Author: Mobile Syrup

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Mobile Syrup

Apple’s AirPods Max available for an all time low on Amazon

If you’re looking to add Apple’s AirPods Max to your arsenal of headphones, now might be the perfect chance.

Amazon Canada has Apple’s AirPods Max on sale for $620.52, down from their regular $779 price. This is a discount of $158.48 or about 20 percent. While not the most significant price drop ever, this is a decent offer, and the cheapest the AirPods Max has ever been listed. Prior to today, the lowest the headphones have been listed was for $661.45.

It’s worth noting that Amazon only has the ‘Silver’ variant on discount, but that shouldn’t be an issue considering that its a staple Apple colour that goes well with everything.

Learn more about the AirPods Max in Patrick O’Rourke’s review, where he gave the headphones a 7.5 rating. Purchase the AirPods Max from Amazon for $620.52 here.

Source: Amazon

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Mobile Syrup

Microsoft’s Surface Go 3 now available in Matte Black colour option

Microsoft officially announced a new colour option for its Surface Go 3 2-in-1.

Customers can now pick between the standard ‘Platinum’ and the (in my opinion) much nicer ‘Matte Black.’ It’s not clear why Microsoft didn’t make both options available at launch. Regardless, those waiting for a better colour option can now spring for a Surface Go 3.

Additionally, Microsoft made the LTE versions of the Surface Go 3 available to buy, as well as the LTE Surface Pro 8 for businesses, today.

Aside from the new colour, there are no other changes to the Surface Go 3. Customers can still pick between the Intel Pentium Gold 6500Y or Intel Core i3-1011Y processors, 4GB or 8GB of RAM, and up to 128GB of SSD storage.

Unsurprisingly, the new LTE variant is a fair bit more expensive — if you want LTE with your Go 3, you’ll need to buy the highest-end model of the mini-tablet. Typically, that costs $819.99 for the Core i3, 8GB of RAM and 128GB SSD, but the LTE variant bumps the price up to $939.99.

Interestingly, the LTE version isn’t available in Matte Black in Canada. It’s not clear if that option will come at a later date, or if the LTE Matte Black model is reserved for specific regions.

Regardless, the Surface Go 3 is quite expensive, especially when you consider the practically necessary TypeCover accessory, which starts at $129.99 in Canada. As I mentioned in my Surface Go 3 review, when you compare the cost of the Surface Go 3 to other, significantly more powerful devices (such as Apple’s iPads), it’s hard to justify when Intel’s Core i3 is so disappointing.

Still, the main benefit of the Surface Go 3 over a comparable iPad or Android tablet is that it runs Windows, a full-fat desktop OS, making it much better for productivity (even if it’s significantly less powerful).

You can check out the Matte Black Surface Go 3 here.

Source: Microsoft Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Google not-so-smart displays struggling to set timers, fix on the way

If you’ve tried to use a Google Nest display to set a timer anytime in the last few days, there’s a good chance you’ve encountered a problem.

I’ve stumbled across this issue a bunch recently, usually when cooking — I’ll ask for a timer and my Google Nest Hub will reply with something along the lines of “I don’t know how to help with that” while displaying a screen with “Other things you can try,” which includes buttons to set a timer (as seen in the above image).

Usually, the Google Nest Hub sets a timer fine when I ask a second time. Still, it’s incredibly annoying to have to deal with when I need a quick timer.

Several people over at Android Police, as well as Phil Nickinson from Digital Trends, have reported experiencing the same issue. A Google spokesperson confirmed to Android Police that the company is aware of the problem and is “working on an immediate fix.”

So, if you’re getting hit with the weird timer issues, at least there should be a fix sometime soon. However, I’ve found my Google Nest Hub doing other weird things with timers, too.

For example, the other day it seemed to register my timer request and even displayed the timer with the correct time as normal, but the timer never actually started counting down. After fiddling with it, I eventually gave up and made a timer on my phone instead. It’s not clear whether that’s part of the same issue, another issue entirely or just my Nest Hub doing something weird (which it tends to do).

Source: My Nest Hub crapping out Via: Android Police

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Mobile Syrup

Forza Street mobile game shutting down in Spring 2022

Xbox is shutting down its Forza Street game on Android and iOS, under two years after it first released.

Developer Turn 10 confirmed the news in a Q&A post on the official Forza support site, adding that the racing game will remain playable until Spring 2022. A specific closure date was not provided.

