Author: Mobile Syrup

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Microsoft’s Kinect dream lives on thanks to U.K. TV provider Sky

Microsoft’s Kinect dream will live on through U.K. satellite broadcasting company Sky, thanks to its new accessory for its ‘Sky Glass’ TVs.

As detailed by The Verge, Sky’s pitching the add-on camera as a social feature to let people watch TV together even when they’re apart through integrated video chat. There are also gesture capabilities and motion controls for gaming. Plus, Sky partnered with Microsoft to build the watch together feature.

The Sky camera TV is a Kinect in all but name. It offers basically all the same functionality as Microsoft’s Kinect, sans Xbox One. Microsoft had a bold vision for the future of Xbox and TV — it ultimately failed, and the company walked back most of the plan.

Anyway, the Sky Glass TV will also offer voice controls. Interestingly, the TVs are an all-in-one solution, which sounds like an absolute nightmare to me. Imagine having to go to Rogers or Bell to get your TV, cable box and cable package all in one? Oh, and then put a camera on it — no thanks.

On an unrelated note, the Sky Glass TVs are also incredibly thick by typical TV standards.

Although Sky TVs aren’t available to Canadians, it’s an interesting product for a few reasons. One, the whole Kinect-like camera functionality. But also, the Sky Glass could be somewhat representative of the future of cable services here.

The Verge reports that Sky says its TVs are “built on technology borne of the collaboration as part of the Comcast Corporation,” which could mean they use Comcast’s X1 system (or something based on it). Several Canadian TV providers also offer services based on X1 — Shaw, Videotron and Rogers all use it. Rumours point to Comcast launching a TV running X1 — who knows, maybe it’s that start of a larger trend.

Image credit: Sky

Source: Sky Via: The Verge

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Rogers’ confirms its Anyplace TV app will die on October 10

In a notice on its website, Rogers has confirmed that its Rogers Anyplace TV service included with Rogers Digital TV subscriptions will no longer be available as of October 10th.

According to the telecom giant, this means that Rogers Digital TV subscribers will no longer be able to view content on their computer or mobile devices through the Rogers Anyplace app or online streaming portal.

The complete statement from Rogers regarding Anyplace TV is available below:

“Since this service is accessed through an app and online streaming portal, you will no longer be able to view subscribed programming on your computer or mobile devices via Rogers Anyplace TV. Learn more about subscribing to Ignite TV and using the app to access TV, movies and music all in one place.”

Rogers notes that subscribers should shift to its Ignite TV platform that also offers a mobile app to continue to access the carrier’s TV, movies and music services on different platforms.

Source: Rogers 

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Huawei Mate V will reportedly feature its own V-Pencil

Huawei recently patented a new foldable smartphone with the codename ‘Mate V,’ and now it seems like the handset is getting its own stylus called the V-Pencil, according to LetsGoDigital. 

The stylus was patented at the European Union Intellectual Property Office with the description “electronic pen, computer stylus, touchscreen stylus.” This patent goes hand in hand with the Mate V device spotted on Weibo and first reported by @Panda.

According to its patent, the Mate V is a foldable flip smartphone similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 3, which would make it the first of its kind to work with a stylus. To clarify, while Z Fold 3 works with the S Pen stylus, the Z Flip 3 isn’t compatible with Samsung’s stylus.

Huawei is holding a product launch event in Austria, Vienna on October 21st, so there’s a possibility the China-based company could reveal the Mate V there.

Source: LetsGoDigital

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Jabra’s parent company GN Store Nord acquires SteelSeries

Source: https://steelseries.com/gaming-headsets/arctis-9x

GN Store Nord, Jabra’s parent company, has announced that it’s acquired the global gaming peripheral-maker SteelSeries in a move to enter the gaming industry.

The deal, which is estimated to be worth $1.24 billion, is expected to help GN get to a “very strong position in the attractive upscale gaming gear market and expands its position in the premium audio market.”

SteelSeries and fellow GN subsidiary Jabra both have their audio product research. There should be some potential for sharing and boosting research and development for both company’s audio products, which range from budget Bluetooth headphones to high-end gaming headsets and more.

“The fit is perfect as we both share a relentless drive for creating cutting-edge technology to delight our customers,” says Ehtisham Rabbani, CEO of SteelSeries. “We see great upside in leveraging each organization’s unique strengths to build an even more formidable, unified company.”

Both company’s stated that SteelSeries will continue to be its own identity and “will continue to be run by the same leadership team and organization that’s driving it now.”

