Every week, MobileSyrup outlines some of the most notable movies and TV shows that recently hit Canadian streaming platforms.

Our ‘Streaming in Canada’ column typically focuses on new content from Amazon Prime Video, Crave and Netflix, but other services like Apple TV+ and Disney+ are mentioned when relevant. Premium video on demand (PVOD) platforms are also fair game as movies continue to come to digital early amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finally, we’ll highlight shows or movies that are made by Canadian companies, involve notable Canadian cast or crew and/or are filmed in Canada.

Amazon Prime Video

About Fate

Comedy and chaos ensue after two strangers struggling with love cross paths one stormy New Year’s Eve.

About Fate was directed by Maryus Vaysberg (Night Shift) and stars Emma Roberts (American Horror Story), Thomas Mann (Halloween Kills), Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale) and Lewis Tan (Into the Badlands).

Amazon Prime Video Canada release date: December 16th, 2022
Genre: Romantic comedy
Runtime: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Stream About Fate here.

An Amazon Prime Video subscription is included at no additional cost with an Amazon Prime membership, which costs $99/year.

The full list of movies and shows hitting Amazon Prime Video Canada can be found here.

Crave

All My Puny Sorrows

A struggling writer returns to her hometown after her sister’s failed suicide attempt.

Based on the eponymous 2014 novel by Steinbach, Manitoba’s Miriam Toews, All My Puny Sorrows was written and directed by  Toronto’s Michael McGowan (Still Mine) and stars Toronto’s Alison Pill (Star Trek: Picard) and Sarah Gadon (Alias Grace).

It’s worth noting that the film was shot in North Bay, Ontario.

Original theatrical release date: April 15th, 2022
Crave release date: December 16th, 2022
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 1 hour, 43 minutes

Stream All My Puny Sorrows here.

Black Adam

An ancient superhuman is released from his magic imprisonment to free a nation from a crime syndicate.

Black Adam was directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (Jungle Cruise) and stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (Fast & Furious franchise), Aldis Hodge (One Night in Miami), Noah Centineo (To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before), Sarah Shahi (Sex/Life) and Pierce Brosnan (GoldenEye).

Original theatrical release date: October 21st, 2022
Crave release date: December 16th, 2022
Genre: Superhero
Runtime: 2 hours, 5 minutes

Stream Black Adam here.

A standard Crave subscription is priced at $19.99/month, with Starz costing an additional $5.99/month. A mobile-only subscription is also available for $9.99/month.

The full list of movies and shows hitting Crave this month can be found here.

Disney+

Atlanta (Season 4)

In this fourth and final season, the characters return from Europe to Atlanta.

Atlanta was created by Donald Glover (Community) and stars Glover, Brian Tyree Henry (Widows), Lakeith Stanfield (Sorry to Bother You) and Zazie Beetz (Joker).

Original broadcast run: September to November 2022
Disney+ Canada release date: December 14th, 2022
Genre: Comedy-drama
Runtime: 10 episodes (28 to 38 minutes each)

Stream Atlanta here.

The Banshees of Inisherin

After his lifelong friend ends their relationship, Pádraic is given an ultimatum that leads to shocking consequences.

The Banshees of Inisherin was written and directed by Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) and stars Colin Farrell (The Lobster), Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges), Kerry Condon (The Leftovers) and Barry Keoghan (The Killing of a Sacred Deer).

Original theatrical release date: September to November 2022
Disney+ Canada release date: December 14th, 2022
Genre: Black tragicomedy
Runtime: 1 hour, 54 minutes

Stream The Banshees of Inisherin here.

A Disney+ subscription costs $11.99/month or $119.99 here.

The full list of movies and shows hitting Disney+ Canada this month can be found here.

Netflix

Don’t Pick Up The Phone

This docuseries is about a hoax caller who talked managers into strip-searching employees at fast food businesses across the U.S.

Netflix Canada release date: December 14th, 2022
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: Three episodes (42 to 57 minutes each)

Stream Don’t Pick Up The Phone here.

Kangaroo Valley

In a secret Australian valley, a nervous baby kangaroo named Mala faces hungry dingoes and winter snows.

