OnePlus is starting the hype train early this year as it plans the OnePlus 11 and OnePlus buds Pro 2 event for 2023.
The company has shared its plans to hold an event in New Dehli called Cloud 11, where it plans to “elevate the user experience from Cloud 9 to Cloud 11.” It sounds like classy stuff, and we’re set to see the OnePlus 11 flagship and the successor to the OnePlus Buds Pro, aptly called OnePlus Buds Pro 2.
The stylized image of the OnePlus 11 sent alongside the event announcement confirms earlier renders, which suggested OnePlus would go for a more outrageous camera bump this year.
OnePlus 11 leaks from early December.
What’s missing from the new picture is the Hasselblad logo. Hopefully, this is because of the image’s darkness. At the launch of the OnePlus 10T, the company promised its next flagship would include the final iteration of its Hasselblad-co-created camera. It also implied that the ‘Pro’ named phones would get the Hasselblad optics, hence why the OnePlus 10T didn’t get the Swedish camera company’s blessing.
To me, this suggests a second OnePlus 11 Pro will come later in the year, which theoretically makes more sense with the company’s naming scheme. What did the ‘T’ ever stand for anyways? That said, it’s too early to tell, and I’m probably reading too much into it. But if you’re into OnePlus rumours, feel free to come down this rabbit hole with me.
For context, the company’s 2022 flagship, the OnePlus 10 Pro, came out at the start of the year in China and then hit the West at the end of March. In the Summer, the OnePlus 10T followed with a better chipset, modem and faster-charging specs for a lower price.
The company received flak from the media for releasing the phone in China early. Western reviewers like MKBHD chose to review the eastern version of the phone in January and not the global version that OnePlus sent to the press in March, leading to a bad review. OnePlus seems to have learned from that and is now including all markets in the initial launch this year.
Regarding the ‘Pro’ vs ‘standard’ OnePlus flagships. If OnePlus released its lower-end flagship at the start of the year as the OnePlus 11, it would allow the second flagship released later in the year to be a stronger package since it would get a better chip, the company’s flagship build quality and other R&D improvements.
It’s also worth noting that OnePlus promised that all its top phones from 2023 would receive four years of Android updates and five years of security patches.
Vicky Eatrides will fill the role of chairperson at the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) starting January 5th, 2023.
Eatrides has worked in the Competition Bureau of Canada, Natural Resources Canada, and the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED).
At the Competition Bureau, she served as Senior Deputy Commissioner in charge of enforcing parts of the Competition Act. “She developed expertise in telecommunications, broadcasting and new technologies by leading merger reviews, civil and criminal investigations, and regulatory interventions,” a press release outlining the appointment says.
Eatrides previously taught Competition Law courses at Queen’s University and is a member of the Ontario Bar. She will fill the role for five years, replacing the previous chair, Ian Scott.
Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Canadian Heritage, is responsible for the appointment. He also enlisted Alicia Barin and Adam Scott as vice chairs.
Another week brings further discounts on one of the top selling devices on Amazon Canada. If you’re interested in scoring a streaming stick, then check out these deals on Amazon’s Fire TV Sticks.
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Client-side encryption coming for versions of enterprise Gmail, business email scams are stealing food, and more.
Welcome to Cyber Security Today. It’s Monday, December 19th, 2022. I’m Howard Solomon, contributing reporter on cybersecurity for ITWorldCanada.com.
Google will soon add optional client-side encryption for organizations to improve email security and privacy. However, it will be available only for organizations and school boards subscribing to three enterprise versions of Gmail. These are Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus and Education Standard. Google said IT administrators can sign up to be included in the beta test until January 20th. It didn’t say when full service will start. Client-side encryption improves security and privacy. But it also means IT administrators will have to manage encryption keys.
Attention Linux and Windows administrators using the Samba networking protocol: Security updates have been issued to close four vulnerabilities. These are in Samba Active Directory, the Netlogon Secure Channel, and two Windows Kerberos-related problems. These patches, released last week, should be installed as soon as possible.
