SyrupCast

Believe it or not, we here at MobileSyrup enjoy movies and television almost as much as we love tech.

Whether the subject is Steven Spielberg or Steve Jobs, the iPhone or I, Robot, you can be sure that someone at the MobileSyrup office has an opinion or interesting fact to share. Keeping in line with our love for tech and pop culture, MobileSyrup presents Viewer Experience, a podcast where tech meets pop culture.

Tune in every two weeks for a brand new episode built around a newly released movie or television show and the technology used in it or used to create it. Each episode will discuss a particular movie or television show, the technology involved with it, as well as interesting people doing fascinating things within that particular tech space.

Listener’s note: Viewer Experience isn’t replacing the SyrupCast. For now, they’re just sharing the same space. Eventually you'll be able to subscribe to Viewer Experience separately. 

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This week on the SyrupCast, MobileSyrup telecom editor Rose Behar is joined by Globe and Mail telecom reporter Christine Dobby and Financial Post telecom reporter Emily Jackson, to discuss the current state of Canada's telecom environment.

Last week the CRTC released an updated ruling on MVNOs in Canada. The team discusses how this decision impacts Canadians and if it will help drop the cost of phone plans. The team also predicts what the remainder of CRTC chairman Ian Scott's time with the regulatory body will look like and speaks about the new 600MHz auction framework.

The podcast then turns to facilities-based investment. The Big Three feel that since they've put a lot of money into networks, they should solely benefit from them. The smaller providers, on the flip side, feel they should be able to piggy back off of existing infrastructure. With the new MVNO ruling, this discussion is again at the forefront of the telecom scene.

Tune in to hear the SyrupCast team's thoughts on all things telecom.

Do you have questions, comments, thoughts, or anything you would like addressed on the podcast? Send us an email to [email protected]. If you're feeling extra adventurous, send us a voice recording of your question or comment and you may end up featured in a future episode!

Total runtime: 44:41 MVNO: 1:00 Facilities-based Investment: 15:00 Shoutouts: 39:00

Emily shouts out the call center operators that have to deal with people trying to better their phone plans. Rose gives her shoutout to Telus and Koodo raising their connection fee. Christine shouts out the podcast Note to Self.

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This week on the SyrupCast MobileSyrup features editor Igor Bonifacic, telecom editor Rose Behar and managing editor Patrick O'Rourke, discuss Sidewalk Labs and the recent controversy surrounding Facebook's latest data breach.

People have been voicing concerns related to privacy at Sidewalk Labs, Google's new smart city development project in downtown Toronto. Rose recently spoke with Rohit Aggarwala, Sidewalk Lab's head of urban systems, who discussed the company's intentions and plans behind Sidewalk Labs.

This past week news broke that Cambridge Analytica, a major analytics firm in London, U.K., exploited the data of 50 million Facebook profiles through third-party applications. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has since come out and apologized for the breach, stating that Facebook plans do better in the future when it comes to privacy. The team digs into the story and debates if regulating tech companies like Facebook should be the norm.

Tune in to hear the SyrupCast team's thoughts.

Do you have questions, comments, thoughts, or anything you would like addressed on the podcast? Send us an email to [email protected]. If you're feeling extra adventurous, send us a voice recording of your question or comment and you may end up featured in a future episode!

Total runtime: 30:32 Sidewalk Labs: 1:20 Facebook's Data Breach: 12:30 Shoutouts: 24:30

Igor shouts out his new cat Liam. Rose gives her shoutout to Hot Ones. Patrick shouts out the podcast Blink 155 #GetPatrickonBlink155.

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This week on the SyrupCast, MobileSyrup features editor Igor Bonifacic, telecom editor Rose Behar, and telecom reporter Sameer Chhabra, discuss everything CRTC related.

The CRTC is in the process of putting together its program distribution report, of which streaming services will be an important part. Since foreign streaming platforms like Netflix aren't likely to divulge public information about subscribers and revenue, the regulatory body bent the rules and has decided to allow private companies to report confidentially, versus the usual public reporting.

This means that even if Netflix does reveal numbers to the CRTC, Canadians still won't get to see that information. The crew talks about whether or not the CRTC made the right call, and gets into some Civics 101.

