Author: Mobile Syrup

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Mobile Syrup

Musk delays Tesla Full Self-Driving beta release over ‘last minute concerns’

Earlier this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter that the company’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta would release to about 1,000 people. Musk has now backtracked, citing “last minute concerns about this build.”

Instead of releasing on Friday as expected, Musk tweeted Saturday morning that the FSD beta would roll out “likely on Sunday or Monday” instead.

Tesla’s FSD software was set to roll out to roughly 1,000 people who met the company’s safety requirements. The company determines drivers’ ‘safety score’ via data collected by sensors built into Tesla vehicles. Initially, the FSD beta would roll out to those with a perfect safety score (100 points out of 100 total), followed by a gradual rollout to those with scores of 99/100 and below.

Tesla launched the safety score system alongside the ability for vehicle owners to request FSD beta access. The idea appears to be that safe drivers — as determined by Tesla — will be able to better handle testing FSD, which requires driver supervision.

It’s worth noting that FSD does not make Tesla vehicles fully autonomous. Musk previously said that the feature-complete version will “likely” be able to drive someone from their home to work without intervention, and will still require supervision.

Musk did not elaborate on what the “concerns” were with the FSD beta build that delayed the rollout. Ultimately, I’m not surprised to see a delay.

Source: Elon Musk (Twitter) Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Internal Rogers power struggle failed to oust CEO Joe Natale: report

Toronto-based national carrier Rogers saw a dramatic power struggle that ended with the abrupt departure of chief financial officer (CFO) Tony Staffieri as company chairperson Edward Rogers tried unsuccessfully to unseat CEO Joe Natale.

The Globe and Mail details the full saga (which is well worth the read) based on information from sources within the company. The Globe did not identify the sources since they’re not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

According to the report, tensions between Staffieri and Natale brewed for years. Staffieri joined Rogers in 2012 and developed a close relationship with the company’s chairperson. Further, Staffieri reportedly had ambitions to become the CEO and frequently butted heads with Natale about the company’s strategic direction.

After returning from the company’s most recent Christmas break, Natale allegedly began searching for a new CFO to replace Staffieri — a search interrupted by Rogers’ proposed acquisition of Shaw Communications, which happened in March. At the same time, Edward Rogers reportedly was trying to remove Natale from the CEO position and transition Staffieri into it. Rogers was also reportedly working to replace other members of the executive team, many of which were loyal to Natale.

The sources claim an emergency board meeting was held on September 26th. Melinda Hixon-Rogers, deputy chair of the company and Rogers’ sister, reportedly opposed Rogers’ plan — the overwhelming majority of the board backed Natale and his team. Staffieri’s departure came three days later.

In a statement to The Globe, a Rogers company spokesperson said:

“As with any similar transition, the recent CFO change was voted on and approved by the majority of the board of directors. The majority of the board has full confidence in Joe’s leadership and strategic vision for Rogers as we look forward to the transformational combination of Rogers and Shaw and continue to focus on delivering long-term value for our customers and shareholders.”

The Globe also detailed the company’s ongoing struggle with executive turnover — that alone is worth taking the time to read if internal politics at Rogers is at all interesting to you.

Industry analysts told The Globe that Staffieri’s departure in the midst of the Shaw acquisition was strange and unexpected. The proposed acquisition still requires approval from several regulatory bodies, including the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), Ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) and the Competition Bureau.

Source: The Globe and Mail

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Federal government drops surprise restrictions on 5G service near airports

Canadians living near airports may have a hard time getting 5G service thanks to a surprise announcement from the federal government.

The feds announced new restrictions on 5G service near most major airports over concerns of possible interference between the radio waves — called spectrum — used in 5G communications and certain aviation navigation tools. According to the Toronto Star, radio altimeters on aircraft operate on the 4,200 to 4,400 megahertz (MHz) frequency band, which is near the recently-auctioned 3,500MHz spectrum considered crucial to mid-band (or Sub-6) 5G.