Business email compromise scams are usually aimed at stealing money. This con tricks a finance department into changing the bank account where payments regularly are electronically deposited to instead go to an account controlled by a crook. However, U.S. government authorities are warning the same scam is now also being used to steal food. Criminals are spoofing emails to impersonate employees of real companies and ordering shipments of food, which go to an address where crooks are waiting. The distributor or manufacturer is never paid. The crooks, meanwhile, probably repackage and sell the goods. In several cases the product the crooks wanted was powdered milk. While the warning is to the food industry, you should note that this email scam can be used against a manufacturer of any product. The FBI advises firms to independently verify the contact information of new vendors or customers, watch for tip-offs in email like poor grammar and spelling. And most important, ensure employees verify requested changes to existing invoices, bank deposit information and contact information.
Just over a year ago I told you that Google had disrupted the command and control infrastructure behind a botnet called Glupteba. It distributes malware through millions of compromised computers. Well, it took about six months for those behind the botnet in Russia to rebuild and get back to business. That’s according to researchers at Nozomi Networks. What makes Glupteba unique is it uses the Bitcoin blockchain to hide its command and control domains. You may not realize it, but the Bitcoin blockchain has places not only to store digital currency but also to keep up to 80 bytes of any data. A domain address easily fits in there. So taking complete control of the botnet is impossible unless authorities have the private keys of the Bitcoin addresses. By the way, the Cerber ransomware uses the same tactic. The report does say defenders can take some action, including blocking access to blockchain-related domains.
Finally, some gaming enthusiasts using the Corsair K100 keyboard have been unnerved by spooky behaviour. Sometimes their computer suddenly enters text created days or weeks before. Corsair told the Ars Technica news site that no one has hacked the keyboard or installed a keylogger on victims’ computers. It suspects the problem is the keyboard’s ability to record macros is inadvertently switching off and on. One solution: Reset the keyboard by unplugging it, then hold the Escape key down for five seconds when plugging it back in.
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California Energy Commission invests billions of dollars in EV, Google to introduce end to end encryption to Gmail, Twitter reinstates suspended accounts.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Welcome to Hashtag Trending. It’s Monday December 19 and I am your host, Samira Balsara.
The California Energy Commission (CEC) will spend $2.9 billion to accelerate the state’s zero-emission transportation strategy. In a report by Reuters, the agency detailed an investment plan that would result in the state building 90,000 new chargers over the span of four years, a move that would more than double the number of chargers available across the state. $900 million of the fund will go towards chargers designed for light-duty EVs, with another $1.7 billion set aside for infrastructure that supports medium and heavy-duty zero-emissions vehicles, including those powered by hydrogen fuel cells. The commission says it expects California to hit its goal of deploying 250,000 chargers by 2025.
Google is adding end-to-end encryption (E2EE) to Gmail on the web, allowing enrolled Google Workspace users to send and receive encrypted emails within and outside their domain. According to BleepingComputer, once enabled, Gmail client-side encryption will ensure that sensitive data delivered as part of the email’s body and attachments will not be decrypted by Google servers. Google said that users can use their own encryption keys to encrypt their organization’s data, in addition to using the default encryption that Google Workspace provides.
Twitter has announced via its Safety account that it has found “several policies where permanent suspension was a disproportionate action for breaking Twitter rules.” The website has started reinstating accounts that were suspended for violating those rules, and Twitter plans to lift more suspensions every week over the next month. The company didn’t specify the policies it’s talking about and which accounts will be reinstated but some of the journalists who were recently banned due to the website’s new doxxing rules are up again. Last week Twitter suspended the accounts of several journalists who report on Elon Musk and the social network itself. Following the journalists’ suspensions, Musk posted a poll asking people whether he should reinstate the accounts of users who doxxed his exact location in real time “now” or “in 7 days.”
The private Adelson Educational Campus in Las Vegas is using an artificial intelligence system to detect school security threats. The school which runs from preschool to 12th grade is contracting with SparkCognition, a Texas-based company. A Government Technology report said that SparkCognition said it integrates with the school’s existing cameras to process information in real time. “If we can prevent one shooting, one tragedy, I think this has done its job,” a spokesman for the company said. The “Visual AI Advisor” system enables “instantaneous alerts, alarms, and designated actions like initiating lock-down procedures,” according to a news release. The Adelson School is in the implementation phase of the project.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash briefings or your Google Home daily briefing. Make sure to sign up for our Daily IT Wire newsletter to get all the news that matters directly in your inbox every day. Also, catch the next episode of Hashtag Tendances, our weekly Hashtag Trending episode in French, which drops every Thursday morning. If you have a suggestion or a tip, drop us a line in the comments or via email. Thank you for listening, I’m Samira Balsara.