This documentary was narrated by Sarah Snook (Succession).

Netflix Canada release date: December 14th, 2022
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 1 hour, 16 minutes

Stream Kangaroo Valley here.

Sonic Prime

When the universe is shattered by an explosive battle with Dr. Eggman, Sonic must race through parallel dimensions to find his friends and save the world.

Based on Sega’s popular Sonic the Hedgehog video game series, Sonic Prime was co-produced by Vancouver’s WildBrain (The Snoopy Show) and features the voices of Toronto’s Deven Mack (Ninjago) and Vancouver’s Ashleigh Ball (Barbie series) and Brian Drummond (Dragon Ball Z).

Netflix Canada release date: December 15th, 2022
Genre: Animated, kids
Runtime: Eight episodes (22 to 43 minutes each)

Stream Sonic Prime here.

Who Killed Santa? A Murderville Mystery

Following a critically-acclaimed debut earlier this year, the improv comedy series Murderville is back.

This time around, the Christmas-hating Terry Seattle (Toronto’s Will Arnett) must solve a holiday murder with the help of celebrities like Jason Bateman (Ozark) and Maya Rudolph (Bridesmaids).

Netflix Canada release date: December 15th, 2022
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 52 minutes

Stream Who Killed Santa? A Murderville Mystery here.

A ‘Basic with Ads’ subscription costs $5.99/month, ‘Basic’ Netflix subscription costs $9.99/month, a ‘Standard’ subscription (HD-supported) costs $16.49/month and a ‘Premium’ membership is priced at $20.99/month (4K-supported).

The full list of movies and shows that hitting Netflix Canada this month can be found here.

What are you planning on streaming this week? Let us know in the comments.

For more suggestions, check out last week’s Streaming in Canada column.

With the holiday season in full swing, carriers have pushed out deals on devices and services. More information, and a roundup of telecom news in Canada this past week, is detailed below.

Business

Carriers are charging Canadians more for wireless plans now compared to the beginning of the year. An analysis by MobileSyrup’s news editor, Jon Lamont, found most plans saw a price increase between $2 and $5 each month. Read the feature here.

Eastlink has expanded its mobile network to Miramichi, New Brunswick. Under the company’s $26 million mobile expansion plan for the province, residents will have greater access to coverage and service options.

SaskTel has expanded its infiNET service to Lloydminster, Saskatchewan. The fibre optic network provides speeds up to 1Gbps and has expanded to various other communities this year.

The Competition Tribunal has concluded its hearing into the Rogers-Shaw merger. The companies faced a challenge from the Competition Bureau, which said the merger would lead to higher wireless bills. Rogers and Shaw hope to close the merge by year’s end.

Deals

Koodo rolls out a 40GB plan for $50/month. More details are available here.

Bell is offering discounts on the iPhone 14 and several Samsung and Motorola devices for the holidays. Check out the specifics here.

Each month, Netflix adds new original content to its platform.

This January, shows and movies like Kaleidoscope, That’s ’90 Show, You People and more are coming to Netflix.

Coming Soon

Jung_E — Netflix Flm 
Physical: 100 — Netflix Series 

January 1st

Kaleidoscope — Netflix Series
Lady Voyeur — Netflix Series
The Way of the Househusband: Season 2 — Netflix Anime

January 4th

How I Became a Gangster — Netflix Film 
The King of the World — Netflix Film 
The Lying Life of Adults — Netflix Series
MADOFF: The Monster of Wall Street — Netflix Documentary

January 5th

Copenhagen Cowboy — Netflix Series
Ginny & Georgia: Season 2 — Netflix Series
Woman of the Dead — Netflix Series

January 6th

Mumbai Mafia: Police vs The Underworld — Netflix Documentary 
The Pale Blue Eye — Netflix Film 
Pressure Cooker — Netflix Series
The Ultimatum: France Season 1, Part 2 — Netflix Series (new episodes) 

January 10th

Andrew Santino: Cheeseburger — Netflix Comedy 
The Hatching Wielding Hitchhiker — Netflix Documentary 