Using Toronto’s Pearson Airport as an example, the restrictions banning 5G base stations cover a large area around the runways themselves. Moreover, restrictions covering two long stretches from Etobicoke to Brampton and from Downsview to Mississauga will limit power use, which can affect network performance. A map from the Star shows the restricted areas.

Restriction 5G areas around Pearson (Source: Toronto Star)

The Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) said on August 6th that it would hold a brief consultation before applying the restrictions around airports where planes are permitted to use automated landing.

The Star also detailed comments from carriers that are, unsurprisingly, upset about the restrictions. Telus was among the most vocal and claimed the restrictions reduced the $2 billion value of 3,500MHz spectrum it acquired at the recent auction by about $100 million. Telus also claims the government’s restrictions are more drastic than precautions taken in other countries.

For example, U.S. regulators determined a guard band of 220MHz would be “sufficient” to protect aviation industry needs. Further, Telus claims Australia and Japan implemented guard zones of 200MHz and 100MHz respectively. The Canadian government, however, proposed a buffer zone between 550MHz and 700MHz.

In an email statement to the Star, ISED says it issued a bulletin in March, well before the spectrum auction, committing to study the issue. The bulletin also warned that the government may develop rules for 5G operation in the new spectrum band.

Although the carriers may gripe about the limitations, Canadians living in regions covered by the new restrictions will also lose out, especially if they’ve already upgraded to a new 5G-capable device in anticipation of the 3,500MHz rollout.

Source: Toronto Star

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Mobile Syrup

Freedom offering iPhone 12 for $600 over two years with $50/mo plan

If you want to buy an iPhone but aren’t hankering for the pricey new iPhone 13, Freedom may have a deal for you.

The Shaw-owned regional carrier currently has the iPhone 12 available for a pretty good price. The 64GB model of the iPhone 12 is available for $0 upfront with a $25/mo Tab charge for 24 months on a minimum $50 plan. In other words, you can get the iPhone 12 for about $600 total over two years.

If 64GB isn’t enough for you, Freedom also offers the 128GB iPhone 12 for $0 upfront on a $35/mo Tab ($840 over two years) with a minimum $40 plan. That’s not as good of a deal, however.

As for plan options, Freedom currently offers two types of plans — ‘Unlimited’ and ‘Freedom.’ The main difference between the two is that Unlimited plans let people use data beyond their data cap, but at a reduced speed.

Another difference more relevant to this iPhone deal: Freedom plans are the only ones with a $50/mo option. In other words, if you want the deal exactly as advertised, you’ll need the Freedom 5GB + 10GB Bonus plans, which costs $50/mo after the $5 ‘Digital Discount.’

Alternatively, those who want more data (or “unlimited” data) can get one of the Unlimited plans, which start at $60/mo for 10GB + 7GB Bonus with the $5 Digital Discount. It’s also worth noting that if customers grab one of the $75/mo or higher plans, the iPhone 12 Tab cost drops $5 to $20/mo ($480 over two years). While a better phone cost, you’d also end up paying an extra $25/mo compared to the $50 option, which arguably negates the $5/mo phone discount.

Either way, considering Apple charges $949 for the iPhone 12 64GB if you buy it directly from them, getting it for $600 from Freedom isn’t a bad deal. All in, the Freedom offer would cost $1,800 over two years ($600 for the iPhone plus $50/mo plan over 24 months is $1,200, thus $1,800 total). If you were to buy the iPhone 12 direct from Apple, you’d need to get a plan that costs at least $35/mo for two years to beat the Freedom price.

One final note: when I started writing about the Freedom deal, it was actually better. The website listed the iPhone 12 as available on a $20/mo Tab with a $50 plan, but that offer was removed (I managed to grab a screenshot, which you can see below).

Screenshot of Freedom’s iPhone deal taken minutes before it changed.

You can check out the iPhone 12 deal for yourself here.

