Google exec reportedly praised Stadia game studios right before shutting them down

A week before Google announced it was shutting down Stadia Games and Entertainment, a studio developing first-party games for Stadia, executives praised staff for making “great progress” and “building a diverse and talented team.”

According to a report from Kotaku, citing four sources with knowledge of the situation, Google Stadia vice president and general manager Phil Harrison was the one who sent out the seemingly optimistic email. Then came mass layoffs about a week later, shocking developers. The email, portions of which are in Kotaku’s report, doesn’t appear to indicate a closure was imminent—far from it.

In a blog post about a week later, however, Harrison announced that Google would no longer be investing in developing first-party content for its video game streaming platform. Apparently, developers at SG&E learned about the news not long before it was made public.

“The messy rollout came after an already grueling year working through the pandemic,” Kotaku wrote. “It was reminiscent of Stadia’s own launch, which appeared rushed and left out many features promoted during the service’s reveal, only to be added months later.”

Following the announcement, Stadia developers allegedly confronted Harrison about his previous email where he praised the in-house studio. Harrison reportedly expressed his regret over the misleading statements, despite already knowing the developers would be out of a job.

The anonymous developers told Kotaku they had “multi-year reassurances” they would have the support and resources to deliver AAA titles. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like the developers were provided with much transparency over what happened. Harrison previously claimed it was the “significant investment” required to make best-in-class games that doomed the studios.

When Stadia was announced, part of the service’s big pitch was the release of exclusive titles made by in-house studios. The service is still expected to launch a few titles that were already near completion, along with plenty of third-party content. But the kind of software that makes the service a “must have” may never arrive now that the studio has shut down.

“I think people really just wanted the truth of what happened,” a source told Kotaku. “They just want an explanation from leadership.”

Stadia (Free, Google Play) →

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Microsoft Edge vows to provide better notification experience

Microsoft wants to make web notifications in Edge a little less annoying with something it calls “adaptive notification requests.” The company said the feature will make notifications less bothersome while still being helpful.

“With new changes that we’re rolling out, we are hoping to solve both problems at the same time,” Microsoft said in a blog post.

The new feature will build upon “quiet notification requests” that was introduced in Microsoft Edge 84. That feature reduced the prominence of notification requests and also kept them in a noticeable location in the URL bar. Users would know when they got a notification without their experience being interrupted.

Top: Quiet notifications. Bottom: Notifications prompt.

According to Microsoft, quiet notification requests was received well by users. However, some users complained that they couldn’t find how to enable notifications on their favorite websites, or didn’t understand why they no longer received notifications from their favorite sites.

That’s where adaptive notification requests come in.

“With this new approach, we provide either the full prompt or quiet requests based on the data accrued from actual user choices — we’re crowdsourcing!” Microsoft said.

Microsoft said sites that follow good practices and earn a high user acceptance rate will begin to show the full prompt without being “quieted.” If users visit a site and either ignore the notifications request or choose to block them, Microsoft Edge will eventually provide users with quiet requests.

Microsoft Edge users who would rather stick with quiet notification requests can enable the feature by visiting the browser’s Settings > Cookies and site permissions > Notifications. The new adaptive notification requests feature should be rolling out to users who have updated to the stable version of Edge 88.

Whether you like more notifications or less, it’s nice to see Microsoft Edge introducing features that are more user-friendly. The latest feature will go quite nice with the browser’s new themes and support for tab sync.

Microsoft Edge: Web Browser (Free, Google Play) →

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OnePlus Nord phones are reportedly doing quite well in the U.S.

The COVID-19 pandemic was especially tough on smartphones sales, with new researching finding the market declined 15% YoY. Unsurprisingly, Apple and Samsung managed to maintain their steady dominance, boosted by major releases at the end of last year. But new data suggests it wasn’t just those two juggernauts that survived 2020: OnePlus’ expanding Nord line also performed well.

Wave7 Research (via PC Mag) claims growing momentum could see OnePlus sell more than 2 million Nord phones this year at Metro by T-Mobile. Metro allegedly sells around 15 million devices per year. If OnePlus does push upwards of 2 million Nord phones through the carrier, it would give the company a huge slice of the pie.

