Trending December 2023 # Undervalued: Rekt Guy, Megawobs, Tigerbob, And More # Suggested January 2024 # Top 16 Popular

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Traversing the world of non-fungibles is a daunting task. With so many new NFT projects, artists, and large-scale collections cropping up weekly, it has become nearly impossible to keep up with all the new and exciting happenings.

Previously, all that was needed to find the latest NFT craze was a simple browse through OpenSea. But things have changed drastically since the 2023 NFT boom. Now, NFT enthusiasts have to be really mindful of what and where they collect.

To aid in the unearthing of awe-inspiring NFT endeavors both new and old nft now presents Undervalued: a weekly column highlighting innovative projects, collections, and artists pushing the NFT space forward.

Rekt Guy, launched May 21, 2023, is a large-scale PFP project created by influential NFT collector and former Wall Street trader OSF. Centered around a character of OSF’s own creation, the collection embodies crypto/NFT culture and personifies the term “rekt” which has come to mean being utterly destroyed or ruined, especially in the case of loss on investments.

Rekt Guy is a unique entrant into the CC0 sector of the NFT market. While the project offers no roadmap or utility to its holders, similar to CrypToadz or mfers, it’s characterized both as a meme and a symbol of unity within OSF’s community. As influential investor Cozomo de’ Medici and rap icon Snoop Dogg have collected Rekt Guy NFTs, the project has not only taken on life as a status symbol but as a testament to what influencer hype can help bolster a collection.

MegaWobs, launched June 9, 2023, is a large-supply NFT collection hosted on the Solana blockchain. The collection features 3D PFP tokens of Wobblebug, who is said to be the first tokenized musician in history that allows fans to own a piece of a DJ’s career.

Created by Grammy-nominated DJ/Producer Wuki, and fellow music industry veterans Rawtek, JSTJR, and more, Wobblebug first launched as a collection on the Ethereum blockchain but fell short of gaining significant traction. With MegaWobz, Wuki and co. reimagined the Wobblebug character in 3D and reformated what the collection would provide to its collector community.

MegaWobz exists now not only as a unique use case for the reformatting and transformation of an NFT project, but as an innovative endeavor tying together music, utility, and collective ownership, all linked to a virtual space-alien metaverse DJ.

Tigerbob, launched May 28, 2023, is a 1,000-piece handcrafted PFP project created by multidisciplinary Filipino/Black artist/tattooer Gossamer Rozen. As their largest project to date, Tigerbob draws on inspiration, character development, and artistic progression from Rozen over many years.

Beyond living as a unique character-driven PFP project, Tigerbob is also marketed as a brand that lives between Web2 and Web3. The brand’s signature tiger, known as Tigerbob, is one of Rozen’s first tattoo designs and has been iterated as tattoos, illustrations, and sculptures since its creation in 2023.

Characterized by themes of collaboration, philanthropy, and the celebration of identity, Tigerbob gives collectors access to exclusive drops and incentives to come from the burgeoning artist.

SOULS, launched July 13, 2023, is a collection of living interactive works of art created in collaboration between international pop star Sia and renowned visual artist David OReilly. Each NFT in the growing collection is minted with a wide variety of attributes, including name, voice, color pattern, and more, all living together in the SOULS GALAXY, where they can be used to create music voiced by Sia.

Beginning as a series of simple colorful paintings Sia drew more than 15 years ago, SOULS has since grown into an expansive collection of never before seen digital beings said to be built with love and shaped between two friends. SOULS NFTs exist as virtual, interactive objects with varying degrees of rarity that can be displayed individually, downloaded as JPEGS, GLBS, GIFs, and used as real-world augmented reality objects in IOS.

As the collection is continuously growing, the jury is still out on what sort of triumph this project will be for Sia and OReilly. However, it is certainly a unique endeavor among the many celebrity-led projects that have been released since the early 2023 NFT boom.

Damien Hirst

The Currency, launched July 14, 2023, is the first NFT collection to come from esteemed artist, entrepreneur, and art collector Damien Hirst. Created as a way of reimagining how NFTs can be used, the collection features 10,000 NFTs, which correspond to 10,000 unique physical artworks stored in a secure vault in the U.K.

Considering the way in which The Currency seems to perfectly align with crypto and NFT sensibilities, it exists as an interesting use case for traditional artists hoping to become involved in the NFT ecosystem. Similarly, it exemplifies the success that artists can achieve if they align their vision with the state of the NFT market, rather than simply bridging their traditional art onto the blockchain.

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Prometheus: Slashgear Meets Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace, Guy Pearce And Logan Marshall

Prometheus: SlashGear meets Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace, Guy Pearce and Logan Marshall-Green

The alien creatures in Prometheus might arguably steal the show, but whether they’re antagonist, host or just plain meat, the human cast is equally important. SlashGear sat down with stars Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace, Guy Pearce and Logan Marshall-Green after the Prometheus world premiere to talk post-curtain rumors, working in the shadow of Ripley, and how the whole film might actually be a robot love story.

Michael Fassbender plays David, the robotic member of the Prometheus crew, while Noomi Rapace and Logan Marshall-Green play Shaw and Holloway, the scientist couple dead-set on exploring LV-223. Guy Pearce plays Peter Weyland, founder of Weyland-Yutani Corporation and the billionaire bankrolling the whole mission.

[Question] My question is about hypersleep. You played people waking up from this hypersleep state – which we don’t actually have. At that point in your performance, what were you doing; what was happening to you, how were you feeling, and what had you woken up from?

