SyrupCast

This week on the SyrupCast, Igor Bonifacic, Patrick O'Rourke, Ted Kritsonis, and Simon Cohen break the "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" rule and sit down to discuss this year's CES.

This year's CES kicked off the voice-activated assistant war, as well as exciting new developments in the infotainment side of the automotive industry. When the weather was behaving, CES attendees got to see Samsung show off a 146-inch modular TV, Google Assistant made the jump to vehicles, and a wide range of other devices were shown off.

Finally, the team talks also about LG recently discussing the possibility of rebranding G series of smartphones.

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: 37:30 CES: 2:00 Shoutouts: 32:45

Ted gives his shoutout to the Vegas Golden Knights. Patrick throws a shoutout to Nintendo for the Switch being named the fastest selling gaming console in Canada. Finally, this week Igor shouts out All The Money In The World.

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This week on the SyrupCast, Igor Bonifacic, Patrick O'Rourke, Rose Behar, and now free agent, Josh McConnell, are back after a two week holiday break to bring you their opinions about Apple's recent battery fiasco.

Just before the holidays, Apple confirmed that the company does indeed slow down older iPhone models in order to conserve battery quality. Apple fans are especially frustrated that they were not made aware of this feature and that the Cupertino, California based tech giant was forced to reveal that it throttles batteries only after it was uncovered.

Apple has since apologized for its lack of transparency. As a result of the public outcry in response to the revelation, Apple has marked the price of replacement batteries down considerably.

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: 27:52 Apple Battery Scandal: 2:00 Shoutouts: 20:25

Rose gives his shoutout to the first concept phone with a in-screen fingerprint scanner. Josh's shoutout goes to Google Play Music. Patrick throws a shoutout to Mario Tennis Aces. Finally, this week Igor shouts out The Hospital Suite.

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This week on the SyrupCast, Igor Bonifacic, Patrick O'Rourke, Sameer Chhabra, and Rose Behar bring you the SyrupCast's end-of-year episode, looking back at the team's favourite tech moments of 2017.

Patrick goes first and talks about -- I'm sure you're surprised -- the Nintendo Switch; Rose's pick is the rise of Freedom Mobile;  Sameer's selection is the CRTC's precedent setting zero rating decision related to Vidéotron. Last, but not least, Igor's pick is the general ambivalence surrounding Samsung's Galaxy Note 8. 

Tune in to hear the team ring in the New Year!

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: 25:37 Shoutouts: 20:25

Sameer gives his shoutout to MobileSyrup for giving him his first job as a journalist. Rose's shoutout goes to Nancy Drew and HeR Interactive's game update. Patrick throws a shoutout to Nintendo Power coming back as a podcast. Finally, this week Igor shouts out Robyn, the SyrupCast's producer.

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This week on the SyrupCast, Rose Behar and Igor Bonifacic are joined by Christine Dobby, telecom reporter at the Globe and Mail, and Daniel Bader, managing editor at Android Central, to take a look back the major Canadian telecom developments of 2017, with a focus on Freedom Mobile.

A lot has changed over the course of 2017 in terms of Canada's telecom ecosystem. One of the most significant shifts in the space involves Canadian carrier unlocking fees being stopped by the CRTC. Freedom Mobile also underwent significant changes this year, with the carrier rebranding from Wind Mobile to Freedom Mobile, following Shaw's acquisition of the company back in 2015.

With the CRTC unlocking fee ban recently going into effect, Freedom jumped at the opportunity to acquire new customers from the larger competitors in the Canadian telecom space. Freedom introduced a new, highly competitive plan that offered 10GB of data for $50, and in an unprecedented move, other major carriers and flanker brands responded with similar offers. The ensuing deal madness saw Canadians trying to take advantage of the offers being stuck in long lineups and customer service reps being overwhelmed with calls.

Finally, and this may be the most important news of all, the Freedom Bear has officially retired.

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: 33:13

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This week on the SyrupCast, Patrick O'Rourke, Rose Behar, and Sameer Chhabra sit down to discuss Rose's recent trip and answer a few listener questions.

Rose, back at the MobileSyrup office fresh from her trip to the Snapdragon Technology Summit in Hawaii, gives the team a run down of all Qualcomm's major announcements from the event. The smartphone hardware manufacturer's new Snapdragon 845 mobile processor is set to include new features, including camera and AI improvements.

The team also takes a look at some recently submitted listener questions. Will Freedom Mobile market the fact that all devices in Canada are unlocked? Is the Note 8 better than the iPhone X.? Listen to find out.

Tune in to hear the SyrupCast team's thoughts.