A major reason for the Nord line’s increasing popularity is its balance of specs and affordability. Metro offers the Nord N10 5G and N100, which retail for $299 and $179, respectively.

“OnePlus is getting back to its fundamentals, offering good specs at an affordable price,” Wave7 told PC Mag.

OnePlus’ Nord line is also selling well at T-Mobile, according to Wave7. Meanwhile, the company’s affordable devices now have display space at Best Buy, which will help to further elevate visibility among customers.

Wave7’s data seems to line up with CounterPoint Research’s report, which called OnePlus a bright spot in a declining market.

“OnePlus continued to be a challenger brand in 2020 as it was able to grow its channel presence and overall size from a small base 163% YoY,” CounterPoint Research said.

OnePlus Nord 10 5G Forums || OnePlus Nord N100 Forums

2020 was incredibly busy for OnePlus. The company not only found its footing in the low to mid-range market, but it released a handful of high-end devices, too. The company also continued to roll out software updates and new features, making its devices that much more appealing.

Up next for the company could be the launch of the OnePlus 9 this spring, which reports claim could feature Hasselblad camera branding and a “lite” variant.

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Microsoft’s unified Office app is now available on iPad

Microsoft this week released its all-in-one Office app for iPad, allowing users to access the company’s suite of productivity software on Apple’s tablet. Microsoft previously launched a unified Office app for iOS and Android at the beginning of last year.

The unified Office app brings together Microsoft’s most popular apps (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) together into a single application. For students and enterprise customers, it offers more convenient access to Microsoft’s productivity tools. The experience also includes the ability quickly create PDFs, sign documents, and more.

Microsoft previously explained that the Office app was designed to provide users with a “simple, integrated experience that puts the tools you need for working on a mobile device at the forefront of the experience.”

“We started by combining the existing Word, Excel, and PowerPoint mobile apps into a single app,” Microsoft said when it launched the unified Office on iPhone. “Doing so brings all of your Office documents together in one place, reduces the need to switch between multiple apps, and significantly reduces the amount of space on your phone compared to multiple installed apps.”

Making the unified Office app iPad-friendly was a long time coming. With Apple’s tablet evolving into a more legitimate computer alternative, having access to the experience makes it even more powerful. And with improved mouse and trackpad support, you get an experience that’s really close to a traditional desktop experience.

Here’s the full description straight from Microsoft for the Office iPad app:

Office is now available on iPad: We’re combining the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps you know into a single, iPadOS-optimized app. Plus, you’ll see additional tools to keep you more productive than ever. For example, you’ll be able to quickly create and sign PDFs, and transform pictures into documents.

Get to Image-based Workflows Readily: Tap ‘Share’ in the phone gallery outside the Office app, to get to several actions like Create PPT, Create PDF and more. In addition, if there are any recent screenshots when you open the Office app, these are surfaced as a suggestion to covert to PDF or PPT.

Insert date, shape, image and notes in PDF: Now you can easily insert date, shape, image and notes in PDFs using new capabilities.

You’ll need a Microsoft 365 subscription in order to access the Office app on iPad. If you’re not a subscriber, you can sign up for $6.99 per month for an individual or $9.99 per month for a family.

Photo by Ernest Ojeh on Unsplash

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Get an Amazon gift card with a purchase of a Sony Xperia, save on shuckable WD easystore HDDs, and more today!

I need to be honest with you all–I didn’t even realize President’s Day was yesterday. I thought it was next week! Time truly doesn’t exist anymore, does it? Well, it’s time to make up for the long weekend, as there are a slew of great deals to take advantage of today! Whether you want to upgrade to a Sony Xperia phone, grab a shuckable WD easystore hard drive for cheap, or grab a new smartwatch, there’s a deal today for you!