January 11th

Noise — Netflix Film 
Sexify: Season 2 — Netflix Series 

January 12th

Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight: Season 2 — Netflix Family
The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House — Netflix Series
Vikings: Valhalla: Season 2 — Netflix Series

January 13th

Break Point — Netflix Documentary 
Dog — Netflix FIlm 
Sky Rojo: Season 3 — Netflix Series
Suzan & Freek — Netflix Documentary 
Trial by Fire — Netflix Series 

January 19th

Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre — Netflix Anime 
Khallat+ — Netflix Film 
That ’90s Show — Netflix Series
Women At War — Netflix Series 

January 20th

Bake Squad: Season 2 — Netflix Series
Bling Empire: New York — Netflix Series 
Fauda: Season 4 — Netflix Series
Mission Majnu — Netflix Film 
Represent — Netflix Series
Sahmaran — Netflix Series 
Shanty Town — Netflix Series 

January 23rd

Narvik — Netflix Film 

January 25th

Against the Ropes — Netflix Series 

January 26th

Daniel Spellbound: Season 2– Netflix Family 
Record of Ragnarok: Season 2, Episodes 1-10 — Netflix Anime 

January 27th

King of Jo’Burg: Season 2 — Netflix Series
Lockwood & Co — Netflix Series
The Snow Girl — Netflix Series
You People — Netflix Film 

January 30th

Princess Power — Netflix Family 

January 31st

Cunk on Earth — Netflix Series
Pamela, a love story — Netflix Documentary 

Image credit: Netflix

On Dec 13th, a new search engine, described by some as the “anti-google” called Neeva will be available to use in Canada.  We wrote about this in itworldcanada.com. It allows people to browse the internet free of web tracking and promises to pay content creators for the use of their work.

Neeva has already been launched in the US in 2021 and most recently in Europe.

Our topic is – privacy and the internet – there’s two words that only go together when we are talking about a “lack or privacy.” Neeva is a response to that, but it’s also an attempt to change the model of how internet services are provided.

The economic model of the internet and social media for that matter, is based on trading your private information for features and services that we want – but don’t want to pay for.

Every service you use for free, be it Facebook or Twitter or Google Search or even your favourite website is, to some extent, monetizing your data.

It happened to us slowly.  At first, the internet was “non-commercial.”  It was freedom – a brave new digital world.

That new digital utopia did not last long.  Someone had to pay for it.

Corporations built sites and we started to see advertising.  It was no longer the great utopia, but it was still a model we understood.  We’d had it on TV and radio for years.  We got free programming but the trade-off was, we had to listen to ads every 7 minutes.

But somewhere along the line, advertisers and service providers realized that this new medium was different than TV or radio. They could track you and everything you do.  It could gather very, very specific knowledge about you – could know almost everything about you – from your interactions.

It isn’t always obvious and while we might have been aware that others were gathering our data, I don’t think it was until the big Facebook scandal where a firm called Cambridge Analytica with an app called This is Your Digital Life, harvested – without permission – the data of 87 million Facebook profiles and used that data to drive the presidential campaign of Donald Trump.

The company claimed that it could, from reading likes and dislikes – predict who you would vote for and a whole lot more – including deeply personal things up to and including your sexual preferences.  It could not just advertise to you.  It could psychologically target you, influence and some would say, manipulate you.

People who had been up to that point, not particularly concerned, now started to realize the power that their data could wield in the hands of the unscrupulous.  Some were fearful. Many resented it.

An online movement #Delete Facebook trended on Twitter.

Facebook apologized.

Facebook was fined 5 billion dollars by the Federal Trade Commission.

Governments started to look at new legislation – led by Europe but spreading to Canada and the US.

People and governments started questioning the impact of data used in algorithms which use our data to radicalize people and promote hate groups and hate speech.

It’s no longer a case of trading a few moments of your attention for a product.  It’s potentially about trading your  most private information and potentially having that leveraged against you, not to win you over, but to manipulate you, even, some might say, to control you.

But are we able to have a much wider discussion about what is private, what is proper, what requires regulation?