GN Store Nord’s SteelSeries’ acquisition is scheduled to close “by the beginning of 2022,” subject to regulatory approvals.

Source: GN Store Nord

Categories
Mobile Syrup

New Assistant feature to let users skip ‘Hey Google’ with certain commands

A useful new feature that lets users interact with the Assistant without saying the phrase “Hey Google” seems to be making its way to Google Assistant on devices running the Android 12 beta.

According to XDA Developers, the feature is available on Pixel devices running the Android 12 beta. When this new form of interaction rolls out to everyone, users will be able to answer or decline a phone call by saying “answer” or “decline,” and “stop” or “snooze” when an alarm or timer goes off.

It’s worth noting that you can already say “stop” to halt an alarm with Nest smart speakers.

After you enable these quick phrases, you’ll see a message below the phone call or alarm notifications to remind you that you don’t need to say “Hey Google.”

To check if you have this feature, head to Assistant Settings > Quick phrases, and from there, you can enable the settings. Quick Phrases might also include tasks like “What’s the weather?,” “Turn up volume,” “Skip this song,” “Create reminder,” and more, but these weren’t spotted in the most recent Google App version, ‘12.39.17.29.’

While I don’t yet have Quick Phrases on my Pixel 5 running the beta, I hope it arrives soon.

Source: XDA Developers

Categories
Mobile Syrup

R.I.P. YouTube Rewind 2010 – 2019

YouTube has cancelled its annual yearly recap video known as the ‘YouTube Rewind’ series.

The series of videos launched back in 2010 and at least for the first few years, people seemed to really like the occasionally funny recap that threw back to popular moments and memes from the past year. Then as the years went on and the world became increasingly jaded, people rather quickly started to hate YouTube Rewind’s videos.

For example, back in 2018 YouTube’s Rewind Video was the most disliked video of all time, and as of right now, it has 19 million downvotes. Then in what seemed like an effort to change things up, Google’s 2019 video featured some of the top videos and creators of the year.

There wasn’t a Rewind video in 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and now, we know for certain that there will never be another one.

However, in a recent tweet, YouTube’s Creators account stated that it will launch a different kind of annual experience, so it looks like there will still be some kind of end-of-year recap.

Source: @YouTubeCreators

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Sketchy leak claims Pixel Fold and Pixel Watch will launch alongside Pixel 6

First off, while the leak below likely isn’t accurate, it’s still a notable rumour currently circulating around Twitter. With this in mind, I think it’s important MobileSyrup still covers it.

Rumours first shared by AI (@AppleLE257) on Twitter indicate that Google’s fall Pixel 6 series event will also include the reveal of the often-rumoured Pixel Watch, Pixel Fold, and several new Nest smart speakers.

It’s important to note that AI has a tiny Twitter following and not much of a track record for posting accurate leaks.

While it’s well known Google will reveal the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro at its upcoming event, no other rumours have hinted that we’ll catch a glimpse of other devices.

Over the past few months, we’ve seen reports surrounding a folding Pixel smartphone, but it seems unlikely that we’ll see that handset at this October’s event since Google will want the media’s attention solely on the Pixel 6 series.

Jon Prosser previously leaked details regarding a Pixel Watch back in April. However, there haven’t been many recent leaks about the smartwatch, leading me to believe that it’s unlikely it will appear at Google’s October event.

Google’s Pixel 6 and 6 Pro will be officially revealed on October 19th at 1pm ET/10am PT during an upcoming streamed event.

Image credit: Waqar Khan

Source: AI (@AppleLe257) 

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Amazon’s updated Fire TV Stick 4K Max is now available to order

Amazon’s recently unveiled Fire TV Stick 4K’s successor, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max, is now available to order on Amazon for $74.99.

According to Amazon, the new stick is 40 percent more powerful than its predecessors and features a faster MediaTek MT8696 processor and improved networking. The old model included a quad-core 1.7GHz CPU and a 650MHz GPU, whereas the new model features a quad-core 1.8GHz CPU and a 750MHz GPU.

It also features 2GB of RAM as opposed to 1.5GB on the previous generation.

To enable smoother 4K streaming, the new stick also features support for Wi-Fi 6 along with an updated Alexa Voice Remote that has dedicated buttons for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and Amazon Music.

The stick maintains most of its old features, including support for Dolby Vision, along with new features, such as Live View Picture-in-Picture support.

The new Fire TV Stick 4K Max is now available to order on Amazon for $74.99.