“We’re proud and grateful for the community of players we were able to build with Forza Street, and we want to use what we learned on building new and exciting Forza products,” Turn 10 wrote in response to why the game is closing.

Ahead of this, Turn 10 has also rolled out the final update for the game, which includes:

  • A new unreleased car
  • 12 weeks of Spotlight++ featuring Rare & Epic cars, starting on January 17th, 2022
  • Faster Energy recharge and increased Energy storage
  • Reduced wait times on car shows
  • Reduced prices on the vast majority of items purchased with in-game currency

This is the latest Microsoft mobile game to shut down, following the closure of both Minecraft Earth and Gears Pop last year. That said, the company seems to be focused more on Xbox Cloud Gaming on mobile. Available through a $16.99 CAD/month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, Xbox Cloud Gaming allows you to stream dozens of games to mobile devices, including Forza Horizon 5, Halo Infinite and Minecraft Earth. 

While it’s unclear how many people use Cloud Gaming overall, the company revealed in December that 20 percent of the service’s overall player base uses touch controls.

Source: Xbox

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Mobile Syrup

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE now available at several Canadian carriers

Source: https://www.samsung.com/ca/smartphones/galaxy-s21-5g/galaxy-s21-fe-5g/

Samsung has officially unveiled the Samsung Galaxy S21 Fan Edition (FE) earlier this month and now the phone is available at some Canadian carriers. We’ve compiled a list of carriers offering the phone and some details about pricing, which you can view below.

Before we get into it, it’s important to mention that the base model S21 FE costs $949.99 outright in Canada — it’s worth keeping that number in mind when comparing to carrier prices, which are often inflated by comparison. It’s also worth doing the math and comparing the various price options because some are better than others.

Koodo

  • Tab Plus: $158 down, $33/mo Tab charge ($950 total over two years)
  • Tab Mid: $590 down, $15/mo Tab charge ($950 total over two years)
  • Tab Basic: $710 down, $10/mo Tab charge ($950 total over two years)
  • Outright price: $1,175

It’s worth noting that all of Koodo’s Tab options include a $225 “Tab Bonus,”  which just so happens to be the difference between Koodo’s $1,175 outright price and Samsung’s $950 actual price for the S21 FE. Koodo plans start at $50/mo, or $25/mo if you choose Tab Basic.

Check out Koodo’s website for more information.

Telus

Vancouver-based national telecom Telus has the Galaxy S21 FE available with its ‘Bring-It-Back’ program. Bring-It-Back reduces the monthly financing cost if customers agree to return the phone to Telus or pay back the Bring-It-Back amount ($240 for the S21 FE) after 24 months.

  • Bring-It-Back: $0 down, $25/mo financing ($600 total over two years plus $240 Bring-It-Back amount if customers choose to keep the phone)
  • Regular: $0 down, $39.58/mo financing ($949.92 total over two years)
  • Outright: $1,175

Both the Bring-It-Back and Regular options include a $225 “Easy Payment Bonus Discount,” which just so happens to be the difference between Telus’ $1,175 outright price and Samsung’s $950 actual price for the S21 FE. Telus’ plans start at $80/mo.

You can learn more about the S21 FE on Telus’ website.

Rogers

Rogers also has the Galaxy S21 FE available for $0 down and $25/mo financing with the company’s ‘Upfront Edge’ program (its take on a device return option). Rogers has slightly different math than Telus, however:

  • Upfront Edge: $0 down, $25/mo financing (regular $34.30/mo financing, includes $350 Upfront Edge amount and $9.30/mo promotional credit) – 24 month total is $600, plus $350 if you want to keep the phone.
  • Regular: $0 down, $39.58/mo financing (regular $48.88/mo financing) – 24 month total is $949.92
  • Outright: $1,173

It’s worth noting the usual $48.88/mo price works out to $1,173.12 total over two years, matching Rogers’ outright price of $1,173. In other words, you’d be better off taking the “discounted” financing price because you’d end up paying the same over two years as you would buying the phone outright from Samsung directly. Rogers’ plans start at $80/mo.

Learn more about the S21 FE on Rogers’ website.

Fido

  • $150 down, $33.34/mo financing (regular $42.63) – $950.16 total over two years ($1,173.12 with the regular price)
  • Outright: $1,173

Rogers flanker brand Fido also includes a $9.29/mo promotional credit to the financing cost of the S21 FE, bringing the total cost down to $950.16 instead of the more expensive $1,173.12. Again, best to make a purchase with this discount added, otherwise you end up paying more than you would getting the phone outright from Samsung.