[Noomi Rapace] I actually did a detox, I put myself on some kind of detox thing for a week before. I was only drinking…

[Michael Fassbender] Logan’s like, “you didn’t tell me that, we were supposed to share everything!”

[Logan Marshall-Green] I ate, like, a pizza the night before.

[NR] We were just drinking different things for a week. I wanted to kind of drain my body and clean it, because I know before we went in [Fassbender’s character David] has been taking care of us, and changing our diapers and washing us probably, y’know, for two years.

[MF] [Shakes head, grinning]

[NR] No? What did you do?

[MF] Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, “looked after you.”

[Guy Pearce] In a very special kind of way…

[MF] Very special!

[NR] I wanted to kind of drain my body a kind of bit, I dunno, I had this idea I was gonna look very… everything was going to sink in [gestures to face], but it didn’t really happen. But it’s hard to imagine, what it is to be sleeping for two years, but we talked about trying to… how groggy are we, how aware are we about what’s around us? And when you try different things, yelling “we’re here!”, “am I awake?” It’s kind of difficult, we tried it in different versions with Ridley [Scott].

[LMG] Yeah, Ridley said it was that… we were intaking proteins and such instantly, you’re cold, I ended up drinking a quart of milk over the course of a few minutes. And you were throwing it up, lemonade wasn’t it?

[NR] I was.

[LMG] Milk doesn’t bother you.

[NR] No, that was something really disgusting they gave me, remember – the kind of fluid?

[GP] Not milk of magnesia?

[Q] Over the course of the production there was so much secrecy around this. All the speculation happens, there are all these rumors which start getting thrown around online. I would imagine you were probably aware of some of them, probably laughing at some of them. Are there any favorites that stick out in your mind?

[MF] We were trying to create them. The ones we invented were really…

[NR] He was working really hard, to make this…

[MF] A love story! There is a love story.

[NR] Between a robot, and…

[aquote]There’s a love story, between the robot David and Doctor Shaw[/aquote]

[MF] There is a love story, between the robot David and Doctor Shaw, which will be through the next installment.

[NR] The very misleading rumors! Never gonna happen!

[MF] The child’s gonna be half-child, half-robot.

[GP] Has your head been reattached? Or is it just…?

[MF] We’re not sure.

[NR] It’s based on a true story. And actually, I heard a while, “so are you Ripley’s mother?” That was one thing people were asking me, and I was like “I’m not sure.” And this thing that nobody dies in the movie! [Logan] started that.

[LMG] Yeah, I had this reporter going for a while, that nobody dies. They weren’t sure of it after that, they called back and said “I want to make sure, nobody dies?”

[NR] Really disappointed: a Ridley Scott movie and nobody dies?!

[LMG] A big first!

[Q] Michael, did you relate to Data from Star Trek, playing David?

[MF] I guess… he wasn’t one of the ones that I was thinking of when I was putting it together, but you’re the second person that asked so obviously there’s something of him in there. He was probably in and around the ether somewhere: all robots came out to play!

[GP] Some plagiarism in there.

[MF] Absolutely! Stealing left, right and center. But no, it was kind of David Bowie – The Man Who Fell To Earth – Sean Young – Blade Runner – Lawrence of Arabia of course, Peter O’Toole, and Dirk Bogarde, and Greg Louganis. That kind of combo, put all those things together and David came out of that.

[Q] Guy, obviously there was a lot of secrecy around your role. How did you find it in the build-up, the fact you had to almost detach yourself from the promotional bit, that [TED talk] viral that was out. How did you find that all, the process, rather than a normal film?

[aquote]They threw a hood over me every time I walked off the stage[/aquote]

[GP] Well, it wasn’t difficult: I don’t have any problems not talking about a film. Y’know, “we need you to not say this” – great! They did throw a hood over me every time I walked from one stage to another.

[NR] You looked like something weird from Star Wars!

[GP] In case any of you guys were hanging off a fence trying to take photos or something. So I kept getting lost or going to the wrong place. But no, it was fine, really it was a quick process for me, because these guys shot for about three or four months or something altogether, and I really just came in for a couple of weeks in the middle and went “wow, what a fun ride this feels like” and then I left. And then, y’know, there were some questions back and forth between myself and the Fox marketing team going, well, what exactly are we saying, what do you not want to say? So it was just about clarifying that, I suppose. But no, no real difficulty in keeping secrets.

[MF] I love the fact that [Guy’s character] Weyland’s wandering aimlessly around Pinewood lot, appearing in various films. Various films with Weyland in the back!

[GP] Exactly, I’m in Snow White, I’m in the Johnny Depp movie.

[NR] Dark Shadows, yeah, I actually saw you in that!

[GP] I am the dark shadow!

[Q] Michael, the whole lead-up where they’re showing David whiling away his time: how much of that was written into it, how much did you add to it – the bicycle, shooting baskets, certain movies…?

[MF] Yeah, that was a lot of fun. The basketball stuff was all in there, and I think that’s a nice little recognition of Alien. And the hair-dying was my idea, so that was pretty cool, I was happy to see that that got stuck in, working on my highlights and watching Lawrence of Arabia.

[GP] Lawrence of Arabia was always in, wasn’t it.

[MF] Yeah, that was always in, that was in the script, he had this thing about Lawrence. So that was it, most of it was there: the idea of him wandering around the ship, and then of course we got to see him learning the language because that’s gonna be revealed later. So pretty much all of what was there, and then it was just a matter of just fleshing out bits and pieces.

[GP] What about picking up the little speck of something?

