Coincheck Registers 1.7M New Users Since Resuming Operations Last October

Coincheck has reported 1.73 million downloads of its mobile app since the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange resumed new account signups, withdrawals, deposits and limited trading in October. By the end of December, more than 900,000 of the new users had gone on to confirm their identities, in what looks like a remarkable comeback for an exchange that holds the dubious record of having suffered the worst hack in the short history of cryptocurrency.

Also read: Genesis Capital Processed $1.1B of Cryptocurrency Loans in 2018

Trading Volume Rises as More Customers Sign Up

About $534 million worth of the NEM cryptocurrency was stolen from Coincheck in January 2018. The money was never recovered and operations were subsequently halted. Since then, the trading platform has been trying to reinvent itself through refunding victims of the hack, improving security systems, as well as regularizing its operations with Japan’s financial regulator. Coincheck completed its registration as a cryptocurrency exchange on Jan. 11 of this year.

According to an earnings report for the third quarter to March 31, 2019 published by Monex Group, the Japanese owners of Coincheck, the exchange has seen a marked increase in trading volume since it resumed purchasing and depositing services “for all tradable cryptocurrencies” at the end of November.

“Service resumption contributed to an increase in trading volume [and] growth potential in customer base where the millennials are the majority,” said Monex, which acquired Coincheck in April 2018, in the financial report released Jan. 31.

Coincheck Losses Halve to 300 Million Yen

For the quarter, Coincheck also reported losses that halved to 324 million yen (about $2.97 million) from 588 million yen ($5.39 million) the previous quarter, as new user signups soared. Revenue came in at $4.59 million, up from $2.75 million in the second quarter.

Monex said the company had established its “Blockchain Lab (BCLab),” which is aimed at providing “blockchain or cryptocurrency technology solutions to various companies.”

The group also spoke about the importance of the virtual currency business to its entire operation, stating: “Cryptocurrency trading business will be a key to enhancing cross-segment interaction” which will expand “business capability and create new customers.”

After the record-breaking hack of last year, it is a milestone that Coincheck, bought by Monex for $34 million last April, has been granted an operating license by Japan’s Financial Services Authority. The license gives the exchange full permission to continue providing its services within the Pacific island nation.

Monex says it has overhauled Coincheck’s security and management systems in a bid to prevent the recurrence of another theft.

What do you think about Coincheck’s comeback? Let us know in the comments section below.

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BCH Community Responds to Allegations of Faked Coinbase Video

The BTC community recently accused Coinbase of editing a video to make zero-conf BCH payments appear quicker than they actually are. In response, Bitcoin Cash supporters have provided pictorial evidence that the video was not faked. They then went on to discuss ways in which replace-by-fee has altered the reliability of 0-conf on BTC. 

Also read: Coinbase Suspends Ethereum Classic Following 51 Percent Attack

BTC Community Angered by Coinbase Video

Recently, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong tweeted a video of a popup donut shop at Coinbase that accepted cryptocurrency for payments. The 15-second video showed a person paying for the donuts with a 0-conf BCH transaction that took a mere three seconds to be received on a tablet.

Popup donut shop accepting crypto at @coinbase today. Doing more user testing important to improve usability. pic.twitter.com/G6QH2vjWVL

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) January 26, 2019

Bitcoin Core (BTC) maximalist Whalepanda and cryptography consultant Peter Todd both accused Coinbase of editing the video to make BCH 0-conf transactions appear quicker than they are. They believed that Coinbase had minimized the wait time with a video edit that was made to look like a camera zoom on the tablet receiving payment.

No.

1) coinbase publishes a video that looks like it used a zoom to hide a cut.

— Peter Todd (@peterktodd) January 30, 2019

Other BTC community members like DJ Booth and zndtoshi were also unhappy with Armstrong’s video and requested the Coinbase CEO use Lightning instead of BCH for quicker transactions in the future.

BCH Community Responds

In response, video director and BCH supporter Collin Enstad took a snapshot of a frame in the video that showed the payment had already been confirmed before the camera had even zoomed in.

No edit. There's one frame when the green checkmark and the QR code is barely visible, right before the zoom. pic.twitter.com/qTLCCpATzm

— Collin Enstad (@CollinEnstad) January 26, 2019

Openbazaar developer Chris Pacia also joined in the conversation with a light-hearted response, and teased that the integration of Avalanche would make BCH transactions confirm even quicker than currently.

r/btc Debates 0-Conf and Replace-by-Fee

The debate continued on reddit, as r/btc commentator lechango questioned whether Todd and Whalepanda had received BTC transactions in the past, since 0-conf also exists on BTC. However, reddit user Recentbobcat quickly pointed out that the replace-by-fee feature on BTC had made 0-conf transactions unreliable. This was the reason why the BCH community got rid of the replace-by-fee feature, Recentbobcat explained.