When I unwrapped the Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022), I was excited to finally play with a low-cost tablet. It’s a device that people can easily afford, and upon first impression, it felt great in my hand.
However, once I turned it on, it became clear this isn’t the tablet for me. The form factor is perfect, and the screen quality tradeoff makes sense for the price, but the processor in this so-called new tablet is very slow — far too slow for 2022.
There are a few use cases for the Fire HD 8, so it’s best not to dismiss it entirely at first glance, but think of it as a single-use device and more like an e-reader or a portable video player. Through that lens, the price and functionality make more sense, but as a tablet experience, the software and speed feel immediately dated.
The Amazon Fire HD 8 isn’t bad if you want to watch TV or read an e-book, but browsing the web is downright painful, and social media apps like Twitter and Reddit are laggy. Want to pull out the keyboard and type something? Have fun. It’s going to take a while, and be prepared for typos as the keys lag. Adjusting the typeface through the same lag is equally frustrating. Everything is like this. If you’re just watching content on the tablet, it’s fine, but any form of interaction reveals how slow it truly is.
I could wax long about the subtle pros and cons of Amazon’s latest tablet, but when you get down to it, the device is suitable for kids, video chatting with elderly grandparents or for someone looking to get a little more out of their ereader.
The screen looks nice here, but it’s a little washed out and is a fingerprint magnet.
If you want a small screen to watch content on before bed, it isn’t terrible, but since the HD 8 doesn’t have access to Google services, there’s no YouTube app, which is a deal breaker for me, at least. Other apps like Netflix, Disney+ and Prime video are available. TikTok and Instagram also work well enough if you’d rather watch vertical video.
Since the tablet feels so bulky, sturdy and cheap, I don’t feel the need to put a case on it, but adding a kickstand to the back would make it a lot better as a portable movie or TV-watching device. Better speakers would go a long way too. As it stands, the Fire HD 8’s speakers are fine, but for a device that markets itself as “designed for portable entertainment,” I didn’t expect them to sound this flat. It’s not an entirely fair comparison, but to offer a bit of context, my iPhone 14 Pro sounds about 3x as loud and far more detailed.
One great aspect of the Fire HD 8 is its MicroSD card slot and headphone jack.
On the more positive side, the Fire HD 8 offers excellent battery life. In standby, I can pick it up after a few days and it still has charge for me to browse the internet a bit, put it down, and repeat the cycle a few more times. I generally felt the need to force myself to use the Fire HD 8 for the purposes of this review. The only time I was really excited to use it was on the first night when I took it out of the box.
That feeling seemed to extend to my partner Alex as well. She used the tablet one night for fun since it was new, but after that, she never returned to it, even though we kept it within arms reach on a table near our couch. It’s just too laggy compared to most other modern smartphones and tablets. That said, the Amazon Fire HD 8 will work in a pinch for the elderly or children, but even then, a two or three-year-old iPad offers a better experience.
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Earlier this year, smartphone accessory maker Casetify rolled out new cases for Google’s Pixel 7 and 7 Pro. The company sent me a couple Pixel 7 cases to test out. My impressions so far are that they’re well-made, durable and sport excellent, fun designs. My only real complaints come down to the thickness (I am ever in search of a thinner case) and price.
Let’s start with the good stuff. Casetify says its ‘Impact’ series of cases of the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro are made with 65 percent upcycled plastic and can withstand a drop of 8.2 feet (I did not drop test my phone to see if this is true, but if my Pixel 7 does take a significant tumble some day, I’ll update this with the results.) Beyond that, there are a ton of designs to pick from, and there’s an option to make your own custom cases too.
The wide range of options helps make up for the fact that Casetify only offers one type of case for the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro — the ‘Impact’ series — and only three colour options, two of which are black. While I would have liked to see more options (for example, the iPhone 14 Pro has nine different case types), the range of back designs makes it easier to accept the limited number of case designs.
However, when it comes to the three colour options, matte black is king. The other options are ‘clear black’ and ‘sheer kiwi’ — the former looks fine but doesn’t have as nice a feel as the soft-touch matte, and the latter didn’t really thrill me, although I’m sure some people might like the kiwi colour.