[MF] Well that was actually… Ridley said, “I thought, y’know, it would be like a button or something, like he checks the surface of the ship for dust.” I was like, that’s interesting… of course I didn’t want to do exactly what he said, so I picked up something from the floor. [laughs] So those little things, it’s great like that. Because y’know, Ridley’s really good at just giving you a flavor of something, rather than a direction. It’s like, “I thought your character might possess this object” and you’re, like, oh wow, okay, cool, that’s interesting.

[GP] How do I incorporate that in?

[MF] Yeah, totally.

[NR] How do I do a version of what Ridley said, not what he said…

[MF] Exactly.

[Q] Noomi, you’re playing a female role in a series that has had some really memorable female roles. How do you feel about playing that kind of role?

[NR] When they told me that he wanted to work with me, just that, it took a while for me to really believe it and to realize that it’s happening. And then, when I got to read the script, and when he told me about this character, it felt like a great honor and I was terrified at the same time. But I think, as soon as you start to work, get into it, you have to kind of push away everything around you and not think about people’s expectations and what’s gone before, and that it’s Ridley Scott.

I think you just have to find your focus and find your own way of doing it, because if you’re trying to satisfy people and trying to do something that will fit in in the line of his fantastic heroines, it’s gonna be impossible to work. So I kinda had to ignore all that, and force myself into some kind of protecting bubble of work. [To Michael] And you helped me! You took care of me in the bubble!

[MF] I was the bubble!

[Q] You all have some great scenes with David in there, and I’m curious in the acting side, how do you approach this character as a robot – not as Michael, fellow-actor.

[NR] He is a robot!

[Q] The scene with Logan was really great…

[MF] That was fun, we filmed that pretty early, that was like the first week or so.

[LMG] Yeah.

[GP] The drinking speech?

[MF] Yeah.

[Q] Does it change anything, the way you interact with someone, knowing you have to interact with them as a robot?

[NR] I think the first impulse is to try to read or analyze things from an emotional level; think “what does he mean, what is really going on inside him?” And then you have to remind yourself, he’s a computer, he’s hollow – he’s not emotional, there’s not a heart in there.

[MF] Love story, love story… [Laughs]

[NR] So I think that, even for Shaw, I think there’s a point where she really hates him, and is really upset about what she thinks… I think she thinks that he has something to do with this. But then, I think she corrects herself, by reminding herself that it’s just a waste of energy because he’s a computer, it’s a hard-disk. And then in the end it’s almost like she feels sorry for him, for not having any emotions, and no soul; you’re just a robot, you’ll never understand us.

[aquote]We talked about bigotry and racism, the inevitable disdain for synthetic life[/aquote]

[LMG] I think also, the opposite – which I had never seen – I mean, you have trauma with robots in some of the other movies in the franchise. But we kind of talked about bigotry and racism, y’know, the inevitable synthetic life there’ll be the inevitable disdain for it. I liked that approach, I mean, I didn’t approach Holloway as a bigot or racist, but I liked this sense of “he’s beneath me”; constantly, no matter how much smarter he probably was than Holloway, or maybe even available emotionally on a synthetic level, he was still beneath him. That was fun, I don’t think we’ve seen that before.

[MF] See what happens when you think like that…

[LMG] That’s right, it affected me awfully. I’m a horrible human being! [Laughs]

[MF] That was one of the bits that freaked me most in the film, when you look in the mirror and there’s like [the tendril]

[LMG] Dammit, David!

[MF] That little worm is in your eye, it’s really well done, I love that. We were talking afterwards, you were like “It’s nothing, it’s nothing. I’m sure it will be fine.”

[LMG] I’ve had worse!

[MF] A little worm in my eye… it’s gonna be okay.

[LMG] A nasty STD, what the hell did she…?! [Laughter] Dammit David!

[Q] You’re thinking yourself into a different world, and it’s a world that’s been in a few films before – big, important films that we all know – were you approaching this film through them, or mostly through talking to Ridley, or something you’re bringing yourself?

[GP] Oh, I think talking to Ridley. I mean, we’re all obviously aware of what it is we’ve come onboard, but I think funnily enough it’s a very different perspective from the outside than from, y’know, the inner world. As soon as you start talking to Ridley – and I personally felt a little intimidated by the thought of this, not so much because of the history of the other films but because we know of Ridley’s prowess – but as soon as I started talking to him on the phone, that immediately goes out the window. You just immediately get into creative discussions about what it is you’re creating, you’re just on another job and you’re going through the steps you normally go through – I’d drive home from work occasionally and go “wow, this is really cool”, or when you first turn up on set and see those amazing sets.

But I think, also because the script and this particular film is so individual in a way. I mean, there’s obviously the connection with other films, but it really is so much more than just prequel. It delves into ideas that go far beyond what that first Alien film did, so I think it’s very easy to go “well, this now is the world of Prometheus and this is very, very particular,” And I think I can probably speak for everybody that, once you start working with Ridley, you’re reminded of what it is that you’re doing in the present. So I personally didn’t feel at all like… even though, really, Weyland is really the guy that we’ve heard about in the other films, I didn’t feel at all that I was living through those past cinematic experiences.

[NR] But also I think that the sets and, what [production designer] Arthur Max and the crew created, is just for us to step into, to have real things to work with and react from. That was incredible, because it gave so much. I remember once when Ridley came to me and was like “come on, I’m gonna show you something” and he opened the door to the room to the big head.

[GP] And it was Michael! [Laughter]

[NR] And the love story started there… the head! No, but I remember I got tears in my eyes, because it was there for real, and there’s some sort of cruel, savage beauty that they’ve created in this weird kind of, I dunno, world.