First up is a special trade-in offer. Have you heard of the Sony Xperia? Depending on what you’re looking for, the Xperia 1 II and Xperia 5 II, despite their confusing names, are worth your time. Sony thinks so too and are running a special promotion that nets you a $120 Amazon gift card. What you do is trade in your old phone at Amazon with the first link box below, then pick up either the Sony Xperia 1 II or the Xperia 5 II. Once Amazon confirms the order and the trade-in, you can head to the final link below and claim your gift card! If you’re trading in a relatively recent phone, you can save a lot of money with this offer, and the gift card is just the icing on top.

Amazon Trade-In

Trade in your old phone

Sony Xperia 1 II Smartphone

View at Amazon

Sony Xperia 5 II Smartphone

View at Amazon

Claim your Gift Card

View at Sony

If you need a new external hard drive, you can’t go wrong with the WD easystore brand. Best Buy currently has all models of the easystore hard drives on sale, and it’s the perfect chance to grab one. Available in 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, and 5TB models, the savings you get on this easily shuckable hard drive varies by model. I’d personally recommend the 5TB model–not only is it the best savings-wise, but it’s always better to have more space for your backups than too little, right? At only $100, 5TB is a steal.

WD easystore External HDD (1TB)

$48 at Best Buy

WD easystore External HDD (2TB)

$63 at Best Buy

WD easystore External HDD (4TB)

$90 at Best Buy

WD easystore External HDD (5TB)

$100 at Best Buy

Finally, let’s look at some smartwatches! A new smartwatch would go great with a Sony Xperia purchase, you know? Aukey has released their very own smartwatch, and given the brand’s usual stance of affordable quality, you can expect the same from this smartwatch. With a heart rate monitor, activity tracking, and it’s waterproof, this smartwatch has all the functionalities you want but with only a $40 MSRP. Even better, there’s a coupon on the Amazon page to clip to get 30% off!

The only thing I don’t like about the Aukey Smartwatch is the size–I have smaller wrists, so a bigger screen like that looks silly on me. If you’re like me, I’d recommend the Samsung Galaxy Fit 2 instead. It’s not currently on sale, but the MSRP is $60, which is still far cheaper than a Fitbit or Garmin equivalent. This thin smartwatch has a heart rate monitor, can track your sleep, and tracks workouts. All the basics, essentially! While I think the $20 is worth it for a smartwatch that’s slim and fits on my wrist well, it’s up to you to decide which smartwatch you want to pick up.

Aukey Smart Watch

Clip coupon

View at Amazon

Samsung Galaxy Fit 2

View at Amazon

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LastPass is making an important change to free accounts

LastPass has announced changes to its free subscription tier, restricting account access to one device type. That means if you choose mobile as your preferred device type, you won’t be able to view or change your passwords on a computer. The changes are set to go into effect beginning March 16.

In a blog post on Tuesday, the company said the changes are being made “to keep up with the constantly evolving digital world.” If you wind up choosing mobile as your preferred device type, you’ll be able to access your passwords from iOS and Android phones, iPads, Android tablets, and smartwatches. But no Windows, macOS, or Linux computers. That also includes the browser extension.

Once you login to LastPass on or after March 16 as a free users, your active device type will be set. You will be given three opportunities to switch your active device type. After that, you’re stuck with your decision unless you decide to upgrade to a paid account. A premium LastPass membership with multi-device support is $3 per month. Free users can upgrade to LastPass Premium at a promotion price of $2.25 per month.

Speaking of premium accounts, the company said email support will only be available for subscribers beginning May 17. “LastPass Free users will always have access to our Support Center which has a robust library of self-help resources available 24/7 plus access to our LastPass Community, which is actively monitored by LastPass specialists,” the company said said.

If you use LastPass predominantly on one device type, the new changes won’t be much of an issue. But if you’re constantly switching between your Android device and Windows laptop, you might have no choice but to upgrade to a premium LastPass account.

The company said that you won’t lose access to any of the passwords or information stored in your Vault, regardless of what option you go with or how your previous passwords were saved. LastPass’ free tier has always been a generous offer. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to last, but there are plenty of other options on the market.

LastPass Password Manager (Free⁺, Google Play) →

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Here are the best VPNs for Canada: ExpressVPN, Surfshark, and more!

