Features Archives - The Canadian

19Jan

By thecanadianNo Comments

Bell, Carriers, Competition Bureau, Features, Rogers, Telus

Competition Bureau Campaign Encourages Canadians to Change Telecom Provider

The Competition Office has launched a 'Switch Week' campaign encourage Canadians to change service providers to save money. The bureau says that by changing your telecommunications, insurance and banking providers or renegotiating your contracts, you can take advantage of the competition to lower your monthly bills. Anthony Durocher, deputy commissioner of the Competition Office, said MobileSyrup in an interview that the goal of the week-long awareness campaign is "essentially to inform Canadians about the potential savings." The campaign highlights that Canadians could be overpaying about $ 1,860 per year if they stick to their combined telecommunications, banking and insurance plans. He notes that last year, one in four Canadians surveyed renegotiated their contracts or changed prov...

19Jan

By thecanadianNo Comments

Featured, Features, Flight sim, flight simulator, General, virtual reality, VR

Microsoft Flight Smulator in VR is something special

Flight simulator It has been one of my favorite experiences in recent months because of its exceptional level of realism and the simple fact that it is a fun escape from reality. Even though I thought the game was great before, I wasn't quite ready for the amazing experience that it is. Flight simulator in virtual reality. This allows you to freely look around the cockpit, which actually adds a lot more immersion to the game than you expected. That is not to say that the virtual reality experience is perfect. There are still plenty of issues with VR, including a significant starting price and the fact that it requires a gaming PC. Along with the minutiae of changing settings and learning a new PC experience, it's hard to recommend Microsoft Flight Simulator in virtual reality for an...

13Jan

By thecanadianNo Comments

Features, General, Nanoleaf, Smart Home, Thread, wireless protocol

Canada’s Nanoleaf relies on Thread, a wireless protocol for connecting smart home devices

Thread is the next big thing you probably haven't heard of, and you may never witness in action, but it is likely to bring massive changes to the technology you interact with on a daily basis. In simple terms, Thread is a wireless connectivity protocol specifically designed for smart home devices. Over time it will form the backbone of connected homes, providing an open, fast and reliable way for smart devices to communicate. In fact, it's already built into many products, although you may not know it. The thing is, Thread isn't exactly new. It's been around since 2014, when an alliance of companies including Google-owned ARM, Nest, Samsung, Qualcomm, and more formed the 'Thread Group' with the goal of making Thread an industry standard. Apple joined in 2018 and released the Thread...

7Jan

By thecanadianNo Comments

2021, Canada, Features, gaming, General

Here are eight Canadian-made games to watch out for in 2021

Last year, Canada impressed the video game industry with a variety of quality titles, including Immortal Fenyx Rising from Ubisoft Quebec, Spiritfarer of Thunder Lotus, based in Montreal, and Star Wars Squads from EA Motive, based in Montreal. Now, in 2021, it looks like production from Canadian developers will be just as strong, if not stronger, with a diverse lineup of games, both large and small. With that in mind, here are eight Canadian-made games that are well worth keeping an eye on this year. Cuphead: The Delicious Last DishDeveloper / Editor: MDHR study (based in Oakville, Ontario with developers across Canada)Gender: Run and shootPlatform: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PCRelease date: TBA 2021 Although it is not a completely new game, The delicious last dish...

3Jan

By thecanadianNo Comments

Apple, Click & Grow, Editorials, Features, iPhone 12 Pro Max, Patrick O'Rourke, Video Games, Xbox Series X

Patrick O’Rourke’s Favorite Things of 2020

While I spent most of 2020 confined to my home amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, I actually enjoyed the past year very much. On the one hand, although I like to travel, that is an important part of my work in MobileSyrupIt was great to be able to spend time at home with my partner and my cat. That being said, even though I'm a homebody, I'm looking forward to being able to attend tech conferences and events around the world again. However, unfortunately, it is not yet clear when it will be safe for that to start happening. I am also very grateful that I still have a job doing something I love when so many people around the world have been laid off during the pandemic. With all that said, my favorite things this year are relatively expected if you know anything about me; there's a ...

3Jan

By thecanadianNo Comments

Dean Daley, Drag Race, Features, General, Kipo and the Age of the Wonderbeasts, Schitt's Creek

Dean’s Favorite TV Shows of 2020

2020 has been quite a sad and depressing year. I spent most of my time at my house and sometimes hanging out with roommates, but this was not a great year overall. From COVID-19 to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, not being able to travel and having stupid virtual dates, 2020 was pure rubbish. But I found some comfort in things like video games, new consumer technology, and most importantly, TV shows. So while I really liked phones like the Z Fold 2, and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales It made me cry because it was so good, instead I wrote only about my favorite TV shows of the year. Endurance raceThis year there were seven different Endurance race Serie. In fact, I couldn't even see all of them because there were so many. Between RuPaul's Drag Race, RuPaul's Drag...

