want to hold off on buying cosmetics. From January 17th to the 20th, when you spend $100 or more on cosmetics, skincare or fragrances, in-store, you get 30,000 points. Further, seniors can get 20 percent off regular price items when showing their PC Optimum card on January 20th.

Shoppers Drug Mart says it’s running a two-day sale from January 15th to the 16th on snacks, groceries, household essentials, health care and personal care, beauty.

Source: RedFlagDeals

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Mobile Syrup

Save up to $500 with Best Buy’s Top Deals this week

We’re back with the latest roundup of the top tech deals at Best Buy Canada. This week you can find great deals on Samsung sound bars, JBL wireless headphones, and HP gaming PCs.

As a top pick this week, the Insignia Air Fryer is a great deal for 60% off its regular price. I jumped on the air fryer train last year, and it was worth every penny. Bring on those crispy taters.

Check out the full list of tech deals below:

Samsung HW-Q850A 5.1.2 Channel Dolby Atmos Sound Bar with Wireless Subwoofer for $899.99 (save $500)

WD Easystore 12TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive for $279.99 (save $70)

Thinkware F200 Pro 1080p Wifi Dash Cam with Rear View Camera & GPS for $249.99 (save $20)

GoPro HERO9 Black 5K Sports Camera Bundle with Floating Hand Grip, Battery, SD Card & Accessories for $429.99 (save $30)

LG 23.8″ FHD 75Hz 5ms GTG IPS LED FreeSync Gaming Monitor for $139.99 (save $45)

NBA 2K22 (Xbox Series X) for $44.99 (save $45)

Samsung 58″ 4K UHD HDR LED Tizen Smart TV for $849.99 (save $50)

Google Nest Cam Wire-Free Indoor/Outdoor Security Camera – 2 Pack for $369.99 (save $70)

Insignia Air Fryer – 3.2L for $59.99 (save $90)

JBL Live Free NC+ (Plus) TWS In-Ear Noise Cancelling Truly Wireless Headphones for $99.99 (save $100)

ASUS ROG Strix G17 17.3″ Gaming Laptop (AMD Ryzen 7 5800H/1TB SSD/16GB RAM/RTX 3060) for $1799.99 (save $100)

Dyson V7 Complete Cordless Stick Vacuum for $399.99 (save $100)

Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite 10.4″ 64GB Android Tablet with Exynos 9611 8-Core Processor for $279.99 (save $110)

HP 14″ Laptop (Intel Core i3-1115G4/512GB SSD/8GB RAM/Windows 10) for $549.99 (save $150)

Samsung The Frame 75″ 4K UHD HDR QLED Tizen OS Smart TV for $2999.99 (save $300)

HP OMEN 25L Gaming PC (AMD Ryzen 7 5700G/512GB SSD/16GB RAM/RTX 3070) for $1999.99 (save $400)

MobileSyrup utilizes affiliate partnerships. These partnerships do not influence our editorial content, though we may earn a commission on purchases made via these links that helps fund the journalism provided free on our website.

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Mobile Syrup

Tesla’s merch store enables Dogecoin payments

A month after revealing that Tesla would soon start accepting meme crypto Dogecoin as payment for some of the company’s merchandise, Musk announced via his Twitter on January 14th that Dogecoin payments are live on the electric vehicle company’s website.

While the tweet didn’t necessarily send the meme-coin soaring, in crypto metrics at least, it did bump up the price of Dogecoin from about $0.1888 to $0.2142 USD momentarily. Unsurprisingly, the growth was unsustained, and the coin is currently trading at $0.1942 apiece.

 

From what it appears, only three products on Tesla’s merch shop are available to purchase with Doge, including the Cybetruck-shaped Cyberwhistle (300 DOGE — $71 CAD) which is currently sold out, Giga Texas Belt Buckle (835 DOGE — $198.64 CAD) and a Diecast 1:18 Scale Model 3 (970 DOGE — $230.76 CAD).

Musk has long been a proponent of cryptocurrencies and frequently mentions them in his tweets. Thanks in part to his over 70.1 million followers, Musk has demonstrated an ability to sway the crypto market. For example, Musk caused a spike in Bitcoin in March 2021 when he tweeted that Tesla would allow people to purchase its vehicles with the cryptocurrency. A few months later, Bitcoin dropped 14 percent after Musk backpedalled on accepting the crypto for Tesla vehicles.

Check out Tesla merch available in exchange for DOGE here.

At the time of writing, one DOGE equals $0.1957 ($0.2445 CAD).

