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Google’s big Pixel event was packed with phones, and the company has redesigned them all. No more Cyclops camera band, now it’s an Among Us camera oval. That’s across all the Pixels (barring the new Pixel 9 Pro Fold). There are new flattened sides and softer corners, making these phones look more like iPhones than ever before.
First up, the entry-level Pixel 9 has a 6.3-inch screen, slightly larger than its predecessor, and a substantial camera bump up to a 48-megapixel ultrawide lens. New AI-powered photo editing tricks, like Add Me and Reimagine, join features I use daily on my Pixel 8, like Magic Editor and Night Sight.
It’s joined by the same-sized Pixel 9 Pro and the 6.8-inch Pixel 9 Pro XL. Technically, the Pixel 9 Pro is the new proposition: the best Pixel camera in a more convenient size. Besides screen size and battery, specs are the same across both Pro phones. The base Pixel 9 has a matte satin finish, while the Pro devices have a shiny, polished treatment. (I wish it was the other way around, personally.) Alongside that 50- and 48-megapixel camera duo, there’s a third 48MP cam with a 5x telephoto zoom. That’s the ‘pro’ part.
One surprise was that Google’s brand-new $1,000 Pixel 9 Phones won’t launch with Android 15.
This may be because the new Pixels are out earlier than usual. Android 14 arrived in October last year, so we can expect to hear more about Android 15 in the fall. Don’t worry, though. There’ll still be plenty of new AI features — which we’ll play with once our review devices land. Trust and believe.
— Mat Smith
The biggest stories you might have missed
All the AI features coming to the Pixel 9 phones
Google Pixel 9 and 9 Pro hands-on
Pixel Watch 3 hands-on: A bigger screen
Google’s Pixel Buds Pro 2 are its first earbuds that work with Gemini AI
Waiting for a new Fitbit smartwatch? Google says that’s the Pixel Watch 3
​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold hands-on
A clever new shape and even bigger displays.
Engadget
Google’s first attempt at a foldable was different. The company went for different screen ratios, an insane price and capable cameras. This year, don’t call it the Pixel Fold 2, because this is Pixel 9 Pro Fold. As well as a revamped design, it has what Google says is the largest display of any phone on the market. Farewell, passport shape. The new foldable has a 6.3-inch outside display almost identical in size to the standard Pixel 9. But inside… boom. An eight-inch screen that beats Samsung, OnePlus and other rival foldables.
With cameras, a new module houses a 48MP main camera, a 10.5MP ultrawide camera and a 10.8MP telephoto cam with a 5x optical zoom. It’s not quite the Pixel 9 Pro, but on paper, it sounds capable. Still, no support for a stylus.
Continue reading.

Gemini, Google’s AI-powered chatbot, is the default assistant on Pixel 9 phones
This is the new Google Assistant.

The default assistant on all these new Pixels will be Gemini — Google’s AI-powered chatbot — not Google Assistant. “Gemini is an evolution of the Assistant,” said Sissie Hsiao, Google’s vice president and general manager of Gemini Experiences. Gemini, powered by Google’s own family of large language models, can apparently do everything the classic Google Assistant could do. To be clear, you can still use Gemini as your assistant on most current Android phones, Pixels or otherwise — but only if you opt in.
Continue reading.

Hackers may have leaked the social security numbers of every American
A dump of 2.7 billion records.

Several months after a hacking group claimed to be selling nearly three billion records stolen from a prominent data broker, much of the information appears to have been leaked on a forum. According to Bleeping Computer, the data dump includes 2.7 billion records of people in the US, including names, social security numbers, potential aliases and all physical addresses they are known to have lived at. Worse still, it’s all unencrypted. It may be worth taking some steps to protect yourself against fraud and identity theft.
Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-the-biggest-reveals-from-googles-pixel-2024-event-111519925.html?src=rss

Google’s big Pixel event was packed with phones, and the company has redesigned them all. No more Cyclops camera band, now it’s an Among Us camera oval. That’s across all the Pixels (barring the new Pixel 9 Pro Fold). There are new flattened sides and softer corners, making these phones look more like iPhones than ever before.

First up, the entry-level Pixel 9 has a 6.3-inch screen, slightly larger than its predecessor, and a substantial camera bump up to a 48-megapixel ultrawide lens. New AI-powered photo editing tricks, like Add Me and Reimagine, join features I use daily on my Pixel 8, like Magic Editor and Night Sight.

It’s joined by the same-sized Pixel 9 Pro and the 6.8-inch Pixel 9 Pro XL. Technically, the Pixel 9 Pro is the new proposition: the best Pixel camera in a more convenient size. Besides screen size and battery, specs are the same across both Pro phones. The base Pixel 9 has a matte satin finish, while the Pro devices have a shiny, polished treatment. (I wish it was the other way around, personally.) Alongside that 50- and 48-megapixel camera duo, there’s a third 48MP cam with a 5x telephoto zoom. That’s the ‘pro’ part.

One surprise was that Google’s brand-new $1,000 Pixel 9 Phones won’t launch with Android 15.

This may be because the new Pixels are out earlier than usual. Android 14 arrived in October last year, so we can expect to hear more about Android 15 in the fall. Don’t worry, though. There’ll still be plenty of new AI features — which we’ll play with once our review devices land. Trust and believe.

— Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

All the AI features coming to the Pixel 9 phones

Google Pixel 9 and 9 Pro hands-on

Pixel Watch 3 hands-on: A bigger screen

Google’s Pixel Buds Pro 2 are its first earbuds that work with Gemini AI

Waiting for a new Fitbit smartwatch? Google says that’s the Pixel Watch 3

​​You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold hands-on

A clever new shape and even bigger displays.

Google’s first attempt at a foldable was different. The company went for different screen ratios, an insane price and capable cameras. This year, don’t call it the Pixel Fold 2, because this is Pixel 9 Pro Fold. As well as a revamped design, it has what Google says is the largest display of any phone on the market. Farewell, passport shape. The new foldable has a 6.3-inch outside display almost identical in size to the standard Pixel 9. But inside… boom. An eight-inch screen that beats Samsung, OnePlus and other rival foldables.

With cameras, a new module houses a 48MP main camera, a 10.5MP ultrawide camera and a 10.8MP telephoto cam with a 5x optical zoom. It’s not quite the Pixel 9 Pro, but on paper, it sounds capable. Still, no support for a stylus.

Continue reading.

Gemini, Google’s AI-powered chatbot, is the default assistant on Pixel 9 phones

This is the new Google Assistant.

The default assistant on all these new Pixels will be Gemini — Google’s AI-powered chatbot — not Google Assistant. “Gemini is an evolution of the Assistant,” said Sissie Hsiao, Google’s vice president and general manager of Gemini Experiences. Gemini, powered by Google’s own family of large language models, can apparently do everything the classic Google Assistant could do. To be clear, you can still use Gemini as your assistant on most current Android phones, Pixels or otherwise — but only if you opt in.

Continue reading.

Hackers may have leaked the social security numbers of every American

A dump of 2.7 billion records.

Several months after a hacking group claimed to be selling nearly three billion records stolen from a prominent data broker, much of the information appears to have been leaked on a forum. According to Bleeping Computer, the data dump includes 2.7 billion records of people in the US, including names, social security numbers, potential aliases and all physical addresses they are known to have lived at. Worse still, it’s all unencrypted. It may be worth taking some steps to protect yourself against fraud and identity theft.