[MF] And he’s so enthusiastic, I mean Ridley’s so enthusiastic.

[NR] Oh yeah, he’s like a child.

[MF] He is like a kid. I love watching him on-set, because it’s infectious and he’s inspiring.

[NR] The small worms, he was like [gasps] “look at this, look at this, beautiful huh!” And it was, like, “yeah!”

[LMG] He also put cameras on us, so we became kinda the cameramen as well. And they built these sets – six walls – and all the fear and awe is real, of course, but I love kinda exploring the sets and using the flashlight. They’d turn the lights off on these damned things. It’s all real, they’re massive.

[GP] They’re really incredible, aren’t they. They’re so solid, they didn’t feel like sets. As I said, I came in late, so they’d all been going and I didn’t get to walk around with everyone else and experience the newness of it with everyone else. And I was going “is it dumb to ask if this is real… [feigns confidence] oh yeah, no, it’s amazing.” So it was incredible, the three-dimensional nature of those sets. It’s certainly not like when we were on Neighbours and they used to wobble when you closed the door.

[NR] And they were so big, you could really get lost.

[GP] Yeah. I mean, didn’t he extend one of those stages? Whatever the biggest stage is on Pinewood, he got them to rebuild another, y’know, end of it to make it however much bigger. So it really was quite enormous, a whole world in there.

[Q] In the Alien franchises, a lot of the actors talk about their first time seeing some of the creatures, and how the use of practical effects and costuming makes them terrifying of those things. Did you guys feel that way, about the monsters you each dealt with during the film?

[aquote]It gets into you, I was having such disturbed dreams, nightmares[/aquote]

[NR] Well, when I saw my baby for the first time. I was really… it was there, it was really happening. And, again, Ridley was, like, “it’s pretty, huh?” And I was, like, “yeah, it’s kinda cute.” It’s weird. Because in close-ups, you’re standing there looking at the thing, and it’s very real – it’s something quite spooky – it gets into you, I was dreaming such disturbed dreams, y’know, nightmares.

[LMG] You were very close with it.

[NR] Yeah, I was really close with that.

[GP] And it was animatronic, that thing, wasn’t it?

[NR] Yeah, it was moving!

[MF] Remember those guys, “I’ve got it’s left leg, you’ve got the right” and there’s the head as well; it was like three guys going [mimes frantically operating puppet]. Eyes blinking, and the head was going, and you’re screaming!

Don’t forget to check out our interview with Prometheus director Ridley Scott, as well as our interview with Damon Lindelof and co-writer Jon Spaihts for more on Prometheus’ challenging conception. We’ve also got a full review of Prometheus here!

Fido Buyer’S Guide: Plans, Perks, And More

Fido

We don’t just cover the best phone carriers for American readers here at Android Authority. Our Canadian neighbors have just as many carriers to choose from, and the choices are even tougher in some provinces. Fido is one of our personal favorites throughout Canada, and it’s one of the best bets if you’re hoping to skip the high prices of most Canadian plans. It’s the fourth-largest carrier in Canada, and there are plenty of reasons to sign yourself up.

See also: These are the best Canadian phone plans

We’ll break down everything there is to know about Fido throughout this page, with a particular focus on all of the available plans. After that, we’ll dip into some of the best devices on the network and even give you some comparisons to top competitors. There aren’t too many MVNOs in Canada, but it’s best to make an informed decision, so we’ll dive into a few of those too. Ready to check out the carrier that’s for the dogs? Let’s get into it!

Fido at a glance

Fido, or Fido Solutions as it’s formally known, started its journey in December of 1996. The network was initially funded by Voicestream, which is now T-Mobile US. The Fido name itself came out of a need to appeal to French and English customers. Rogers Communications acquired Fido back in 2004, changing the name to Fido Solutions shortly afterward. The MVNO now runs on Rogers’ nationwide network, which the carrier boasts can reach 97% of all Canadians.

Fido positions itself as the cool midrange alternative to Rogers’ full-service coverage as a wholly-owned subsidiary. Fido had a subscriber base of a little over three million users as of the last report. You’ll find Fido’s coverage throughout much of southern Canada, and the carrier relies on GSM and HSPA Plus service for most of its signal. Fido offers a handy interactive map so you can check for your local coverage. Take a peek in your backyard right here.

Post-paid Fido plans

Fido keeps its plans reasonably simple, and the Data, Talk, and Text option is the most complete experience around. It offers everything you need, and you essentially pay based on your data cap. You can pick up a Starter plan from CA$38 per month for 2GB of data and boost your coverage up to 15GB for CA$70. It doesn’t appear like you can add extra data, but Fido’s five extra hours perk allows for unlimited data for five hours each month.

If you’re looking to take your talk abroad, you can add preferred international rates for just $5 per month. It gets even better if you plan to keep in touch with friends in America — unlimited US calling is $15 per month. Overall, the Data, Talk, and Text plan is the best overall value you can get from Fido if you want to use your device to its full potential.

Highlights:

Unlimited talk and text

Up to 15GB of data per month

International calling options

Best for:

Users who want to get the most for their money

Talk and Text

Unlimited talk and text

Low monthly rate of CA$30

International add-ons available

Best for:

Users who don’t need any data

Data and Talk

Just like the last plan, two out of three isn’t half bad. However, this option drops unlimited calling in favor of a data cap that you can choose for yourself. Options start at just 250MB for CA$15 per month and range as high as 3GB for CA$30 per month. No matter your data cap, neither basic plan makes mention of text messages.