Toddler thinks Coinbase’s BCH demo is still "fake news"…. from btc

Another reddit commentator, s_tec, jumped in and pointed out that 0-conf transactions would still work on BTC because replace-by-fee is an opt-in feature. This means that merchants that accept BTC can look out for replace-by-fee on incoming payments and decide accordingly whether to accept the original transaction.

What do you think about the Coinbase video and the response it elicited? Let us know in the comments below.

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Montreal launches its first esports studies program in a high school

The first esports studies program has officially launched in Montreal’s east-end Édouard-Montpetit High School.

As part of the specialized program, students will attend regular curriculum morning classes at Édouard-Montpetit before going to the Montreal Esports Academy in the Plateau for afternoon gaming instruction by a team of professionals.

The initiative is heavily inspired by Quebec’s Sport-études program which helps prepare teenaged athletes for professional sporting. As a result, students’ afternoons will include the following mix of training, theory and physical exercise.

• 30 minutes of physical activity
• 75 minutes of theory
• 120 minutes of gaming
• 15-minute break

The theory portion will include lectures on such subjects as positioning in a first-person shooter and how to manage resources in strategy games. Actual game playing time, meanwhile, will be overseen by personal and coaches and will feature games like League of Legends, StarCraft II and Super Smash Bros.

The program will cost $2,500-per-year and involve between 10 and 15 students in the first year.

A former Édouard-Montpetit student who was part of the Montreal Esports Academy proposed the idea for the esports program.

However, this isn’t the first esports studies initiative in Quebec. A similar initiative is offered north of Quebec City in Saguenay students learn how to game for about two and a half hours a day.

Source: CBC

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‘Criterion Channel’ streaming service launching on April 8, 2019 in Canada

For film aficionados, the Criterion Collection is often the only place to find classic, obscure or remastered titles.

The Collection includes titles from classic masters like Federico Fellini, Robert Altman, Alfred Hitchcock and Francois Truffaut, as well as lesser films from filmmakers who still make movies, like Martin Scorsese.

Starting April 8th, 2019, however, film buffs in Canada and the U.S. will be able to access over 1,000 films part of the Criterion Collection through the company’s ‘Criterion Channel’ over-the-top streaming service.

We're so excited! The Criterion Channel, our new streaming service for movie lovers, will launch April 8 in the U.S. & Canada! As a Charter Subscriber, you can start watching *right now* with our Movie of the Week series! Come join us! https://t.co/UjYZMW1W3c pic.twitter.com/bPHA9hwSA3

— Criterion Channel (@criterionchannl) January 30, 2019

According to a series of January 30th, 2019 tweets, users can sign up for the Criterion Channel now and begin watching titles part of the company’s ‘Movie of the Week’ series.

The platform is currently only available through web browsers, but when the platform launches in April, users will be able to download Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, iOS and Android apps to access the platform.

Source: Criterion Channel twitter

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ZTE Axon 10 Pro Appears on GeekBench With Snapdragon 855

Another smartphone to sport the yet powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 has surfaced on Geekbench database. This time it is the successor to ZTE Axon 9 Pro that had the model number “A2019G” so it is easy to deduce that the “A2020 Pro” that appeared on Geekbench is ZTE Axon 10 Pro.

The upcoming Axon 10 Pro sports 6GB RAM and runs on Android 9 Pie with the powerful Snapdragon 855 SoC under codename “pine” and has faired exceptionally well on the GeekBench 4.1 single-core and multi-core scores.

To shed light on its single-core score, it is 3,824 which is higher than the much-anticipated Samsung Galaxy S10+ (3,413), Lenovo Z5 Pro GT (3,284). In fact, it leaves only the Apple iPhone XS Max which leads with 4,777 but outruns all other smartphones with Snapdragon 855 and HiSilicon Kirin 980 dual NPU SoC (Huawei Mate 20).

The story is slightly different in the multi-core score where ZTE Axon 10 Pro scored 10,762 points. Here, Lenovo Z5 Pro GT tops the chart with 12,801 points leaving Apple iPhone XS Max at the second position with 11,432 points while the work-in-progress Google “Coral” performs subtly at 9,235 points. To put things into perspective, since Samsung Galaxy S10+ is widely known, even it has scored 10,256 points compared to the Axon 10 Pro.

According to LetGoDigital, Chinese smartphone maker ZTE launched the Axon 9 Pro at the IFA 2018 in August last year. However, it is possible that the company is looking forward to launching the newly teased Axon 10 Pro at the MWC 2019 to be held next month in Barcelona which will be preoccupied with lots of techs to launch and unveil, all at once.

 

Source | Via

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Upcoming Xperia Device Could Boast a 52MP Sensor with Telephoto and ToF

A new Xperia device has come to light sporting a massive 52MP rear camera setup. Previous leaks suggest that there is an Xperia XZ4 coming up on February 25 at the MWC 2019. This isn’t that “Xperia XZ4” but there is a premium series coming up soon so take this rumor with a pinch of salt.

