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Microsoft stops offering $1 Xbox Game Pass trial to pursue other promotions

New Xbox Game Pass subscribers can no longer get their first month for $1.

In a statement to The Verge, Kari Perez, head of global communications at Xbox, confirmed that the introductory offer has been axed. She says Xbox is instead “evaluating different marketing promotions for new members in the future.”

It’s a notable move from the company, which has touted the low entry cost for years in its promotion of the service. As it stands, though, it’s unclear what will take its place.

One possibility is the Game Pass Friends & Family plan that Xbox has been testing in a handful of markets, including Ireland, South Africa and Chile. In Ireland, a single monthly fee of €21.99 (about $32.50 CAD) allows up to four people to share one Game Pass membership. While it’s unclear exactly what Perez was referring to when she mentioned “different marketing promotions,” it’s possible that the removal of the $1 introductory offer could have been done to expand the Friends & Family plan to other markets.

For now, though, the only Game Pass options are console and PC subscriptions ($11.99/month each) or an Ultimate membership ($16.99/month). Ultimate includes Game Pass for both console and PC, as well as EA Play, Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Cloud Gaming.

In any case, Game Pass is a huge part of Microsoft’s gaming strategy. Since 2018, the company has been offering all of its first-party titles on the service on day one, including Gears 5, Halo Infinite and Hi-Fi Rush. It also intends to bring Activision Blizzard games like Call of Duty to Game Pass should its acquisition of the publishing giant be approved.

While Microsoft doesn’t often reveal how well Game Pass is performing, it admitted in U.K. filings from last year pertaining to the Activision Blizzard deal that the service had missed its subscriber target for two consecutive years. However, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said in October that Game Pass is still profitable, even as growth has slowed on console. In its own U.K. filings attempting in November to block the Activision Blizzard acquisition, Sony estimated that there are 29 million Game Pass subscribers.

Ultimately, it remains to be seen how new promotions, as well as upcoming major titles like Bethesda’s Redfall (May 2nd) and Starfield (September 6th), might help expand the service’s subscriber base.

Image credit: Xbox

Source: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Startups claim Microsoft is squeezing out search competition as it takes on Google

Microsoft’s Bing Chat put the company’s Bing search engine back on the map, but now search engine startups warn Microsoft is trying to squeeze them out.

Wired reports that startups that previously relied on licensing search results from Bing feel that Microsoft is unfairly squeezing them out of the search space. The main squeeze is a financial one — a week after rolling out Bing Chat in February, Microsoft announced as much as a 10 times increase to standard fees for search data that would come into effect in May.

Another squeeze comes from new rules that the startups say block them from competing with Bing Chat or Google’s Bard by applying steeper fees on those who provide Bing results on a page that also has content from a large language model (LLM). The increase for LLM users is potentially 28 times the previous rate.

LLMs, for those unfamiliar, are the underlying technology behind Google’s Bard and OpenAI’s ChatGPT and GPT-4, which is what Bing Chat runs on.

Search startups using Microsoft data and hoping to add chat-style features told Wired that the cost would crush them. Plus, Microsoft doesn’t offer an API for its chatbot to customers (at least for now).

A Microsoft spokesperson told Wired that the price increase reflects the company’s investments to improve Bing, which includes using LLMs to help rank results. The company claims that has improved search quality more than any other upgrade in the last 20 years.

Bing has become essential to nearly every search startup trying to challenge Google, including DuckDuckGo and You.com. Wired notes that Yahoo stopped developing its own search engine tech in 2009 (and switch to licensing data from Bing), while Google’s comparable API can have differing results from Google’s own results and sometimes requires displaying ads.

As concerning as the price hike is, the new rules increasing prices for LLM use are even more worrying. Wired spoke with several search startups that expressed concern that Microsoft is trying to lock competitors out of what increasingly seems to be the future of search.

Source: Wired

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Leaked source code on Github raises security concerns for Twitter

Parts of Twitter’s source code recently leaked on the code-sharing website Github, raising concerns about the security of the popular social networking site.

The leak was first reported by The New York Times, after it learned about it through a legal filing made by Twitter. The code was reportedly available on Github for several months before Twitter noticed it and requested its removal. However, the leak has already raised concerns about the potential for hackers to exploit vulnerabilities in the code to gain access to user data or take down the platform.

According to the filing, Twitter has also requested that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ask Github to identify and share information about the person(s) who leaked the code on the website, alongside information about users that downloaded it.