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-the-biggest-reveals-from-googles-pixel-2024-event-111519925.html?src=rss

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Instagram is failing to enforce its own rules and allowing some of its most high-profile accounts to be targeted with abusive comments “with impunity,” according to a new report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate. The anti-hate group claims that Meta failed to remove 93 percent of comments it reported to the company, including ones that contain racial slurs, violent threats and other disturbing language that would seem to clearly violate the social network’s rules.
CCDH’s researchers zeroed in on five Republican and five Democratic lawmakers who are up for election this year. The group included Vice President Kamala Harris, Representative Nancy Pelosi, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Representative Marjorie Taylor-Greene, Senator Marsha Blackburn and Representative Lauren Boebert.
The researchers reported 1,000 comments that appeared on the lawmakers’ Instagram posts between January and June of this year and found that Meta took “no action” against the vast majority of those comments, with 926 of them still visible in the app one week after being reported. The reported content included comments with racial slurs and other racist language, calls for violence and other abuse.
“We’re simulating the moment at which someone reaches out their hand asking for help, and actually, Instagram’s failure to act on that compounds the harm done,” CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed said in a briefing about the report.
The CCDH also found that many of the abusive comments came from “repeat offenders” which, according to Ahmed, has “created a culture of impunity” on the platform. The report comes less than three months before the US presidential election, and it notes that attacks targeting Harris, who is now campaigning for president seem to have “intensified” since she took over the ticket. “Instagram failed to remove 97 out of 105 abusive comments targeting Vice President Kamala Harris, equivalent to a failure to act on 92% of abusive comments targeting her,” the report says. It notes that Instagram failed to remove comments targeting Harris that used the n-word, as well as gender-based slurs.
In a statement, Meta said it would review the report. “We provide tools so that anyone can control who can comment on their posts, automatically filter out offensive comments, phrases or emojis, and automatically hide comments from people who don’t follow them,” Meta’s Head of Women’s Safety, said in a statement. “We work with hundreds of safety partners around the world to continually improve our policies, tools, detection and enforcement, and we will review the CCDH report and take action on any content that violates our policies.” This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/instagram-is-failing-to-act-on-abuse-targeting-women-lawmakers-on-both-sides-of-the-aisle-103025621.html?src=rss

Instagram is failing to enforce its own rules and allowing some of its most high-profile accounts to be targeted with abusive comments “with impunity,” according to a new report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate. The anti-hate group claims that Meta failed to remove 93 percent of comments it reported to the company, including ones that contain racial slurs, violent threats and other disturbing language that would seem to clearly violate the social network’s rules.

CCDH’s researchers zeroed in on five Republican and five Democratic lawmakers who are up for election this year. The group included Vice President Kamala Harris, Representative Nancy Pelosi, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Representative Marjorie Taylor-Greene, Senator Marsha Blackburn and Representative Lauren Boebert.

The researchers reported 1,000 comments that appeared on the lawmakers’ Instagram posts between January and June of this year and found that Meta took “no action” against the vast majority of those comments, with 926 of them still visible in the app one week after being reported. The reported content included comments with racial slurs and other racist language, calls for violence and other abuse.

“We’re simulating the moment at which someone reaches out their hand asking for help, and actually, Instagram’s failure to act on that compounds the harm done,” CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed said in a briefing about the report.

The CCDH also found that many of the abusive comments came from “repeat offenders” which, according to Ahmed, has “created a culture of impunity” on the platform. The report comes less than three months before the US presidential election, and it notes that attacks targeting Harris, who is now campaigning for president seem to have “intensified” since she took over the ticket. “Instagram failed to remove 97 out of 105 abusive comments targeting Vice President Kamala Harris, equivalent to a failure to act on 92% of abusive comments targeting her,” the report says. It notes that Instagram failed to remove comments targeting Harris that used the n-word, as well as gender-based slurs.

In a statement, Meta said it would review the report. “We provide tools so that anyone can control who can comment on their posts, automatically filter out offensive comments, phrases or emojis, and automatically hide comments from people who don’t follow them,” Meta’s Head of Women’s Safety, said in a statement. “We work with hundreds of safety partners around the world to continually improve our policies, tools, detection and enforcement, and we will review the CCDH report and take action on any content that violates our policies.” 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/instagram-is-failing-to-act-on-abuse-targeting-women-lawmakers-on-both-sides-of-the-aisle-103025621.html?src=rss

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You can now get and use Proton VPN’s browser extension even if you’re not a paying user. The extension used to only be accessible if you’re on one of the service’s paid plans, but now you can install it as long as you’re on a Firefox- or a Chromium-based browser. Proton VPN was our top choice for VPNs last year, because it was fast and doesn’t collect data that passes through its network. 
Its apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and Linux have always been free to use, but the unpaid service does come with limitations. The service’s paid plans are faster, has over 100 countries to choose from and lets you connect up to 10 devices at once. Meanwhile, the free version struggled to stay connected at times when we tested it out. Still, it does its job and now it comes with access to the service’s browser extension, which lets you keep your Proton VPN connection within your browser only. 
Yes, the extension will let you use your standard internet connection outside of your browser. If you’re using an app that doesn’t work properly when you’re on a device-wide VPN, but you want to protect your connection or circumvent region-based website blocks, the extension can solve your problem. Proton unfortunately has no plans to release a Safari browser for now, but we’ll let you know if that changes. You can get the Chrome and Firefox extensions from Proton VPN’s official website.
The company has also recently launched a new plan called Proton Duo, if you’re considering paying for its products. It was specifically designed for two users who’ll then get to share 1 TB of storage space (with additional 15 GB of bonus storage every year), as well as full access to Proton Mail, Drive, Calendar, Pass and VPN. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/proton-vpns-browser-extension-is-now-free-for-all-users-100049528.html?src=rss

You can now get and use Proton VPN’s browser extension even if you’re not a paying user. The extension used to only be accessible if you’re on one of the service’s paid plans, but now you can install it as long as you’re on a Firefox- or a Chromium-based browser. Proton VPN was our top choice for VPNs last year, because it was fast and doesn’t collect data that passes through its network. 

Its apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and Linux have always been free to use, but the unpaid service does come with limitations. The service’s paid plans are faster, has over 100 countries to choose from and lets you connect up to 10 devices at once. Meanwhile, the free version struggled to stay connected at times when we tested it out. Still, it does its job and now it comes with access to the service’s browser extension, which lets you keep your Proton VPN connection within your browser only. 

Yes, the extension will let you use your standard internet connection outside of your browser. If you’re using an app that doesn’t work properly when you’re on a device-wide VPN, but you want to protect your connection or circumvent region-based website blocks, the extension can solve your problem. Proton unfortunately has no plans to release a Safari browser for now, but we’ll let you know if that changes. You can get the Chrome and Firefox extensions from Proton VPN’s official website.