As per a report, the upcoming premium Xperia device will pack in a triple camera assembly at the back. Although the image associated with it seems to be of upcoming Xperia XZ4 render with specs embossed on it which means the setup might not be same in appearance. But as said, it will feature a triple camera setup with a 16MP telescopic lens with an aperture of f/2.6, a main 52MP sensor with an aperture of f/1.6 and finally, there will be a 0.3MP f/1.4 ToF camera that’ll be used for better depth detection.

The phone will employ 4-in-1 light binning technology that gives the phone exceptional clarity at 13MP (13×4) while the max is at 52MP. It will be the first smartphone to outrun the sensor mounted on the new Honor View 20 as well as Nokia Lumia 1020 which had a 48MP PureView with Carl Zeiss lens.

Finally, there are a lot of disparities with this rumor as we don’t know yet if this is actually true or if these specs are for rear or front-camera assembly although a rear-camera assembly seems more probably in this case.

A previous leak on supposedly Sony Xperia XZ4 claimed that it will feature a 6.5-inch QHD+ display with a new 21:9 aspect ratio and a 6GB RAM along with Snapdragon 855 chipset and a 128GB internal storage and finally, a 4,400 mAh battery will power all the operations here.

 

Source | Via

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iOS 13 Rumor Roundup: Dark Mode, Multi-Tasking, CarPlay and More

Every year, Apple launches a new iOS version in September such as the iOS 12 that was officially launched in September ‘18. So, it is imminent that 2019 will get the new iOS 13 and as per the timeline is concerned, it will be previewed at Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2019 followed by beta updates and final stable version launch in September 2019. But what will it offer? I guess I have the answer or at least the early pointers for a few features that will be incorporated in the upcoming iOS 13.

Sparked by a Bloomberg report, iOS 13 is sought to introduce the much-awaited dark mode theme that would rather the screen inverse with dark backgrounds and light text. Many apps have rolled out their dark mode feature, however, Apple users have been longing for a system-wide dark mode similar to how Android is going to roll out the system-wide Dark Mode in Android Q.

Although we don’t know much about the upcoming iOS 13 since this is still very early to comment on it, Bloomberg report states that there will be CarPlay improvements too. As said, the update will offer a new iPad home screen where it will offer new tab interface allowing users to use two tabs of the same app without any hassle to facilitate multitasking feature.

Further, we already know to cite a previous intel that Apple is working to introduce Apple News with magazine subscription service that will be collectively known as Apple News Magazine. Also, the Cupertino-based tech giant is also looking forward to allowing all-in-one subscription service so that users can pay for Apple’s magazine, news, music, and video content under a single package. Also, there is a report allegedly claiming inclusion of gaming subscription service as well.

Anyhow, it is not easy to decipher what Apple iOS 13 will provide this early but we try to put everything ahead of our readers so stay tuned to know more.

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Photos for Upcoming Oppo F11 or R19 Leaks Online teasing Popup Camera: Possible OnePlus 7 Design?

Few images of an upcoming smartphone from Chinese brand Oppo has trickled on the web and all thanks to tipster Ishan Agarwal. The tipster captioned that he received these unnamed images from an anonymous tipster and carries certain details that you would be happy to check out.

A look at the phone reveals that it has a 6-inch screen with a popup front camera module that frees it from any notch or punch hole that other smartphones are working on. We are confused between Oppo R19 and Oppo F11 since there are certain aspects of these images that match up with the predecessors of the R and F-series.

To put things into context, Oppo R19 is a flagship device while the F11 would be a mid-range device. The images show that the device has a thick bezel around the edges which is a concern with flagship devices since they are “flagship” and get the best of treatments. But on the other hand, it has a physical fingerprint scanner at the back much like Oppo F9. If you think about, the upcoming Oppo smartphone could have features of both these phones.

Although the tipster produced an image of “About Phone” section, unfortunately, the details are either deliberately blurred or the anonymous sender itself sent these edited images. But there is a possibility that the device will run on Android Pie 9.0 as you can see in the images along with the skin of ColorOS v6.0 as said. The details on RAM, processor, device storage, and the model number has been blocked so we couldn’t confirm the details yet.

If it is Oppo R19 which ironically could have a popup front camera too as per leaks, we could be seeing the potential design for upcoming OnePlus 7 as which where the OnePlus flagship smartphones are solely based on Oppo R-series which isn’t a secret anymore.

 

Source

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Crypto Startups Push Swiss VC Investments to a Record $1.25B

Startups based in Switzerland have attracted a record amount of venture capital in 2018 and companies from the cryptocurrency industry have contributed to the notable increase. Zug, which is home to the country’s Crypto Valley, is among the cantons with the highest growth in investment volume, a new report reveals.  