It is clear that the leak could have serious consequences for Twitter’s security. The company’s source code is the foundation of its platform and is an essential element in the ongoing development and maintenance of the site. The leaked code could reveal valuable insider details about the way the service operates and potentially make it easier for competitors to replicate its features or for hackers to pinpoint vulnerabilities.

While it is not yet clear who is responsible for the leak, 9to5Mac speculates that it may have been uploaded by one of the many engineers laid off by Elon Musk when he took over Twitter. The filing says that the individual who exposed Twitter’s source code on Github went by the name “FreeSpeechEnthusiast.” This username seems to be a nod to Musk, who has identified himself as a “free speech absolutist.”

Source: The New York Times

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Mobile Syrup

Microsoft overhauled Teams to make it two times faster

Microsoft Teams is getting a fresh coat of paint and performance improvements, available in a new public preview on Windows.

In a blog post, Microsoft detailed some of the improvements headed to Teams, including up to two times faster performance, a 50 percent reduction in memory use, and more. Microsoft also says the improvements lay the foundation for new AI features on the way, such as the company’s recently announced Copilot.

Microsoft says its “north star” for Teams was making it twice as fast. The company made a “ground-up investment to overhaul the platform” that will optimize the data, network, chat and video architecture to improve speed and performance. Microsoft says it isn’t done optimizing the performance of Teams, but it has already seen “very promising data” from the public preview that’s rolling out today.

Moreover, Microsoft working with an independent benchmarking firm, GigaOm, to quantify the performance gains. GigaOm reports that launching Teams and joining meetings are twice as fast and use half as much memory compared to classic Teams.

Meanwhile, Microsoft also made a number of enhancements to the core Teams experience that will make it simpler to use and require fewer clicks to get to the things you need to use. At the same time, Microsoft says it made Teams more flexible for people who use it across multiple accounts, with better sync and notification systems.

Microsoft aims to make the new Teams generally available later this year, but for now, it’s available in public preview on Windows, with Macs coming later. Users in the Public Preview program will have access to the new Teams right away, but commercial users will need an administrator to opt in first, and then a toggle will appear, letting users swap between classic and new Teams.

Source: Microsoft

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Mobile Syrup

Nintendo to host The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom stream on March 28

A special presentation dedicated entirely to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will be held on Tuesday, March 28th.

On social media, Nintendo confirmed that “roughly” 10 minutes of gameplay from the highly anticipated Breath of the Wild sequel will be shown. The event will be hosted by veteran Zelda director and producer Eiji Aonuma.

Those interested in tuning in can do so at 10am ET/7am PT on Nintendo’s YouTube channel.

Following a delay out of 2022, Tears of the Kingdom is now set to release on May 12th, 2023. The game was first revealed in 2019, two years after the release of Breath of the Wild, so it’s been a long time coming.

It’s unclear exactly what we should expect to see from the game, which has largely been shrouded in mystery since its reveal. In the few trailers that have been revealed so far, we’ve seen teases of floating islands about Hyrule, a drone-like apparatus for Link to pilot and more.

Last month, Nintendo also confirmed that Tears of the Kingdom will be priced at $89 in Canada, $10 more than other Switch games. The company says such pricing for any future games will be decided on a “case-by-case basis.”

Image credit: Nintendo

Source: Nintendo

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Mobile Syrup

Google drops alarm requirement for Pixel Adaptive Charging

Google recently rolled out some improvements to Pixel phones’ Adaptive Charging feature, and now it seems it no longer requires an alarm.

Adaptive Charging, for those unfamiliar with the feature, helps preserve the health of your phone’s battery by delaying when it hits 100 percent charge when you leave it charging overnight. In its initial implementation, Adaptive Charging held phones at about 80 percent and would finish charging to 100 percent based on users’ morning alarm.

This is a pretty significant difference between Adaptive Charging and iPhone’s ‘Optimized Battery Charging,’ which also delays when an iPhone hits 100 percent charge but bases it on learning the owner’s routine.

As detailed by 9to5Google, Adaptive Charging gained a new status notification to indicate when the feature is active. Moreover, the notification includes a button to turn it off once.

New Adaptive Charging notification | Image credit: 9to5Google

However, it seems that update also removed the alarm requirement. 9to5 notes that the Adaptive Charging description changes from “Uses alarm to completely charge by wake-up” to “Activated based on your cycle.” I was able to confirm the description is different on my Pixel 7 as well (see the header image). You can find the setting by heading into Settings > Battery > Adaptive preferences.