From the ashes of resentment and anger, some enterprising entrepreneurs have moved to redefine our digital interactions and create new digital products and services that change the business model. Will they provide a way to protect personal privacy? Can the business model of the internet be changed?

Join us for this fascinating discussion with Neeva founder of Neeva Sridhar Ramaswamy on Hashtag Trending the Weekend Edition.

The post Is privacy is possible on the Internet? An interview with Neeva founder and former Google exec Sridhar Ramaswamy first appeared on IT World Canada.

CBC has shared the full list of movies and shows coming to its ‘Gem’ video streaming service in January 2023.

You can view the full list of content below:

January 2

The Head Season 2 (6×50, Drama, Hulu Japan and The Mediapro Studio, Spain) *Exclusive English Canadian Premiere*
The Simple Life (6×60, Factual, Five Mile Films, UK) *Exclusive Canadian Premiere*
Around The World In 80 Days
Family Fuel Canada (New episodes)
Murdoch Mysteries (New episodes)

January 3

This Hour has 22 Minutes (New episodes)
Son of a Critch (New episode)
Workin’ Moms (New episodes)
Catastrophe (New episodes)

January 4

Still Standing (New episodes)
Run The Burbs (New episodes)
Pretty Hard Cases (New episodes)

January 6

Death And Nightingales (3×60, Drama, The Imaginarium, UK) *Exclusive Canadian Premiere*
Escape to the Country Season 28(a) (27×60, Lifestyle, Boundless, UK) *Exclusive Canadian Premiere*
Harpoon (1×83, Horror/Comedy, directed by Rob Grant, Canada)
Stuff The British Stole
Marketplace (New episodes)
The Nature of Things (New episodes)
The Fifth Estate (New episodes)

January 8

Heartland (New episodes)
The Case Against Cosby (Canadian original documentary)

January 11

I Hate You (6×30, Comedy, Popper Pictures and Big Talk Productions, UK) *Exclusive Canadian Premiere*

January 12

Bollywed

January 13

Bumo Season 3 (10×30, Comedy/Drama, Roadshow Rough Diamond, Australia) *Exclusive Canadian Premiere*
The U.S. & The Holocaust (6×60, directed by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein, USA)
Falling (1×112, Drama, directed by Viggo Mortensen, Canada/UK)

January 15

Doug And The Slugs And Me (Canadian original documentary)

January 16

Grand Designs New Zealand Season 7 (8×60, Lifestyle, Fremantle Australia, New Zealand) *Canadian Premiere*

January 18

Jamie & Jimmy’s Food Fight Club Season 8 (10×60, Lifestyle, Fresh One Productions, UK)

January 20

Hammer (1×82, Drama, directed by Christian Sparkes, Canada)

January 22

Offside: The Harold Ballard Story (Canadian original documentary)

January 23

Chateau DIY Season 5(a) (15×60, Lifestyle, Spark Media Partners, UK) *Exclusive Canadian Premiere*

January 25

Casual Season 4 (8×30, Comedy, Casual Productions, USA)
Finding Aicha (1×25, directed by Myriam François, UK/France) *World Premiere*

January 27

Paraiso Season 2 (8×50, Drama/Sci-Fi, Moviestar + and The Mediapro Studio, Spain) *Exclusive English Canadian Premiere*
How To Lose Everything: The Series (5×7, Animated, One Foot Tapping Media Inc., Canada)
Crisis (1×118, Drama/Thriller, directed by Nicholas Jarecki, Canada/Belgium)

January 29

Unloved: Huronia’s Forgotten Children (Canadian original documentary)

CBC Gem offers free viewing with ads or a $4.99 per month subscription for ad-free viewing. It’s available on iOS, Android, the web, tvOS, Fire TV and Android TV.

Check out what came to the streaming service in December 2022 here.

Image credit: CBC

After 25 years, Pokémon is finally leaving its main protagonist, Ash Ketchum, behind. The trainer became the best in the world after defeating the Galarian champion Leon in the Masters’ Eight tournaments.

This ends Ash’s journey as he’s accomplished what he set out to do back in the first episode of the Pokémon TV show in 1997. Ash’s journey will end with 11 episodes next year as the finale of the Pokémon Journeys: Series. The episodes will start rolling out on January 13th in Japan, and reportedly feature several of Ash’s friends from over the years, including Brock and Misty.