VPNs are incredibly versatile tools that can do more than just improve online security and privacy. They solve the issue of geo-restrictions, allowing you to unblock content only available in a specific location. You’ll also be protected from issues like bandwidth throttling and DDoS attacks, which affect internet speeds. If you live in Canada or travel there frequently, the best way to protect yourself from online snooping is to download a virtual private network. This will let you browse the web privately, encrypt all your personal data online, and make public Wi-Fi networks secure.

Out of the hundreds of VPN companies available on the market, most of them have servers in Canada. And naturally, you may be unsure which to choose. In this article, we’ve ranked the best Canadian VPNs in 2021. For other regions, check out our dedicated article for the best VPNs for all users around the world.

Navigate this article:

• Best Overall Canadian VPN: ExpressVPN
• Best Canadian VPN for affordability: Surfshark
• Best Canadian VPN for servers: NordVPN
• Best Canadian VPN for many people: IPVanish
• Best Canadian VPN for torrenting: CyberGhost
• Best free Canadian VPN: Hotspot Shield

Best Overall Canadian VPN: ExpressVPN

Given that the British Virgin Islands-based provider is our best overall VPN of 2021, it’s an excellent choice for Canadians who want to stay secure online and gain access to geo-restricted internet content.

ExpressVPN offers 3000 servers in 94 countries globally, including many in the Canadian cities of Toronto and Montreal. What’s more, you can quickly connect to the best available server by hitting the large circular power button in the ExpressVPN app. Or you can click the “selected location” bar to choose your own global server.

You can use ExpressVPN’s high-speed servers for accessing streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, YouTube, and many others. And because ExpressVPN is available on Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Linux, and many other operating systems, you can unblock online content from all your devices. But something to remember is that there is a five-device limit on ExpressVPN.

What also makes ExpressVPN great is its large range of features, including VPN split tunneling, TrustedServer technology, a network kill switch, private DNS, 256-bit encryption, a no-logging policy, a built-in speed test, how-to privacy guides, 24/7 support, and much more. ExpressVPN also provides a 30-day refund period.

ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN offers 3000 high-speed servers, with many based in Toronto and Montreal. Other features include multi-platform apps, a kill switch, strong encryption, 24/7 support, and much more.

Visit website

Best Canadian VPN for affordability: Surfshark

If you’re looking for a top-rate Canadian VPN that provides excellent value for money, check out Surfshark. A premium subscription will cost under $3 per month and provide access to 90 Canada-based VPN servers.

But Surfshark doesn’t just offer a sizeable Canadian server network – it has a wider global network of 3200 servers based in 65 countries. After connecting to one of these servers, you’ll be able to unblock Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, YouTube, and other streaming sites globally.

Surfshark also features a generous unlimited devices policy, which is something you don’t get with many other VPN providers. That means you’re free to download and use its apps on all your devices. In fact, Surfshark is available on Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Linux, and other operating systems.

As well as being a great VPN for streaming, Surfhark is also one of the most secure and private VPNs available today. Namely, its CleanWeb feature blocks malware, phishing, internet tracking, and advertisements. There’s also a kill switch, private DNS and leak protection, a no-logging policy, a camouflage mode, secure protocols, and 256-bit encryption.

Surfshark

For under $3 per month, ExpressVPN will give you 90 Canada-based servers, an unlimited device policy, easy-to-use apps, a malware and advert blocker, a kill switch, and many other excellent features.

Visit website

Best Canadian VPN for servers: NordVPN

NordVPN is best known for its large server network, comprising more than 5500 servers in 59 countries worldwide. In Canada, the company has a large selection of over 480 servers.

So, you’ll never struggle to access online content that is only available in Canada or unblock geo-restricted content in other parts of the globe. On that note, NordVPN is an excellent service for streaming because it’s compatible with Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Disney Plus, and many other highly respected content providers.

If you’re looking for an easy-to-use VPN service, Nord is definitely one to consider as it offers intuitive apps for Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Linux, and loads of other operating systems. We’re big fans of the quick connect feature on NordVPN, which lets you select the best available server. There is a 6-device limit, but that should be enough for single users.