The two Casetify cases I tried were the ‘I’m leaving this planet‘ design in matte black and the ‘Research by Other Minerals‘ design in clear black. I really like both, but as mentioned above, I found I preferred the feel of the matte black. It’s more of a soft-touch texture and feels grippier than the glossy clear black. It’s a bit of a bummer since I really like the Research by Other Minerals design.
Interestingly, both cases came with a QR code attached, which I could scan to “authenticate” the case. Whether or not you care about having an authentic Castefiy case, going through the process does net you $5 USD to go towards your next Casetify purchase. Which, frankly, you’ll need.
All the Pixel 7 Casetify cases I looked at cost $50 USD (about $68.46 CAD). Casetify offers free worldwide shipping, which is nice, but the price is still steep, in my opinion. And if you start looking at some of the other options available for iPhone, prices can climb as high as $90 USD ($123.23 CAD). For me, that’s far too much to spend on a phone case, but if you’re flush with cash and want a nice case with a cool design, Casetify does deliver.
You can check out all the Pixel 7 cases here, or view Casetify’s other accessories here.
MobileSyrup utilizes affiliate partnerships. These partnerships do not influence our editorial content, though we may earn a commission on purchases made via these links that helps fund the journalism provided free on our website.
When I was 10, my best friend got a new game for the GBA: Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. He hadn’t actually played the original Kingdom Hearts on the PS2; instead, he picked up this handheld sequel because his brother’s friend had erroneously told them it featured Inuyasha, the main character of his favourite anime.
I wonder if that kid thought that Riku, Kingdom Hearts’ silver-haired hero, was Inuyasha.
No, I’m not kidding — I guess kids really do say the darndest things.
Thankfully, we ended up falling in love with Chain of Memories, and one character quickly caught our eye: Cloud. His perfectly coiffed hair, badass bandaged sword, enigmatic black wing and face-covering scarf… he was the epitome of cool (everything I most certainly wasn’t). Imagine our surprise, then, when we found out he actually had his own game, Final Fantasy VII! My friend’s mum quickly bought it for him, and he devoured it. I didn’t get to see him too often since he lived far away, so I was anxious to hang out again and hear what he thought in person.
Eventually, he loaned the game to me, gushing praise, and my mind was blown as soon as booted up my PS1 and I began the thrilling opening bombing mission. I’d never experienced anything like it, and it would eventually, quite literally, change my life. But another reason that I love FFVII is that it introduced me to the broader Final Fantasy series, which has since become my all-time favourite in gaming. So today, December 18th — exactly 35 years after the original Final Fantasy debuted on the Famicom (NES) in Japan — I want to celebrate that. Here’s to the legendary RPG series from the little Square team, led by the big-dreaming Hironobu Sakaguchi, that dared to shake up the game.
A new adventure, every time
After VII, I wanted to play as many of the other Final Fantasy games as I could. That wasn’t exactly easy, given the gaming industry’s spotty-at-best track record when it comes to preservation. To its credit, though, Square Enix did release ports of FFI, II, IV, V and VI on the GBA, and that’s where I was able to first play all of those titles. And my god, did I fall in love. (I’ve since finished every numbered single-player entry in the series.)
As someone who was painfully introverted growing up and often cities or even countries removed from many of the friends and family I did hold dear, I regularly found myself drawn to games. After all, they are, in many ways, the perfect form of escapism. They whisk you away to worlds you could never have imagined and let you inhabit them in ways that no other art form can. Final Fantasy, for me, has been my biggest provider of such experiences.
Unlike most series, Final Fantasy takes an anthology approach, so every numbered entry is its own standalone experience. As such, it feels consistently fresh. The original five games are different spins on traditional medieval fantasy featuring mix-ups like interdimensional travel (V‘s Rift) and even moon landings (IV). From there, it gets even more interesting: VI is all about steampunk, VII has a refreshing cyberpunk flavour, VIII sports a distinct “anime schoolboy” vibe and X is more Southeast Asia-inspired. Discovering where each new FF takes place, and all of the ways in which each world feels unique, has proven to be delightful highlight of the series.