Fido plans start at $50/mo for the S21 FE.

You can learn more on Fido’s website.

Bell

  • Regular: $0 down, $39.58/mo financing (regular $48.92/mo)
  • Outright: $1,174

Bell, surprisingly, did not list any device return pricing for the Galaxy S21 FE. As for the ‘Regular’ pricing, the carrier included a “discount” that reduced the price to match Samsung’s outright price. With the $39.58/mo cost, customers will pay $949.92 over 24 months, which bell advertises as savings of $224.08 compared to buying the device outright.

However, unlike the other carriers, Bell’s website includes a slider that lets customers reduce the monthly financing fee by increasing the upfront cost. For example, adding a $360 down payment drops the monthly financing cost to $24.58/mo.

Bell’s plans start at $80/mo.

You can learn more here.

Virgin Plus

Bell flanker brand Virgin Plus offers nearly identical pricing on the S21 FE to what Fido has:

  • Regular: $150 down, $33.34/mo financing ($950.16 over two years)
  • Outright: $1,174

Similar to Bell, Virgin has an option for customers to add a down payment of up to $720 for the phone, reducing the monthly financing cost accordingly.

Virgin’s plans start at $52/mo for the S21 FE.

You can learn more on Virgin’s website.

Freedom Mobile

Shaw-owned Freedom mobile has the Galaxy S21 FE available through its MyTab program and with a ‘TradeUp’ credit, which reduces the monthly cost of the phone if customers agree to return the phone to Freedom or pay back the TradeUp credit after two years.

  • MyTab: $0 down, $35/mo Tab on a $60/mo phone plan ($840 over two years)
  • MyTab with TradeUp: $0 down, $20/mo Tab on a $60/mo phone plan ($480 over two years plus $360 TradeUp credit if you keep the phone)
  • Outright: $1,128

You can learn more on Freedom’s website.

Shaw Mobile

Shaw Mobile also has the Galaxy S21 FE available for the following prices:

  • $0 down, $47/mo MyTab price on a $25/mo Unlimited plan ($1,128 over two years)
  • Outright: $1,228

It’s worth noting that phone and plan pricing at Shaw Mobile depends on which level of Shaw home internet you subscribe to. For example, the same plan as mentioned up top for customers that don’t have Shaw internet would cost $85/mo and the phone $38/mo.

You can learn more here.

Vidéotron

Vidéotron also has the S21 FE available with either regular monthly payments or the ‘Take-back’ program, which offers a monthly discount if customers return the phone after 24 months:

  • Regular: $0 down, $39.50/mo ($948 over two years)
  • Take-back: $0 down, $25.75/mo ($618 over two years plus $330 Take-back credit if you want to keep the phone)

You’ll also need a minimum $50/mo plan to go along with the phone. You can learn more here.

Eastlink

  • easyTab: $0 down, $40/mo for 24 months ($960 over two years)
  • Outright: $960

Plans start at $50/mo. Learn more on EastLink’s website.

SaskTel

  • Plus Pricing (save on device): $0 down, $20.83/mo with two-year Voice & Data plan ($499.92 over two years)
  • Plus Pricing (save on plan): $0 down, $39.58/mo with two-year Voice & Data plan ($949.92)
  • Two-year Voice & Data term: $499.99 upfront
  • Outright: $949.99

SaskTel’s primary option for buying a phone is ‘Plus Pricing,’ which lets customers get a phone for $0 upfront with any eligible two-year Voice & Data plan. However, the carrier offers Plus Pricing in two flavours — one with a discounted phone price and one with a $20/mo discount on your plan. If you’re going with SaskTel, it’s worth taking the time to figure out whether you benefit more from the flat $20/mo plan discount or the reduced phone price.

You can learn more here.

Image credit: Samsung

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Mobile Syrup

Instagram exploring feature that will allow users to rearrange photos on their profile grid

Woman browsing photos on social media app, person’s name on screen is made up

Instagram is developing a new feature that will allow users to rearrange photos on their profiles.

This is according to leaker Alessandro Paluzzi, who found the company was testing a new editing feature that changes the way photos appeared on a profile grid.

Screenshots Paluzzi posted to Twitter seem to show photos can simply be dragged and dropped in different orders.

As noted by Engadget, the tool could be especially useful for artists or businesses to highlight their recent work. Anyone looking to highlight specific photos on their personal profiles may also find this tool useful.