Although there are no text options for the plan, it looks like you can still add voicemail options at no extra cost. It’s not immediately clear whether you can pay to expand your mailbox, but the 250MB plan charges as you go.

Highlights:

Flexible data cap

Low monthly cost

Best for:

Users who spend little to no time texting

Tablet and connected device plans

Oliver Cragg / Android Authority

As long as you’re already a Fido customer, adding a tablet or other connected device can take just minutes. It essentially works like a mobile hotspot plan, where you’ll pay for your data cap and let Fido do the rest. The most popular plan offers 4GB of data for just CA$15 per month. You can grab several brand-new tablets straight from Fido itself. You’ll have to make monthly payments on whichever device you choose.

Pre-paid Fido Plans

Choose your data cap along with talk and text

Prices start at CA$55

Best for:

Users who want the most coverage in a prepaid plan.

Talk and Text

If you want the most affordable plan Fido offers, the prepaid talk and text plan is it. However, your cheapest option won’t get you close to unlimited service. Prepaid Talk and Text starts at just 75 minutes of talk and 75 texts for CA$15 per month. You can jump to 250 minutes and texts for CA$25 per month or 1,000 minutes and unlimited texts for CA$35 per month.

Of course, as a talk and text plan, there’s no baked-in data, but you can always choose to add some later. Your options include 100MB, 500MB, or 1GB of extra data, and those will cost you CA$10, CA$20, or CA$30, depending on how high you go.

Highlights:

The most affordable plan Fido has to offer

Choose your talk and text levels

Best for:

Users who want to save money and don’t use their phones much

Which Fido plan is right for you?

Ryan Haines / Android Authority

If you’re all set to join Fido, then you’re probably asking which plan is the best for you. The answer mainly comes down to your usage. It’s tough to top the Talk, Text, and Data plan for flexibility, though some users may not need all three parts. If that’s the case, you can always swap for one of the other plans and save a little cash.

Fido’s prepaid plans are a viable alternative, especially if you want to save even more. They offer a similar structure to the post-paid plans, though you have fewer options. You should have more than enough access thanks to the prepaid Talk, Text, and Data plans, but at that point, you may not be saving much money over the post-paid plans. All post-paid plans come with the same suite of Fido benefits, but you can always add extra data and talk to your prepaid option.

How does Fido fare against the competition?

If you’re ready to switch carriers, it’s best to make a fully informed decision. We’ll do some comparison shopping to see how Fido stacks up against two of its top competitors — Virgin Mobile and Koodo. All three are wholly owned subsidiaries of Canada’s largest carriers, making sense as midrange rivals. We’ll take the top plans from each carrier and compare them to see which is most worth your money.

MyBenefits and MyPeeps perks

Similar prices, slightly larger network

Koodo Mobile

Over in the Telus umbrella, Koodo Mobile operates as yet another Fido sibling. We call it a sibling since it follows the same midrange, millennial-focused structure as Fido and Virgin Mobile. You’ll find reliable customer service, and Telus and Bell utilize the same LTE network for coverage. Your best perk is shock-free data, which means that Koodo will send you helpful reminders as you get closer and closer to your data cap.

As for Koodo’s plans, there are two main ways to price out your service. You can save some money by bringing your own device, or you can pay into your Tab, which is essentially a piggy bank for buying new devices after a certain period. If you don’t upgrade often, then you can pay into a small Tab, or you can pour some funds in there to get ready for a flagship release.

Highlights:

Same LTE network as Virgin Mobile

Tab helps you save up for a new phone

Want the full-strength version of Fido’s service?

Rogers

We’ve already compared Fido to its top MVNO competition, but what if you want a full-size network? If you like the sound of Fido or any of its competitors, it might be even easier to go for one of Canada’s largest providers. In this case, we’ve chosen Rogers, Bell, and Telus because each is the owner of one of our popular MVNO picks. Let’s tap into some top plans to see which carrier comes out on top.

Bell Mobility

If you’re looking at Bell, the first thing you might notice is that it offers a ton of plans. You can go Unlimited or choose Connect Everything, and then there are even promotional plans on top of that. Depending on what you choose, you’ll either get unlimited access to Canada’s fastest 5G network, or you’ll get a nice pool of data to share between your accounts. Bell also offers a long list of connected device plans so you can connect your whole house to the internet.

Telus Mobility

The last competitor to consider is Telus Mobility. Like we mentioned with Koodo, it shares the same nationwide LTE network as Bell, so you at least know that you’re getting excellent service. All plans also include unlimited talk and text, so it comes down to how much you want to share your data. If you go for either Peace of Mind or Peace of Mind Connect, you’re pretty much able to keep your data to yourself and your own devices. However, if you head for the Simple Share plan, you can split a pool between your family and friends.

What phones can I use?

Robert Triggs / Android Authority

Even though Fido Solutions positions itself as a midrange player in the Canadian phone game, it’s not short on the list of available devices. If it’s come out in the past year, there’s a pretty good chance that you can grab it from Fido. For example, the entire iPhone 13 family is up and ready, along with the Google Pixel 6 and Samsung Galaxy S21 devices. True to the budget-friendly goal, you can also grab the Moto G Power and scores of other devices for no money down.

Video Calls And Meetings Now More Power

Video calls and meetings now more power-efficient

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Microsoft has improved video calls and meetings by reducing power consumption during team meetings and group video calls.

The team at Microsoft also came up with some enhancements by reducing the power usage in processing multiple video streams during video calls.

The new power efficiency improvements are good for Microsoft’s teams who have been having complaints about resources due to power usage.