Also read: Crypto Mining Could Bring Russia $1B in Taxes, Report Suggests

VC Record Driven by ICT Including Crypto Sector

Swiss startups received almost 1.24 billion francs (close to $1.25 billion) of venture capital during 2018, nearly 32 percent more than the previous year. At the same time, the number of financing rounds has also increased by over 31 percent to 230. The figures come from this year’s edition of the Swiss Venture Capital Report released by the news outlet Startupticker.ch and the Swiss Private Equity and Corporate Finance Association (SECA). The study covers venture capital investments of at least 100,000 Swiss francs.

According to the authors, the growth is largely due to the results in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector, including the fintech industry. New funding for young ICT companies has almost doubled, increasing by approximately 124 percent over the previous year. In 2018, 131 Swiss ICT startups conducted 60 percent of all financing rounds. They collected 685 million francs from investors, which is 55 percent of the total invested capital. The fintech industry alone, including the crypto sector, accounts for 15 percent of the raised capital, or almost 188 million francs.

Furthermore, six of the 10 largest rounds have been held by ICT companies. That includes the top three of SEBA Crypto, Nexthink and Way Ray. The largest amount, 100 million francs, has been raised by the Zug-based SEBA Crypto, which works on a project to combine crypto and traditional banking services. According to the report, Swiss ICT businesses also include some of the world’s most recognizable VCs such as Index Ventures and GV, the venture capital arm of Google’s parent company Alphabet. As a result, ICT has become Switzerland’s largest venture capital sector, replacing biotech and medtech.

Zug Among the Most Attractive Cantons for Investors

The report explores the geographical distribution of venture capital investments. According to its data, Zurich is the pronounced leader among Swiss cantons. 99 startups from different sectors based there raised over 500 million francs. In 2018, more than 40 million of the total amount was invested in Zurich, which is over 242 million more than the previous year.

Zug and Basel-Stadt are two other cantons that recorded significant investment growth. Last year, startups based in Basel-Stadt received close to 73 percent more in funding than in 2017. And Zug, where many of the crypto companies represented in Switzerland have offices or headquarters, saw a 143 percent increase year-over-year. The authors note that fintech businesses generated 60 percent of risk capital in the canton.

Gold Rush Mood Is Gone, Optimism Remains

A key conclusion in the report is that the Swiss crypto scene is entering a “period of normalization and professionalization.” Switzerland’s efforts to regulate the space have been a major factor in this process. The country has gradually become a leading crypto-friendly jurisdiction in Europe. The government in Bern recently adopted a comprehensive strategy for the development of the crypto sector. The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) has introduced various guidelines for businesses operating with digital assets.

For example, a set of guidelines adopted by Finma concerns enquiries regarding the regulatory framework for Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). The financial watchdog defined the different types of digital tokens and the legal consequences of their issuance to third parties. That, according to the study, creates transparency and legal certainty that benefits not only startups trying to raise capital through token sales but all other crypto and blockchain companies as well.

In fact, the number of ICOs in Switzerland and their volume has decreased significantly during the last year, which indicates that the crypto gold rush is over. “However, there is no question of a hangover,” according to Mathias Ruch, board member of the Swiss Blockchain Federation and co-founder of Zug-based investment firm CVVC. The company recently published its own report revealing that the number of businesses operating from the Swiss Crypto Valley has increased to 750, despite the bearish trend that started in 2018. Ruch also thinks that as a crypto destination, Switzerland should welcome the “return of common sense” and says now is the time to build on its technical and regulatory leadership.

Do you think Swiss crypto startups will attract even more venture capital in 2019? Share your expectations in the comments section below.

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Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Swiss Venture Capital Report 2019.

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A confident Tesla is sharing its patents with other companies

Tesla has joined the open-source movement, and has announced that it will shares its patents with others to help advance the electric vehicle (EV) industry.

In a June 12th, 2014 Tesla blog post penned by the co-founder and CEO Elon Musk explains that Tesla was created to help “accelerate the advent of sustainable transport.”

Lately, Tesla has been playing a little to competitively by laying “intellectual property landmines behind” them to slow down competitors, says Musk in the post.

Further, into the post he explains that Tesla began using patents since it was afraid that larger automakers would be able to take Tesla’s ideas and use their considerable manufacturing and marketing strengths to beat Tesla out of the market.

All our patent are belong to youhttps://t.co/HPK5R5UMS6 pic.twitter.com/t99riofeCI

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 31, 2019

Since then Tesla’s realized that the significant automakers lagged behind them more than it expected.  Therefore, the comapny now feels safe to let others use their intellectual property.

“We believe that Tesla, other companies making electric cars, and the world would all benefit from a common, rapidly-evolving technology platform,” reads a line from the blog post.

