This morning a set of images of the Google Pixel 2 were leaked, and many details were spilled therein. These devices were leaked in both black and white, one with all-black, the other with black, white, and a lovely little red. These devices are manufactured by LG and will be called Pixel 2 XL.
Alongside the Google Pixel 2 this October 4th, it's been tipped that a Google Home Mini will appear. This device will likely be revealed as a smaller version of what's already out as Google Home, and will be released at a lower price, as a result. Amazon's strategy with their Echo Dot (with Alexa onboard), the Google Home Mini is tipped to essentially be a smaller, less powerful version of the larger Home device.
Google's announcement on Android Oreo suggested that not every Google-made and Google-sold Android smartphone would be getting the update. However, as often happens with these sorts of things, there's a developer out there with enough tenacity to bash this software into shape - or into the right shape for the job. In this case, that means bringing an Android Oreo to the LG-made Nexus 4.
The folks at HP have revealed a new Chromebook x360 with a set of specs that make it a true contender for Chrome OS supremacy. This device doesn't have the most high-end hardware in the universe, but for this price point, it's pretty gosh-darned good. Along with a set of rugged-ready features, this Chromebook rolls with a pair of USB-C ports and a microSD card reader too.
Face ID is perhaps the most contentious iPhone X feature next to the notch and amojis. The public demo’s seeming failure, which Apple has tried to explain away, seems to only add to the skepticism of Apple’s Touch ID replacement. Smelling blood, Huawei lost no time in trying to take a swipe at Apple. But it’s only able to do so because it believes it has the “real AI phone”, and it’s inviting the world to see it next month when it unveils the Huawei Mate 10.
If you ask around Android circles, you’ll probably be surprised (or not) to find out that the Nexus 5 is largely regarded as the best, and probably last greatest, Nexus phone. While definitely not perfect, everything that followed were significantly less perfect. And the last Nexus phone made, the Nexus 6P, is to date, an unmitigated disaster. Tired perhaps of the never ending requests to return defective units, Google is now reported to have changed its mind and will no longer replace what is probably the last of the Nexus line.
The Un-carrier might be at it again and its next move could definitely give its rivals and their subscribers pause for thought. Although “unlimited” these days no longer really means what the word literally means, T-Mobile seems to be doing everything it can to make it close enough. A recent tip says that as early as Wednesday, the network’s deprioritization limit, a.k.a. the Fair Usage Threshold, could be raised to as much as 50 GB, more than double its paltry initial limit of 23 GB, and definitely more than what its competitors are offering.
Virtual reality is fun and entertaining but hardly useful when it comes to getting real-world things done, it isn’t of much help. At least with the current state of technology. In the meantime, however, users can have an approximation of productivity in virtual reality by having their non-gaming software brought before their eyes. That is exactly what the Samsung PhoneCast VR app is trying to do by making some “2D”, a.k.a. flat, regular, and boring apps, available on the Gear VR headset.
If a report from South Korea proves true, the next smartphone spec race is not on quality, but on speed. The report suggests that Samsung is set to create its own 3-layer image sensor that's able to utilize DRAM to snap and process photos faster than ever before. Faster than any smartphone camera's ever allowed in the past, that is to say.
Google's Gmail was updated to include hyperlinks for contacts, phone numbers, and addresses too. This is the first time these specific elements have been updated to include such links, while other links in emails in Gmail have been active for some time. This service was announced to be coming to both Gmail and Inbox by Gmail for the web, iOS, and Android starting today.
On the 4th of October, the 2nd Google Pixel phone will be revealed. It will certainly be a phone, and certainly it'll run Android. The vast majority of those people the Pixel 2 will be available to won't know or care for much beyond that. But for everyone reading this article, there's another layer of depth to the Pixel that many people won't appreciate.
Speaking as a Galaxy S8 owner, I have to say that the phone is great, save for one rather annoying feature: the Bixby button. Not only is its usefulness wasted on me - someone who doesn't have much interest in Bixby - but it's also located in one of the most frustrating places. If you find yourself in the same boat, then take heart, because a new update is letting you fix those problems.