The company has also recently launched a new plan called Proton Duo, if you’re considering paying for its products. It was specifically designed for two users who’ll then get to share 1 TB of storage space (with additional 15 GB of bonus storage every year), as well as full access to Proton Mail, Drive, Calendar, Pass and VPN. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/proton-vpns-browser-extension-is-now-free-for-all-users-100049528.html?src=rss

Read More 

Sad Cat Studios announced on X that it is delaying its highly anticipated cyberpunk action game Replaced to next year.
The studio says in its online statement that its expectations for the Xbox and PC exclusive are high since they first announced the game at E3 in 2021. It wants to make sure it meets those expectations and doesn’t want to rush the production process.
“Our initial release was optimistic, and we apologize for that,” the statement reads. “Developing Replaced is quite a unique challenge, and we’re proud to be creating something that special. We need more time to ensure we meet the high standards we’ve set for ourselves and to meet the expectations of our fans.”

If there are no more delays and Sad Cat feels the game meets its expectations, Replaced will now be released in 2025.
This marks the third time that Replaced’s release date has been moved by Sad Cat Studios. The first delay moved the game from 2022 to 2023 when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forced the studio to relocate developers from its offices in Belarus and Ukraine for their safety, according to Eurogamer.
Last year, Sad Cat Studios announced on X its second release date shift to this year. The statement echoed similar concerns about making sure they released a game that met fans’ expectations instead of a “sub-par game.”This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-pixelated-cyberpunk-platformer-replaced-has-been-pushed-back-to-2025-220802916.html?src=rss

Sad Cat Studios announced on X that it is delaying its highly anticipated cyberpunk action game Replaced to next year.

The studio says in its online statement that its expectations for the Xbox and PC exclusive are high since they first announced the game at E3 in 2021. It wants to make sure it meets those expectations and doesn’t want to rush the production process.

“Our initial release was optimistic, and we apologize for that,” the statement reads. “Developing Replaced is quite a unique challenge, and we’re proud to be creating something that special. We need more time to ensure we meet the high standards we’ve set for ourselves and to meet the expectations of our fans.”

If there are no more delays and Sad Cat feels the game meets its expectations, Replaced will now be released in 2025.

This marks the third time that Replaced’s release date has been moved by Sad Cat Studios. The first delay moved the game from 2022 to 2023 when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forced the studio to relocate developers from its offices in Belarus and Ukraine for their safety, according to Eurogamer.

Last year, Sad Cat Studios announced on X its second release date shift to this year. The statement echoed similar concerns about making sure they released a game that met fans’ expectations instead of a “sub-par game.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-pixelated-cyberpunk-platformer-replaced-has-been-pushed-back-to-2025-220802916.html?src=rss

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It’s been three years since Google completed its acquisition of Fitbit. Since then, the company has launched three new smartwatches under the Pixel brand, including the Pixel Watch 3 at today’s Made By Google event. Meanwhile, Fitbit’s not launched a single new smartwatch since the unceremonious announcement of the Sense 2 and Versa 4 two years ago. The writing has been on the wall for years that Fitbit might not make smartwatches anymore, instead focusing on lower-profile activity trackers that last long. Engadget can confirm that this is indeed true moving forward.
In an interview with the senior director of product management for Pixel Wearables Sandeep Waraich, I asked whether we would ever see another Fitbit-branded smartwatch anytime soon. Waraich said “Pixel Watch is our smartwatch part of the portfolio.” He confirmed that moving forward everything from Fitbit would focus on the more minimalistic, long-lasting trackers the brand has become synonymous with.
While the Sense 2 and Versa 4 will continue to be available in the market, a Google spokesperson said “Pixel Watches are our next iteration of smartwatch for Fitbit.”
As for the devices Fitbit continues to make, “trackers is where users clearly tell us they want something discreet,” Waraich said. “They want longer battery life, they want a simple experience and we are very proud of our Inspire line.”
Waraich also shed some light on how the Google and Fitbit teams have collaborated to build Pixel watches, referencing the former’s AI prowess and the latter’s established expertise in interpreting heart-rate sensor data for greater insights. According to him, Google brought its expertise in machine learning, providing “advanced models that otherwise probably externally weren’t readily available.” Fitbit, of course, had deep knowledge on things like data and signal capture and how that translated into how your hands are moving or what you’re doing. “HIIT has a very different heart rate algorithm [and] implications than a running workout,” Waraich explained.
There’s little doubt that the Fitbit brand remains valuable to Google and the industry at large, given the fact its name is basically the catch-all noun for activity trackers. While it can be jarring to see the Fitbit name and app in devices like the Pixel Watch, where integrations should feel more seamless and unified, Waraich told me “it’s not an app in Pixel Watch. It’s deeply integrated at a system level.” 
Outside of the Pixel portfolio, the Fitbit app and Fitbit Premium both still exist to the large chunk of the population that want something simple that can help them stay on top of their overall health. With the trackers and Pixel watches having now matured into devices that can log your activity very well, Waraich said “There is a tremendous opportunity in terms of going from tracking to coaching, real-time guidance included.”
Time for everyone’s favorite buzzword and trend for 2024: AI. With the Pixel Watch 3, Fitbit Premium users can get AI-generated customized workouts based on their activity and recovery. Of all the features Fitbit Premium has offered (and paywalled) in the past, this feels like a more-suitable use of AI and charging for it. Fitbit and Fitbit Premium are unlikely to be going away, and while we may not see a Fitbit-branded smartwatch again, this feels like a smart move.
Catch up on all the news from Google’s Pixel Watch 3 launch event right here!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/waiting-for-a-new-fitbit-smartwatch-google-says-thats-the-pixel-watch-3-202314838.html?src=rss

It’s been three years since Google completed its acquisition of Fitbit. Since then, the company has launched three new smartwatches under the Pixel brand, including the Pixel Watch 3 at today’s Made By Google event. Meanwhile, Fitbit’s not launched a single new smartwatch since the unceremonious announcement of the Sense 2 and Versa 4 two years ago. The writing has been on the wall for years that Fitbit might not make smartwatches anymore, instead focusing on lower-profile activity trackers that last long. Engadget can confirm that this is indeed true moving forward.

In an interview with the senior director of product management for Pixel Wearables Sandeep Waraich, I asked whether we would ever see another Fitbit-branded smartwatch anytime soon. Waraich said “Pixel Watch is our smartwatch part of the portfolio.” He confirmed that moving forward everything from Fitbit would focus on the more minimalistic, long-lasting trackers the brand has become synonymous with.

While the Sense 2 and Versa 4 will continue to be available in the market, a Google spokesperson said “Pixel Watches are our next iteration of smartwatch for Fitbit.”

As for the devices Fitbit continues to make, “trackers is where users clearly tell us they want something discreet,” Waraich said. “They want longer battery life, they want a simple experience and we are very proud of our Inspire line.”

Waraich also shed some light on how the Google and Fitbit teams have collaborated to build Pixel watches, referencing the former’s AI prowess and the latter’s established expertise in interpreting heart-rate sensor data for greater insights. According to him, Google brought its expertise in machine learning, providing “advanced models that otherwise probably externally weren’t readily available.” Fitbit, of course, had deep knowledge on things like data and signal capture and how that translated into how your hands are moving or what you’re doing. “HIIT has a very different heart rate algorithm [and] implications than a running workout,” Waraich explained.

There’s little doubt that the Fitbit brand remains valuable to Google and the industry at large, given the fact its name is basically the catch-all noun for activity trackers. While it can be jarring to see the Fitbit name and app in devices like the Pixel Watch, where integrations should feel more seamless and unified, Waraich told me “it’s not an app in Pixel Watch. It’s deeply integrated at a system level.” 