Overall, Tesla does have a lot of technology that makes its vehicles very attractive to modern consumers. This makes it interesting to see if this open-sourced plan includes things like Autopilot tech or other Tesla features that are less related to the car being electric.

Source: Tesla

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Destiny 2 is now $5 at EB Games Canada

Destiny 2 has really gone down in price.

Since the game’s release in September of 2017, the title’s price has been reduced by $75 CAD at EB Games. This means you can now purchase Destiny 2 for just $5. It also seems like this isn’t even a sale and that the price has simply dropped for the title across PS4, Xbox One and PC.

However, for the complete Forsaken Legendary Collection, you’ll still have to pay a pretty penny since it’s priced at $79.99.

However, for PlayStation Plus members, $5 for Destiny 2 might be a little pricey. In September anyone with a PS Plus membership was able to get Destiny 2 for free.

It’s also important to note that the used version of Destiny is still $14.99.

Currently, Destiny 2 on PC and Xbox One is sold out at EB, but those on PS4 — who missed out on the game when it was free — can check it out here.

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Transit app adds support for STO transit in the Gatineau area of Quebec

Montreal-based app Transit is working with the Société de transport de l’Outaouais (STO) to show real-time location info for buses.

“The availability of real stop times in the Transit app is excellent news for the STO’s clientele. It will now be easier to plan trips, because riders will know when the bus is arriving at their stop, even in bad weather or if there are delays in the system,” said the STO chairwoman Myriam Nadeau in a press release.

It sounds like the STO is using its own tech to integrate with the app, instead of relying on other Transit app users for location data. MobileSyrup has reached out for clarification.

The STO runs all around the Gatineau, Quebec area that borders Ottawa, Ontario.

The Transit app is available for iOS and Android and you can download it here.

Source: STO

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Nintendo’s next mobile game is called Dr. Mario World

Dr. Mario is coming to mobile devices this summer.

Although Nintendo recently announced Mario Kart Tour‘s release would be delayed until the summer of 2019, it looks like the Japanese gaming giant will fill that void with a mobile take on the Dr. Mario franchise called Dr. Mario World.

Little is known about the game so far beyond a brief description included with a press release, with Nintendo stating that the title is an “action-puzzle game.”

We also know Dr. Mario World is set to release early this summer on Android and iOS. As you may have already guessed, the game will also be free-to-play.

The first entry in the longrunning action-puzzle franchise was released back in 1990 for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Dr. Mario games have been released on a wide variety of platforms over the years, including the Game Boy, Game Boy Advance and Super Nintendo (SNES).

Source: Nintendo 

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Amazon had a record number of new Prime subscribers in 2018

Amazon has announced that more customers signed up for Prime around the world in 2018 than any year before.

The company revealed the milestone in its recently published earnings report for Q4 2018. Amazon didn’t say how many Prime members it has, although the company said its net “service sales” (which includes Prime) jumped to $27.7 billion from $19.1 billion in the same quarter a year ago.

“During the holiday season alone, tens of millions of customers worldwide started Prime free trials or began paid memberships,” reads an excerpt from Amazon’s January 31st media release.

It’s worth noting that Amazon didn’t reveal any specifics about overall usage of its Prime Video streaming service, which is included in a Prime membership.

In its earnings report, Amazon also confirmed that net sales increased 20 percent to $72.4 billion during this quarter.

Source: Amazon

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Moto G7 Plus gets unboxed ahead of the official unveiling ; Reveals dual camera setup & more

Lenovo-owned Motorola’s next-gen G7 series is expected to make its debut at MWC 2019, and with each passing day, the rumor mill is spinning up more details about the device. Now, alleged crystal clear hands on pictures of the Moto G7 Plus have been surfaced online, giving us a better insight into the phone’s design. The newly leaked live pictures of the Moto G7 Plus are in line with the renders we’ve seen in the past.

The images are captured and posted on a Facebook group, showing the phone in all its glory. The image (above) shows the Moto G7 Plus along with its standard packaging. The device can be seen with a huge screen, carrying a ‘drop’ notch on the top. The leaked pictures also reveals that the phone will carry a 6.2-inch FHD+ screen, housing a thick chin at the bottom. The bezels are narrower and the waterdrop notch definitely allows for more screen real estate.

 

The sticker on the phone’s display highlights that the device will be powered by a 1.8Ghz processor, paired with 4GB of RAM. Apart from that, the phone will carry support for 27W turbo fast charging, which seems to be quite impressive for a mid-range device. On the back, the phone has a glossy glass layer, that looks quite premium with that shiny red color. There’s a logo integrated fingerprint sensor on the center, together with the camera sensors above it.

For imaging, the Moto G7 Plus will have a rear dual camera setup, with support for OIS (Optical image stabilization). According to rumor mill, the device is specualted to carry a 16MP + 5MP combo at the back, along with a 8MP selfie sitting on the front. The phone is expected to be powered by an efficient Snapdragon 636 SoC.