Microsoft announced that Teams’ power consumption has been reduced by up to 50 percent.

According to the company, these performance improvements should help to ensure that Teams delivers a consistent user experience on low-end Windows PCs.

This reduction in power consumption is achieved through hardware acceleration as well as optimizing how video content is decoded.

How it worked out

Microsoft explained that it achieved this significant gain by creating a framework that can measure the power consumption of Teams during resource-intensive scenarios such as video calls and meetings. 

This allows developers to identify specific areas where they can optimize the code.  Microsoft Teams received hardware and video capture optimizations that substantially helped to reduce CPU load while using the camera during meetings. 

The company reduced the code complexity to optimize the app for functions like auto-aliasing, auto-white balance, and auto-exposure. 

Later Microsoft made additional changes to use hardware acceleration on Windows 11 devices for the most common codes and improved battery life for all Macs running or later by switching from software encoding to hardware encoding.

Now, according to Microsoft, these improvements have resulted in significant power savings on laptops running Windows 11. This optimization will be rolled out to all users soon

With this update, Teams can now adapt to different usage scenarios and systems capabilities while keeping the same quality of service. Microsoft says it will continue to investigate new opportunities to optimize power consumption further in future releases.

Microsoft is committed to ensuring great calling and meeting experiences for users on low-end hardware as well as those on high-end workstations and high-resolution monitors.

It has been achieved by addressing the difference in power requirements by different user profiles by making sure that team meetings are as energy-efficient as possible.

In addition to multi-stream capabilities, Microsoft Teams previously also introduced GPU-based hardware acceleration to render video calls more smoothly.

Video conference experience

Microsoft announced that it has optimized its Teams app with new artificial intelligence features that reduce CPU usage while users are in a video meeting.

The improved Teams app will now reduce CPU usage by offloading some of the work to specialized AI silicon that is available on most modern personal computers.

In addition, Microsoft announced that it is working with leading CPU and GPU manufacturers to optimize the video conferencing experience for the next generation of chips.

In a blog post, Microsoft explained that video conferencing requires a lot of processing and hardware resources. When it comes to CPUs, Teams need an efficient distribution of work across all available cores.

Team users complaints

Microsoft Teams users have been complaining about the high resource usage of the app since its launch, and these problems typically impact low-end Windows PCs.

Microsoft explains that it has been working with Intel to optimize the video conferencing experience for next-generation chips and this collaboration resulted in an impressive reduction in battery consumption.

In summary, the company has made impressive strides forward in improving power efficiency and is continuing to work on optimizing all new features and capabilities for all users, regardless of their network and devices.

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Idrive Review: Excellent Online Backup, Sharing, And More

Pros

Online and local backup in the same job

Supports multiple PCs and devices on the same account

Cons

One of the pricier services, beyond the free version, though justifiably so

Our Verdict

iDrive has you covered six ways to Sunday when it comes to backup. Online, local, sync, snapshots, shipping hard drives to you for quicker recovery… You name it, the company does it. Not the cheapest service, but easily the most comprehensive.

Best Prices Today: iDrive Online Cloud Backup

Retailer

Price

iDrive

$79.50

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Mentioned in this article

Carbonite Safe

Best Prices Today:

Editor’s note: This article was amended on December 20, 2023 to reflect changes in pricing and options.

As of our latest look, iDrive remains the most comprehensive online backup and sharing service we’ve tested. It’s not the cheapest, but it’s still affordable and comes with backup clients for nearly every PC and device, and is more than competent at local backup. 

The company also provides additional storage for syncing all your devices and PCs, allows sharing of files with anyone, and has the ability to back up to a local drive. See how well it compares to the competition in our big online backup roundup. 

iDrive: Plans and pricing

Believe it or not, iDrive still offers a free storage plan, which has increased from 5GB to 10GB since our last look at the service. As far as we’re aware, it’s the only free repository not associated with a mega corporation (Microsoft, Apple, Google, etc.) still in existence. 

iDrive has three Personal plans that cover one user with unlimited computers and devices: a 5TB plan for $59.62 the first year (or $119.25 for two years), and $79.50 each year after; a 10TB plan for $74.62 the first year (or $149.25 for two years) and $99.50 each year after; as well as a 20TB plan that’s $149.62 for the first year (299.25 for two years) and $199.50 after that. 

If you enable the separate sync service, you get an equal amount of storage just for that task—no extra charge.

There’s a new Team plan that scales from five users and computers for $99.50 per year to 500 users and computers for $19,999.50, all offering 1TB of storage per user. Those were also discounted at the same rate as the Personal plans at the time of this writing. 

Don’t get completely caught up in the price-per-gigabyte game: The size of your essential data is probably a lot smaller than what’s being offered by iDrive, unless you’re into HDR and 4K.

iDrive plans as of December 2023.

iDrive

iDrive: Features

Like its competitor Carbonite Safe, iDrive uses continuous data protection (CDP) rather than backing up on a set schedule. If you have a rapidly changing data set, it’s nice to have files backed up as they change, not just periodically. iDrive also supports nearly every type of PC and device: Windows, OS X, Android, iOS, and various NAS boxes. Also nice are the snapshots, which make it easy to restore your PC to a particular point in time.

iDrive’s online dashboard offers all the settings that the client offers. Including enabling/disabling continuous data protection (near real-time backup of changed files).

iDrive now features two local clients. The normal one allows access to all the options, and is nearly identical to iDrive’s online dashboard. The other, iDrive Basic, is for those who just want to push a button and back up everything (assuming your plan has the space.)

iDrive will also handily duplicate your online backup to local storage. That allows you to painlessly maintain the Rule of Three: your original data, a copy, and a copy of the copy. Also, it’s much faster to restore from a hard drive than from any online service.

iDrive also features iDrive Express, a two-way physical shipment service. Say you’re walled off from the internet, or just in a very low-bandwidth location. Use iDrive’s local backup function to back up your data to a storage device provided by the company, then ship it to them. It will get uploaded to your online account, and then updated by your local client thereafter. Or if you need to restore from a backup in hurry, iDrive will ship your data to you on an appropriate device. All within a week’s time.