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Mobile Syrup

Best Buy is holding a massive sale to celebrate its 20th year in Canada

To celebrate its 20-year anniversary in Canada, Best Buy is dropping prices on some great tech for the next 20 days. The first batch of deals includes significant savings on smart-home devices, gaming gear, and especially smartwatches. Check them out below:

Logitech G502 Hero 16000 DPI Optical Gaming Mouse for $59.99 (save $10)

Razer Basilisk X HyperSpeed 16000 DPI Wireless Optical Gaming Mouse for $53.98 (save $8)

Blue Microphones SnowBall iCE USB Microphone for $49.99 (save $20)

Samsung EVO Plus 256GB 100 MB/s microSDXC Memory Card for $69.99 (save $60)

Google Nest Cam WiFi Indoor IP Camera for $129.99 (save $50)

Google Nest Hub Smart Display with Google Assistant for $49.97 (save $50)

Google Nest Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat for $129.99 (save $50)

August Wi-Fi Smart Lock for $239.99 (save $40)

Samsung Galaxy Watch4 Classic 46mm Smartwatch with Heart Rate Monitor for $449.99 (save $50)

Garmin Instinct 45mm GPS Watch with Heart Rate Monitor for $229.99 (save $70)

Fitbit Versa 3 Smartwatch with Voice Assistant, GPS & 24/7 HR for $229.99 (save $70)

Fitbit Sense Smartwatch with Heart/Stress Management Tools & Voice Assistant for $329.99 (save $70)

KitchenAid Custom Stand Mixer – 4.5Qt – 325-Watt – Empire Red for $299.99 (save $200)

Insignia Air Fryer – 4.8L/5.1QT – Stainless Steel for $79.99 (save $90)

Insignia Air Fryer Oven – 9.46L/10QT – Stainless Steel for $99.99 (save $45)

Seagate One Touch 2TB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive for $69.99 (save $48)

MobileSyrup utilizes affiliate partnerships and publishes sponsored posts. These partnerships do not influence our editorial content, though MobileSyrup may earn a commission on purchases made via these links.

 

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Mobile Syrup

Leaked Pixel 6 Pro teardown videos show off the smartphone’s insides

Even though Google’s Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro haven’t yet officially been revealed, we know nearly everything about the pair of upcoming smartphones.

Taking things a step further, two videos posted to YouTube today go so far as to show off what the Pixel 6 Pro looks like inside, how to take it apart and how to put it back together.

The images, which likely were never intended to be released publically and seem to be related to manufacturing at a warehouse, don’t include voiceovers and feature low-quality text, graphics and music (those are some sick royalty-free guitar riffs though). Still, they give an unpreceded look at the inside of Google’s upcoming flagship smartphone well before iFixit inevitably tears it to pieces in a few weeks.

The videos also reveal a few facts about the smartphones that Google hasn’t confirmed yet, including that there are mmWave and sub-6GHz 5G versions of the device. We’ll likely get the sub-6GHz version of the Pixel 6 Pro in Canada given mmWave 5G isn’t available here. The videos also reveal that the Pixel 6 Pro features an Ultra Wideband (UWB) chip connector.

So far, we know Google will include a custom ‘Tensor’ processor in the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro and that each phone will come in three colour options.

Further, the Pixel 6 Pro will feature three cameras, including a telephoto lens with 4x optical zoom. On the other hand, the Pixel 6 will only include two cameras and no telephoto lens.

Google will reveal the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro during an October 19th event.

Source: Zeus Olympus (YouTube) (2) Via: 9to5Google

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Mobile Syrup

Telus reminds BB10 BlackBerry users that network connectivity ends Jan. 4, 2022

Telus has reminded the roughly ten remaining Canadian BB10 BlackBerry users (I’m confident this is an accurate number) that the former Canadian smartphone giant will be “turning these devices down” on January 4th, 2022.

This means that whether you’re using a BB10 device with Telus, Rogers, Bell or any other Canadian carrier, your device will no longer be able to connect to the network and won’t support voice, data, SMS or 911 services.

Strangely, Telus’ tweet mentions January 22, 2022, as the shutdown date, while its landing page regarding BB10 devices cites January 4th, 2022. On BlackBerry’s website, the company mentions January 4th as BB10’s death day.

Back in 2017, BlackBerry committed to offering two more years of support for BB10 devices and two years of network access to other BBOS devices.