Outside of the Pixel portfolio, the Fitbit app and Fitbit Premium both still exist to the large chunk of the population that want something simple that can help them stay on top of their overall health. With the trackers and Pixel watches having now matured into devices that can log your activity very well, Waraich said “There is a tremendous opportunity in terms of going from tracking to coaching, real-time guidance included.”

Time for everyone’s favorite buzzword and trend for 2024: AI. With the Pixel Watch 3, Fitbit Premium users can get AI-generated customized workouts based on their activity and recovery. Of all the features Fitbit Premium has offered (and paywalled) in the past, this feels like a more-suitable use of AI and charging for it. Fitbit and Fitbit Premium are unlikely to be going away, and while we may not see a Fitbit-branded smartwatch again, this feels like a smart move.

Catch up on all the news from Google’s Pixel Watch 3 launch event right here!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/waiting-for-a-new-fitbit-smartwatch-google-says-thats-the-pixel-watch-3-202314838.html?src=rss

Read More 

Michael Myers may be dead and Ash Williams may be flung far into the future, but they aren’t done slashing up the screen here and now. Boss Level Games announced the upcoming release of two new retro style games under its RetroRealms banner based on the classic slasher flick Halloween and the Starz horror comedy series Ash vs. Evil Dead.
The retro Halloween and Ash vs. Evil Dead titles will be released on October 18 for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PCs via Steam.
The Halloween game puts players in control of the murder machine Michael Myers during the events of the original John Carpenter film as he hacks and slashes his way through Haddonfield, Illinois with his iconic machete. The Ash vs. Evil Dead game pits players as the horror movie and TV series hero with his arm-mounted chainsaw and his beloved boomstick against an onslaught of Deadites unleashed by the Necronomicon.

The games will be sold separately, or together as part of a special “Double Feature” bundle. There’s also a special “Collectors’ Edition” that includes a physical copy of the game for your chosen console, two extra playable characters — including Laurie Strode for Halloween and Kelly Maxwell for Ash vs. Evil Dead — and a bunch of other Halloween goodies like a 12-inch plush Michael Myers doll, a digital copy of the Halloween game’s soundtrack, a pack of Halloween trading cards and more. The games connect to each other when both are installed through crossover access in which characters can be brought to either game and “an ever-expanding universe of popular characters that unlocks additional gameplay,” according to Boss Team Games.
Boss Team Games is one of the studios behind the popular asymmetric survival horror multiplayer slasher Evil Dead: The Game. The studio’s press release also notes that these two games will be “the first two releases in a new series of games for console and PC” implying that more throwback game projects are in the works.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/halloweens-michael-myers-and-ash-vs-evil-deads-ash-williams-are-getting-their-own-throwback-games-193000903.html?src=rss

Michael Myers may be dead and Ash Williams may be flung far into the future, but they aren’t done slashing up the screen here and now. Boss Level Games announced the upcoming release of two new retro style games under its RetroRealms banner based on the classic slasher flick Halloween and the Starz horror comedy series Ash vs. Evil Dead.

The retro Halloween and Ash vs. Evil Dead titles will be released on October 18 for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PCs via Steam.

The Halloween game puts players in control of the murder machine Michael Myers during the events of the original John Carpenter film as he hacks and slashes his way through Haddonfield, Illinois with his iconic machete. The Ash vs. Evil Dead game pits players as the horror movie and TV series hero with his arm-mounted chainsaw and his beloved boomstick against an onslaught of Deadites unleashed by the Necronomicon.

The games will be sold separately, or together as part of a special “Double Feature” bundle. There’s also a special “Collectors’ Edition” that includes a physical copy of the game for your chosen console, two extra playable characters — including Laurie Strode for Halloween and Kelly Maxwell for Ash vs. Evil Dead — and a bunch of other Halloween goodies like a 12-inch plush Michael Myers doll, a digital copy of the Halloween game’s soundtrack, a pack of Halloween trading cards and more. The games connect to each other when both are installed through crossover access in which characters can be brought to either game and “an ever-expanding universe of popular characters that unlocks additional gameplay,” according to Boss Team Games.

Boss Team Games is one of the studios behind the popular asymmetric survival horror multiplayer slasher Evil Dead: The Game. The studio’s press release also notes that these two games will be “the first two releases in a new series of games for console and PC” implying that more throwback game projects are in the works.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/halloweens-michael-myers-and-ash-vs-evil-deads-ash-williams-are-getting-their-own-throwback-games-193000903.html?src=rss

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The House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerry Nadler (D-NY) sent a letter to his committee’s chair, Jim Jordan (R-OH), on Thursday, urging him to investigate inaccurate information about the presidential election on X (Twitter). Jordan, a self-proclaimed free speech advocate, has relentlessly pursued claims that social platforms have censored conservative voices. For a little taste of what Jordan considers censorship, he cried foul when platforms removed bogus COVID conspiracies during the height of the pandemic and banned Donald Trump for inciting a mob to storm the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Nadler cited reports that Grok, X’s AI chatbot, falsely claimed Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris missed deadlines in nine states, making her ineligible to appear on their ballots. Harris didn’t miss any deadlines and will appear on all 50 states’ ballots.
In addition, Nadler pointed to reports that Musk’s social platform suspended the group White Dudes for Harris (@dudes4harris) after it hosted an event that raised over $4 million from over 200,000 people for the Vice President’s campaign. The account was barred due to a “user report” accusing it of “violating rules against evading suspension,” which was never explained further. After X reinstated the White Dudes account the following day, the same profile was labeled as spam after being falsely accused of “manipulating the platform,” limiting its reach.
Nadler also mentioned “prominent journalists with left-leaning accounts” finding their X profiles “accidentally” suspended.
“Given Chairman Jordan’s extensive focus on allegations of censorship on social media this Congress, Ranking Member Nadler urged Chairman Jordan to continue fighting against political discrimination on platforms by investigating this matter,” Nadler’s office wrote in the letter. “Chairman Jordan’s silence on this matter follows X’s actions to stop disinformation against Republican officials on its platform that have not been similarly applied to Democratic officials.”
“In sum, I lack confidence that Mr. Musk (with his self-proclaimed expansive view on free speech) will take the same swift action against false election information about liberals as he does when it targets conservatives.”
Musk has seemingly had no issue policing accusations of the censorship of right-wing figures. Nadler’s letter cites the platform’s swift response to false posts claiming to derive from internal X software which stated Musk, Trump and other far-right personalities were exempt from policies banning racial slurs. The account posting the false images was suspended within hours, and they were soon tagged with warning labels about manipulated media. X confirmed that multiple accounts were suspended for sharing the bogus pictures.
Where is the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in this fight? Likely, sitting it out. “The FEC has consistently dismissed complaints against social media sites where they could show that they were merely enforcing their own moderation rules,” campaign finance lawyer Brett Kappel told The Washington Post. “That’s likely to continue to be the case with X even though the company has seriously weakened its own rules.”
“While we may have significant disagreement over the degree and extent of content moderation, I hope that we can at least agree that enforcement on a major platform like X should be fair to both sides,” Nadler said. “At a basic level, a platform’s policies should be applied in an even-handed manner free from political bias.”This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/now-its-democrats-who-want-the-house-to-investigate-x-for-political-censorship-180048710.html?src=rss

The House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerry Nadler (D-NY) sent a letter to his committee’s chair, Jim Jordan (R-OH), on Thursday, urging him to investigate inaccurate information about the presidential election on X (Twitter). Jordan, a self-proclaimed free speech advocate, has relentlessly pursued claims that social platforms have censored conservative voices. For a little taste of what Jordan considers censorship, he cried foul when platforms removed bogus COVID conspiracies during the height of the pandemic and banned Donald Trump for inciting a mob to storm the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Nadler cited reports that Grok, X’s AI chatbot, falsely claimed Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris missed deadlines in nine states, making her ineligible to appear on their ballots. Harris didn’t miss any deadlines and will appear on all 50 states’ ballots.