The software screen on the image (above) hints that the phone will have a near stock version of android, which is quite better than a custom UI present on the smartphones out there. However, the A30ndroid version is unknown yet. As of now, there’s no more info to share with you. Stay tuned.

Via :- Slashleaks

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from TrueTech http://bit.ly/2SolYAc

Rumours Nintendo is working on a smaller, cheaper Nintendo Switch appear once again

Rumours that Nintendo plans to release a smaller, more affordable version of the Nintendo Switch have once again appeared, this time courtesy of Nikkei.

This new, rumoured version of the Switch won’t be able to be docked and is focused on portability, according to Nikkei.

Rumours of a cheaper Switch have circulated many times over the last few months, with the most recent speculation coming from Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter, who predicted that this more affordable version of the console will only be able to be used in handheld mode. Further, he stated that the console will likely feature built-in controllers.

Though these rumours continue to swirl, Shuntaro Furukawa, Nintendo’s president, also recently stated that the company has no plans to release a new version of the Switch in 2019, whether a cheaper, lower-end iteration or an upgraded system.

“It is an extremely ambitious, but worthwhile achievement. So, we will maintain this goal. Nintendo Switch is our primary sales objective, and we are not considering a successor or a price cut at this time,” said Furukawa in a recent interview with The Sankei News.

It’s unclear if the situation has changed since Furukawa’s statement regarding a revamped version of the Switch. Nintendo recently revealed that it won’t hit its self-imposed goal of selling 20 million Switch consoles this fiscal year, downgrading sales estimates to 14.49 million systems.

It’s possible missing this goal could have convinced the Japanese gaming giant to move forward with a more affordable version of the Switch, though whether this is actually the case remains unclear.

Source: Nikkei Via: Engadget 

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Sony’s PS Plus Specials sale discounts many VR titles

Even though PlayStation’s Essential Sale is currently ongoing, Sony has launched what it calls its PS Plus Specials sale. This promotion is only available if you are a PS Plus member.

The sale offers titles like Borderlands 2 VR, Resident Evil 7 and Rick and Morty Virtual Rick-ality and similar to the Essential Sale, it also ends on February 5th.

Here are some of the more notable games in Canadian pricing:

• Borderlands 2 VR: now $50.24, was $66.99
• Resident Evil 7 biohazard Gold Edition: now $33.49, was $66.99
• Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality: now $19.99, was $39.99
• Batman: Arkham VR: now $16.19, was $26.99
• Blind: was $16.74, was $33.49
• Star Trek: Bridge Crew: now $12.99, was $51.99
• Creed: Rise to Glory: now $27.99, was $39.99
• Doom VFR: now $23.99, was $39.99
• Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV: now $19.99, was $39.99
• Driveclub VR: now $9.99, was $19.99
• Dirt Rally VR: Plus PlayStation VR Bundle: now $16.74, was $66.99
• Déraciné: now $35.99, was $39.99,
• Farpoint: now $14.99, was $29.99
• NBA 2KVR Experience: now $9.99, was $19.99
• The Inpatient: now $17.99, was $29.99
• Transference: now $23.44, was $33.49
• Until Dawn: Rush of Blood: now $5.99, was $19.99
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR: now $47.99, was $79.99

The full list of sales can be found here.

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from MobileSyrup http://bit.ly/2Rud3sj

Apple revokes Google enterprise developer certificate

Apple has reportedly revoked Google’s enterprise developer certificate, rendering the Mountain View search giant’s internal iOS apps unusable.

The news was reported by The Verge, citing “a person familiar with the situation,” and follows reports that Google used its ‘Screenwise Meter’ iOS app as part of a market research program to monitor iPhone device usage.

Though Google disabled the Screenwise Meter iOS app on January 30th, 2019, The Verge’s source told the publication that early versions of Google Maps, Hangouts, Gmail and “other pre-release beta apps” have stopped working.

Internal apps like the Gbus transportation app and the company’s cafe application have also been affected.

A Google spokesperson told MobileSyrup via email that Google is “working with Apple to fix a temporary disruption to some of our corporate iOS apps, which we expect will be resolved soon.”

Apple’s decision to revoke Google’s enterprise developer certificate follows a TechCrunch report alleging that Google employed a similar data-gathering application as Facebook’s ‘Research’ app.

Cupertino revoked Menlo Park’s certificate following a separate TechCrunch report alleging that Facebook paid users between the ages of 13 and 35 approximately $20-per-month to sideload the Research app onto iOS devices to gather phone and web activity.

A Facebook spokesperson told MobileSyrup in a January 31st, 2019 email that “key facts about this market research program” were ignored.

“Despite early reports, there was nothing ‘secret’ about this; it was literally called the Facebook Research App,” Facebook told MobileSyrup.

