Might be time to jazz up your new, or recently newly purchased iPhone or Android device with a slick case. Amazon Canada has dropped the prices of select OtterBox cases by up to 66 percent.
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Every week, MobileSyrup outlines some of the most notable movies and TV shows that recently hit Canadian streaming platforms.
Our ‘Streaming in Canada’ column typically focuses on new content from Amazon Prime Video, Crave and Netflix, but other services like Apple TV+ and Disney+ will be mentioned when relevant.
We’ll also highlight shows or movies that are made by Canadian companies, involve notable Canadian cast or crew and/or are filmed in Canada.
Amazon Prime Video
Harlem [Amazon Original]
A group of 30-something Black best friends navigates careeers and relationships in Harlem, New York City.
Created by Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip), Harlem stars Meagan Good (Deception), Grace Byers (Empire), Shoniqua Shandai (Bodied) and Jerrie Johnson (Good Trouble).
Amazon Prime Video Canada premiere date: December 3rd, 2021 Genre: Drama Runtime: 10 episodes (30 to 37 minutes each)
An Amazon Prime Video subscription is included at no additional cost with an Amazon Prime membership, which costs $79 CAD/year.
The full list of movies and shows hitting Amazon Prime Video Canada this month can be found here. Additionally, click here to find out what’s coming to the service this month.
Apple TV+
Mariah’s Christmas — The Magic Continues [Apple Original]
After getting poached by Amazon on Christmas Eve, North Pole elf Candy Smalls vies for the role of the first female Santa Claus.
Santa, Inc. was created by Alexandra Rushfield (Parks & Recreation) and features the voices of Sarah Silverman (The Sarah Silverman Program), Vancouver’s own Seth Rogen (Superbad) and Leslie Grossman (American Horror Story).
Crave/HBO Max premiere date: December 2nd, 2021 Genre: Music documentary Runtime: Eight episodes (22 to 26 minutes each)
Police come into conflict with Navy and British security services over an investigation into a conspiracy spanning land and sea.
Vigil was created by Tom Edge (Lovesick) and stars Suranne Jones (Coronation Street), Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones) and Shaun Evans (Endeavour).
Original TV broadcast run: August to September 2021 (BBC One in the U.K.)
Crave premiere date: December 5th, 2021 (first two episodes, two new episodes every Sunday) Genre: Police procedural Runtime: Six episodes (around one hour each)
A standard Crave subscription is priced at $19.99/month, with Starz costing an additional $5.99/month. A mobile-only subscription is also available for $9.99/month.
The full list of movies and shows hitting Crave this month can be found here. Additionally, click here to find out what’s coming to the service this month.
Disney+
Diary of a Wimpy Kid [Disney+ Original]
Greg struggles to get through middle school to achieve his big dreams of being rich and famous.
Based on Jeff Kinney’s Wimpy Kid books, Diary of Wimpy Kid was directed by Swinton Scott (The Simpsons) and features the voices of Brady Noon (The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers), Ethan William Childress (Mixed-Ish) and Toronto’s Chris Diamantopoulos (The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse).
In the final season, the Robinsons race to reunite and protect Alpha Centauri from a robot invasion.
Lost in Space is based on the 1965 series of the same name and stars Maple Ridge, B.C.’s Molly Parker (House of Cards), Toby Stephens (Black Sails), Maxwell Jenkins (Sense8) and Vancouver’s Taylor Russell (Waves). It’s worth noting that the series was filmed in Vancouver.
Netflix Canada premiere date: December 1st, 2021 Genre: Sci-fi Runtime: Eight episodes (39 to 58 minutes each)
A rancher intimidates his brother’s new wife and her teenaged son until old secrets surface.
Based on Thomas Savage’s 1967 novel of the same name, The Power of the Dog was written and directed by Jane Campion (The Piano) and stars Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game), Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia), Jesse Plemons (Fargo) and Kodi Smit-McPhee (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes).
Netflix Canada premiere date: December 1st, 2021 Genre: Western drama Runtime: 2 hours, 6 minutes
The full list of movies and shows that hit Netflix Canada in November can be found here. Additionally, click here to find out what’s coming to the service this month.
Premium video on demand (PVOD)
Dune
Paul, the heir to the royal House Atreides, is burdened with a great destiny that leads him to get caught up in a war on a dangerous planet.
Based on Frank Herbert’s series of novels of the same name, Dune was co-written and directed by Bécancour, Quebec’s own Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049) and features an ensemble cast that includes Timothée Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name), Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis), Rebecca Ferguson (Doctor Sleep), Josh Brolin (Sicario) and Stellan Skarsgård (Chernobyl).
Facebook Messenger will start testing a handy feature to help people slit bills next week, but only in the U.S.