Despite the change on devices, at the time of writing, Google’s support documentation still listed alarms as a requirement for Adaptive Charging. In other words, it seems someone might have jumped the gun and pushed the change out before Google got its documentation in order.

Anyway, the updated Adaptive Charging should work better for people now. Some found the old alarm requirement restrictive, especially at launch when Google arbitrarily restricted the feature to alarms set between 5am and 10am.

Source: 9to5Google

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Mobile Syrup

Amazon Echo Show 5 and Echo Show 8 are up to 25 percent off

The Echo Show 5 and Echo Show 8 are two of Amazon’s smart displays that offer voice-activated controls, video capabilities, and a decent visual interface to help you keep organized, entertained, and connected.

The Echo Show 5 is the smaller and more affordable option of the two and has a 5.5-inch touch screen display that can view weather updates, stream music, TV shows, or even watch videos on YouTube. It also has a built-in camera that allows for video calls and the use of Alexa’s Drop In feature.

Additionally, the device can be used to control other smart devices in your home, such as lights or thermostats, by simply using voice commands. The device comes with a physical camera shutter, which gives peace of mind when it comes to privacy concerns so that you can rest at night knowing that Bezos and crew are not watching.

The Echo Show 8 is the larger and more expensive option, but also comes with more advanced features. Its 8-inch HD display is also good for watching videos, or even following along with a recipe in the kitchen. Like the Echo Show 5, the Echo Show 8 also has a built-in camera and can be used for video calls and Drop In.

The Echo Show 8 can also act as a smart home hub. With the right setup, you can use it to control various smart home devices, such as lights, cameras, and thermostats. The device also has a respectable speaker system.

Both devices come with Alexa built-in, allowing you to control your smart home devices, set reminders, and get answers to questions with voice commands.

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Source: Amazon Canada

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Mobile Syrup

Smartphones don’t come with chargers – laptops shouldn’t either

Yes, I said it. Laptop makers should stop including chargers with their laptops.

I fully expect this will be an unpopular opinion. After all, people are still upset that many smartphones no longer come with chargers in the box. And to an extent, I agree — it sucks to open up a brand new piece of tech and not be able to charge it if you don’t have a charger! But I’ve also lived on the other side, and there’s a glorious freedom to not getting a charger too.

First off, I am admittedly in a very niche group. As someone who reviews laptops for a living, I am blessed (or cursed, depending on your perspective) with the ability to switch laptops on a somewhat regular basis — certainly more often than anyone should switch laptops. On one hand, this puts me in the unique position of having way too many laptop chargers. On the other, I also think it gives me some insight into the world of laptop charging.

Over the last year or so, I’ve noticed two significant changes in the laptop world. First, the laptops I test almost exclusively use USB-C ports for charging. Even when they offer a different primary charging method, USB-C charging is still present. For example, Microsoft’s Surface devices offer the Surface Connect port but can also charge off USB-C. Similarly, Apple brought MagSafe back to MacBooks, but USB-C charging is still an option. In fact, I can’t think of a single laptop I’ve used in the last two years that hasn’t supported USB-C charging.

The other thing I’ve noticed? A rapid proliferation of USB-C chargers that rival the ones you get with a laptop. Since August 2022, I’ve tested a handful of charging accessories made by Ugreen, and they’ve been great for charging laptops. They were so good, I started leaving chargers that came with the laptops I was reviewing in the box. But more than that, I really appreciated not having to swap cables around whenever I started reviewing a new laptop. I set my desk up with a Ugreen dock so I could plug one cable into whatever laptop I was testing to charge it and also give access to my monitor as a secondary display.

Take control of your charging

Again, I recognize that I’m in a unique position compared to the average laptop user, but I think some of my experience can be extrapolated to larger trends. If you’re buying a laptop now or in the next few years, chances are it will charge via a USB-C port. And if you’ve already got a reliable USB-C charger for charging a laptop, do you really need another?

To be fair, there will also be plenty of people with laptops that don’t have USB-C chargers. Being forced to buy a new charger because your new device doesn’t come with one sucks. I won’t deny that. As with smartphones, I think companies should offer something to cater to people who might have an old charger that won’t work with their new device, like a charger trade-in program or a credit towards a charger if you don’t have one. Whether I think companies should do that or not, I doubt many will. But hey, if you have to buy a charger, might as well buy a good one that will outlast your laptop.

