Author: Mobile Syrup

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Suspected thieves caught after Tesla getaway car needed charging

Two alleged thieves were caught by police after stealing over $8,000 in electronics from a local Sam’s Club in Buford, Georgia.

As shared by Insider, the two thieves were caught roughly 16km away from the location of the heist. How were they caught so quickly? They had to stop to charge their getaway Tesla.

The stolen items, as reported by the Gwinnett County Police Twitter feed, included electric toothbrushes, gaming systems, guns, a Gibson guitar, bullets, and a significant amount of marijuana.

Witnesses to the robbery alerted police officers that the pair had fled in a Tesla, and the description was simultaneously broadcasted to other officers in the area. They were soon apprehended.

This is not the first time that Tesla technology has thwarted the escape attempts of thieves. In 2019, an Arizona woman reportedly stole a Tesla, but it ran out of battery during her escape, while back in 2015, a Canadian Tesla owner used location tracking to assist RCMP in finding their stolen vehicle.

Source: Insider

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Apple is reportedly working on a HomePod with a 7-inch display

Apple might be looking to compete against the likes of Google and Amazon, as a new report suggests the tech giant is working on a HomePod with a built-in display.

According to well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the Cupertino-based company is working on a HomePod with a display for a 2024 release. Kuo’s report is based on third-party supply chain companies such as Tianma, a Chinese display maker.

This HomePod will reportedly look very different than existing HomePods as it sports a 7-inch display and likely resembles Google’s Nest Hub or Amazon’s Echo Show.

Kuo indicates that Apple is focusing on more smart home devices due to ‘Matter,’ the latest smart home standard. This rumoured HomePod will reportedly work with Matter, similar to the HomePod 2nd-Gen.

It’s possible this smart display will offer the same interface as the iPad, allowing the HomePod with a display to run iPad apps.

Source: Ming-Chi Kuo Via: TechCrunch

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Apple Music Classical brings Mozart to your iPhone on March 28

‘Apple Music Classical,’ Apple’s standalone app for classical music, launches on March 28th as part of its Apple Music subscription.

Anyone on the ‘Individual,’ ‘Student,’ ‘Family’ or ‘Apple One’ plan will get access to the app.

At launch, Apple Music Classical will be available on all iPhones that run iOS 15.4 or later. Further, an Android version of the app is”coming soon.”

Apple says the Music Classical’s catalogue offers more than five million tracks, from “celebrated masterpieces” to new releases and includes thousands of exclusive albums, the ability to search by composer, work, conductor and even catalogue number.

The platform offers up to 192kHz/24-bit Hi-Res Lossless audio alongside spatial audio. Apple says the app features complete and accurate metadata, so you know what work and artist is playing.

The tech giant is also working with classical music artists and renowned classical music institutions worldwide to offer Apple Music Classical listeners new unique, and exclusive content.

Back in August 2021, Apple acquired classical music streaming service Primephonic, but quickly shuttered it in order to release its own app.

You can check out the Apple Music Classical trailer here.

Image credit: Apple

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Weird Pixel 7 series camera bug won’t save zoom photos

Google’s Pixel phones have a bit of a reputation for being buggy, though the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro have been less buggy than their predecessors. Less buggy doesn’t mean no bugs at all, however.

The latest bug plaguing Pixel 7 series devices is a bit of a head-scratcher: the phones won’t save close-up pictures captured in low light with the flash on at zoom levels between 2-5x. If that sounds oddly specific, well, you’re right.

Reddit user ‘u/MintySkyhawk‘ posted a video of the bug in action (via Android Police). MintySkyhawk was trying to take close-up pictures of his PC internals with a Pixel 7 Pro’s 5x periscope lens and noticed the photos weren’t being saved to his phone.

Another user responded that they were able to replicate the issue, and Android Police says it could replicate the problem on both a Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, including on one running Android 13 QPR2 and Android 14 DP2. In my testing, I couldn’t reliably replicate the bug on my Pixel 7, but it did happen to me a few times.