“It wasn’t ‘spying’ as all of the people who signed up to participate went through a clear on-boarding process asking for their permission and were paid to participate.”

Facebook also said that fewer than five percent of users who participated in the market research program were teens.

“All of them signed parental consent forms,” added Facebook.

Apple’s ‘Enterprise Program’ provides developers with tools to build internal apps that can be installed outside the bounds of the iOS App Store.

According to a statement previously issued to The Verge, Apple explained that “any developer using their enterprise certificates to distribute apps to consumers will have their certificates revoked.”

It’s interesting to note that Apple’s decision to revoke Google’s certificate suggests that Cupertino didn’t unfairly target Menlo Park, and simply expects two of the world’s largest tech companies to play by the same rules as every other iOS developer.

While Google disabled the Screenwise Meter’s iOS app, the Android version is still available on the Google Play Store, indicating that the market research program is still active.

Source: The Verge

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SaskTel’s MaxTV Stream launches in 22 new Saskatchewan communities

SaskTel’s IPTV package offering, MaxTV Stream, is launching in 22 new communities across Saskatchewan.

MaxTV Stream runs through the internet instead of satellite or traditional cable, allowing it to offer modern features like watching TV through the MaxTV app and ‘Restart TV,’ which lets you restart certain shows for up to 72 hours after they’ve aired.

SaskTel is hoping to bring MaxTV Stream to over 350 communities in the province by 2020. So far, it only has 75 listed on its website, and then 22 new locations announced on January 31st. Although, it just launched in the summer of 2018, so it still has time to expand.

Big news! Starting today #maxTVStream is now available in #Nipawin #Tisdale & 2⃣0⃣ new communities! Stay tuned for more #maxTVStream announcements! https://t.co/BD69AtIX9j pic.twitter.com/VnVsbBC1HR

— SaskTel (@SaskTel) January 31, 2019

The new locations are: Big River, Bjorkdale, Brock, Canwood, Christopher Lake, Codette, Debden, Elrose, Eston, Harris, Kinistin Saulteaux Nation, Kyle, Montreal Lake Cree Nation, Nipawin, Paddockwood, Plenty, Porcupine Plain, Rosetown, Star City, Tisdale, Waskesiu Lake, and White Fox.

The basic option comes with 50 channels and costs $39.95 per month, and the higher-tier option is $54.95 per month.

The MaxTV Stream plans are cheaper by about $10 if you bundle it with SaskTel internet service.

Source: SaskTel

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from MobileSyrup http://bit.ly/2GbpA1E

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Amazon net sales increased 20 percent to $72.4 billion in Q4 2018

U.S.-based e-commerce giant Amazon posted its Q4 2018 earnings on Thursday, revealing that the company’s net sales totaled $72.4 billion USD (roughly $90.07 billion CAD) for the quarter that ended on December 31st, 2018.

According to a January 31st, 2019 media release, Amazon net sales increased by 20 percent compared to Q4 2017.

Additionally, the company’s net income increased to $3.0 billion USD (roughly $3.94 billion CAD) in Q4 2018, compared to $1.9 billion USD (roughly $2.49 billion CAD) in Q4 2017.

In terms of the company’s total sales, Amazon sold $232.9 billion USD (roughly $305.76 billion CAD) in 2018, representing an increase of 31 percent.

Annual net income increased to $10.1 billion USD (roughly $13.26 billion CAD) in 2018, compared to $3.0 billion USD (roughly $3.94 billion CAD) in 2017.

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos used the same January 31st media release to state that the company’s Echo Dot smart speaker was the “best-selling item across all products on Amazon globally, and customers purchased millions more devices from the Echo family compared to last year.”

“Alexa was very busy during her holiday season,” said Bezos.

Of the company’s total sales for Q4 2018, Amazon’s online stores division brought in $39.822 billion USD (roughly $52.28 billion CAD).

Amazon Web Services — Amazon’s cloud hosting platform that powers a significant chunk of the public internet — generated $7.430 billion USD (roughly $9.75 billion CAD) in Q4 2018.

Amazon’s subscription services — including its Amazon Prime membership program — generated $3.959 billion USD (roughly $5.20 billion CAD) in Q4 2018.

“During the holiday season alone, tens of millions of customers worldwide started Prime free trials or began paid memberships,” reads an excerpt from the same January 31st media release.

“More customers signed up for Prime worldwide in 2018 than ever before.”

According to Amazon, the company employs approximately 647,500 full-time and part-time staff, excluding contractors and temporary personnel.

Amazon stock closed at $1,718.73 USD (roughly $2,256.62 CAD) at the end of the day’s trading.

Source: Amazon

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from MobileSyrup http://bit.ly/2MKCFAn

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Uber launches in-car fitness guide so you can workout during your next ride

Uber has launched an in-car fitness guide designed to keep riders active while getting to their next destination.