Of course, it’s the individual stories that help further distinguish these settings, and Final Fantasy has always done that magnificently. VI used the familiar backdrop of an evil empire to tell a heartwrenching tale about people struggling to find meaning in a dark, often depressing, world. Feeling more timely than ever in 2022, VII explored themes of life and identity and how a ruthlessly greedy megacorporation’s planet-killing business threatens to upend it all. While paying homage to the medieval FFs of old, IX also focused on the importance of love and friendship, especially in the face of mortality. X‘s world of Spira, meanwhile, warned about the potential dangers of organized religion. Taking cues from Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy XII was rife with political intrigue. Then there’s XIV, which has become a massive and beloved series in its own right thanks to an engrossing, sprawling and ever-evolving MMO story. Hell, XV, at its core, was literally a charming road trip between four bros. Pretty much every Final Fantasy game, even the weaker ones, has brought something new to the table, and I love them all for that.
Literal game-changers
The Pixel Remaster of Final Fantasy IV.
That ethos has also extended to the gameplay. Indeed, what I most admire about Final Fantasy is its unwillingness to follow the same playbook. Over the past 35 years, the franchise has experimented with so many different kinds of gameplay, and many of them have been resounding successes.
The most impactful of these has been the Active Time Battle system, originally designed by legendary developer Hiroyuki Ito for IV in 1991. In a feat of utter brilliance, Ito took classic turn-based RPG combat and injected speed and energy into it. Essentially, party members and enemies alike would have to wait for a bar to fill up before they could attack, adding a level of urgency and real-time action to the fray. Later games would add further layers to combat in their own compelling ways, like V‘s remarkably deep Job system allowing for rich party configurations, the intricate and highly customizable Materia of VII, X‘s open-ended and addictive Sphere Grid character progression method or XII‘s more MMO-inspired Gambit system to oh-so precisely fine-tune companions’ AI behaviour.
At the same time, we’d still occasionally get returns to traditional turn-based mechanics, like X, which cleverly used this format to encourage strategy by making you decide when to swap in teammates and attack based on a bar that displayed who’s up next. And that doesn’t even take all of the spin-offs and other offshoots into consideration. Final Fantasy VII Remake, for example, is a masterful blend of ATB and real-time combat, delivering utterly thrilling battles that feel fast, fluid and strategic. Or take Strangers of Paradise, a smart, brutal Nioh-esque spin on Final Fantasy that also doubles as a fascinating villainous origin-prequel story to the original Final Fantasy. The fact that Square Enix is finding ways to breathe new life into decades-old tropes and systems never ceases to impress me.
People to root for
The famous opera scene in the Pixel Remaster version of Final Fantasy VI.
Would any of this matter, though, if you didn’t care about the characters themselves? Thankfully, Final Fantasy has truly succeeded in crafting well-realized, nuanced and memorable figures for many years now. In fact, it wouldn’t be an understatement to say that so many of this series’ casts rank among my favourites in any medium. That all boils down to the unique interactive elements of games that you make you truly engrossed in your characters’ plights since you actually get to live through them yourself. Over the course of dozens of hours of well-written narratives, you come to truly relate to them.
Maybe that was in VI, where Celes’ struggles with allegiance led to a profoundly moving opera performance ordevastating struggles with depression. Perhaps you’re like me and most closely identified with VII — specifically, Cloud’s deep-rooted issues of self-worth and longing for acceptance, and also found inspiration from Zack’s story in Crisis Core. Many have also gravitated towards Vivi’s arc in IX, a surprisingly existential quest that serves as that game’s emotional centre. Others, meanwhile, might resonate with X‘s Yuna, a strong-willed young woman burdened with an unfair responsibility that she nonetheless compassionately shoulders.
In many of my loneliest and darkest moments, I found so much solace in these characters; I connected with them in ways that most other games couldn’t speak to me. In a sense, the series grew over time in terms of maturity and complexity, much in the way that Harry Potter‘s coming-of-age story becoming darker over time made it click so much with my generation. For Final Fantasy, that growth was no accident, either. Sakaguchi has been open about how his earlier creative failures led him to keep the stories of the earlier Final Fantasy titles relatively light, but the untimely death of his mother inspired him to draw from his emotions to pen deeper, more impactful narratives in future projects. One of the biggest examples of this was the Lifestream in VII, a beautifully spiritual exploration of the afterlife and what binds us all together. Both Sakaguchi and Final Fantasy as a whole have gone on their own personal journeys, and through them, so have I.