Moving forward, the Pokémon anime will star two new protagonists, named Liko and Roy, in the Japanese version of the TV show. Further, the two new characters will be accompanied by Pokémon Sprigatito, Fuecoco and Quaxly.

It’s been an extraordinary privilege to have been the English voice of Ash Ketchum for what will be 17 years. No matter what lies beyond his final chapter, he’ll live forever in the hearts of many generations to come. I'll keep him present for all of us in every way I can. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/UZxPO4xD6E

— Sarah Natochenny 🥸 (@sarahnatochenny) December 16, 2022

As someone who’s old enough to remember the original episodes from back in 1997, I’m happy that they’re finally retiring this character. Ash and his Pikachu haven’t aged in 25 years, so hopefully, this means that the never-aging fictional 10-year-old can finally grow up.

If you live in Canada and are feeling nostalgic, you can head to Netflix and watch Pokémon Indigo League right now.

Image Credit: Pokemon YouTube (screenshot)

Source: Pokemon

HTC will introduce a new flagship augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) headset on January 5th at CES.

The company doesn’t plan to release many details ahead of the headset’s reveal, but in a recent interview with The Verge, HTC’s global head of product, Shen Ye, stated the device is a small, light, all-in-one headset that offers both virtual and augmented reality.

“It’s about taking all of these advances that we made in not only the design aspects, but also the technology aspects, and building it into something that’s meaningful and that’s appealing for consumers,” Ye told The Verge.

Based on images shared with The Verge, the device sports a goggle-like look with front and side-facing cameras. The headset is capable of entertainment, exercise, gaming and “more powerful use cases” like productivity and enterprise tools, Ye told The Verge. You can also expect two hours of battery life and controllers that support six degrees of freedom and hand tracking.

One of the headset’s key features is its outward-facing cameras that can pass video to users’ screens, allowing for mixed reality. HTC doesn’t seem to have a plan for what this feature could be used for, however. When The Verge asked about possible use cases, Ye highlighted HTC’s relationships with developers and said, “we’re at this phase where the tech is solid and we’ll start seeing some really cool experiences.”

HTC previously teased this new standalone VR/AR headset back in October.

Go small or go home. pic.twitter.com/PUqqKn4V5E

— HTC VIVE (@htcvive) October 6, 2022

HTC’s headset will also feature a depth sensor and could offer better dynamic range than other colour-passthrough-capable mixed reality devices. According to HTC, even with the headset on, you’ll still be able to read text on a laptop or phone screen, which is difficult on the Meta Quest Pro.

Ye told The Verge the headset would be one of the lightest on the market before emphasizing that HTC spent a lot of time ensuring the device was ergonomic.

HTC plans to reveal this headset on January 5th, but an actual release date (and, even more importantly, a Canadian release date) is still unknown.

Image Credit: HTC

Source: The Verge

There is trouble ahead for Avaya Holdings Corp., with reports indicating that it would likely soon file for bankruptcy protection.

According to Reuters, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the “company is reaching a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing to restructure its balance sheet, in a bid to turn around its business and move past accounting problems.”

A Reuters article stated that the company “was in talks with its financial stakeholders regarding a comprehensive resolution to strengthen its balance sheet.”

Company shares at the end of trading Thursday plunged to US$0.52, which compares to a high price earlier this year of US$21.65. An article on Stocks Register indicated that Avaya shares had dropped by 12.53 per cent from its closing price on the previous day.

The post Reports reveal Avaya Holdings nearing Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing first appeared on IT World Canada.

It’s well-known that Google and Apple dominate the mobile map navigation market (but mainly Google).

If you have Google Maps on your phone, most people don’t really need another navigation application. It offers accurate information, an easy-to-use AI, several layers and features like 3D maps and street view.

Even navigation services like Waze (which is owned by Google) use Google Maps data to power their own apps and vice versa.

Linux realizes that Google’s domination in the map market is a problem, and it’s teaming up with several companies to develop open-source map data that can be used by mapping applications worldwide.