Personal customers get 3TB of data delivered to or fro for free—the first time. Team and Business users get three free deliveries. Subsequently, there’s a $60 charge per use. 

Should you use iDrive’s backup service?

Editor’s note: Because online services are often iterative, gaining new features and performance improvements over time, this review is subject to change in order to accurately reflect the current state of the service. Any changes to text or our final review verdict will be noted at the top of this article.

Ipados 15 Now Available: Features, Compatible Ipads, And More

iPadOS 15 received its first preview during the WWDC21 keynote and launched three months after this on September 20. The iPad software focuses on productivity features, bringing a new Home Screen design with integrated widgets and the App Library. Here’s everything about Apple’s latest iPadOS update.

New features in iPadOS 15

With the release of iPadOS 14 in 2023, Apple introduced Home Screen widgets, expanded stock apps with unique iPad design elements like sidebars in Photos and Apple Music, new interfaces for Siri and incoming phone calls, and more.

iPadOS 14 brought a new search experience, system-wide handwriting recognition, and other changes designed to make the iPad experience work better with Apple Pencil and the Magic Keyboard.

Redesigned Home Screen: Widgets, App Library, Focus, and Notification Center

With iPadOS 15, Apple introduced several new features to the Home Screen. It’s now possible to add widgets wherever the user wants on the Home Screen.

In the bottom right corner, users can finally find the App Library, introduced with iOS 14. Swiping to the last page also opens App Library.

Another feature announced with iPadOS 15 is Focus. With this function, users can select what kind of notifications they will receive while working or having some personal time. If a user selects “Do Not Disturb” or “Work” on a device, all other Apple devices will follow the same settings.

The new Notification Center uses machine learning and your Focus settings to better show relevant notifications throughout the day. The notification icons are now bigger and clearer.

FaceTime and iMessage even more useful on iPadOS 15

With a delay, Apple introduced a handful of new features to iMessage and FaceTime. Functions people would expect to use while in quarantine are finally arriving in iMessage and FaceTime.

On iPadOS 15, FaceTime group calls can finally appear in a grid, so it’s easier to see everyone. It’s also possible to share your screen, listen to Apple Music songs together, or watch Apple TV+, HBO Max, Disney+, and others while in a call.

iMessage now brings pinned messages, a new gallery grid for multiple images, and there are several new Memoji customizations.

SharePlay and Shared with Me

Still talking about iMessage and FaceTime, Apple introduced two new features called SharePlay and Shared with Me. While SharePlay is the possibility to share your screen, listen to Apple Music songs together in a FaceTime call, etc., Shared with Me is a new section on Safari, Apple Music, Podcasts, and Apple TV+ that brings all content shared with you by friends using iMessage.

Multitasking, Keyboard Shortcuts, Quick Note, and redesigned Notes app

The experience with an external keyboard allows users to get more done with all-new keyboard shortcuts and a redesign of the menu bar.

With Universal Control, it’s possible to arrange the devices together and use the same mouse and keyboard on multiple Apple devices.

With the Quick Note feature, users can use the Apple Pencil to add a quick note. They just need to slide the pencil through the bottom right corner to the center of the screen and start writing.

Notes also have new ways to organize, collaborate, and capture information. tags make it easy to categorize notes and find them quickly with the new Tag Browser and tag-based Smart Folders. For users working with others in shared notes, mentions create a way to notify collaborators and link them back to the note, and a new Activity view shows recent updates in the note.

Swift Playgrounds as an app builder

Users have been asking for Xcode for quite some time on the iPad. Apple, on the other hand, offers updated Swift Playgrounds for users to have the tools to build iPhone and iPad apps right on their iPad and submit them directly to the App Store.

Code is immediately reflected in the live preview while building apps, and users can run their apps full screen to test them out. A new open project format based on Swift packages can open and be edited in Swift Playgrounds for iPad as well as within Xcode on Mac, offering users even more versatility to develop apps across iPad and Mac.

You can learn more about it here.

Read more:

Redesigned Safari with iPadOS 15 and extensions support

Safari gets a new tab design on iPadOS 15 that lets users see more of the page as they browse. The tab bar takes on the color of the webpage and combines tabs, the toolbar, and the search field into a single design.

Tab Groups offer, for example, a new way to easily save and manage tabs. It syncs across Mac and iPhone so users can continue their projects from anywhere or easily share them with friends and family.

Safari on iPad also supports web extensions, available from the App Store.

With iPadOS 15 beta 4, Apple brought a similar approach to the Safari on macOS Monterey beta 3. It shows separated tab bars, so when users start browsing, they will see the main URL at the top, and then all the different tab bars open just below. It’s possible to change back to compacted tab bars.

Additional features on iPadOS 15

Live Text: On-device intelligence can recognize text in a photo and allow users to take action, such as place a call, search for an address, and more.

Translates on iPad: The app Translates is now available on iPad starting with iPadOS 15. It brings a new feature called Auto Translate, which detects when someone is speaking so users can converse naturally without having to tap a microphone button.