There are other benefits to not getting a charger, though how much any of these matter will vary from person to person. For one, less electronic waste (e-waste) by reducing the number of redundant chargers. As a knock-on effect, you’d reduce the amount of packaging too. For another, more consumer control over their gadgets and accessories. Oh, and if you forget your laptop charger at home, chances are someone can spot you if everyone’s rocking USB-C chargers.

All that said, there will still be some scenarios where it might be necessary to include a charger. Gaming laptops are one example that comes to mind since many have greater power demands than the average laptop (hence the massive bricks attached to most gaming laptop chargers).

Ultimately, most laptops already use one type of charger. Let’s commit to it and stop wasting time, money and resources on giving people the same charger they already have.

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Mobile Syrup

Experience cinematic immersion at home with Formovie’s 4K projector

Formovie is a Mi ecosystem company established by Appotronics Corporation and Xiaomi together, and its primary focus is manufacturing large-screen laser projection products. One such projector is the 4K Formovie Theater, the company’s flagship projector, and I’ve been using it for the past week.

The Formovie Theater is a high-quality projector designed for movie lovers who want to enjoy an immersive cinema-like experience in the comfort of their homes. The projector offers several top-of-the-line features, including Android TV 11 built-in, triple laser 4K resolution, HDR10 support, speakers tuned by Bowers & Wilkins, a high contrast ratio and an Auto Low Latency (ALLM) mode for games.

The Formovie Theater is a UST (Ultra Short Throw) projector, making it suitable for small rooms where you might not have enough space to set up projection equipment or have the projector placed several feet away. Placing it just a few inches away from the wall/screen you want to project on gives you an over 150cm wide display. Because it’s UST, the Formovie Theater is easy to set up. You simply plug in the projector and situate it in front of the wall/screen you want to project on. And thanks to Android 11 out of the box, the user interface is intuitive, making it very easy to adjust settings and switch between different modes.

While not an ultra-portable projector due to its size, the simple plug-and-play aspect makes it easy to move around. The Formovie Theater weighs roughly 10kg and measures 550 x 349.2 x 107.5 mm in dimensions. The projector itself looks premium, with a black fabric grille on the front that houses two main speakers and a metallic body throughout.

The light source is located on the top of the projector and can output 2,800 lumens of light power, situating the Formovie Theater in the upper range of projector brightness. For reference, the Epson Mini EF12 that I reviewed last year featured 1,000 lumens, and could illuminate a dark room. The difference in brightness between the EF12 and Formovie Theater is easy to spot, though the latter still fails to impress in a lit room during the daytime. In a dark room, however, the 2,800 lumens deliver a stunning visual experience with rich colours and crisp details.

The front-positioned light source also features an ‘eye protection’ sensor that shuts off the bright light when someone pokes their head in front of it. A handy feature for those with youngsters in their house that might get eye damage from looking directly into the 2,800-lumen light source.

Although it has Android TV 11 built-in, the projector also offers a range of connectivity options for you to play your own content. It features three HDMI 2.1 ports, one with eARC, two USB 2.0 ports, one LAN input, an optical cable port and one 3.5mm audio line out. It also comes with a simple-to-use remote with a dedicated YouTube button and a button to activate Google Assistant. Near the bottom of the projector sits a dial that allows you to adjust the height of the front feet to get the optimal viewing angle without having to move the projector around.

The Formovie Theater projector is capable of projecting a stunning 4K image, with a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels. This means that you’ll be able to enjoy ultra-high-definition content with incredible detail and clarity. The contrast ratio is 15000:1, resulting in blacks that are deep and bright whites. The Theater not only features Dolby Vision HDR, but also supports Dolby Atmos, and its Bowers & Wilkins audio system incorporates four speakers to deliver the immersive Atmos sound.

I’ve been testing the projector with video content from YouTube, Crunchyroll, Apple TV and Disney+, and casting content with Chromecast, along with plugging in a PS5 to test out its gaming capabilities, and overall, the Formovie Theater doesn’t disappoint. The projector replicates the quality of a dedicated 4K TV in proper conditions. When I say proper conditions, I mean a fairly dark room with no light interference.