But it’s not clear if, and when, the tool will be available for use.

“This feature is an internal prototype that’s still in development, and not testing externally,” a Meta spokesperson told MobileSyrup.

The last insight into new developments the social media company gave was through a tweet was made in early December. While it addressed “new options” were in the works, there was no mention of users editing their profile grids. The focus was largely on the triumphant return of chronological feeds.

Image source: ShutterStock

Source: Engadget

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Mobile Syrup

Motorola’s 2021 flagship is currently $100 off

Motorola is kicking 2022 off with solid discounts on two of its 2021-released smartphones — The flagship Motorola Edge and the mid-range Motorola One 5G Ace.

Motorola Edge

The 2021 Motorola Edge runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 778G chipset and features a 5,000mAh battery. The variant currently on sale is the 256GB one, which is higher than the other 128GB variant.

The device sports a flat 6.8-inch FHD+ LCD display with a 144Hz refresh rate, and even though the phone’s name is Edge, the screen doesn’t extend all the way to the edges, making it a favourable option for people who dislike curved edges.

The Edge comes with a charger in the box and supports 30W TurboPower charging. The phone is IP52 water-resistant and runs Android 11 out of the box, though Android 12 should be available sometime this year.

On the rear end, the 2021 Edge offers a primary 108-megapixel shooter with an f/1.9 aperture. Next up is an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera with a 119-degree field of view (FOV). It also has Macro Vision if you want to take close-up shots, an f/2.2 aperture and a 1.12µm pixel size. Finally, the third camera is a 2-megapixel depth camera with an f/2.4 aperture and 1.12µm pixel size. On the front,  the device sports a 32-megapixel selfie camera with f/2.25 aperture, 0.7µm pixel size.

Normally available for $899.99, the 2021-released smartphone is currently available for $799.99 in the ‘Nebula Blue’ colourway and 256GB storage option.

Check out the listing here.

Motorola One 5G Ace

Motorola’s mid-tier One 5G Ace was unveiled alongside the Moto G Play and Moto G Power early in 2021. The device features a 6.7-inch 2400 x 1080 pixel resolution FHD+ display with a 20:9 aspect ratio powered by Qualcomm’s 750G 5G processor.

It sports a 5,000mAh battery and has 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage with a 48-megapixel triple camera setup. You can expand the storage as the device supports up to a 1 TB microSD card.

The Motorola One 5G Ace features a fingerprint reader for quick access and an in-box 10W charger for “rapid charging.”

Motorola is currently offering the 128GB model in the ‘Frosted Silver’ colourway for $449.99, down $50 from the regular $499.99 price tag.

Check out the listing here.

Image credit: Motorola

Source: Motorola

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Mobile Syrup

Motorola’s 2021 flagship is currently $100 off

Motorola is kicking 2022 off with solid discounts on two of its 2021-released smartphones — The flagship Motorola Edge and the mid-range Motorola One 5G Ace.

Motorola Edge

The 2021 Motorola Edge runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 778G chipset and features a 5,000mAh battery. The variant currently on sale is the 256GB one, which is higher than the other 128GB variant.

The device sports a flat 6.8-inch FHD+ LCD display with a 144Hz refresh rate, and even though the phone’s name is Edge, the screen doesn’t extend all the way to the edges, making it a favourable option for people who dislike curved edges.

The Edge comes with a charger in the box and supports 30W TurboPower charging. The phone is IP52 water-resistant and runs Android 11 out of the box, though Android 12 should be available sometime this year.

On the rear end, the 2021 Edge offers a primary 108-megapixel shooter with an f/1.9 aperture. Next up is an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera with a 119-degree field of view (FOV). It also has Macro Vision if you want to take close-up shots, an f/2.2 aperture and a 1.12µm pixel size. Finally, the third camera is a 2-megapixel depth camera with an f/2.4 aperture and 1.12µm pixel size. On the front,  the device sports a 32-megapixel selfie camera with f/2.25 aperture, 0.7µm pixel size.

Normally available for $899.99, the 2021-released smartphone is currently available for $799.99 in the ‘Nebula Blue’ colourway and 256GB storage option.

Check out the listing here.

Motorola One 5G Ace

Motorola’s mid-tier One 5G Ace was unveiled alongside the Moto G Play and Moto G Power early in 2021. The device features a 6.7-inch 2400 x 1080 pixel resolution FHD+ display with a 20:9 aspect ratio powered by Qualcomm’s 750G 5G processor.

