Here are a few of the tech stories I found interesting over the past few days.
Ranking the Cellular and Broadband Providers in Canada
An interesting breakdown of both the cellular and landline broadband networks in Canada. Lots of really interesting details here on how good or not good the networks are. Telus has been ranked the fastest cellular network, Fido the most consistent. Edmonton has the fastest average LTE download speeds.
While it is undeniable that in Canada we do pay more for our cellular networks than in other, more dense locations like Europe, but our networks are also consistently ranking among the best, even with how spread out our population is. Interesting stuff.
Qualcomm Launches Snapdragon 870
In a surprise move, Qualcomm has announced a new 800 series mobile processor, the Snapdragon 870. The 870 is not a new part, but rather a repackaged version of the Snapdragon 865+, which we saw in a few phones in the last half of 2020. This is an interesting move from Qualcomm, and is likely a response to several mid tier phones from 2020 shipping with the Snapdragon 765 instead of the 865 because of the high cost of the higher end part. It has never been confirmed but there was wide reporting that the 865 and 865+ were significantly more expensive than 2019’s Snapdragon 855, which is what drove up the prices of smartphones in 2020.
If the Snapdragon 888 maintains that high price, Qualcomm taking the 865, lowering the price of it and calling it the 870 might get it more adoption in those mid tier phones. I’ll be interested to see what, if any phones do ship with the part.
Chrome 88 Removes Flash Player For Good
Google Chrome 88 is now rolling out to all users, and it is a notable release for what it removes, not what it includes. Adobe Flash stopped working on January 1, and now Chrome 88 removes Flash from the browser altogether, so malicious actors can’t try to exploit the now defunct plug-in. Other Chrome based browsers like Microsoft Edge will likely follow suit shortly, and the era of Flash will finally be over.
Chrome 88 also removes support for File Transfer Protocol (FTP). FTP is a protocol that allowed transfer of files over the internet, or over a local network, and dates back to the early days of networked computers. FTP still exists, but its use has been supplanted largely by cloud storage services. Dedicated FTP clients like FileZilla continue to facilitate users who still need and want FTP, but web browsers have been removing support for the protocol over the last few years, which now includes Google Chrome.
Apple Extends Free Apple TV+ Subscriptions to July
When the iPhone 11 debuted in September 2019, Apple gave out a pretty great deal, giving anyone who purchased an Apple device, be it a Mac, iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV a free year of Apple TV+. The first of these trials were originally scheduled to start expiring in September, but Apple quietly announced that they would be extending that to February 2021. Now the company is further extending those free trials to July.
This is likely due to several factors, but probably mostly around the fact that the pandemic has meant production of original shows has slowed, and there is frankly just not as much content on Apple TV+ as the company planned. Faced with millions of subscribers potentially cancelling the service, Apple has chosen to extend the free trial, and we will likely see more original content on the service in the first half of this year as Apple hopes to get more retention.
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/01/15/apple-extends-free-apple-tv-plus-trials/
Samsung Widens Android 11 Rollout in Canada
Lastly, Samsung was very nice and decided that its birthday present to me would be to begin the rollout of Android 11 to the Galaxy Note 10 series in Canada. This comes after the Note 20 series and S20 series saw it in December. The S10 series is likely to follow shortly.
