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There have been leaks, more leaks, and even more leaks leading up to today, but Google has finally unveiled the phones we all suspected it would. The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL are official. Like last year, we have a smaller phone and a larger one, but unlike last year these devices look rather different. What you really want to know is when you can get them—well, pre-orders are live now.
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You might have lost track with all the Google happenings, but Sonos had a little event in NYC today. It announced something we've heard rumored a few times—an Alexa-equipped speaker. The Sonos One goes on sale in a few weeks, and it's priced at $199. That's not bad for a Sonos speaker.
You're probably aware that Google is having an event in just a little bit. We've heard plenty of rumors about what will be announced, including one suggesting that Google is planning an always-on music identification feature for the new Pixels. That's looking very much confirmed right now, thanks to a new listing in the Play Store called Pixel Ambient Services.
Since its launch last year, the embodiment of Google Assistant has been a somewhat robotic female voice. Starting now, you have your choice of that voice or a similarly robotic male voice. Google's creative name for this one is "Voice II."
It has been just over two years since Chainfire announced the sale of root tool SuperSU to a newly formed company called CCMT. Despite some initial fears, this transfer of ownership hasn't negatively impacted users, and SuperSU is still chugging along. However, Chainfire's two-year contract with CCMT is running out, so it's time for him to move on. To what? Lots of things, probably.
Allo has now existed for more than a year, and there are some people who use it. Not many, by all accounts, but some! Those brave few will today be treated to a more widely available web client. When Allo for the web was launched in August, it only worked in Chrome. Today, support expands to Opera, Firefox, and iOS (sort of).
The Nest Cam IQ already has a lot of smarts built-in, but it's getting even smarter with a new update. There are some changes to video and person detection, but probably the most important new feature is full-duplex audio. No more walkie-talkie-style conversations with people on the other end of the video feed.
Sure, you're out there every day, posting Instagram Stories and generally oversharing with the world. But... does anyone like what you're doing? If only there were a way to collect the opinions of friends and internet acquaintances via your Stories. Well, now there is with the new two-option polls in Instagram Stories.
Another month, another update to the Google Developer dashboards. This time there's something new in the Android version stats, although it's a very, very small something. After the unsurprising no-show last month, Android 8.0 Oreo has made its first appearance this time with a grand total of 0.2% device share.
Apparently, everyone is getting into the home security market lately. Nest announced its Nest Secure system recently, and then earlier today Samsung SmartThings unveiled an ADT-infused security setup. Now it's time for Ring to announce its own suspiciously timed security system. Ring Protect comes with a keypad and some sensors, plus it integrates with Ring's existing camera products.
The Oreo update has gone smoothly for most Pixel owners, but it hasn't gone perfectly for everyone. Some Pixel owners have been plagued by reboot issues since that update, and the cause has been difficult to pin down. According to Google, the OTAs rolling out today on Pixel devices will stop the reboots, which have a few distinct causes.
Samsung isn't going to let Nest run away with the DIY home security market just yet. On October 29th, Samsung SmartThings will begin selling a home security starter kit that you can deploy yourself. Whereas Nest is offering professional monitoring from MONI, SmartThings is partnering with ADT to give its home security system some teeth.
Sleep as Android is a hugely popular app in the Play Store with more than 10 million downloads. The app uses sensors in your phone or certain wearables to analyze your sleep, but the team behind Sleep as Android is now looking to make a dedicated piece of tracking hardware, and it's a bit unusual. The Sleep Phaser on Indigogo is a bedside sensor that tracks your sleep without any direct contact.
SwiftKey is undoubtedly one of the most popular third-party keyboard apps in the Play Store, even after it was acquired by Microsoft. SwiftKey is apparently using all that sweet, sweet Microsoft money to make some changes to the app. Starting today, a new version is rolling out with three new default themes and a redesigned hub.
The LG V30 is coming to all carriers in the next couple weeks, but only one US carrier will have the V30+. Sprint has announced that it's got the exclusive on this phone at launch, and it's offering a limited buy-on-get-one deal on the phone to celebrate. You can get two of them for as little as $38 per month when the phone hits stores on October 13th.
Google has been fiddling with the layout and options in the Feed for a couple months, and some users are seeing an interesting new option appear. In certain Feed categories, Google offers to create home screen shortcuts so you can get back to that section without even visiting the Feed.
You'll be able to pick up an LG V30 later this month, but it's guaranteed to cost a whole lot more than the V20 that's on sale at Walmart right now. This phone is unlocked and discounted to $302.52, which is the lowest we've seen for this model.
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At the launch of the second-generation NVIDIA SHIELD, we heard about several accessory devices that would work with the main hardware, but they haven't all come to fruition. Remember the NVIDIA Spot? That's still MIA, but the promised Samsung SmartThings Link has popped up on Amazon for pre-order.You can go and buy a Samsung SmartThings hub right now, but it's about $80 and rather large. If you've already got an NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV sitting on the shelf, you can just get the $40 USB dongle version of SmartThings and plug it into the SHIELD. In case you forgot, that console does have a full-sized USB port.
A new update is rolling out to NVIDIA SHIELD devices today, and it brings some major improvements. It's not an Oreo update, but that's not exactly vital for Android TV. What you do get is Google Assistant, YouTube 360, and a lot more.