Meta (formerly Facebook) announced the feature in a blog post rounding out the year. Dubbed ‘Split Payments,’ Meta describes it as a handy way to split up payments through a group chat using Messenger. Here’s how it works:
“To use Split Payments, click the “Get Started” button in a group chat or the Payments Hub in Messenger. From there, you can split a bill evenly or modify the contribution amount for each individual — with or without yourself included. After entering a personalized message and confirming your Facebook Pay details, your request will be sent and viewable in your group chat thread.”
Overall, it looks like a handy feature for tackling group payments for things like eating out at a restaurant, paying rent, or other group activities. Of course, you’ll need everyone to use Facebook Pay and Messenger to make this work — if your friend group is anything like mine, that might be hard to pull off.
It’s a bit of a bummer that Split Payments will be U.S.-exclusive at launch, but hopefully that means Meta can work out all the kinks before expanding it to other countries.
Meta’s blog post also detailed new additions to Messenger’s ‘Group Effects’ for video calls. You can check out the full post here.
Halo Infinite’s multiplayer has been an absolute blast, despite several legitimate criticisms from players. (Master) Chief among them is the inability to select specific game modes — thankfully, that should change soon.
Currently, Infinite runs on a ‘playlist’ composed of various game modes, like Capture The Flag, Slayer (the games deathmatch mode), Oddball and others. While having a random playlist isn’t an issue, the lack of dedicated playlists for specific modes has been a point of frustration for Infinite players.
Let's talk about Halo Infinite playlists! We've been reading your feedback, and we're working on plans to add Fiesta, Tactical Slayer (SWAT), and Free-For-All playlists as we speak. They won't land by Dec 8, but the team is pushing to get them in before the end of year 👊
It’s made worse by the game’s contentious battle pass system, which requires players to complete specific challenges to make progress. Some challenges require people to play specific game modes — with a randomized playlist, those can be frustrating to complete.
343 Industries’ community manager, John Junyszek, tweeted on Friday that the team was working on a Social Slayer playlist, along with adding other popular game modes and playlists from past Halo titles, such as ‘Fiesta,’ ‘Tactical Slayer (SWAT),’ and ‘Free-For-All.’
A Social Slayer playlist (with multiple variations) is also in the works (we see this request the most), but we won't be able to get that one ready until after the holidays. We hope you can understand and enjoy the ones that make it in before the team takes a well-deserved break!
Junyszek notes that the changes won’t go live by December 8th — when Infinite’s campaign goes live — but the team is working to get the changes out before the holidays. However, the Social Slayer playlist won’t be ready until next year.
So far, 343 has generally done a great job listening to players, communicating plans and implementing changes to address criticisms. For example, 343 added a new, always-available ‘Play 1 Game‘ challenge and later increased the amount of XP given for the first six matches played in a day. Both changes were implemented to address concerns with the battle pass, which players felt took too long to progress due to restrictive challenges and low XP rewards.
Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers in Canada can get free Disney+ as part of an ongoing deal.
Spotted by MobileSyrup’s Patrick O’Rourke, Amazon appears to be advertising the offer on Instagram. However, you can also claim it by heading to this webpage.
New Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers can claim up to six months of Disney+, while current and former Music Unlimited subscribers can claim up to three months of Disney+. The fine print notes that current Disney+ subscribers aren’t eligible for the offer.
Amazon Music Unlimited costs $9.99/mo ($7.99/mo for Prime Members) and Disney+ costs $11.99/mo. Even if you don’t care for Amazon Music Unlimited, you can effectively sign up to get Disney+ for $9.99/mo for the first six months since it’s free with the $9.99 Amazon subscription.
With Covid-related supply-chain shortages affecting holiday shopping, it’s a good idea to finish up as early as possible. And Best Buy’s making it easy with daily batches of holiday deals.
Today’s discounts feature some hefty discounts on everything from e-bikes to luggage. Check out the full list below:
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Raven Software, a studio that worked on Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone, reportedly laid off about a third of its contract quality assurance (QA) testers, or about a dozen people. However, more could follow.
Raven’s parent company, Activision Blizzard, previously reported that Cold Warbrought in $3 billion USD (about $3.85 billion CAD) for the company in 2020.
The news comes via reports from Kotaku and The Washington Post(via The Verge), which said team members were called into individual meetings to be told whether they’ll still have a job come January 28th. Previously, Raven’s owner Activision Blizzard had promised team members raises following a pay restructure. Unfortunately, that may still be the case — workers who keep their jobs will reportedly see a pay jump from $17 USD an hour to $18.50 an hour (about $21.83 to $23.75 CAD).
Anonymous Raven contractors said to the Post that they were told “You did nothing wrong” after being let go.
Worse, employee advocacy group ‘A Better ABK’ said on Twitter that many employees moved to Wisconsin for the job and did so without assistance from Activision Blizzard.
Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier shared in a tweet that some contractors he spoke with said they won’t know their status until next week. The studio’s developers reportedly learned of the layoffs via word of mouth instead of through an official announcement.
