Author: Mobile Syrup

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Facebook Gaming announces co-streaming feature

Facebook is offering a co-streaming option with Facebook Gaming.

Facebook Gaming creators can search and tag up to three other gaming creators.  The co-streaming experience will start when other creators tag you back and you will see a confirmation green check icon next to the player’s name.

“Based on community feedback, we heard that co-streaming would greatly improve the creator streaming experience. With co-streaming, creators can stream with one another concurrently, allowing viewers to navigate easily between the co-streams to watch from different perspectives,” according to the Facebook press release.

Twitch also has a similar feature called ‘Squad Stream,‘ but that’s only available to Twitch Partners, whereas Facebook co-streaming is available for everyone.

Source: Facebook Gaming

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Mobile Syrup

Your guide to ‘Cinematic Mode’ with Apple’s iPhone 13

Every year when Apple releases a new iPhone, we almost always see at least some level of camera improvements.

Alongside the upgrades, Apple typically showcases stunning photos using its latest iPhone, putting a lot of focus on camera quality, image processing and low-light photography.

However, recently the tech giant has placed more of an emphasis on video. For example, the iPhone 11 lineup brought with it QuickTake and the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max introduced Apple ProRAW in iOS 14.3.

This year, Apple’s iPhone 13 lineup features what Apple is calling ‘Cinematic Mode.’

What is Cinematic Mode?

To understand Cinematic mode, you first need to understand ‘Portrait Mode,’ which Apple unveiled alongside the iPhone 7 Plus. Portrait Mode blurs out the background of your photo, leaving the person, pet, or object in focus. This creates what is called a bokeh or depth-of-field effect. When the feature was first introduced, Portrait Mode was limited to the iPhone 7 Plus’ 2x telephoto lens.

The 1x wide-angle lens was used to detect depth and create the bokeh effect. Portrait Mode was inherited by every two-lens iPhone after the iPhone 7 Plus and excluded by every single-lens iPhone until the iPhone XR was released. The iPhone XR used software within iOS to create the blur effect instead of relying on additional lenses.

“Cinematic Mode only works on Apple’s iPhone 13 lineup.”

Cinematic Mode brings the bokeh effect of Portrait Mode over to your videos. When you select Cinematic Mode in your iPhone 13’s camera app, it detects a person, pet, or object and places them in focus. The background and foreground blurs around your subject, placing the attention squarely on them. When two people are in your frame, Cinematic mode focuses on whoever is closer until the closer subject turns away. The focus then shifts to the further away subject in the frame.

Cinematic mode gets its name from the bokeh effects used in cinematic films. Apple’s goal with this exclusive iPhone 13 feature is to democratize cinema-quality video, allowing you to take the best video of your pets you possibly can — at least, that’s what I’ll be using it for.

How to use Cinematic Mode

  1. Launch the camera app on your iPhone 13, 13 mini, 13 Pro, or 13 Pro Max
  2. Swipe left to right twice anywhere on the screen to select Cinematic Mode
  3. Press the red circle to start or stop recording

The bokeh effect will automatically set itself. However, if you want to adjust it before recording, tap on the ƒ symbol in the top right-hand corner (vertical orientation) or top left (horizontal orientation). A slide will appear in the bottom third of your screen where you can adjust the bokeh effect between 2.0 and 16. 2.0 will be the harshest blur, where 16 will have the weakest.

While in Cinematic Mode, you can perform a small swipe up (vertical orientation) or a small swipe right to left (horizontal orientation) in the middle of your screen to reveal three buttons.

This hidden menu has a lightning bolt, a +/- symbol, and the ƒ button. Tapping on the lightning bolt will allow you to turn on or off your iPhone’s flashlight if you need additional lighting while recording. Cinematic Mode only works in well-lit environments, just like Portrait Mode.

Tapping on the +/- icon will allow you to adjust how much light your camera takes in (also known as exposure). This will enable you to create a lighter or darker tone in your video.

The ƒ button allows you to adjust the bokeh effect just like the original ƒ button did.

You can also tap on the 1x button in the lower third of your screen to change your lens to the 3x zoom if you would rather use the telephoto lens and be closer to your target. However, you can’t use the 0.5x ultra-wide lens in Cinematic Mode.

How to edit your recordings

  1. Find the Cinematic recording you would like to adjust in the photos app
  2. Tap edit in the top right-hand corner
  3. Tap on the ƒ button in the top left-hand corner to bring up the bokeh slider
  4. Adjust the bokeh effect by using the slider in the lower third of your screen

To remove the bokeh effect after recording in Cinematic Mode, tap on the yellow Cinematic button at the top of the screen.