Beyond Netflix, the CRTC has also been busy working on a decision regarding Wi-Fi-first MVNOs. If the decision goes through, the wireless market in Canada may be disrupted by low-budget providers.

Tune in to hear the SyrupCast team's thoughts.

Do you have questions, comments, thoughts, or anything you would like addressed on the podcast? Send us an email to [email protected]. If you're feeling extra adventurous, send us a voice recording of your question or comment and you may end up featured in a future episode!

Total runtime: 27:27 CRTC & Netflix: 2:00 CRTC MVNOs: 19:30 Shoutouts: 23:30

Igor shouts out John Chen. Rose gives her shoutout to Qualcomm. Sameer shouts out Innisfil, Ontario.

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This week on the SyrupCast, features editor Igor Bonifacic, telecom editor Rose Behar, and managing editor Patrick O'Rourke talk about MWC and Samsung's Galaxy S9/S9+.

Very sleep deprived Patrick and Rose are finally back on the ground in Canada after a whirlwind trip to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. The team discusses what MWC is, as well as what some of the biggest stories from this year's show are. Following up on last week's talk about the Samsung Galaxy keynote, the team dives into Patrick's recently published review of the Galaxy S9.

The SyrupCast crew then switches gears and talks about the recently released developer-version of Android P.

Tune in to hear the SyrupCast team's thoughts.

Do you have questions, comments, thoughts, or anything you would like addressed on the podcast? Send us an email to [email protected]. If you're feeling extra adventurous, send us a voice recording of your question or comment and you may end up featured in a future episode!

Total runtime: 30:27 MWC: 1:37 S9: 9:00 Android P: 20:00 Shoutouts: 25:30

Igor shouts out Jon Hopkins. Rose gives her shoutout to her 5G for dummies. Patrick brings the Switch minute back after a hiatus and shouts out Donkey Kongas. 

We'd also like to thank Frontstream for providing us with a podcast recording space this week. 

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This week on the SyrupCast, MobileSyrup head of editorial Igor Bonifacic and reporter Sameer Chhabra talk about MWC's various manufacturer keynotes.

At MWC this year, Samsung's spotlight moment was overshadowed by the company's attempt to once again poke fun at Apple and the iPhone X notch. The joke not only fell flat, but also leaves us wondering how Samsung intends to brings its S Series design in to the future.

Also at MWC were numerous discussions related to the feasibility of 5G. The discussions centred around the cost of equipment and how the spectrum will be deployed in different regions around the world.

Tune in to hear the SyrupCast team's thoughts.

Do you have questions, comments, thoughts, or anything you would like addressed on the podcast? Send us an email to [email protected]. If you're feeling extra adventurous, send us a voice recording of your question or comment and you may end up featured in a future episode! Total runtime: 28:20 Not about the Notch: 1:05 Samsung does ARmoji: 15:00 Shoutouts: 25:00

Sameer gives his shoutout to the Lite Phone 2. Igor shouts out Into The Breach.

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This week on the SyrupCast, features editor Igor Bonifacic, telecom report Sameer Chhabra and YouTube personalities Matt Moniz and Ash Tailor tee up predictions for this year's Mobile World Congress.

After a week off, the SyrupCast is back with predictions for Mobile World Congress 2018 (MWC). Rose and Patrick will both be headed to cover MWC 2018 for MobileSyrup.

Leading into this year's MWC, we've already seen leaks for the Samsung's Galaxy S9, but new phones are also expected from ZTE, Asus, Lenovo, Sony, and more.

Tune in to hear the SyrupCast team's thoughts.

Do you have questions, comments, thoughts, or anything you would like addressed on the podcast? Send us an email to [email protected]. If you're feeling extra adventurous, send us a voice recording of your question or comment and you may end up featured in a future episode!

Total runtime: 22:49 Mobile World Congress predictions: 2:00 Shoutouts: 18:56

Sameer gives his shoutout to Rose and Patrick, who are headed to MWC. Ash throws a shoutout to the SyrupCast. Matt gives a shout out to all of the amazing tech journos and youtubers. Finally, this week Igor shouts out Team Canada.