World-class scores
But the beating heart of Final Fantasy, for me — what unifies everything I’ve mentioned and makes it all work — is the music. I’ve long said that Final Fantasy has some of the best scores in any medium, and the key reason for that is Nobuo Uematsu. It’s not hyperbole to say that he is to Final Fantasy what John Williams is to Star Wars, especially since both have been so inextricably involved with their respective series since their inception. Indeed, so much of Final Fantasy‘s emotional resonance stems from Uematsu’s music. Honestly, this whole piece could have been solely about Uematsu, whose music is genuinely unparalleled. Even from the very beginning, we had the rousing victory fanfare that truly makes you feel like you triumphed over evil, or the stirring, majestic main theme.
And since that original 1987 title, Uematsu has gone on to compose some of the greatest soundtracks in all of gaming. “The Rebel Army” in II was an inspirational ode to the bravery and spirit of those who push on. Cecil’s redemptive arc in IV rings true thanks to the enchanting “Theme of Love” that punctuates his romance with Rosa. The fights in V against the endearingly goofy Gilgamesh have become classic in no small part due to Uematsu’s banger “Battle on the Big Bridge” theme. Despite SNES technical limitations, Uematsu managed to compose VI‘s “Dancing Mad,” a nearly 20-minute long, multipart piece that perfectly captures the stunning grandiosity and haunting lunacy of the now-deified Kefka. (To say nothing of how impressive VII‘s final boss theme, “One-Winged Angel,” would also prove to be.) And speaking of VII, would Aerith’s death, one of gaming’s most iconic scenes, have been so powerful without her heartbreakingly solemn and innocent melody? What about “To Zanarkand,” which uses understated-yet-sorrowful piano keys to define the star-crossed romance of Tidus and Yuna? I could go on. When you consider that the bulk of his Final Fantasy compositions were for I to IX — released between the NES and PS1, retro consoles that lacks the sound toolsets afforded by modern hardware — then Uematsu’s work feels even more magical.
The old and new guard of Final Fantasy. From left to right: Masayoshi Soken, Naoki Yoshida, Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nobuo Uematsu (Image credit: Hironobu Sakaguchi)
And the best part? Uematsu has only inspired other wonderful musical talents to join Final Fantasy. Hitoshi Sakimoto (XII), Masashi Hamauzu (XIII), Masayoshi Soken (XIV) and Yoko Shimomura (XV)… all brilliant in their own right, and all carrying on Uematsu’s legacy. Whether it was feeling isolated during school, taking the bus home or slaving away at homework assignments, to more recently writing for work, going to the gym or just sitting alone with my thoughts, the music of Final Fantasy from all of these composers has always been a significant part of my life, like a warm, beautiful blanket.
A living legacy
While looking back for the anniversary, I also have to acknowledge that the future of Final Fantasy is also looking so bright. On one side of Square Enix, we have Creative Business Unit III, led Naoki Yoshida, who continues to push forward on incredible expansions to Final Fantasy XIV. This division is also working on XVI, which looks to create a wonderful marriage between the medieval settings of old with a darker fantasy narrative from Kazutoyo Maehiro, writer of XIV‘s stellar Heavensward expansion, and frenetic action-RPG combat from Devil May Cry veteran Ryota Suzuki. And on the other side, we have Tetsuya Nomura, Yoshinori Kitase and several other Final Fantasy mainstays — who most famously spearheaded VII with Sakaguchi — overseeing an outstanding and bold reimagining of the PS1 classic, starting with 2020’s Remake and continuing with Rebirth and an untitled trilogy capper. All of these projects look to remain true to the spirit of Final Fantasy — unforgettable stories and characters, gripping gameplay systems and god-tier music — while continuing to push the series forward in exciting ways.
Final Fantasy has had its ups and downs, like just about everything, but it’s that consistent drive to deliver fresh, engaging and emotional experiences that makes it win out for me. It’s been a constant in my life even when so many unexpected events — like becoming estranged from my father — have happened. The prospect of a new game, with new adventures and characters and music to discover, always proves to be a source of joy for me. After all, the amount of memories I’ve formed and the friends I’ve made from this series is staggering. The adoration and gratitude I have for Final Fantasy is pretty much unmatched.