Yes, you read that correctly, and no, it isn’t April 1st yet.

The fitness guide, created in partnership with Adidas, features six easy moves you can perform while sitting in a vehicle. Uber says explicitly that the moves are designed to “maximize riding time and ensure that your minutes in an Uber are well spent.”

For example, one of the exercises, dubbed ‘The Power AB,’ targets the rider’s obliques and involves sitting in the backseat with your seatbelt on and reaching your elbow down to the seat.

Try to picture yourself doing this in the back of an Uber while maintaining a straight face. At the very least, your Uber driver will be entertained as you exercise the backseat of their vehicle.

 

Another exercise referred to as ‘Knees Into Chest’ involves pressing the palms of your hands into the vehicle’s seat and moving both knees to your chest. The result seems to be you sort of hovering over the seat in an awkward way.

“We teamed up with Adidas and Megan Roup to help Uber riders on the go maximize their time with a quick, safe workout. These small, isometric movements sculpt and tone so riders can target core areas — all with a seatbelt on,” said Uber representative Lexi Levin in a recent interview with Good Morning America about the initiative.

Below are all of Uber’s in-car exercises:

Via: ABCNews

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from MobileSyrup http://bit.ly/2HJUctw

Huawei Canada plans to work with Vancouver-based telecom provider to test rural broadband

Despite an extradition case looming around Huawei global chief executive officer Meng Wanzhou, Huawei Canada is conducting business as usual and will be conducting a trial run of its rural broadband technology.

Bloomberg reported on January 31st that the company is working with ABC Communications, a small B.C.-based telecom provider and the project is getting announced next Friday.

The Chinese telecom giant is calling the service “Massive MIMO” for rural broadband and its goal is to boost internet speeds in Lac La Hache, a city located northeast of Vancouver. This would be a trial run to provide internet services in a rural community, says Huawei.

Huawei Canada’s Eric Li said in an announcement that the company is “proud to provide a solution to this unique Canadian challenge.”

For a while now people have been wondering how 5G technology will benefit Canadians. The next iteration of mobile networks has said to be useful for smart cities, autonomous vehicles, and possibly the deployment of fixed rural broadband internet connections in many parts of the country.

Tensions rose in December when Vancouver authorities arrested Huawei’s global chief executive officer Meng on fraud-related charges.

The U.S. charged 13 counts of bank and wire fraud against her, Huawei, and its subsidiary Skycom. She currently faces extradition to the U.S.

Canada is currently conducting two studies, one on 5G technology in Canada and another on Huawei’s presence in Canada.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said to reporters that the process was ongoing and that the government was “examining the security issues as well as the technical issues with a great deal of care.”

Source: Bloomberg

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from MobileSyrup http://bit.ly/2GbuCeE

OnePlus launches new limited-time discounted bundles ahead of Valentine’s Day

OnePlus has launched a new sales promotion ahead of Valentine’s Day.

The promotion involves two new bundles that offer Canadian consumers a small discount on the company’s products when bought together.

First, there’s the ‘You Complete Me’ bundle. It includes an OnePlus 6T (available in both ‘Mirror Black’ and ‘Midnight Black’), OnePlus Bullets Wireless Bluetooth in-ear headphones and a bumper case. Buying the three products in this way saves one $28 CAD.

Second, there’s the ‘Perfect Pair’ bundle. It includes two OnePlus Bullets Wireless Bluetooth in-ear headphones. Typically, buying two sets of Bullets Wireless headphones costs $198 CAD. As part of this new bundle, the headphones are discounted to $178.20, a savings of $19.80 CAD.

Both bundles include free shipping.

Source: OnePlus

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from MobileSyrup http://bit.ly/2DNbuSA

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Samsung has started manufacturing the Galaxy S10

Samsung started mass production of the Galaxy S10 on January 25th, according to South Korean publication The Investor. 

This timing makes sense considering Samsung plans on unveiling its entire lineup of new S-series smartphones on February 20th and will reportedly release the devices on March 8th. 

Additionally, Samsung is reportedly manufacturing the handsets in facilities both inside and outside of South Korea. This to ensure that there are enough units to meet demand when the smartphone officially goes on sale.

The Investor adds that Samsung is currently only manufacturing 4G LTE variants of the Galaxy S10. This suggests the company is only producing the three core models: the budget Galaxy S10, the standard S10 and the S10+. The website’s source also states that all storage and memory variants are in production as well, including the rumoured 1TB Galaxy S10+.

The fact that Samsung isn’t currently producing 5G S10 models makes, as 5G networks won’t be up and running until in the majority of markets in which the company sells its handsets. Additionally, rumours suggest that Samsung won’t launch the 5G S10 at the same time as the 4G models.

Source: The Investor, Via: SamM3obile

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from MobileSyrup http://bit.ly/2WArKO7