Suppose you want to edit Cinematic Mode video on another device. In that case, you must either use AirDrop or iCloud Photos and use one of the following devices running iOS 15 or later:

  • iPhone XS, iPhone XR, and later
  • iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later)
  • iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later)
  • iPad Air (3rd generation and later)
  • iPad mini (5th generation and later)

Apple says macOS will support editing Cinematic Mode video in a future macOS update.

There are some limitations

Perhaps most important to note is Cinematic Mode only works on Apple’s iPhone 13 lineup. This includes the iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max. If you have an older iPhone, even an iPhone 12 Pro running iOS 15, you will not see this feature in your camera app. Cinematic Mode is also limited to 1080p HD recording at 30 frames per second (fps).

For the vast majority of iPhone users, this quality limitation won’t be an issue. However, hard-core video buffs who want to get the best possible quality likely won’t want to use Cinematic mode.

As mentioned earlier, Cinematic Mode can use the 1x wide-angle lens and the 3x telephoto lens but not the 0.5x ultra-wide-angle lens. This means if you have an iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 mini, you will only be able to record at 1x, where if you have an iPhone 13 Pro or iPhone 13 Pro Max, you’ll be able to pick between 1x and 3x.

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Mobile Syrup

Samsung Galaxy One UI 4.0 beta is rolling out in the U.S. with tons of new features

Samsung’s One UI 4.0 beta has rolled out in the U.S, but unfortunately, Canadians have once again been left out.

The beta is available for Samsung Galaxy S21 series smartphones only and runs on top of Android 12 with ‘Material You.’ Google’s Material You allows your smartphone’s wallpaper to match its background theme. It’s unclear when Samsung plans to bring the update to its other devices.

Other One UI 4.0 updates include the ability to add two emojis together and create a new animation, customizing the list of apps to share when you’re sharing photos, an ‘extra dim’ accessibility feature, a lock screen widget for voice recording, the ability to set the always-on display to turn on whenever you get a notification, and more.

There are even new Bixby features… yay.

You can check out the list of all 60 new features in SamMobile’s video round-up available below.

Source: Sam Mobile 

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Mobile Syrup

Photos of Dyson’s upcoming robot vacuum revealed in FCC filing

It looks like Dyson has a new robot vacuum incoming, according to pictures included in a filing with the FCC.

Spotted by The Verge, this new, unnamed Dyson robot vacuum sports the same striking blue colour as the company’s previous robot, the 360 Heurist (pictured above). The charging dock also sports the blue instead of the white colour with the Heurist. The top-mounted camera also returns — Dyson previously told me the camera allows the robot to navigate like a sailor looking at the stars.

Hopefully this unnamed Dyson robot does a better job at star-based navigation than the 360 Heurist did (RIP Stargazer).

Besides the colour and camera, the new Dyson robot is a significant departure from the 360 Heurist. For one, it’s not a circle like before and now features a squared-off edge with a larger cylindrical brush. The Verge describes the flat edge as the rear, but the pictures make it look more like the front of the robot — that would also be a significant change from the Heurist, which has the dust-bin at the front and the brush bar towards the back.

More importantly, the new robot appears shorter than the 360 Heurist. It’s hard to tell just from these FCC pictures, but if it is shorter, it could get under some furniture for a more thorough clean. The 360 Heurist was quite tall for a robot vacuum and often couldn’t go beneath some furniture.

Branding on the top of the unnamed robot indicates it features Dyson’s new ‘Hyperdymium’ motors, which the company also included in its latest stick vacuums.

The robot appears to have a removable section of tubing, which should be helpful in clearing any clogs.

All in all, the new Dyson robot looks like it could be a significant upgrade over the 360 Heurist. Still, it appears the new robot won’t be able to self-empty like several of iRobot’s Roomba robot vacuums. That’s unfortunate, since not having to empty the robot every few runs is a welcome benefit, in my opinion.

We’ll likely learn more about Dyson’s fancy new robot in the coming weeks.

Source: FCC Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Samsung’s new monitor features a pop-up webcam

Working from home and video chatting is the future. Samsung knows it, and now the company has revealed a computer monitor with a webcam elegantly built into the top bezel.

The monitor features a 24-inch 1080p display with a small rectangular pop-up camera tucked behind the screen at the top. While there’s no denying the webcam is pretty awkward when it’s fully extended, the fact that Samsung tucked it into the screen when it’s not in use makes it a lot more appealing to me.