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On this week's podcast, MobileSyrup managing editor Patrick O'Rourke, features editor Igor Bonifacic and freelance tech reporter Josh McConnell take a look back at the Nintendo Switch's first year on the market.

The team discusses the great games that have made their way to the system, including The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart Deluxe, and Splatoon 2.

In the home console-portable hybrid system's second year on the market, the SyrupCast squad wants to see full-fledged online services, a solid line-up of first-party games -- we're hoping to learn more at this year's E3 -- and most importantly, a downloadable game blast from Nintendo's nostalgic past that spans systems ranging from the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) all the way up to the Wii.

For more on the Nintendo Switch, check out my recently published editorial about the spectacular first year the system has had.

Tune in to hear the SyrupCast team's thoughts.

Do you have questions, comments, thoughts, or anything you would like addressed on the podcast? Send us an email to [email protected]. If you're feeling extra adventurous, send us a voice recording of your question or comment and you may end up featured in a future episode!

Total runtime: 37:37

Patrick shouts out Rose and Sameer for their hard work covering the Canadian and telecom industry this week; Josh hypes up his favourite day of the year, which is, of course, National Pizza Day; and finally, Igor, bringing things back to a more serious topic, shouts out the movie Call Me By Your Name.

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This week on the SyrupCast, feature editor Igor Bonifacic, managing editor Patrick O'Rourke, telecom editor Rose Behar, and freelance tech reporter Simon Cohen, discuss recent layoffs at Shaw as well as FairPlay Canada

A group, known as FairPlay Canada, is lobbying the CRTC to begin blocking specific websites known for facilitating piracy. The group is backed by some of Canada's largest carriers, such as Rogers and Bell, leaving some to wonder about the long-term net neutrality implications a shift like this could cause.

This week news also came out that Shaw is attempting to buy out almost half of the company's employees. Nearly 6,500 employees are being offered severance packages, with Shaw claiming that the move is because the telecom giant is moving towards automating customer service. The jobs being bought out however, tell a different story -- it's still unclear what's really going on at Shaw.

Tune in to hear the SyrupCast team's thoughts.

Do you have questions, comments, thoughts, or anything you would like addressed on the podcast? Send us an email to [email protected]. If you're feeling extra adventurous, send us a voice recording of your question or comment and you may end up featured in a future episode!

Total runtime: 37:37 Fair play: 1:30 Shaw buyouts: 18:45 Shoutouts: 31:00

Rose gives her shoutout to Netflix purchasing their first French Canadian film. Patrick throws a shoutout to Mario Kart coming to mobile. Simon gives a shout out to Nicolas Cage being inserted into other movies. Finally, this week Igor shouts out roam like home price increases.

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This week on the SyrupCast, senior editor Igor Bonifacic, senior editor Patrick O'Rourke, senior reporter Rose Behar, and freelance tech journalist Josh McConnell, sit down to talk about Rogers' sales tactics and Josh's recent interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Reports about Rogers' sales practices have resurfaced as multiple employees have come forward with stories about their managers and supervisors pressuring them to “hit sales targets or risk termination.” These reports went further to expose the expectations that employees must up-sell products to unsuspecting customers. Rogers has vehemently denied this portrayal of the company's sales strategies.

Also this week, Josh McConnell -- friend of the podcast and freelance tech journalist -- had the opportunity to interview Apple's CEO Tim Cook during his short (but sweet) visit to Toronto. The team is curious about what the famed CEO is like in person and whether he lives up to the hype.

Tune in to hear the SyrupCast team's thoughts.

Do you have questions, comments, thoughts, or anything you would like addressed on the podcast? Send us an email to [email protected]. If you're feeling extra adventurous, send us a voice recording of your question or comment and you may end up featured in a future episode!

Total runtime: 32:48 Roger's up-selling has gotten out of hand: 1:30 Tim Cook is ripped: 15:30 Shoutouts: 28:34

Josh gives his shoutout to Justin Timberlake's surprise album, dropping song by song. Patrick throws a shoutout to Sea of Thieves. Rose's shoutout is to Call Me By Your Name. Finally, this week Igor shouts out the Toronto Public Library for getting Kanopy.

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