Canadian Reviewer Weekly Roundup – 1/23 – 1/29

Apple hosts 'Shot on iPhone' challenge to showcase macro photography

How to clean Apple's pricey polishing cloth 

'Sol Cresta' shoot 'em up game launching on Feb. 22 

HP EliteOne 800 G9, Presence AIO Conferencing PC with Zoom Rooms are hybrid work-ready machines 

WhatsApp preps chat transfer tool from Android to iOS 

Google's rumoured smartwatch might finally arrive on May 26 

Microsoft Surface Duo finally gets Android 11 update 

Check out Microsoft's limited edition Year of the Tiger Xbox Series S 

Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event to take place on Feb. 9 

Spotify will pull Neil Young's music after Joe Rogan and vaccine misinformation dispute 

Respawn plans to release 3 more 'Star Wars' games 

Valve to start selling the Steam Deck on Feb. 25 

'Ultrafast' grocery delivery app Tiggy launches in Toronto 

SiriusXM brings back Neil Young Radio after Spotify removal 

Apple iPhones might get contactless payment feature thanks to Canadian startup acquisition 

Joni Mitchell wants her song Spotify over COVID-19 misinformation concerns 

Joni Mitchell wants her song Spotify over COVID-19 misinformation concerns

Embed from Getty Images 

Joni Mitchell joins Neil Young in asking her music to be taken off Spotify over worries of COVID-19 misinformation on the streaming service. In a message on her site, the Canadian singer said she stands in solidarity with Young and the "global scientific and medical communities." 

She doesn't cite Joe Rogan, whose popular podcast is a Spotify exclusive, in her desire to pull her music from the service. Instead, she did link an open letter from a group of scientists and medical professionals that criticized Spotify for hosting's The Joe Rogan Experience. The letter accuses Rogan of spreading misleading claims on his show and provoking distrust in medicine and science. The group wanted Spotify to "take action against the mass-misinformation events which continue to occur on its platform."

Source

Netflix officially lists HDR support for Google Pixel 6, 6 Pro, 5A

Photo by Jonas Elia on Unsplash

If you wanted to watch HDR or HD content on Netflix on some of the newer Pixel devices, your wait is over. The streaming service has officially added the Pixel 6, 6 Pro, and the 5A to its list of devices that support HDR and HD streaming. The update to its support pages seems to have happened sometime after January 14. 

It isn't clear why Netflix hasn't added the Pixel 6 lineup to these lists earlier. But The Verge noted that some users were reporting on Reddit that their phones couldn't play HDR content properly, while it worked fine for others. Perhaps that was a problem they wanted to address first. Hopefully, it works fine for everyone now.

Apple iPhones might get contactless payment feature thanks to Canadian startup acquisition

Photo by Thai Nguyen on Unsplash

It might be easier for small business owners with iPhones to accept payments on their mobile devices. The company is reportedly working on a feature that integrates contactless payment into the iPhone. Apple has allegedly been working on the service since 2020 when it acquired Canadian startup Mobeewave, which is known for developing tech that turns a phone into a payment portal.

Mobeewave's technology only required an app and the phone's NFC to work. You just have to type in the amount you want to charge, and then the customer needs to tap their credit card on the back of the phone. Apple has declined to comment on Bloomberg's story, so it's unclear if the feature will work the same way on iPhones. 

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