Based on details shared on Reddit, it seems the bug is related to the Google Camera app and, more specifically, likely a glitch with the app’s HDR. Outside of the specific circumstances listed above, Pixel 7 and 7 Pro devices seem to be taking photos just fine. My tests, as well as Android Police’s testing, used Google Camera version 8.7.250.494820638.44.

Hopefully, Google will get around to fixing this particular bug sooner rather than later. It’s a real strange one, though, so it might take a while to get it fixed. In the meantime, I guess avoid taking zoom pictures with the flash on, and when you do, always check to make sure it saves.

Source: Reddit Via: Android Police

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Mobile Syrup

Toronto-based Wattpad lays off 16 percent of its workforce

Online writing platform Wattpad has laid off 42 employees.

The Toronto-based organization lets users write original stories that others can read.

The team had 267 members before the company’s interim president, KB Nam, announced layoff details in a blog post on March 8th. Wattpad blames the changes on difficult economic conditions.

“The global economic reality over the past year has fundamentally changed — and like other businesses, we are not immune,” Nam wrote. “After nearly doubling the size of our teams, it’s now clear that we need to recalibrate based on our current business needs and realities.”

Nam says the company will support impacted employees as it continues to focus on its users. “Practically speaking, going forward, this means we are going to be relentlessly focused on serving the needs of our writers.”

Wattpad isn’t the only company laying off employees. Meta will soon proceed with its own round of layoffs. Google, Spotify, and Twitter are the many other companies that laid off employees in the past months.

Image credit: Shutterstock 

Source: Wattpad

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Mobile Syrup

Here are the big Canadian Nintendo Switch deals for MAR10 Day

It’s March 10th, so that also means it’s MAR10 Day (“Mario Day”).

To celebrate, Nintendo is running a slew of promotions on all things Mario, including deals on a Switch bundle and games. These are offered at a variety of retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, The Source and Walmart.

Retailer deals

  • Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze — $54.99 (regularly $79.99)
  • Luigi’s Mansion 3 — $54.99 (regularly $79.99)
  • Mario Kart 8 Deluxe — $54.99 (regularly $79.99)
  • Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit — $89.99 (regularly $129.99)
  • Mario Party Superstars — $54.99 (regularly $79.99)
  • Nintendo Switch console with red Joy-Cons — $399.99 with your choice of a free $79.99 downloadable game (Super Mario
  • Odyssey, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe)
  • Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury — $54.99 (regularly $79.99)
  • Super Mario Odyssey — $54.99 (regularly $79.99)
  • Yoshi’s Crafted World — $54.99 (regularly $79.99)

Nintendo eShop deals

If you prefer to buy digital games, there are also deals on the Switch’s eShop. Note: Wave 1 of the promotion runs from March 10th to 23rd, while Wave 2’s offers (which haven’t yet been revealed but include Mario Kart 8 Deluxe) will kick off on March 24th.

Here’s Wave 1:

More information on MAR10 Day celebrations can be found here. In related news, the final trailer for The Super Mario Bros. Movie dropped earlier this week.

Image credit: Nintendo

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Mobile Syrup

Koodo’s $65/30GB plan now available for $55/mo

The Big Three flanker brands, Koodo, Fido and Virgin Plus, have been locked in a pricing struggle over the last couple of weeks. Now, Koodo’s upping the ante by matching Virgin’s $55/mo 30GB plan.

For context, Virgin rolled out a $10/mo discount for 24 months for people who sign up for two of its plans online, the $60/20GB and $65/30GB plan. Both Koodo and Fido matched the discount for the 20GB plan, bringing the price down to $50/mo, but Virgin remained supreme with the $55/30GB offer.

However, a recent update to Koodo’s website lists the $65/30GB plan as having the same $10/mo credit for 24 months, bringing it down to $55 as well.

Koodo’s $65/30GB plan with a $10/mo credit on March 10th, 2023

That leaves Fido as the only one without a $55/30GB offer (at least for now).