Plus, the monitor includes built-in speakers and a USB hub. While you’d think this would help clean up the cable management situation, its awkward placement behind the display seems a bit weird to me. The port selection is a little outdated (see below), but versatile enough that it should work for most people. Still, a USB-C input would have been a forward-thinking touch.

The monitor features one D-sub port, one DisplayPort 1.2, two USB-A 3.0 jacks, an HDMI 1.4 port and a headphone jack.

Overall, this isn’t the most stunning monitor out there for creatives, but it could be a very versatile option for someone who just wants a side screen for working from home.

The real star of the show is, of course, the two-megapixel full-HD webcam. It’s rated to support Windows Hello face unlocking and features a mic so it can work without a headset.

It’s worth noting that the camera also doesn’t pop up automatically like how the OnePlus 7 Pro’s front-facing shooter works. Instead, you need to push on it and pop it up, similar to ejecting an SD card from a camera.

Samsung’s website doesn’t currently list how much this monitor costs or its availability.

Source: Samsung 

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Mobile Syrup

Google to auto-enroll millions of accounts in two-factor authentication

Source: https://blog.google/technology/safety-security/making-sign-safer-and-more-convenient/

Google has put out another blog post reminding people that it will soon enable two-factor authentication (2FA) for millions of users by the end of the year.

2FA, or two-step verification as Google calls it, is a security protocol that can help protect online accounts by requiring a second method of authentication when the user signs in. In most cases, this refers the codes texted to people’s phones after they log into a website.

According to Google’s blog post, the search giant plans to auto-enroll an additional 150 million Google users in 2FA by the end of the year. It also plans to require 2 million YouTube creators to enable 2FA.

Along with that announcement, Google detailed several other ways it’s working to protect users’ accounts. For example, Google builds security keys into Android phones and offers similar functionality to iPhone users with Google Smart Lock. The search giant also detailed improvements to the password manager built into the Chrome browser, such as auto-fill options for iOS and Android users.

These things are all steps in the right direction for improving security. However, it’s also worth noting that 2FA can be an imperfect solution, especially when used over text.

SIM swap attacks are a common way for hackers to take over a victim’s phone number and intercept incoming 2FA messages to gain access to online accounts. It’s a prevalent issue in Canada, with the CRTC recently revealing it documented over 24,000 cases of potential phone number fraud between August 2019 and May 2020.

That’s part of why Google’s pushing users to use security keys and, in turn, is building them into devices. At a basic level, security keys are little USB sticks that users can plug into a computer to authenticate themselves. By turning smartphones into security keys, Google’s offering a convenient, secure alternative to SMS-based 2FA.

If you haven’t enabled 2FA on your Google account yet, here’s how to do it:

  • Head to myaccount.google.com
  • Click ‘Security’
  • Scroll down to ‘Signing in to Google’ and click ‘2-Step Verification.’
  • Follow the steps to set it up.

Image credit: Google

Source: Google Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Samsung Galaxy Flex Note patent renders show off wrap-around folding phone

It looks Samsung could have plans to release a very unique smartphone with a wrap-around display.

The patent, which outlines a smartphone called the ‘Galaxy Flex Note,’ showcases a foldable device with a wrap-around display and a stylus dock.

Graphic designer Technizo Concept created a 3D product rendering based on the patent in collaboration with LetsGoDigital.

According to the report, the Flex Note offers an expansive screen size when unfolded. However, there’s no separate front display like with Samsung’s recently released Galaxy Z Fold 3. Instead, the phone sports a wrap-round screen that runs across the smartphone’s body.

This means that when it’s folded and in its most compact form, the front, right side and half of the back features a display.

This phone doesn’t fold inwardly like the Z Fold 3, but outwardly, similar to the Huawei Mate X series.

Additionally, the Galaxy Flex Note supports a clamp-like dock for Samsung’s S Pen stylus and not an inward compartment like the Note series.

Further, the patent features two variations with a triple camera setup on the rear with an under-display camera. Another variation offers a double punch-hole camera in the top right corner.

This patent was submitted by Samsung to the China National Intellectual Property Administration and was published on September 21st.

As with all patent filings, it’s unclear if this smartphone concept will ever see the light of day. That said, if these renders are accurate, it seems like a pretty cool device.