In addition, Nadler pointed to reports that Musk’s social platform suspended the group White Dudes for Harris (@dudes4harris) after it hosted an event that raised over $4 million from over 200,000 people for the Vice President’s campaign. The account was barred due to a “user report” accusing it of “violating rules against evading suspension,” which was never explained further. After X reinstated the White Dudes account the following day, the same profile was labeled as spam after being falsely accused of “manipulating the platform,” limiting its reach.

Nadler also mentioned “prominent journalists with left-leaning accounts” finding their X profiles “accidentally” suspended.

“Given Chairman Jordan’s extensive focus on allegations of censorship on social media this Congress, Ranking Member Nadler urged Chairman Jordan to continue fighting against political discrimination on platforms by investigating this matter,” Nadler’s office wrote in the letter. “Chairman Jordan’s silence on this matter follows X’s actions to stop disinformation against Republican officials on its platform that have not been similarly applied to Democratic officials.”

“In sum, I lack confidence that Mr. Musk (with his self-proclaimed expansive view on free speech) will take the same swift action against false election information about liberals as he does when it targets conservatives.”

Musk has seemingly had no issue policing accusations of the censorship of right-wing figures. Nadler’s letter cites the platform’s swift response to false posts claiming to derive from internal X software which stated Musk, Trump and other far-right personalities were exempt from policies banning racial slurs. The account posting the false images was suspended within hours, and they were soon tagged with warning labels about manipulated media. X confirmed that multiple accounts were suspended for sharing the bogus pictures.

Where is the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in this fight? Likely, sitting it out. “The FEC has consistently dismissed complaints against social media sites where they could show that they were merely enforcing their own moderation rules,” campaign finance lawyer Brett Kappel told The Washington Post. “That’s likely to continue to be the case with X even though the company has seriously weakened its own rules.”

“While we may have significant disagreement over the degree and extent of content moderation, I hope that we can at least agree that enforcement on a major platform like X should be fair to both sides,” Nadler said. “At a basic level, a platform’s policies should be applied in an even-handed manner free from political bias.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/now-its-democrats-who-want-the-house-to-investigate-x-for-political-censorship-180048710.html?src=rss

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Google users may have been waiting for an announcement about Android 15, but it seems like we’ll be waiting longer to have the new operating system on smartphones. The spec sheet for the upcoming line of Google Pixel 9 devices confirms that the phones will launch with Android 14. This applies to all four of the new devices: the Google Pixel 9, Google Pixel 9 Pro, Google Pixel 9 Pro XL and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
Google
This is an unusual approach for Google, but that may be because the new Pixel models are coming out on an earlier timeline than the usual annual OS updates. Android 14 came out in October last year, so we can expect to hear more about Android 15 later in the fall. The operating system is in its second public beta, so we’ve already seen some of what it can do. And despite the new phones running Android 14, there are a host of new AI-powered features that’ll be available when the phones go on sale next week.
Catch up on all the news from Google’s Pixel 9 launch event right here!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/googles-pixel-9-series-wont-launch-with-android-15-175323603.html?src=rss

Google users may have been waiting for an announcement about Android 15, but it seems like we’ll be waiting longer to have the new operating system on smartphones. The spec sheet for the upcoming line of Google Pixel 9 devices confirms that the phones will launch with Android 14. This applies to all four of the new devices: the Google Pixel 9, Google Pixel 9 Pro, Google Pixel 9 Pro XL and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

This is an unusual approach for Google, but that may be because the new Pixel models are coming out on an earlier timeline than the usual annual OS updates. Android 14 came out in October last year, so we can expect to hear more about Android 15 later in the fall. The operating system is in its second public beta, so we’ve already seen some of what it can do. And despite the new phones running Android 14, there are a host of new AI-powered features that’ll be available when the phones go on sale next week.

Catch up on all the news from Google’s Pixel 9 launch event right here!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/googles-pixel-9-series-wont-launch-with-android-15-175323603.html?src=rss

Read More 

August used to be a relatively sleepy month for tech news — no longer! Now that Google scooted up its annual October Pixel event by two months, the tech world is abubble, going over everything execs announced from Mountain View, California at the Made By Google keynote on Tuesday. 
The Pixel 9 launch event came with enthusiastic introductions for all the hardware we expected, including the new Pixel 9 and its sizable camera bump. The Pixel 9 Pro and the larger Pixel 9 Pro XL made their official debut, too, and the new foldable, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, does indeed measure just 0.4 inches thick. The new Pixel Watch 3 and Pixel Buds Pro 2 have now been revealed, as were plenty of software features, mostly in the form of Gemini integrations with the latest Android 15.0 operating system. For the play-by-play, you can check out our liveblog or check out Google’s stream. If you just want the highlights, here’s everything announced at the 2024’s Made by Google Pixel event. 
Google Pixel 9

Photo by Sam Rutherford / Engadget

What you first notice about Google’s latest Pixel 9 is the redesigned look. The camera band has been replaced with oblong oval that stands proud from a slab that’s about a tenth of an inch thinner than the Pixel 8. The screen size has bumped back up to 6.3 inches, after dipping to 6.2 inches on the Pixel 8, and is covered in Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. It’s got a polished glass back with satin metal finishes on the frame and cameras. 
Speaking of cameras, there’s the same number as last year (two in the back, one in the front) but the previous generation’s 12 MP ultrawide lens has been replaced with a 48 MP ultrawide lens. The other two cameras have the same specs, except the front cam now has autofocus for better selfies. To take advantage of those fancy sensors, new AI photography enhancements like Add Me and Reimagine join the existing Magic Editor, Night Sight and Best Take features. 
The Pixel 9 houses the same Tensor G4 chip, designed to be better at everyday tasks, while using up less battery. As its more expensive siblings and now comes with 12GB of memory, eliminating the option of an 8GB model. That extra RAM will help handle the many Gemini integrations coming standard in Android 15. Pressing and holding the power button will overlay the assistant on whatever you’re doing on-screen and can answer questions, pull details from other apps, and producing contextualized recommendations based on images you take. 
The Pixel 9 comes with 7 years of OS and security updates and is available in Obsidian, Porcelain, Wintergreen, and Peony. Its starts at $799 for 128GB of storage. 