Hosts: Patrick O'Rourke, Rose Behar, and Sameer Chhabra

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: 31:36 Qualcomm: 2:00 Listener Questions: 13:30 Shoutouts: 26:30

Sameer discusses recent political developments in the U.S. in his shoutout. Patrick throws a shoutout to Player Unknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) glitchy, but still fun Xbox One version. Finally, this week Rose shouts out Commisioner Mignon Clyburn and her speech about Net Neutrality.

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This week on the SyrupCast, Igor Bonifacic, Patrick O'Rourke, Dean Daley, and Brad Shankar discuss their favourite games released over the course of 2017. As the year is winding down, the team felt it would be appropriate to reflect on their favourite games of 2017.

Fair warning though dear listeners, this week's episode contains Spoilers. 

Patrick goes first and selects The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, Destiny 2 and Splatoon 2. Dean picks Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Nioh. Brad's selections are Persona 5, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. Last, but not least, Igor picks Hollow Knight and Prey.

The team also dives into their most surprising and most disappoint games of the year.

Tune in to find out which games the SyrupCast team picked.

Hosts: Igor Bonifacic, Rose Behar, Brad Shankar and Patrick O'Rourke 

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: 42:58 Favourite games of 2017 discussion: 1:43 Shoutouts: 35:17

Brad gives his shoutout to Significant Zero. Dean's shoutout goes to PlayStation. Patrick throws a shoutout to Reigns: Her Majesty. Finally, this week Igor shouts out

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This week on the SyrupCast, Igor Bonifacic, Rose Behar, Patrick O'Rourke, and Sameer Chhabra discuss the CRTC's recently officially mandated smartphone unlocking fee ban.

It's now December 1st and this means that in Canada, carriers are no longer able to charge a fee to unlock customer's phones. The CRTC ruling to ban unlocking fees was initial revealed back in June, but the actual start date wasn't immediate.

Now, however, carriers are required to assist customers when it comes to unlocking their phones, free of charge; regardless of whether the phone is newly purchased, or if it's a device you've had for years.

Tune in to hear the SyrupCast team's thoughts.

Hosts: Igor Bonifacic, Rose Behar, Sameer Chhabra and Patrick O'Rourke 

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: 45:40 Unlocking fees: 1:20 Listener questions: 26:00 Shoutouts: 38:30

Sameer's shoutout goes to InstaRyde. Rose is talking about the Jim Beam smart decanter. Patrick's shoutout is dedicated to Super Mario cereal. Finally, Igor's shoutout goes to the books of Kazuo Ishiguro.

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This week on the SyrupCast, Igor Bonifacic, Rose Behar, and Sameer Chhabra discuss the iPhone coming to Freedom and the latest Net Neutrality news from South of the border.

Starting on November 24th, Freedom Mobile will begin taking preorders for the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and the iPhone X, all of which are now compatible with their networks. The team breaks down what the plans look like and what that could mean for the Canadian carrier market.

In the United States this week, Turkey was being served with a side of FCC proposals that would do away with net neutrality. Luckily, Canada is still steadfast in it's support of keeping the internet fair for all.

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: 31:51 iPhone goes free: 1:40 Net Neutrality in the States: 15:48 Shoutouts: 27:43

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This week on the SyrupCast, Igor Bonifacic, Rose Behar, Sameer Chhabra, and Patrick O'Rourke sit down to talk about the One Plus 5T and a recent interview with Ian Scott, the CRTC's recently appointed chair.

The team is not exactly over-the-moon with the One Plus 5T, but they were even less enthused about the device's reveal presentation. Reflecting on the 5T's various features also brought the Pixel 2 back into the conversation. The team dives into the latest reports related to the smartphone's display issues.

This week, Sameer conducted an interview with the CRTC's new chair Ian Scott following his first public speech. Among other things, the new chair said he is "neither pro-business nor pro-consumer."

Tune in to hear the SyrupCast team's thoughts.

Hosts: Sameer Chhabra, Igor Bonifacic, Rose Behar, and Patrick O'Rourke

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: 39:48 One Plus 5T: 1:40 CRTC Ian Scott interview: 20:00 Shoutouts: 33:09

Sameer's shoutout goes to the TrudeauMeter. Rose is talking about Bell and their roaming package. Patrick gives a shoutout to Amazon for launching the Echo in Canada. Finally, Igor's shoutout goes to his hair dresser and her book shelf for recommending The Underwater Welder.

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This week on the SyrupCast, Sameer Chhabra, Igor Bonifacic, and Patrick O'Rourke discuss how the Pixel 2 has behaved in the field since its release, specifically Japan, and the 2017 communications monitoring report for broadcast content.

Igor spent the last two weeks in Japan and had the Pixel 2 along with him along for the ride. While he was traveling he had the chance to use the state of the art smartphone camera to take snap some photos. He was especially impressed with the Pixel 2's ability to take night photos. You can find some of those images

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