Source: LetsGoDigital, Technizo Concept

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Mobile Syrup

What’s new on Xbox Game Pass on console, PC and mobile in early October 2021

Every month, Xbox adds new games to its Xbox Game Pass subscription service.

Typically, new titles are rolled out in two waves and now, Xbox has unveiled October’s first batch of new Game Pass games:

  • Totally Accurate Battle Simulator (Cloud, Console and PC) — October 5th
  • The Procession to Calvary (Cloud, Console and PC) — October 7th
  • Visage (Cloud, Console and PC) — October 7th
  • Back 4 Blood (Cloud, Console and PC) — October 12th
  • Destiny 2: Beyond Light (PC) — October 12th
  • Ring of Pain (Cloud, Console and PC) — October 14th
  • The Riftbreaker (Cloud, PC and Xbox Series X/S) — October 14th
  • The Good Life (Cloud, Console and PC) — October 15th

Meanwhile, here are the games leaving the catalogue on October 15th:

  • Gonner2 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Heave Ho (PC)
  • Katana Zero (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Scourgebringer (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Tales of Vesperia HD (Console and PC)
  • The Swords of Ditto (PC)

Xbox Game Pass is available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC and Android and iOS in beta. Game Pass for Console and Game Pass for PC each cost $11.99 CAD/month.

Meanwhile, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate costs $16.99/month and is required for streaming (which Xbox refers to as ‘Cloud’). On top of that, this tier includes Game Pass for both Console and PC, as well as an Xbox Live Gold subscription and access to EA Play.

Find out what came to Game Pass in the second half of September here.

Image credit: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Source: Xbox

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Mobile Syrup

Google Pixel 6 Fall Launch scheduled for October 19th

After months of leaks and rumours about Google’s upcoming Pixel 6 lineup and the Mountain View, California-based company going all out with its marketing, Google has just announced its Pixel Fall Event set to take place on October 19th at 1pm ET/10am PT.

Google is expected to fully detail the new devices during the event and show what its in-house Tensor chips are capable of.

“On October 19th, we’re officially introducing you to Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro—the completely reimagined Google phones. Powered by Google Tensor, Google’s first custom mobile chip, they’re fast, smart and secure. And they adapt to you,” reads Google’s invite to the event. The event will be broadcasted live on the Pixel Event website and its YouTube channel with ASL interpretation.

While the Pixel 6 lineup will be officially unveiled at the October 19th event, we still aren’t sure when the devices will be available for the public to pre-order or purchase.

From what we know so far, the Pixel 6 Pro is expected to have a curved screen, similar to the S21 Ultra and Samsung’s ISOCELL GN1 50-megapixel sensor. The ultra-wide camera will use a 12-megapixel IMX386 sensor, while the 4x optical telephoto camera on the 6 Pro will use a 48-megapixel IMX586 sensor.

The phone will reportedly support up to 20x zoom with photos and videos (except 4K, where zoom is capped at 7x) and 4K/60fps video recording. However, we still don’t know how the new cameras will perform when paired with Google’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) models.

Further, the new Pixel devices will reportedly be capable of 33W wired charging. For reference, Google’s Pixel smartphones currently only support cable charging up to 18W.

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.

Source: Google 

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Mobile Syrup

Facebook says outage wasn’t malicious, blames a ‘faulty configuration change’

Facebook says a “faulty configuration change” is to blame for a seven-hour global outage across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp that grounded much of the internet to a halt yesterday.

The update came from Santosh Janardhan, Facebook’s vice-president of infrastructure, in a post on the social media platform’s engineering blog:

“Our engineering teams have learned that configuration changes on the backbone routers that coordinate network traffic between our data centers caused issues that interrupted this communication. This disruption to network traffic had a cascading effect on the way our data centers communicate, bringing our services to a halt.”

The blog post emphasized that there was “no malicious activity behind this outage” and “no evidence that user data was compromised as a result of this downtime.”

This assurance comes in response to the many theories and conspiracies circulating online — on the few remaining social media platforms that survived the ‘snap’ — during the outage, all speculating about what the cause could be.

Jane Lytvynenko, a researcher and freelance reporter specializing in tracking online disinformation, shared some common scams making the rounds:

The outage started at roughly 11:30am ET/8:30am PT on September 4th, and is estimated to have affected tens of thousands of users.

According to iMore, the outage had folks flocking onto Twitter in record numbers to communicate and commiserate, much to the platform’s delight.

The unprecedented traffic then, of course, broke Twitter, resulting in some users being unable to view replies or DMs.

Source: iMore