Here are a few stories from the past couple days that caught my attention.
iPad Air (2019) Review
Yesterday I published my thoughts on the iPad Air from 2019, Apple’s mid-tier iPad.
Telus Expands Low Cost Internet For Good Program
Since 2016, Telus has offered a low cost internet program for families receiving the Canada Child Benefit from the Fedderal Government. That internet plan costs $10/month, and includes 25 megabits per second download speed, and a 300GB monthly data cap. Telus announced this week that the program is expanding eligibility, and that residents of British Columbia and Alberta living with disabilities will now qualify for this program. British Columbia residents who are receiving the BC Persons With Disabilities (PWD) benefit and Alberta residents receiving Alberta Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) can apply to Telus to receive the Internet For Good plan. Citing government statistics, Telus claims that 110,000 more people in British Columbia and 69,000 more people in Alberta are now eligible for the Internet For Good plan.
I really do not like the data cap on the plan, but I am personally against that universally. Beyond that, this is a program that makes having home internet more affordable for vulnerable populations that need the help more than most.
Amazon Prime Video Finally Begins Offering User Profiles
Amazon treated Prime Video as an afterthought for many years, but in the last few years the company has put more emphasis on making the service more robust. One thing that has really been missing compared to competitors has been user profiles in the service. Netflix, Crave, Disney+, and most of the other video services have offered this, and now Amazon has finally caught up, and added this. This is quite useful in households with multiple people sharing an account. Many relationships will be saved by this measure.
H.266 Video Codec Promises More Efficient 4k Streaming
One of the challenges of 4k streaming is that the bandwidth requirements are among the largest sustained uses of the internet toady. Using the Netflix recommendation of 25 megabits per second for 4k video, an average 2 hour movie is almost 23GB of data with current codecs.
The H.266 codec aims to halve the bandwidth requirements, which means less data transfer, and smaller files for video stored locally for offline consumption. It will likely take a couple of years before the real benefits of H.266 hit the mainstream, but improvements on the efficiency of data delivery are always welcome.
Samsung Announces Wireless Charger That Also Sterilizes Your Phone
In today’s “It must be 2020” story, Samsung has released a new product that combines a 10w qi wireless charger with a system that uses UV light to sanitize your phone. Place the phone in the case, close the lid, and the phone will charge, while the case uses UV lights for 10 minutes to kill 99% of “bacteria and germs,” according to Samsung.
Yep, it’s 2020.
Super Nintendo’s Donkey Kong Country Coming To Nintendo Switch
I’m personally pretty stoked for this one. Donkey Kong Country for the Super Nintendo was one of my favorite games, and Nintendo is releasing it on the Nintendo Switch through the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service on July 15. It will be released through the Super Nintendo Classic Games app, available only to subscribers of Nintendo Switch Online, a $30/year service.
If you’re looking for me on July 15, I’ll be within arms reach of my Switch at all times.