NordVPN is also set apart by its excellent security and privacy features, including a no-logging policy, double VPN, malware and advert blocking, a DNS leak test, browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox, a kill switch, Onion Over VPN, split tunneling, and much more.

NordVPN

NordVPN boasts a massive international network of 5500 servers, along with 480 servers located in Canada. That’s on top of features like a kill switch, browser extensions, multi-platform apps, double VPN, and lots more.

Visit website

Best Canadian VPN for many people: IPVanish

IPVanish is another highly respected VPN company that offers a decently sized network of Canadian servers. In fact, it has 20 servers in Toronto, 16 servers in Montreal, and six servers in Vancouver out of 1600 global servers.

You can download IPVanish on a range of operating systems, including Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, and Linux. And you’re free to use IPVanish on all your devices simultaneously because it offers an unmetered connections policy.

If your main aim is to use a VPN service for unblocking streaming content, you’ll be happy to learn that IPVanish works with Netflix, YouTube, Kodi, Disney Plus, and many other streaming services. But sadly, many IPVanish users have struggled to access BBC iPlayer and Amazon Prime Video in the past.

Overall, you’ll find lots of useful features on IPVanish. For example, it has over 40,000 shared IP addresses, 256-bit encryption, a zero traffic logging policy, a SOCKS5 web proxy, a suite comprising the KEv2, OpenVPN, and L2TP/IPsec VPN protocols, and 24/7 support.

IPVanish

IPVanish is another well-known VPN provider with servers across Canadian cities such as Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. It also sports an unlimited device policy, strong encryption, a SOCKS5 web proxy, a suite of protocols, and more.

Visit website

Best Canadian VPN for torrenting: CyberGhost

CyberGhost is a well-versed VPN service with a choice of 341 Canadian servers, and we should also mention that this provider operates a gigantic global network of more than 6800 servers.

So, what can you actually do with all those VPN servers? For starters, they’ll let you unblock top streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney Plus, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, HBO Max, and many more.

If you’re someone who torrents regularly, CyberGhost has a wide variety of servers just for torrenting. These servers will “reroute your P2P traffic through an encrypted tunnel” and “put a stop to all your Internet Service Provider throttling,” according to CyberGhost.

But aside from its streaming and P2P capabilities, CyberGhost offers 256-bit encryption, DNS and IP leak protection, a kill switch, a strict no-logging policy, a range of multi-platform apps, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited traffic, different protocols, a generous 7-device limit, and 24/7 support. Plus, you have a 45-day window to get a refund.

CyberGhost

CyberGhost is one of the best Canadian VPNs purely because it offers an impressive 341 servers across Canada. There are also dedicated servers just for torrenting.

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Best free Canadian VPN: Hotspot Shield

Hotspot Shield is one of the most powerful VPN services, promising to provide speeds around two times faster than its competitors. And it offers a range of high-speed VPN servers in Canadian cities like Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver.

Its secret weapon is the proprietary Hydra Protocol, which will automatically choose the best available VPN server for specific activities like gaming, streaming, torrenting, web browsing, and downloading files.

Alongside providing one of the fastest and most secure VPN protocols, Hotspot Shield also offers great features like 3200 international servers, military-grade encryption, unlimited bandwidth, multi-platform VPN apps, 24/7 customer support, and a 45-day money-back guarantee.

Compared to other VPN providers, Hotspot Shield is pretty expensive and charges $7.99 per month for its cheapest premium subscription. But it does offer a highly rated free plan, which includes a 500MB daily data limit, a kill switch, military-grade encryption, and several VPN protocols.

Hotspot Shield

When it comes to power, Hotspot Shield is hard to beat. It delivers impressive VPN speeds thanks to the patented Hydra protocol. This VPN also offers servers in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver.

Visit website

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If you’re a Canadian and are looking to improve your online privacy, the best thing to do is download a VPN. As you can see, there are loads of VPN providers offering Canada-based servers, and overall, ExpressVPN is the best VPN service for Canadians. Let us know if you have any other favorites!

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