Image credit: Tesla

Source: @elonmusk 

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Mobile Syrup

Transport Canada investigating Tesla Model 3/Y heat pump issue

Transport Canada opened an investigation into the heating system issues plaguing Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles after several Tesla owners reported failing heat pumps.

Earlier this month, several Canadians with Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles encountered issues with the heat pumps failing in cold weather. Some of the reports linked the failures to a software update rolled out in December, but other reports date from before the update.

Regardless, losing vehicle heating in cold weather can be dangerous. Along with the dangers of exposure, Transport Canada noted concern that the malfunction could “affect windshield defogging/defrosting and therefore driver visibility” (via Reuters).

Additionally, Transport Canada said that companies are required to notify it and all current vehicle owners when they become aware of a defect that could affect the safety of people. Finally, Transport Canada said it had informed Tesla of the investigation.

Tesla did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment. However, several Tesla news-focused Twitter accounts have shared news about what the company is doing about the issue. Notably, the ‘Tesla Owners Online’ account (@Model3Owners) said that Tesla is “taking this cold weather climate problem very seriously.”

The account goes on to describe cold-weather testing the company is doing in Alaska. Further, it explains an issue where the front air intake flap freezes open, causing the heat pump system to stop working properly. It’s not clear if that’s the problem impacting Canadian Tesla owners, especially since one Model Y owner in Toronto reported the cost to fix the problem was over $5,600.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk also hasn’t commented on the problem yet, although Reuters did reference a 2020 tweet from Musk praising the Model Y heat pump engineering:

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1242229469017862145?s=20

Source: Reuters

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Mobile Syrup

Pinkfong’s Baby Shark becomes first YouTube video to reach 10 billion views

What has the world come to? 🦈

Pinkfong’s annoyingly catchy kids’ song, “Baby Shark,” is the first video on YouTube to reach 10 billion views. The second most viewed video, Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito,” has only hit 7.7 billion. “Baby Shark” overtook Fonsi’s video back in November 2020.

Since its release in 2016, Baby Shark has appeared repeatedly in popular culture. For example, celebrity covers have been created by James Corden and Bebe Rexha, there’s a viral dance challenge, it’s part of Ubisoft’s Just Dance 2020 and Nickelodeon even gave the song its own TV show in 2021.

Looking to the future, Nickelodeon has renewed its Baby Shark show and also has an upcoming feature-length movie on the way. There’s even an NFT collection for “Baby Shark” — yes, you read that correctly.

Unfortunately for parents everywhere, it looks like Baby Shark isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Image credit: Pinkfong

Via: Engadget

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Mobile Syrup

CES 2022, Halo Infinite and another year of tech [SyrupCast 250]

This week on the SyrupCast, the crew returns after an extended hiatus to talk about how low-key CES 2022 was.

To kick off the pod, Brad Bennett regales Patrick O’Rourke and Jon Lamont with news regarding Rogers’ new CEO, the  Samsung Galaxy S21 FE and the latest software update for the OnePlus Buds Pro. Finally, Brad wraps up by talking about his smart water bottle review.

Next, Patrick steers the team towards recapping CES 2022. While this year’s show was pretty dull, cool gadgets and several electric vehicle (EV) concept cars were still shown off.

Finally, the team talks about some of the games they’ve been playing over the holidays, with Patrick shining a light on Halo Infinite and Brad talking about finally catching up on The Last of Us Part II. If you’ve been a long-time SyrupCast listener, you already know that Jon spent time with Destiny 2, but he also started playing Stardew Valley again.

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

Bandai Namco is making a ‘My Hero Academia’ battle royale game

Bandai Namco has revealed a new game called My Hero Academia: Ultra Rumble that’s based on the popular series, My Hero Academia.

Ultra Rumble is a free-to-play battle royale title coming to the Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One and PC via Steam.

Bandai Namco revealed the game in its latest issue of Weekly Jump, according to Gemastu. There’s no information available yet regarding its release date, but the publication says it will allow players to “team up to win a 24-player rumble in multiplayer action!”

Prior to its release, My Hero Academia: Ultra Rumble will be available in a closed beta test.

This isn’t the first game focused on the anime series. Back in 2016, Bandai Namco released a Nintendo 3DS game called My Hero Academia: Battle for All, and in 2018, the developer followed that title up with My Hero: One’s Justice, a sequel called My Hero One’s Justice 2.

My Hero Academia is a Japanese comic book series (manga) based on a world filled with superheroes. The series has been adapted into an anime and three films that have earned $40 million USD (roughly $50 million CAD) worldwide. 

Source: Gemastu