Google Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL

Photo by Sam Rutherford / Engadget

Those not content with a standard-issue phone can opt for the Pixel 9 Pro or the Pixel 9 Pro XL instead. Notably this year, the Pro moniker doesn’t necessarily mean bigger; the Pixel 9 Pro is the same size as the regular Pixel 9, both with 6.3-inch screens. Google created a new category in its lineup with the Pixel 9 Pro XL — a phone with the the same general specs as the Pro model but with a larger, 6.8-inch display and a 5,060 mAh battery (versus the 4,700 mAh battery on the smaller version).
All three Pixel 9 models use the same Google Tensor G4 processor, but the two Pro phones have 16GB of RAM on hand to execute AI tricks and any other task you might demand from them. You can get either phone with 128GB of storage or a full terabyte. The Pro models also pack an additional 48 MP telephoto lens in the back and a heftier 42 MP selfie camera up front. 
Both come with a year’s subscription to the Google One AI Premium Plan which lets you access all of the tricks Gemini can do — after the free trial, you’ll need to pay $20 monthly (the plan also comes with 2TB of storage). 
The Pixel 9 Pro starts at $999 and the Pixel 9 Pro XL starts at $1,099. Both come in the same four colors: Obsidian, Porcelain, Hazel and Rose Quartz, and include a promised seven years of security and features updates. Like everything announced at the event, the phones are now open to preorders.  

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold

Photo by Sam Rutherford / Engadget

We now officially know that Google’s second foldable phone is not called the Pixel Fold 2, but rather the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. To go along with the enlarged name, there’s a bigger, eight-inch inner screen, making it the largest on any phone out there. The outer screen is larger too, measuring 6.3 inches, up from 5.8 inches last year. Google claims the interior screen is 80 percent brighter than its predecessor and now maxes out at 2,700 nits. 
A persistent complaint with foldables is how heavy and bulky they can feel. Google hopes a few design tweaks will help with that. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold now measures just 0.4 inches when closed, making it the thinnest foldable on the market (as long as you don’t count the sizable camera bump) and at 257g it’s about 25 grams lighter than the Pixel Fold.  
It houses Google’s Tensor G4 chip, comes standard with 16GB of RAM and offers your choice of 256GB or 512GB of storage. Like every piece of 2024 Pixel hardware, The 9 Pro Fold is tailored around Google’s Gemini AI contrivances. Pressing the power button brings up the assistant, which you can use in split screen on the foldable. The phone also comes with a year of the One AI Premium plan, which jumps to $20 per month afterwards. 
The three exterior cameras include a wide, ultrawide and telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom and up to 20x Super Res Zoom. There’s a 10 MP camera on both the interior and on the front of the exterior screen. And, thanks to the foldable nature of the phone you can take selfies using the more powerful rear cameras by checking out the preview of the shot on the exterior screen. 
The latest Google foldable costs the same $1,799 as the 2023 model and comes in either Obsidian or Porcelain. It too is now available for preorder.  

Google Pixel Watch 3

Photo by Sam Rutherford / Engadget

Last year we said the Pixel Watch 2 was “catching up to its rivals,” but still took issue with the disjointed Fitbit integration and the lack of wireless charging. Fitbit is still very much a part of the Pixel Watch 3 experience and charging still requires a cable — our full review will tell us whether those are dealbreakers or not. 
The watch now comes in two sizes, with a larger 45mm case size joining the 41mm model. Thanks to thinner bezels, the 41mm display is 10 percent larger than on the Pixel Watch 2 and the 45mm screen is 40 percent larger. Both screens peak at 2,000 nits, which is twice as bright as 2023’s watch, and both get as dim as 1 nit. 
There’s a new readiness score and cardio load tracking, which sounds a bit like the Training Load feature in Apple’s watchOS 11 — all of which give you feedback on how hard you’re pushing yourself. New integrations include displaying live feed of your Nest cams from your watch and using the wearable as a Google TV remote. The battery offers the same 24 hours of use on a charge, but Google claims recharging will be 20 percent quicker with a 30-watt wall adapter (sold separately).
The 41mm Pixel Watch 3 retails for $349 for WiFi only and $449 with LTE. The 45mm model goes for $399 or $499 if you get cellular connectivity. Both come in your choice of black or silver, with an added hazel hue for the larger case size. 

Google Pixel Buds Pro 2

Photo by Sam Rutherford / Engadget

Despite being smaller and lighter, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 somehow manage to pack an hour longer battery life compared to the Pixel Buds Pro, now getting up to 12 hours of play with noise cancellation off. The Silent Seal feature is back and now should reduce twice as much noise as before. Plus they’ll support Spatial audio with head tracking — but only when paired with a Pixel 6 or newer phone or a Pixel Tablet.  
The Tensor chip inside, the first in a pair of Google earbuds, enables the new features and can process audio “90 times faster than the speed of sound” in order to adapt to your environment. And thanks to multi-path processing, noise-cancellation computations don’t happen on the same channel as the audio, so the music you hear is unaltered.   
New “twist-to-adjust” stabilizers should keep the buds in place when you’re working out, but can be adjusted in the other direction for a more comfortable feel. Conversation Detection is back, meaning you won’t have to pull out a bud when you need to talk to someone — instead the music pauses when you start speaking and resumes when you’re done. 
The Pixel Buds 2 Pro are available to preorder now and come in Porcelain, Hazel, Wintergreen and Peony. They’re selling for $229, which is $29 more than the Pixel Buds Pro were at launch. 

Google Pixel Screenshot app
The new Pixel Screenshot app is only available on Pixel 9 phones at launch (no word yet on wider availability) and uses Gemini Nano (the on-board AI model) to save, extract and organize info you might otherwise forget the origin of. For example, you can take a screenshot of an Instagram post about a music festival and the AI will give you a summary as well as buttons to do things like add dates to your calendar the next time you access that screenshot from the app. A screenshot of a restaurant should produce buttons to call the business or navigate there via Google Maps. 
Google says you should also be able to ask natural questions using the app’s microphone, and Pixel Screenshots will either answer it outright and bring up relevant annotated images. The app launches today, along with everything else and while it’s reminiscent of Apple’s redesigned Photos app, we’ll have to try it for ourselves to really suss out all the differences. 
Android 15 and Gemini
The one thing we expected that didn’t come into play was the launch of Android 15 — we heard a little about the new operating system during May’s Google I/O event. But now we know it’s not coming right away. New Pixel Phones will launch with Android 14. 
When it comes, Android 15 will, unsurprisingly, revolve around giving Gemini the reigns and letting Google’s AI do your bidding. Gemini can be pulled up over whatever app you’re using and answer your questions about what’s on screen. Circle to Share lets you quickly send whatever you happen to be looking at to your contacts with just a couple taps. 
Google has revamped its Assistant around Gemini. Google hardware Chief Rick Osterloh said, “It’s the biggest leap forward since we launched Google Assistant.” And Google promises that the assistant won’t just be for fancy flagship devices, but also existing ones — it’s not just Google phones that get the tools, but all Android phones. Some of the demos (all of which were performed live on stage — with a couple of hiccups, and big cheers when things went right) were performed on Samsung and Motorla phones. President of Android, Sameer Samat, called Gemini the “most widely available AI Assistant.” 
You can now also ask Gemini to access files in your Drive or messages in your Gmail account to generate text-based content like bios, workout plans or itineraries. To keep your personal details private, requests involving the most sensitive info are handled by Gemini Nano, an AI model that lives on your phone.
Other examples included asking Gemini to create a list of the foods a YouTube creator eats on a travel video and then added those to a list. Or asking it to create a playlist described by vibes. With Gemini Live, you get a few new voices, including Dipper, Ursa and Vega. Gemini Live hits hard on the conversational aspect of talking with Gemini and the responses did indeed sound natural — especially when you don’t have to keep saying “hey Google.”
Pixel Weather, Call Notes
Pixel Weather, a redesigned weather app for the Pixel 9 family comes with a handy AI summary and is completely customizable. Call Notes can give you an AI-powered summary of a call after you hang up. You can even review the full transcript of the call. For privacy, the calls and summaries are taken care of on-device instead of sending it to the cloud. Of course it’s completely optional. 
Everything else 
Other features revealed in Mountain View include the Add Me feature in photos. The AI trick allows the photographer to be in the shot by taking one photo without them, and then another with them in place, then AI merges the photos, ensuring reality’s increasing subjectivity. 
Pixel Studio can create images from text prompts. Google’s Alexander Schiffhauer demonstrated creating a party invitation using text prompts and suggestions for different styles fonts, etc. He then sent the image to his friends, and noted that thanks to RCS coming to iPhone, everyone will see the same image. 
This story is developing. Refresh for the latest updates…
Catch up on all the news from Google’s Pixel 9 launch event right here!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/the-google-pixel-9-the-pixel-9-pro-fold-and-everything-announced-at-the-made-by-google-event-170033839.html?src=rss