HDR works well, and colours pop out of the screen like they would on an expensive Samsung TV, and works with Apple TV and Disney+. Unfortunately, Netflix isn’t available on the projector natively, and downloading it or casting Netflix via your smartphone gives a “This version of Netflix app is not compatible with your device (-13)” error.

Regardless, the platforms that do work with the projector offer solid streaming quality. Modes like ‘Movie,’ ‘Game,’ ‘Sport,’ and ‘Vivid’ allow you to customize the screen’s brightness, contrast, saturation, hue and sharpness depending on the content you’re viewing.

The two 15W speakers are tuned by Bowers & Wilkins, and offer a very balanced and neutral sound, with standard bass and sound that sounds crisp and doesn’t distort or tear even at max volume. The speakers sound balanced but can also get overly loud when cranked up. Music on the speakers is punchy, while vocals in movies sound clear and crisp.

The speakers aren’t the primary strength of the projector, but they do get the job done convincingly with support for Dolby Atmos 2; however, if you were to get the projector, I’d suggest using it with your own speaker system for a more immersive experience. Further, the projector does generate quite a lot of heat after over an hour of use, and has an inlet and outlet fan on each side for heat dissipation. The fans get fairly loud after an extended session, which interferes with the viewing experience.


Casual gaming on the Formovie Theater is the best large-screen gaming experience I’ve had to date. It’s worth noting that the projector has a 41.9-millisecond delay when gaming, and only offers refresh rates of up to 60Hz. However, in casual titles, or if you’re only playing campaign modes, the delay is bearable. Titles like Ghost of Tsushima and Far Cry 6 look far too vibrant on the big screen, with minimal colour distortion and with details that I’d normally expect to see on an expensive monitor.

The videos above are compressed, so they don’t truly replicate what the eye can see. If you were to take my word, the 42-millisecond delay is the only gaming drawback with the projector. Other than that, the 4K HDR with a wide colour range at 60hz looks stunning while gaming.

Additionally, with a service life of 20,000 hours, the bulb in the Formovie Theater ensures uninterrupted enjoyment of big-screen entertainment for many years.

The Formovie Theater is a high-quality projector that offers an immersive cinema-like experience with its triple laser 4K resolution, HDR10 support, speakers tuned by Bowers & Wilkins, high contrast ratio, and an Auto Low Latency mode for gamers. It delivers stunning visuals with rich colours and crisp details in a dark room, alongside a balanced and neutral sound. Its range of connectivity options makes it a versatile choice to be used with your other gadgets, and the ultra-short throw makes the projector suitable for small rooms where there might not be enough space to set up projection equipment.

On the other hand, the Formovie Theater’s 2,800 lumens brightness fails to impress in a lit room during the daytime, and it generates quite a lot of heat after extended sessions, resulting in loud fans. Another disadvantage is the lack of native Netflix support, which is a significant drawback for many users who rely on the platform for their streaming content. Users can view Netflix by connecting their laptop to the projector through an HDMI port, though that is an unnecessary added step that may cause inconvenience to some.

The Formovie Theater is comparatively cheaper when compared to other 4K UST projectors. The projector is available for $3,499 at Formovie’s website. For reference, Samsung’s Premiere LSP9T 4K UST projector starts at $3,999 in Canada, while the LG CineBeam HU915QE 4K UST projector starts at $5,999.99, making it a good choice for those looking to invest in a 4K UST projector.

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What was your favourite Nintendo 3DS game?

With Nintendo shuttering its Wii U/3DS eShop on March 27th, we want to take a look back at the 3DS, arguably the better of the two systems. The 3DS’ life span lasted roughly ten years, with the handheld launching in March 2010 and being discontinued in 2020.

It offered a variety of critically-acclaimed games, including Pokémon X and Y, Pokémon Sun and Moon, Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, and even Super Smash Bros., which includes Pokémon like Pikachu, Lucario, Greninja, Jigglypuff and more (can you tell I like Pokémon?)

Beyond Pokémon, the handheld featured such hits as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D and Majora’s Mask 3D, The Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds, Metroid: Samus Returns, Fire Emblem Awakening, Mario Kart 7, Animal Crossing New Leaf and Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon. 

With this week’s community question, we’re asking: what’s your favourite Nintendo 3DS game? Mine is Pokémon X and Y, the first Pocket Monster game where you could change your clothes, hair and skin tone.

In the comments below, let us know your favourite Nintendo 3DS Pokémon game.

Image credit: Nintendo