Telus says that Blackberry is “now taking steps to decommission or terminate infrastructure” related to devices running BlackBerry 7.1 OS and earlier, BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry Playbook OS 2.1 and earlier. The carrier has a complete list of devices affected by the network shut down.

The last BlackBerry 10 device to release was the Leap back in April 2015. However, popular BB10 smartphones phones like the Classic, the Z10 and Q10 also run the operating system. The last BlackBerry device to release in Canada was the Android-powered Key2 through the company’s branding and manufacturing partnership with TCL.

The most important thing to take away here is that your uncle, who insists BlackBerry is a Canadian company that makes stellar devices, will probably need to buy a modern smartphone manufactured in the last five years.

Source: @TELUSsupport

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Mobile Syrup

Virgin Plus is offering home internet promo codes

Virgin Plus is currently offering a decent internet promotion that includes a bill credit that lasts 12 months if you use certain promotion codes.

Here are the deals below:

  • 25mpbs/$45 per month (use promo code ONTARIO15)
  • 50mbps/$45 per month (use promo code ONTARIO25)
  • 100mbps/$55 per month (use promo code ONTARIO25)

Each deal also features unlimited monthly usage with 10mbps upload speeds (the codes are case sensitive so don’t forget to use capitals). This offer is available for both new and existing mobility members.

For comparison’s sake, Virgin Plus’ 25mpbs plan is regularly $60 per month, and Fido’s 30mMbps deal is $60 per month.

It’s worth noting that Virgin Plus required a one-time $50 installation fee.

Source: Virgin Plus 

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Mobile Syrup

Canada on track to get two EV battery cell factories

Canada may get not one but two electric vehicle (EV) battery factories in the future if plans from companies BritishVolt and StormVolt come to fruition.

Both say they will base their factors in Quebec and feature extensive corporate backing from existing companies.

BritishVolt

BritishVolt is a relatively new company that dabbles in clean energy and operates a 30GWh battery plant in the United Kingdom. The company has already partnered with a few businesses in Montreal to bring a 60GWh factory and more to Canada.

In an interview with Electric Autonomy Canada, the company said that it’s currently working with a small team to find land and work on securing government funding for the large-scale undertaking.

Specifically, BritishVolt wants to build an R&D centre, an anode and cathode processing plant and a 60GWh battery cell manufacturing area.

StormVolt

StormVolt is an Ontario-based startup with backing from the Taiwan electronics company Delta Electronics. It also has ambitions to build a battery cell plant in Quebec, hoping to scale it to 10GWh production.

This means that the StormVolt factory might be significantly smaller than BritishVolt’s. Still, the upstart Ontario company hopes to serve smaller local EV manufacturers like Nova bus and Lion Electric.

While StormVolt may not become the most significant player in the EV battery space, two battery cell plants in Canada would go a long way towards helping the country produce EV batteries end-to-end.

Source: Electric Autonomy Canada, (1)

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Mobile Syrup

Netflix developing ‘That ’70s Show’ spin-off called ‘That ’90s Show’

That ’70s Show is officially coming back — sort of.

Netflix has ordered a spin-off of the classic sitcom, called That ’90s Show, focused on Red and Kitty Forman. Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp will reprise their roles as the Forman patriarch and matriarch, respectively.

Notably, original series creators Bonnie and Terry Turner and their daughter Lindsey will return writers and executive producers alongside That 70’s Show alum Gregg Mettler, who will also serve as showrunner.

Set in 1995, the new series follows Leia Forman, daughter of Eric and Donna, as she visits her grandparents Red and Kitty for the summer. That ’90s Show will be a multi-cam sitcom like the original series and run for 10 episodes.

It remains to be seen whether other Topher Grace or Laura Prepon, who played Eric and Donna in That ’70s Show, or any of the other original stars, will return for That ’90s Show. A release date for That ’90s Show has not yet been confirmed.

It’s also not yet clear whether That ’70s Show will come to Netflix Canada under this deal. Interestingly, the series isn’t on any streaming service in Canada.

Hopefully, it ends up being better than That ’80s Show.

Via: The Hollywood Reporter