The current $10/mo discount offer is being applied to plans that already received a double data bonus. Late last month, Koodo, Virgin and then Fido rolled out extra data on these plans, bumping the $60 plan from 10GB to 20GB, and the $65 plan from 15GB to 30GB. It’s not clear how long these deals will stick around, but if you can save $10/mo and get double the data, you should try and take advantage of the offer.

Moreover, Koodo and Virgin just increased roaming costs. In response, Fido is offering one day of free roaming to customers.

You can check out Koodo’s plans here.

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Mobile Syrup

Where to watch the 2023 Oscars in Canada

The biggest night in Hollywood is upon us.

On Sunday, March 12th at 8pm ET/5pm PT, the 95th Academy Awards will be held live in Los Angeles. Late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel is back as host for a third time.

How to watch in Canada

As in previous years, Bell has the exclusive Canadian rights to air the Oscars. Therefore, the show will air on the media giant’s CTV network.

This means that in addition to the CTV channel on TV, you can tune in via CTV.ca and the CTV app on Android, iOS and connected TV devices.

Etalk, Bell’s entertainment news program, will also have pre-show red carpet coverage on their Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube channels.

The nominees

The 10 movies up for the highly coveted Best Picture are:

  • All Quiet on the Western Front
  • Avatar: The Way of Water
  • The Banshees of Inisherin
  • Elvis
  • Everything Everywhere All at Once
  • The Fabelmans
  • Tár
  • Top Gun: Maverick
  • Triangle of Sadness
  • Women Talking

It’s worth noting that two of those were directed by Canadians — Avatar: The Way of Water (Kapuskasing, Ontario’s James Cameron) and Women Talking (Toronto’s Sarah Polley).

Additionally, The Whale stars Toronto’s Brendan Fraser (up for Best Lead Actor), while two of the Best Animated Picture nominees are Turning Red (co-written and directed by Toronto’s Domee Shi) and The Sea Beast (directed by Waterloo, Ontario’s Chris Williams).

The full list of nominees can be found here.

The presenters

Some of the big names taking to the stage to hand out awards include:

  • Deepika Padukone
  • Donnie Yen
  • Elizabeth Olsen
  • Emily Blunt
  • Florence Pugh
  • Harrison Ford
  • Jessica Chastain
  • Jonathan Majors
  • Michael B. Jordan
  • Nicole Kidman
  • Pedro Pascal
  • Samuel L. Jackson
  • Zoe Saldaña

The full list of presenters can be found here.

The performers

Lenny Kravitz will headline the “In Memoriam” segment, while Rihanna will sing her Oscar-nominated “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

On a more upbeat note, Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava are set to perform their fan-favourite song, “Naatu Naatu,” from the breakout Indian film, RRR.

The full list of performers can be found here.

Who are you rooting for to win? Will A24 darling Everything Everywhere All At Once sweep the awards as some are predicting? Are you also (justifiably) upset that the cinematic masterpiece that is RRR didn’t get more recognition? Let us know in the comments.

Image credit: A24

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Best Buy’s PC Gaming sale is live now

Best Buy Canada’s ‘PC Gaming Sale’ is live now with incredible deals on gaming desktops, laptops, headsets, keyboards, and other PC essentials.

The sale runs from Friday, March 10th, until Thursday, March 16th. Check out deals from the promotion below:

HP Victus 15-inch Gaming Laptop – Mica Silver (Intel Core i5-12500H/512GB SSD/16GB RAM/RTX 3050/Windows 11): $999.99 (save $200)

ASUS ROG Strix G15 15.6-inch Gaming Laptop (AMD Ryzen 7 4800H/512GB SSD/16GB RAM/GeForce RTX 3050/Win 11): $1,199.99 (save $100)

MSI Crosshair 15.6-inch Gaming Laptop (Intel Core i9-12900H/1TB SSD/32GB RAM/GeForce RTX 3070/Windows 11): $1,799.99 (save $300)