August used to be a relatively sleepy month for tech news — no longer! Now that Google scooted up its annual October Pixel event by two months, the tech world is abubble, going over everything execs announced from Mountain View, California at the Made By Google keynote on Tuesday. 

The Pixel 9 launch event came with enthusiastic introductions for all the hardware we expected, including the new Pixel 9 and its sizable camera bump. The Pixel 9 Pro and the larger Pixel 9 Pro XL made their official debut, too, and the new foldable, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, does indeed measure just 0.4 inches thick. The new Pixel Watch 3 and Pixel Buds Pro 2 have now been revealed, as were plenty of software features, mostly in the form of Gemini integrations with the latest Android 15.0 operating system. For the play-by-play, you can check out our liveblog or check out Google’s stream. If you just want the highlights, here’s everything announced at the 2024’s Made by Google Pixel event. 

Google Pixel 9

What you first notice about Google’s latest Pixel 9 is the redesigned look. The camera band has been replaced with oblong oval that stands proud from a slab that’s about a tenth of an inch thinner than the Pixel 8. The screen size has bumped back up to 6.3 inches, after dipping to 6.2 inches on the Pixel 8, and is covered in Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. It’s got a polished glass back with satin metal finishes on the frame and cameras. 

Speaking of cameras, there’s the same number as last year (two in the back, one in the front) but the previous generation’s 12 MP ultrawide lens has been replaced with a 48 MP ultrawide lens. The other two cameras have the same specs, except the front cam now has autofocus for better selfies. To take advantage of those fancy sensors, new AI photography enhancements like Add Me and Reimagine join the existing Magic Editor, Night Sight and Best Take features. 

The Pixel 9 houses the same Tensor G4 chip, designed to be better at everyday tasks, while using up less battery. As its more expensive siblings and now comes with 12GB of memory, eliminating the option of an 8GB model. That extra RAM will help handle the many Gemini integrations coming standard in Android 15. Pressing and holding the power button will overlay the assistant on whatever you’re doing on-screen and can answer questions, pull details from other apps, and producing contextualized recommendations based on images you take. 

The Pixel 9 comes with 7 years of OS and security updates and is available in Obsidian, Porcelain, Wintergreen, and Peony. Its starts at $799 for 128GB of storage. 

Google Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL

Those not content with a standard-issue phone can opt for the Pixel 9 Pro or the Pixel 9 Pro XL instead. Notably this year, the Pro moniker doesn’t necessarily mean bigger; the Pixel 9 Pro is the same size as the regular Pixel 9, both with 6.3-inch screens. Google created a new category in its lineup with the Pixel 9 Pro XL — a phone with the the same general specs as the Pro model but with a larger, 6.8-inch display and a 5,060 mAh battery (versus the 4,700 mAh battery on the smaller version).

All three Pixel 9 models use the same Google Tensor G4 processor, but the two Pro phones have 16GB of RAM on hand to execute AI tricks and any other task you might demand from them. You can get either phone with 128GB of storage or a full terabyte. The Pro models also pack an additional 48 MP telephoto lens in the back and a heftier 42 MP selfie camera up front. 

Both come with a year’s subscription to the Google One AI Premium Plan which lets you access all of the tricks Gemini can do — after the free trial, you’ll need to pay $20 monthly (the plan also comes with 2TB of storage). 

The Pixel 9 Pro starts at $999 and the Pixel 9 Pro XL starts at $1,099. Both come in the same four colors: Obsidian, Porcelain, Hazel and Rose Quartz, and include a promised seven years of security and features updates. Like everything announced at the event, the phones are now open to preorders.  

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold

We now officially know that Google’s second foldable phone is not called the Pixel Fold 2, but rather the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. To go along with the enlarged name, there’s a bigger, eight-inch inner screen, making it the largest on any phone out there. The outer screen is larger too, measuring 6.3 inches, up from 5.8 inches last year. Google claims the interior screen is 80 percent brighter than its predecessor and now maxes out at 2,700 nits. 

A persistent complaint with foldables is how heavy and bulky they can feel. Google hopes a few design tweaks will help with that. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold now measures just 0.4 inches when closed, making it the thinnest foldable on the market (as long as you don’t count the sizable camera bump) and at 257g it’s about 25 grams lighter than the Pixel Fold.  

It houses Google’s Tensor G4 chip, comes standard with 16GB of RAM and offers your choice of 256GB or 512GB of storage. Like every piece of 2024 Pixel hardware, The 9 Pro Fold is tailored around Google’s Gemini AI contrivances. Pressing the power button brings up the assistant, which you can use in split screen on the foldable. The phone also comes with a year of the One AI Premium plan, which jumps to $20 per month afterwards. 

The three exterior cameras include a wide, ultrawide and telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom and up to 20x Super Res Zoom. There’s a 10 MP camera on both the interior and on the front of the exterior screen. And, thanks to the foldable nature of the phone you can take selfies using the more powerful rear cameras by checking out the preview of the shot on the exterior screen. 

The latest Google foldable costs the same $1,799 as the 2023 model and comes in either Obsidian or Porcelain. It too is now available for preorder.  

Google Pixel Watch 3

Last year we said the Pixel Watch 2 was “catching up to its rivals,” but still took issue with the disjointed Fitbit integration and the lack of wireless charging. Fitbit is still very much a part of the Pixel Watch 3 experience and charging still requires a cable — our full review will tell us whether those are dealbreakers or not. 

The watch now comes in two sizes, with a larger 45mm case size joining the 41mm model. Thanks to thinner bezels, the 41mm display is 10 percent larger than on the Pixel Watch 2 and the 45mm screen is 40 percent larger. Both screens peak at 2,000 nits, which is twice as bright as 2023’s watch, and both get as dim as 1 nit. 

There’s a new readiness score and cardio load tracking, which sounds a bit like the Training Load feature in Apple’s watchOS 11 — all of which give you feedback on how hard you’re pushing yourself. New integrations include displaying live feed of your Nest cams from your watch and using the wearable as a Google TV remote. The battery offers the same 24 hours of use on a charge, but Google claims recharging will be 20 percent quicker with a 30-watt wall adapter (sold separately).

The 41mm Pixel Watch 3 retails for $349 for WiFi only and $449 with LTE. The 45mm model goes for $399 or $499 if you get cellular connectivity. Both come in your choice of black or silver, with an added hazel hue for the larger case size. 