It sports a 5,000mAh battery and has 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage with a 48-megapixel triple camera setup. You can expand the storage as the device supports up to a 1 TB microSD card.

The Motorola One 5G Ace features a fingerprint reader for quick access and an in-box 10W charger for “rapid charging.”

Motorola is currently offering the 128GB model in the ‘Frosted Silver’ colourway for $449.99, down $50 from the regular $499.99 price tag.

Check out the listing here.

Image credit: Motorola

Source: Motorola

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Motorola’s 2021 flagship is currently $100 off

Motorola is kicking 2022 off with solid discounts on two of its 2021-released smartphones — The flagship Motorola Edge and the mid-range Motorola One 5G Ace.

Motorola Edge

The 2021 Motorola Edge runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 778G chipset and features a 5,000mAh battery. The variant currently on sale is the 256GB one, which is higher than the other 128GB variant.

The device sports a flat 6.8-inch FHD+ LCD display with a 144Hz refresh rate, and even though the phone’s name is Edge, the screen doesn’t extend all the way to the edges, making it a favourable option for people who dislike curved edges.

The Edge comes with a charger in the box and supports 30W TurboPower charging. The phone is IP52 water-resistant and runs Android 11 out of the box, though Android 12 should be available sometime this year.

On the rear end, the 2021 Edge offers a primary 108-megapixel shooter with an f/1.9 aperture. Next up is an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera with a 119-degree field of view (FOV). It also has Macro Vision if you want to take close-up shots, an f/2.2 aperture and a 1.12µm pixel size. Finally, the third camera is a 2-megapixel depth camera with an f/2.4 aperture and 1.12µm pixel size. On the front,  the device sports a 32-megapixel selfie camera with f/2.25 aperture, 0.7µm pixel size.

Normally available for $899.99, the 2021-released smartphone is currently available for $799.99 in the ‘Nebula Blue’ colourway and 256GB storage option.

Check out the listing here.

Motorola One 5G Ace

Motorola’s mid-tier One 5G Ace was unveiled alongside the Moto G Play and Moto G Power early in 2021. The device features a 6.7-inch 2400 x 1080 pixel resolution FHD+ display with a 20:9 aspect ratio powered by Qualcomm’s 750G 5G processor.

It sports a 5,000mAh battery and has 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage with a 48-megapixel triple camera setup. You can expand the storage as the device supports up to a 1 TB microSD card.

The Motorola One 5G Ace features a fingerprint reader for quick access and an in-box 10W charger for “rapid charging.”

Motorola is currently offering the 128GB model in the ‘Frosted Silver’ colourway for $449.99, down $50 from the regular $499.99 price tag.

Check out the listing here.

Image credit: Motorola

Source: Motorola

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Mobile Syrup

Near-complete build of Horizon Forbidden West has leaked online

A playable and almost complete build of PlayStation’s Horizon Forbidden West has leaked online, over one month before the game releases to the public.

Images of what appears to be the PS4 version of the Guerilla Games-developed title began hitting the web earlier this week and have since been hit by copyright strikes by PlayStation. VideoGamesChronicle (VGC) also corroborates that the leaked build is indeed legitimate.

It’s unclear how this may have happened, but VGC reports that outside of some missing art assets, the leaked build contains the “entire core content” of the game. Therefore, those looking forward to Forbidden West may want to tread lightly online for spoilers, perhaps even by muting Twitter keywords related to the game. Forbidden West is one of the two major confirmed first-party PlayStation games for the year alongside Sony Santa Monica’s God of War: Ragnarok.

This isn’t the first time a major PlayStation game has suffered a leak. In 2020, significant story beats from Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II had leaked months before the game ended up releasing. One of the developer’s earlier games, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, also leaked a couple of weeks early in 2016.

The Last of Us leak was reportedly due to a hacker exploiting a vulnerability that granted access to a server, while Uncharted 4 leaks surfaced early due to physical copies of the game getting stolen in the U.K. It’s unclear whether something similar to either situation may have happened with Horizon Forbidden West.

Horizon Forbidden West is set to release on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on February 18th. Little has been revealed about the game’s plot, but we do know the game follows huntress Aloy as she journeys to a mysterious frontier to find the source of a deadly plague. Some of Forbidden West‘s new gameplay features include explorable underwater areas, enhanced melee combat and a Breath of the Wild-esque ‘Shieldwing’ hang glider.

Image credit: PlayStation

Source: VGC