2Jan

By thecanadianNo Comments

Amazon, Buyers' Guide, echo, Features, Google, Nest Audio

Google’s Nest Audio vs Amazon’s Echo (2020)

Google and Amazon updated their smart speakers this year with a renewed focus on music. We've been going head-to-head with the two speakers over the past few weeks to figure out which smart speaker to buy this holiday season. The Amazon Echo (2020) is the magic eight ball of your dreams with the ability to answer thousands of questions and more. This year, Amazon chose to revamp the look of the regular Echo and Echo Dot to turn them into cloth-covered spheres. The regular Echo also got a big boost in sound quality now that it has three internal speakers. The new Nest Audio is Google's replacement for the original Google Home smart speaker that looks like an air freshener. This model also includes a nice speaker update and a compelling redesign that involves a lot of tissu...

1Jan

By thecanadianNo Comments

Editorials, Features, Huawei Mate 20 Pro, LG Wing, Smartphones, sony, Xioami Mi 10 ultra, ZTE Axon 20 5G

These are some of the coolest phones that are not officially available in Canada

In Canada, we can buy smartphones from carriers like Bell and Rogers and directly from manufacturers like Samsung and Apple. Some phone makers like Asus and TCL also sell their phones in Canada through retailers like Staples and Amazon. This gives us access to phones from various brands, including Samsung, Apple, Google, Huawei, LG, Nokia, Alcatel, TCL, Asus, OnePlus, and more. However, there are still a variety of phones that are not readily available in Canada. For example, Sony no longer sells its phones here, and Chinese brands like Oppo, Xiaomi, and Vivo have never officially sold their devices in North America. This story looks at the phones I'd like to see released here. It's worth noting that this list doesn't include all the notable smartphones that aren't available in Cana...

31Dec

By thecanadianNo Comments

2020, Editorials, favourite, Features, laptops, mobilesyrup

MobileSyrup’s Favorite Laptops of 2020

Every year, technology companies release a host of new laptop hardware. This year was no different, with many new portable computing devices trying to capitalize on the increase in people working remotely. However, not all laptops are the same. As such, I compiled this list of our favorite laptops of the year that cover multiple different facets: gaming, general-purpose Windows, Macs, and more. We also kept it on laptops we tested this year; if a laptop you like is missing from a certain manufacturer, chances are we didn't get a chance to review it this year. Let's dive in. Favorite Windows Laptop: LG Gram (2020)Of all the Windows laptops I tested this year, the LG Gram was one of the most impressive devices I used. What most caught my attention was the weight. Despite testing ...

30Dec

By thecanadianNo Comments

Editorials, Features, Google Pixel 5, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, OnePlus 8 Pro, Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, Samsung Galaxy S20, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2

Here are the best phones of 2020 launched in Canada

2020 has probably been one of the strangest years for smartphone launches in Canada. We saw some foldables, four new iPhones, possibly the latest Samsung Galaxy Note, a Huawei phone lacking the Play Store, and more. As usual, many phones that were launched in other markets did not make it here. With that said, this list looks at the best smartphones that were officially launched in Canada. To be clear, this isn't a gift guide to which phones you should buy, because in the case of the Z Fold 2, while it's probably the best Android smartphone I've ever used, it's definitely not for everyone due to its price. Samsung Samsung has three smartphones on the list this year, and it probably could have had more, including the Galaxy S20 FE and the Galaxy Z Flip. Samsung Galaxy S20 +Samsung's...

29Dec

By thecanadianNo Comments

covid alert, favourite things of 2020, Features, General, the boys, The Umbrella Academy, TikTok

Aisha Malik’s Favorite Things of 2020

When I wrote this list last year, I ended it with: "We hope 2020 is even better than 2019!" We really had no idea what was to come. Needless to say, 2020 was a crazy, unexpected, and completely absurd year. Like many others, I found comfort in connecting with friends and family and spending more time on my hobbies. This included reading, writing, baking, or just watching TV shows and movies. Below are some of the things that helped me get through this incredibly difficult year. Favorite TV show: The Umbrella Academy (season 2) I remember I was looking forward to the second season of The Umbrella academy year-round, and when it finally launched in July, it was a familiar affair amid the madness of the pandemic. The second season was full of the funny family jokes and weirdness that I...

28Dec

By thecanadianNo Comments

2020, Editorials, favourite things, Features, gaming, jon lamont, Tech

Jon Lamont’s Favorite Things in 2020

Well 2020 has been a wild year. If you had told me this time last year what was to come, I don't think I would have believed you. Despite all the pitfalls, frustrations, and other issues, 2020 had some great times for me too. I'd love to take some time to acknowledge some of those things and reflect on my favorite parts of this year, like some reviews that I really enjoyed writing, games that I enjoyed playing, and more. Favorite Tech of the YearIn 2020, a lot of companies launched new tech products. One of the advantages of my job is that I can work and test many of these new products. This year, there were quite a few articles that really stood out to me as top-notch. Perhaps my favorite new tech of 2020 was Microsoft's Surface Laptop Go. Although he argued that it was a diffi...