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

Source: Amazon

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Motorola’s new G Pure mid-range phone headed to Canada in the ‘coming months’

Motorola announced a new mid-tier smartphone called the ‘Moto G Pure’ set to be available in the U.S. starting October 14th and Canada “in the coming months.”

While disappointing to see Canadians once again get short-changed, I’m not sure too many people will be upset about a mid-range phone’s delayed arrival.

As for specs, the G Pure looks like a decent all-around option. It sports a 6.5-inch ‘Max Vision’ LCD HD+ display (1600 x 720 pixel resolution) with a 20:9 aspect ratio powered by a MediaTek Helio G25 processor with 3GB of RAM. The G Pure runs Android 11 out of the box and has 32GB of internal storage (expandable with up to a 512GB microSD card).

The phone has a 4,000mAh battery and supports 10W rapid charging. Around back is a dual-camera system with a 13-megapixel main shooter boasting phase detection autofocus (PDAF) accompanied by a two-megapixel depth sensor. The G Pure also has a five-megapixel selfie camera.

Moreover, the G Pure offers fingerprint and face unlock options, and comes in ‘Deep Indigo.’

Motorola said the phone will retail for $159.99 in the U.S. but did not confirm Canadian pricing. $159.99 USD is about $200 CAD — barring any significant price hikes, the G Pure should be relatively affordable when it comes to Canada.

You can learn more about the G Pure on Motorola’s website.

Image credit: Motorola

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Assistant-powered voice typing reportedly coming to Gboard with Pixel 6

Google announced a range of new Gboard features when combined with the Google Assistant for Pixel phones back in 2019, including advanced dictation features for easy texting. However, some of the dictation features shown off at Google I/O 2019 never really made it to the consumer’s devices. According to XDA Developers, that is about to change.

A new Assistant-powered voice typing feature has been spotted within the Gboard app, and it could be one of the new features to launch on the Google Pixel 6 series. The “Google News” channel on Telegram (via XDA) activated the feature by making a device appear as a Pixel 6 to offer a glimpse at the UI.

As visible in the images, the microphone symbol in the top-right corner is placed within a circle, and when you speak, a four-coloured ring pulsates as a visual cue that the device is listening to you. Further, the device also provides suggestions as to what to say to use the voice dictate feature, like “Clear,” “Undo,” and “Say.”

Additionally, you can activate voice typing by saying “Hey Google, type” or by double-tapping the mic icon.

All of the speech commands available in Gboard’s new Google Assistant-powered voice typing functionality, courtesy of XDA, are listed below:

  • Type and send

    • “Send” – Send your voice-typed text
    • “Stop” – Stop voice typing and close the mic. You can also tap the mic to stop
    • To keep the mic open – Double-tap the mic to continue voice typing until you tap it again, close the keyboard, or say “Stop”
    • “Delete” – Delete the last word or a selected word
    • “Clear” – Remove the last sentence
    • “Clear all” – Remove all text
    • “Undo” – Undo the last “Clear” or “Delete” action
    • To replace or correct a word – Tap to select it, then say or spell out the new word

  • Add emojis

    • “Lol emoji” – 😂
    • “Heart emoji” – ❤️
    • “Kissing emoji” – 😘
    • “Crying emoji” – 😭
    • “Smiling with teeth emoji” – 😁
    • “Heart eyes emoji” – 😍
    • “Thumbs up emoji” – 👍
    • “Happy face emoji” – 😊
    • “In love face emoji” – 🥰
    • “Thank you emoji” – 🙏

  • Forms and emails

    • “Next” – Move to the next text field
    • “Previous” – Move to the previous text field
    • “Set recipient” – Add a contact you’d like to send your email to
    • “Add Emma to Cc” – Add contact to CC on your email
    • “Set subject” – Add a subject to your email

  • Start hands-free

    • “Hey Google, type” – Start voice typing. To use this, Hey Google must be turned on.

At this time, there is no word on whether the Google Assistant improved typing function will be available on the Pixel 6. However, Google is touting its Tensor processor as capable of handling sophisticated AI and ML tasks, implying that the feature will most likely be available with the Google Pixel 6.

While we still do not know much about Google’s in-house Tensor chips, the Mountain View, California-based company is expected to fully detail the new devices during its October 19th event.

If you can’t tune in live on October 19th, make sure to follow along with MobileSyrup. We’ll have the latest news and updates from Google on our homepage, as well as on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Image credits: XDA Developers

Source: XDA Developers