Photos: Memories have a new look and integrate with Apple Music.

Maps: Apple is enhancing details in cities for neighborhoods, commercial districts, elevation, and buildings, new road colors and labels, custom-designed landmarks, and a new nighttime mode with a moonlit glow.

Privacy: Mail Privacy Protection helps users on iPadOS 15 to stop trackers from snooping on an email. The App Privacy Report provides transparency into how apps are sharing information with other companies.

Siri offline: On iPadOS 15, Siri can now work offline. It process requests entirely on the iPad by default making it faster. Siri also adds Announce Notification on AirPods.

iCloud+: iCloud got new premium features, including the Hide My Email feature, expanded HomeKit Secure Video support, and a new internet privacy service, iCloud Private Relay, at no additional cost

iPadOS 15.1 features

Apple released iPadOS 15.1 on October 25. With this version, the company finally brought SharePlay for all users as well as reverting Safari to its old design. Even though, users will be able to select the new look or stay with the old one.

iPadOS 15.2 features

Five weeks after releasing iPadOS 15.1, Apple is releasing iPadOS 15.2. It brings more features that were expected to launch alongside iPadOS 15 but, unfortunately, Universal Control is still nowhere to be seen. Here are the top features of this version:

Apple Music Voice Plan is a new subscription tier that gives you access to all songs, playlists, and stations in Apple Music using Siri

App Privacy Report in Settings lets you see how often apps have accessed your location, photos, camera, microphone, contacts and more during the last seven days, as well as their network activity

Communication safety setting gives parents the ability to enable warnings for children when they receive or send photos that contain nudity

Digital Legacy allows you to designate people as Legacy Contacts so they can access your iCloud account and personal information in the event of your death

Apple TV app: Store tab lets you browse, buy, and rent movies and TV Shows all in one place

iPadOS 15.3 features

Six weeks after releasing iPadOS 15.2, Apple is releasing iPadOS 15.3. This update foregoes new features in favor of under-the-hood bug fixes and improvements. One of the most notable changes here is a fix for a Safari vulnerability that may have been leaking your browsing history and Google ID data to the websites you visited.

iPadOS 15.4 features

iPadOS 15.4 finally brings one of the most important features expected from iPadOS 15 and that got delayed: Universal Control. Here’s everything new with iPadOS 15.4:

Universal Control: This feature allows you to control your Mac and iPad using the same keyboard and mouse/trackpad. Universal Control needs iPadOS 15.4 and macOS Monterey 12.3;

New Siri voice: Siri has a fifth American voice. Apple says a member of the LGBTQ+ community recorded the voice and it’s non-binary;

More emoji: iPadOS 15.4 also brings new emojis. You can discover all of the new characters here;

Shortcuts automation: Adds support for running Personal Automations in the background without requiring a pesky banner notification.

You can learn everything new with this update here.

iPadOS 15.5 features

Different from other software updates, iPadOS 15.5 only improves the Podcast app experience, as Apple focused on Wallet changes for the iPhone this time:

Apple Podcasts includes a new setting to limit episodes stored on your iPhone and automatically delete older ones

iPadOS 15.6 features

iPadOS 15.6 is yet another small update for iPad users and was the latest iPadOS 15 update to users. Here’s what it brings:

TV app adds the option to restart a live sports game already in progress and pause, rewind, or fast-forward.

Fixes an issue where Settings may continue to display that device storage is full even if it is available.

Fixes an issue that may cause Braille devices to slow down or stop responding when navigating text in Mail.

Fixes an issue in Safari where a tab may revert to a previous page.

iPadOS 15 device compatibility

Here’s the full list:

iPad Pro 12.9 (5th gen);

iPad Pro 11 (3rd gen);

iPad Pro 12.9 (4th gen);

iPad Pro 11 (2nd gen);

iPad Pro 12.9 (3rd gen);

iPad Pro 11 (1st gen);

iPad Pro 12.9 (2nd gen);

iPad Pro 10.5 (2nd gen);

iPad Pro 12.9 (1st gen)

iPad Pro 9.7 (1st gen)

iPad Air (5th gen);

iPad Air (4th gen);

iPad Air (3rd gen);

iPad Air (2nd gen);

iPad mini (6th gen);

iPad mini (5th gen);

iPad mini (4th gen)

iPad (9th gen);

iPad (8th gen);

iPad (7th gen);

iPad (6th gen);

iPad (5th gen).

How to install iPadOS 15 public beta

On June 30 of 2023, Apple released iPadOS 15 public beta for all users. Even though the official version of iPadOS 15 is already here, the Software Beta Program is great for those who want to try iPadOS 15.1 or newer before everyone else. Here’s how to enroll on iPad’s beta program.

iPadOS 15 was introduced at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference 2023.

The iPadOS 15 developer beta program started on the same day as the keynote, June 7. On June 30, Apple released the public beta of iPadOS 15.

Apple launched iPadOS 15 on September 20 of 2023.

iPadOS 15 Review

In our review post about iPadOS 15, we say that iPadOS 15 solves many of the problems with iPadOS although it’s not the update “pro users” were asking for:

iPadOS 15 finally brings a redesigned Home screen with widgets, but after Apple announced the M1 iPad Pro, many people had higher hopes for this year’s software updates. (…) Pro apps like Final Cut Pro and Xcode are nowhere to be found, and the only thing Apple will give to developers, is another version of Swift Playgrounds where they can create an app and send it to Apple to publish on the App Store. With all the power and fancy features the M1 iPad Pro has, Apple seems to be holding back for the next big step. Maybe next year.

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