So, here’s to 35 years of something truly extraordinary, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.
Apple introduced the Magnifying tool to the iPhone in 2018 with iOS 12. In its initial days, the tool allowed iPhone users to zoom in on objects in their surroundings. However, the feature has gained a slew of new features.
The ability to adjust the image’s brightness and contrast, freeze frames to review them, and more have been added over the past few years.
Now, using the same tool, you can use your iPhone with LiDAR to help you identify when people, doors and objects are near you while you move around. The sub-tool is called ‘Detection Mode,’ and it allows users to use features like ‘People Detection,’ ‘Door Detection,’ and ‘Image Descriptions’ directly from within the Magnifier to get descriptions of your surroundings, including text and symbols around a door, how far away you’re standing, and even how to open it.
The tool is part of Apple’s Vision accessibility features. It can be used by anyone, though it’s especially useful for those that are visually impaired (by using Siri and VoiceOver to navigate to the feature and through voice prompts about the surroundings).
Before proceeding, it’s important to note that since the feature makes use of LiDAR, it’s only available on iPhone 12 and later devices.
To enable the feature, you’ll have to locate ‘Magnifier.’ Swipe down on your phone to pull up the search screen and type in ‘Magnifier.’ Click on the gear icon on the left, as seen in the screenshot below, and tap on ‘Settings.’
From here, enable ‘Detection Mode,’ and it will appear as a tool whenever you open the Magnifier tool. You can subsequently customize settings to deliver feedback regarding your surroundings via sound, speech and haptics.
“Your iPhone can let you know when it detects people (and doors) early with sound, speech, and haptic feedback,” read the setting page. “Feedback will be more frequent when the person (or door) is closer to you.”
Now, whenever you have the Detection Mode open, and you’re pointing your phone around, your device will notify you with visual, sound, speed and haptic feedback (depending on if you enabled the specific feedback method) regarding how far away you are from an object/person/door. Additionally, if a door that you’re pointing your device at has any signs or labels, it will be displayed on-screen and read out loud, alongside instructions on how to open the door and which side it’ll open in.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is finally coming to a close. The top two teams of the tournament, Argentina and France, are set to battle it out for the ultimate soccer glory today at 10am ET at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar.
The last time the two teams went up against each other, the stakes weren’t so high. Defending champion France beat Argentina 4-3 in their last meet back in the 2018 FIFA World Cup round of 16.
Both the teams have had an almost spotless run this World Cup, though. France has won all of its games since the Group Stage, with its single loss coming against Tunisia when it had already qualified for the round of 16. Argentina, on the other hand, gave its fans a bit of anxiety when it lost its opening game against Saudi Arabia, but has since performed impeccably.
Both teams are also looking to bring their third World Cup trophy home, with France having won the highest International Soccer accolade in 1998 and 2018 and Argentina in 1978 and 1986.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CmKauKSy8Oi/
How to watch
The matchup between Argentina and France is set to take place at 10am ET/7am PT today.
Those with a cable connection with access to TSN 1, TSN 3, TSN 4, TSN 5 or CTV can watch the game directly on their TVs in English, while those with RDS can watch the game live in French.
If you feel like tuning in on a different device, you can head to the TSN website, CTV website or the RDS website and log in with your cable credentials to stream online.
If you don’t have a cable connection, you can still watch subscribe to either TSN Direct on RDS Direct, depending on your language preference.
Find subscription plans and pricing info below:
Monthly Pass: Gives you access to TSN for a month from the date of subscription. The plan is billed monthly, and automatically renews every month. The plan costs $19.99 + tax.
Four-month Pass: Gives you access to TSN for four months from the date of subscription. The plan is prepaid, and is billed as a one-time payment for four months. Automatically renews every four months. The plan costs $49.96 + tax for the four months.
Annual Pass: Gives you access to TSN for a year from the date of subscription. The plan is prepaid, and is billed as a one-time payment for the year. Automatically renews annually. The plan costs $119.90 + tax for the full year.
Benjamin Pavard
Jules Kounde
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Theo Hernandez
Lucas Hernandez
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Ferland Mendy
Dayot Upamecano
Ibrahima Konate
William Saliba