MSI Raider GE66 15.6-inch Gaming Laptop – Blue (Intel Core i9-12900H/1TB SSD/16GB RAM/RTX 3070 Ti/Win 11): $1,899.99 (save $400)

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G15 15.6-inch Gaming Laptop (AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS/512GB SSD/16GB RAM/RTX 3060/Win 11): $1,799.99 (save $100)

Lenovo Legion Gaming PC – Raven Black (Intel Core i7-12700/1TB SSD/16GB RAM/NVIDIA RTX 3060): $1,699.99 (save $200)

Acer Predator Orion Gaming PC (Intel Ci7-12700F/1TB HDD/512GB SSD/16GB RAM/RTX 3060/Win 11): $1,799.99 (save $200)

MSI Infinite RS Gaming PC (Intel Core i7-13700KF/2TB SSD/32GB RAM/RTX 4090/Windows 11) – English: $5,499.99 (save $500)

BenQ MOBIUZ 48-inch UHD 120Hz 0.1ms GTG OLED FreeSync Gaming Monitor (EX480UZ): $2,029 (save $270)

LG UltraGear 31.5-inch 1440p WQHD 165Hz 1ms GTG IPS LED FreeSync Gaming Monitor (32GP83B-B): $479.99 (save $170)

Razer Ornata Chroma Backlit Mechanical Mecha-Membrane Gaming Keyboard – English: $49.99 (save $50)

SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Backlit Mechanical OmniPoint Gaming Keyboard: $169.99 (save $70)

Razer Viper Ultimate Wireless Optical Gaming Mouse with Charging Dock – Mercury: $99.99 (save $100)

Logitech G Pro Backlit Mechanical GX Blue Clicky Gaming Keyboard – English: $129.99 (save $40)

NETGEAR Orbi Tri-Band AX6000 Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi 6 System (RBK853-100CNS) – 3 Pack: $999.99 (save $200)

Samsung T7 2TB USB 3.2 External Solid State Drive (MU-PC2T0T/AM) – Grey: $199.99 (save $90)

Samsung T7 Shield 1TB USB 3.2 External Solid State Drive (MU-PE1T0S/AM) – Black: $129.99 (save $25)

Samsung 870 EVO 1TB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (MZ-77E1T0B/AM): $109.99 (save $35)

ASUS ROG Strix Z690-A Gaming Wi-Fi D4 ATX LGA 1700 Motherboard: $359.99 (save $70)

Corsair RM850X 850-Watt ATX Modular Power Supply: $159.99 (save $20)

Corsair RM 1000-Watt ATX Modular Power Supply: $239.99 (save $20)

AKRacing Core EX SE Ergonomic Fabric Gaming Chair – Carbon Black: $419.99 (save $130)

Find all ‘PC Gaming Sale’ deals here.

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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Ubisoft, Behaviour among companies joining major Canadian gaming conference

XP Gaming has revealed the first round of partners for its major upcoming Canadian video game event, the XP Game Developer Summit.

The conference will be held on April 20th and 21st at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto, and some of the confirmed attendees include Ubisoft, Behaviour Interactive, Certain Affinity, AMD, Amazon AWS and Gameloft. Altogether, more than a dozen publishers and international investors are expected to be at the show.

While Canada is the third-largest country in the world for game development, there aren’t many national events to represent the $5.5 billion industry, outside of the likes of MIGS in Montreal and Reboot Developer Red in Banff. To help support the local games sector, XP Gaming Summit is planning a variety of programming, including:

  • Targeted networking provided by MeetToMatch
  • Global business networking with studios and publishers
  • A large game showcase
  • Business lounge
  • Esports lounge
  • Business and technical dedicated panels

Additionally, XP Gaming has partnered with the Level Up Showcase, an April 19th event to spotlight Ontario-made student games; Interactive Ontario’s IO Connect Evening Networking Mixer on April 20th and the Canadian Game Awards on April 20th and 21st.

Those interested in attending the XP Game Developer Summit can learn more here. Tickets start at $60.

Image credit: XP Gaming

Source: XP Gaming