Activision Blizzard has a pattern of laying off workers amid booming business. For example, the company laid off around eight percent of its employees after CEO Bobby Kotick revealed its 2018 financial results were the best in its history. In 2021, the company laid off around 50 employees just months before Kotick received $155 million USD (about $199 million CAD) following a shareholder vote. The 50 employees that the company laid off received three months’ severance and $200 Battle.net gift cards. In 2021, Activision published Call of Duty: Vanguard, made by Sledgehammer Games — it was reportedly the second-largest game launch in 2021.
Koodo is reportedly offering customers 5GB of free bonus data once again.
According to a screenshot of a text message from Koodo sent to our friends over at iPhone In Canada, the Telus flanker brand is showing its “appreciation” to customers with the 5GB offer. You can read the full text below:
“Koodo: Hi, [redacted]. Thanks for sticking with Koodo! To show our appreciation, we added 5GB of bonus monthly data to your account, for no additional cost. Check out this gift by logging into Self-Serve at http://koo.do/selfserve. It will stay on until you change your plan or upgrade your phone. ‘But Koodo,’ you ask, ‘why are you doing this?’ Consider it a random act of happiness. Conditions apply. You’re included on the list for Koodo offers and deals. To be excluded, reply ‘unsubscribe’ or visit [redacted].”
Notably, the message notes that the bonus data will stick on users’ accounts until they change their plan or upgrade their phone. In other words, you should be able to hold onto the bonus data for a while if you don’t plan on changing either your plan or phone soon.
Koodo 5GB bonus data message and the add-on as seen in Self Serve | Image credit: iPhone in Canada
Speaking of, I checked the RedFlagDeals thread from that Koodo Black Friday offer and found a new post from user ‘Kymera’ on December 2nd that noted they received the 5GB bonus offer and that it was still on. Kymera wrote that they had recently moved to the $50/mo 12GB plan Koodo offered during Black Friday. Interestingly, Kymera also said they signed up for the Public Mobile Black Friday promotion with the same email they used for Koodo and received the 5GB bonus text shortly after. They wrote that they did the Public Mobile deal for a family member, but now wonders if Koodo sent the 5GB bonus to dissuade them from switching to a cheaper Public plan.
Regardless, if you’re a Koodo subscriber, you may want to keep an eye out for a text message from the carrier (or even head straight to your Koodo Self Serve account to check for the offer).
As part of Geofff Keighley’s Game Awards, ID@Xbox is launching its ‘Winter Game Fest Demo’ event. The event runs from December 7th to December 21st and allows gamers to play more than 35 demos of upcoming unreleased games for the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.
According to Xbox, these games are akin to “show floor demos” of titles that may not be out for quite some time.
Xbox will announce the full list of games closer to December 7th, but here are some of the games Microsoft has revealed so far:
Loot River: Set in a series of procedurally generated labyrinths, Loot River is a dungeon crawling, action roguelike that combines the tense, real-time combat, and dark fantasy stylings of Dark Souls with the spatial block-shifting puzzles of Tetris.
Death Trash: Featuring a post-apocalyptic world where cosmic horrors long for humanity but are meet by punks with shotguns. It combines old-school role-playing, modern action gameplay, and player freedom. Create your own character and explore this unique handcrafted world.
Blacktail: A retelling of Baba Yaga’s origin story set in surreal, grim Slavic folklore. A one-of-a-kind blend of exploration and intense archery combat with dark storytelling. Become a fearsome guardian of the forest or the terror nightmares are based on.
The Tail of Bistun: A story-driven action-adventure game inspired by the 12th Century tragic poem “Khosrow and Shirin.” You play as a stone carver who wakes on Mount Bistun with no memory of anything before that moment. An insidious blight has spread, bringing forth many dangerous foes. You must battle through mythical enemies and travel between the real world and an ethereal place of forgotten memories to discover the secret of your past.
Nobody Saves the World: Complete quests to discover and swap between more than 15 varied and distinct forms. Mix and match abilities to unlock and complete even more challenging quests while exploring a vast overworld and its extensive dungeons, either solo or with a friend online, to stop The Calamity and save the world
Huawei is reportedly planning to reveal a new clamshell foldable smartphone on December 23rd, according to a Weibo tipster.
The rumoured Mate V foldable handset will lead the upcoming event, but Huawei says it will also reveal new TVs, laptops and a new smart band.
According to previous leaks and patent filings, the Mate V Flip will sport a new hinge design and feature a unique heat pipe designed for the foldable. It’s unclear if this foldable smartphone, in particular, will feature the flexible heat pipe.
Huawei likely aims for the Mate V to be a direct competitor to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 3.
That said, without access to Google’s Play Store, it’s unlikely we’ll see the Mate V release in Canada.