Overture’s mission is to power current and next-generation map products by creating reliable, easy-to-use, and interoperable open map data.

Learn more about Overture Maps: https://t.co/lPob7x2nyS#OvertureMaps #Mapping #OpenSource pic.twitter.com/8QIEVCtDn1

— The Linux Foundation (@linuxfoundation) December 15, 2022

Linux’s effort is collaborative and involves Amazon (AWS), Meta, Microsoft and Tomtom. It aims to help developers and companies work on mapping systems without relying on data from Google.

“Mapping the physical environment and every community in the world, even as they grow and change, is a massively complex challenge that no one organization can manage. Industry needs to come together to do this for the benefit of all,” said Jim Zemlin, executive director for the Linux Foundation in a press release. “We are excited to facilitate this open collaboration among leading technology companies to develop high quality, open map data that will enable untold innovations for the benefit of people, companies, and communities.”

Initially, the new service will offer basic layers like roads and buildings, with the goal of evolving over time. “To support next-generation map products, Overture will steadily improve the coverage, resolution and accuracy of existing data, as well as introduce new layers such as places, routing or 3D building data,” reads the press release.

Overture expects to release its first datasets in the first half of 2023. Learn more about the effort here.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: Linux Foundation

It’s that time of year again. The holiday season is approaching quickly, and gift buying is probably taking over your mind. If you’re stumped on what to buy and need some inspiration, take a look at part four of our holiday gift guide.

Amazon Kindle Scribe

Source: Amazon

If you are uncertain about introducing ebooks to an avid reader in your family, Amazon’s Kindle series might be your best bet. The Kindle Scribe also marks Amazon’s long-awaited step into e-note territory. “Feels like writing on paper”, Amazon boasts. Readers can scribble thoughts, annotate documents, and jot down to-dos on their ebook without the bane of the constant phone or tablet notifications. Also expect the classic e-reader features, including adjustable warm light, auto-adjusting front light and USB-C charging with a battery advertised as “designed to last for months”. Priced at C$429, Scribe is available in Tungsten with 16, 32 or 64 GB of storage, and comes with a battery-free Basic Pen or a Premium Pen which includes an eraser and customizable shortcut button. 

inCharge 6

Source: Amazon

On to a cheaper yet essential addition for the family member juggling different cables for their numerous devices. inCharge 6 is a 3 x 1 inch, 27 grams-light universal cable connector that includes USB, USB-C, Micro USB, and Lightning charging connectors. This universal cable supports power transfer from one smartphone to another, and from a smartphone to another type of portable device, as well as simultaneous charging. With the tool’s magnetic attachments, the connectors can be snapped back together to hang onto a key ring. Available in Mercury Grey, Mercury Grey Max, Moonwhite and Saturn Gold on Amazon, this product is manufactured and sold at C$27 by Chinese smart home products company Wasserstein Home.

XUPERMASK

Source: XUPERMASK

Granted, it’s a dystopian look, and perhaps the most predictable technology that we could expect after the pandemic and its caravan of variants, but this could be useful. Priced at US$200, XUPERMASK includes active 3 speed dual fans, 30 day replaceable HEPA filters, noise canceling audio, Bluetooth connectivity, integrated noise reduction microphone, adjustable ergonomic headstrap, glowlights and many more features. The mask is advertised as being made of comfortable fabric and having a battery life of 7 hours on a single charge. XUPERMASK was launched in 2021 by singer will.i.am, in collaboration with multinational corporation Honeywell.

Theragun

Source: Therabody

Got a fitness fanatic in the family who has one too many tight muscles, or a remote worker suffering from poor hip mobility from sitting at their desk all day? Theragun could be a real game changer. It is a massage device that vibrates and digs deep into the muscle to provide pain relief, maximize recovery and boost mobility. Theragun has a multi-grip triangle handle, so you can target 80 per cent of your body. Developed by Therabody, Theragun offers PRO, Elite, Prime, and mini models, at C$599, C$399, C$249, C$189, respectively. 

The post Happy holiday gift guide: Part four first appeared on IT World Canada.