One of Canada’s biggest insurance companies is expanding a program that is based on customers sharing personal information on their exercise habits and food choices.
Manulife’s Vitality program “rewards customers for the everyday steps they take to lead longer, healthier, better lives” according to a release from the company.
There’s a free version of the program called “Vitality Go” that rewards healthy behaviours with shopping discounts and gift cards.
The new “Vitality Plus” option has a monthly subscription fee that provides “access to even more exclusive rewards including annual premium savings” and the chance to win Apple Watches, travel discounts, Garmin devices, among other things.
This week on The Shift, Shane Hewitt and I talked about the new Pixel 7 handsets coming from Google and the Pixel Watch, as well as the Meta Quest Pro, a new virtual reality headset that is self contained.
Three of the world’s biggest tech companies were showing off new products in the past week. Here’s an update on new laptops, tablets, mobile phones, watches, and VR headsets.
Microsoft’s updating the Surface devices and introducing new accessories
Microsoft brought out the first Surface tablet ten years ago, and the company has continued to iterate on the concept ever since.
The new Surface Pro 9 (starting at $1,410) provides a choice in processing chip. Select the 12th generation Intel Core for multitasking and desktop productivity, or Microsoft’s SQ3 processor for 5G mobile connectivity and battery life that extends to 19 hours. It’s still a leading convertible device with a 13-inch touch display.
But Microsoft has expanded the Surface category to include true laptops and desktops, and the new models of those are the Surface Laptop 5 (starting at $1,450) and the Surface Studio 2+ (starting at $5,960).
All of the new Surface devices are available to preorder now and will be shipping on October 25.
The remote can be used to interact with the Teams system whether you’re presenting or not, and the audio dock provides a speaker and microphone in a compact package.
And finally, people in the Apple ecosystem will be happy to know that you’ll be able to access your iCloud photos on your Windows 11 system. The Apple TV app and Apple Music are now on Xbox consoles, and will be coming to Windows 11 next year.
And given how the Pixel 7 devices are priced, Google wants these things to sell. They are on shelves as of Thursday.
The Pixel 7 is listing at $799 (128 GB) and $929 (256 GB) with the Pixel 7 Pro at $1,179 (128 GB), $1,309 (256
Compare that to the starting prices for Apple’s new handsets: $1,099 for iPhone 14 and $1,549 for iPhone 14 Pro Max.
The Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro are built using Google’s Tensor G2 processor and can be unlocked with a fingerprint reader or using facial recognition.
The former has a 6.3-inch display, the latter a 6.7-inch display, with the same camera bar that was introduced in the Pixel 6.
The camera functions are even better, supported by software that helps to get close, shoot from far away, and stabilize your videos.
The Pixel Watch, meanwhile, is the first Google watch to come out of its Fitbit acquisition. It comes in two models, a cellular version for $530 and a Wi-Fi version for $450.
It’s designed to work seamlessly with the Pixel handsets, of course, and connects to Pixel Buds earphones without any effort from you.
The rounded face reminds me of the original Swatch watches, and it’s got software that can track your body functioning and activity as well as letting you access your Gmail, your YouTube Music, and even your Google Home devices.
Meta wants the metaverse to be for more than gaming
The new virtual reality headset from Meta is the Quest Pro, and it’s going to cost $2,300 when it releases on October 25.
The new kit is self contained, so it requires no computer to work, and it’s built with cameras that are like those in motion capture rigs, designed to capture facial details and expressions in finite detail.
Along with the headset are new controllers that provide force feedback and which are equipped with sensors that track where the controllers are in three-dimensions, which helps with tracking not just of your hands but also of your body.
The real sell from Mark Zuckerberg, though, was to establish the Quest Pro as a business system, and to that end he was able to share news of partnerships with the likes of Microsoft, which will be bringing Teams and Microsoft 365 to the Quest Pro to enable virtual meetings within the metaverse.
To be honest, that feels like a difficult sell, despite the appearance of Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and Accenture chief executive Julie Sweet on the Mega Connect event.
The easier sell is the appearance of Xbox Cloud Gaming on the system, which would allow gamers to play Xbox games on a virtual screen in the virtual world.
That experience is coming in the future, but Marvel’s Iron Man VR, which was a PlayStation VR exclusive in 2020, will be coming to the Quest systems (both the 2 and the Pro) and Meta has acquired Camouflaj, the studio behind the game, as well as Armature, which created the Resident Evil 4 VR port.
This week on The Shift, Shane Hewitt and I talked about Ubisoft’s plan for Assassin’s Creed, Google shuttering Stadia, and the Backbone One PlayStation Edition. I talked about the awesome Samsung Galaxy Book2 360 and we discussed the European Union ruling to standardize mobile device chargers.
Ubisoft has detailed a multi-year, multi-game plan for its Assassin’s Creed franchise, Google is closing down the Stadia game streaming service, and Backbone One PlayStation Edition makes it easy to play console games on your iPhone.
Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed plan
This year is the fifteenth anniversary of Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed game franchise, and while we aren’t getting a new game this year, the publisher announced a series of games that are being made in the Assassin’s world, including Mirage, the new core game that is scheduled to be released next year.
Mirage takes the game to Baghdad during the ninth century and tells the origin story of Basim Ibn Is’haq, who is a crtical character in Valhalla, the most recent Assassin’s Creed game.
Ubisoft also detailed the games to come after Mirage. They are all codenamed for now, but Red takes the game to feudal Japan and Hexe has Clint Hocking as its creative director.
Jade is a mobile action adventure that will be free to play, and is set in China, and Infinity is something of a connecting experience, which Ubisoft envisions as a hub where players can launch individual games as well as enjoy multiplayer experiences.
And there’s the Neflix partnership, which incudes a live-action series in development and a Netflix-exclusive game set in the Assassin’s Creed world.
Anyone with a controller and an account can continue to play games on the service until then, after which the servers will be turned off.
While subscription fees will not be recoverable, Google said in an email to customers that it plans to automatically refund any “Stadia hardware purchases (Stadia Controller, Stadia Founder’s Edition, Stadia Premiere Edition, or Play and Watch with Google TV Package) made on the Google Store, and game purchases and add-on purchases made on the Stadia Store.”
Give your iPhone better gaming controls with new PlayStation themed Backbone
It’s easier than ever to play your console games on your mobile device. But if you really want to play that shooter or role-playing adventure, you need to pair a controller to your phone and throw it in your backback.
Or you get a Backbone. The gaming peripheral maker recently released a PlayStation Edition model of its Backbone One, which is a case for your iPhone that provides the dual stick, multibutton functionality of a DualSense controller.
With PS Remote Play, you can stream games from your PS4 or PS5 console.
The controls aren’t only useful for the PlayStation games you can stream to your iPhone. They also make it more fun to play games designed for mobile as well as other games that stream to your iPhone.
The Backbone One PlayStation Edition is $140 and comes in white, with button labels that mirror those used on PlayStation controllers.
Backbone also has a model available for Android phones.
The Mind Control Division is the intelligence arm of Blaine Kyllo's Solo Corps Creative Incorporated. This department conducts investigations and experiments into media and technology culture.