Google Pixel Buds Pro 2

Despite being smaller and lighter, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 somehow manage to pack an hour longer battery life compared to the Pixel Buds Pro, now getting up to 12 hours of play with noise cancellation off. The Silent Seal feature is back and now should reduce twice as much noise as before. Plus they’ll support Spatial audio with head tracking — but only when paired with a Pixel 6 or newer phone or a Pixel Tablet.  

The Tensor chip inside, the first in a pair of Google earbuds, enables the new features and can process audio “90 times faster than the speed of sound” in order to adapt to your environment. And thanks to multi-path processing, noise-cancellation computations don’t happen on the same channel as the audio, so the music you hear is unaltered.   

New “twist-to-adjust” stabilizers should keep the buds in place when you’re working out, but can be adjusted in the other direction for a more comfortable feel. Conversation Detection is back, meaning you won’t have to pull out a bud when you need to talk to someone — instead the music pauses when you start speaking and resumes when you’re done. 

The Pixel Buds 2 Pro are available to preorder now and come in Porcelain, Hazel, Wintergreen and Peony. They’re selling for $229, which is $29 more than the Pixel Buds Pro were at launch. 

Google Pixel Screenshot app

The new Pixel Screenshot app is only available on Pixel 9 phones at launch (no word yet on wider availability) and uses Gemini Nano (the on-board AI model) to save, extract and organize info you might otherwise forget the origin of. For example, you can take a screenshot of an Instagram post about a music festival and the AI will give you a summary as well as buttons to do things like add dates to your calendar the next time you access that screenshot from the app. A screenshot of a restaurant should produce buttons to call the business or navigate there via Google Maps. 

Google says you should also be able to ask natural questions using the app’s microphone, and Pixel Screenshots will either answer it outright and bring up relevant annotated images. The app launches today, along with everything else and while it’s reminiscent of Apple’s redesigned Photos app, we’ll have to try it for ourselves to really suss out all the differences. 

Android 15 and Gemini

The one thing we expected that didn’t come into play was the launch of Android 15 — we heard a little about the new operating system during May’s Google I/O event. But now we know it’s not coming right away. New Pixel Phones will launch with Android 14. 

When it comes, Android 15 will, unsurprisingly, revolve around giving Gemini the reigns and letting Google’s AI do your bidding. Gemini can be pulled up over whatever app you’re using and answer your questions about what’s on screen. Circle to Share lets you quickly send whatever you happen to be looking at to your contacts with just a couple taps. 

Google has revamped its Assistant around Gemini. Google hardware Chief Rick Osterloh said, “It’s the biggest leap forward since we launched Google Assistant.” And Google promises that the assistant won’t just be for fancy flagship devices, but also existing ones — it’s not just Google phones that get the tools, but all Android phones. Some of the demos (all of which were performed live on stage — with a couple of hiccups, and big cheers when things went right) were performed on Samsung and Motorla phones. President of Android, Sameer Samat, called Gemini the “most widely available AI Assistant.” 

You can now also ask Gemini to access files in your Drive or messages in your Gmail account to generate text-based content like bios, workout plans or itineraries. To keep your personal details private, requests involving the most sensitive info are handled by Gemini Nano, an AI model that lives on your phone.

Other examples included asking Gemini to create a list of the foods a YouTube creator eats on a travel video and then added those to a list. Or asking it to create a playlist described by vibes. With Gemini Live, you get a few new voices, including Dipper, Ursa and Vega. Gemini Live hits hard on the conversational aspect of talking with Gemini and the responses did indeed sound natural — especially when you don’t have to keep saying “hey Google.”

Pixel Weather, Call Notes

Pixel Weather, a redesigned weather app for the Pixel 9 family comes with a handy AI summary and is completely customizable. Call Notes can give you an AI-powered summary of a call after you hang up. You can even review the full transcript of the call. For privacy, the calls and summaries are taken care of on-device instead of sending it to the cloud. Of course it’s completely optional. 

Everything else 

Other features revealed in Mountain View include the Add Me feature in photos. The AI trick allows the photographer to be in the shot by taking one photo without them, and then another with them in place, then AI merges the photos, ensuring reality’s increasing subjectivity. 

Pixel Studio can create images from text prompts. Google’s Alexander Schiffhauer demonstrated creating a party invitation using text prompts and suggestions for different styles fonts, etc. He then sent the image to his friends, and noted that thanks to RCS coming to iPhone, everyone will see the same image. 

This story is developing. Refresh for the latest updates…

Catch up on all the news from Google’s Pixel 9 launch event right here!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/the-google-pixel-9-the-pixel-9-pro-fold-and-everything-announced-at-the-made-by-google-event-170033839.html?src=rss

Read More 

Google’s Pixel 9 lineup is powered by cutting-edge hardware like the Tensor G4 processor and tons of RAM that should help keep your phone feeling fast and fresh for years to come. But all that hardware is also designed to power brand new AI experiences.
“Android is reimagining your phone with Gemini,” wrote Sameer Samat, Google’s president of the Android Ecosystem, in a blog post published on Tuesday. “With Gemini deeply integrated into Android, we’re rebuilding the operating system with AI at the core. And redefining what phones can do.”
Here are the big new AI features coming with the new Pixel devices.
Gemini overlays and Gemini Live
Gemini, Google’s AI-powered chatbot, will be the default assistant on the new Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL and Pixel 9 Pro Fold phones. To access it, simply hold down your phone’s power button and start talking or typing in your question.
A big new change is that you can now bring up Gemini on top of any app you’re using to ask questions about what’s on your screen, like finding specific information about a YouTube video you’re watching, for instance. You’ll also be able to generate images directly from this overlay and drag and drop them into the underlying app, as well as upload a photo into the overlay and ask Gemini questions about it.
Google
If you buy the pricier Pixel 9 Pro (starting at $999), Google’s bundling in one free year of the Google One AI Premium Plan that typically runs $19.99 a month for access to 2 TB cloud storage and access to Gemini Advanced, which lets you try Gemini directly in Google products like Gmail and Docs to help you summarize text and conversations.
Crucially, Gemini Advanced also includes access to Gemini Live, which Google describes as a new “conversational experience” to make speaking with Gemini more intuitive (I’m not the only one having a hard time keeping track of all the things Google brands “Gemini,” don’t worry). You can use Gemini Live to have natural conversations with Gemini about anything that’s on your mind, including, Google says, using it for help with complex questions and job interviews, choosing between a variety of voices that sound stunningly lifelike, according to demos that Google showed Engadget earlier this month.
Google
Recently, OpenAI released Advanced Voice Mode, a similar feature, to paying ChatGPT customers with a voice assistant that can talk, sing, laugh and allegedly understand emotion. When asked if getting Gemini Live to sound as human-like as possible was one of Google’s goals, Sissie Hsiao, the company’s vice president and general manager of Gemini Experiences told Engadget that Google was “not here to flex the technology. We’re here to build a super helpful assistant.”
Photos and Camera features
Google is using AI to make both taking and editing pictures dramatically better with the Pixel 9 phones, something they’ve focused on for years now. A new feature called Add Me, which will be released in preview with the new devices, for instance, will let you take a group photo and then take a picture of the photographer separately and add it to the main picture seamlessly — handy if you don’t have anyone around to take a picture of your entire group.
Meanwhile, Magic Editor, the built-in, AI-powered editing tool on Android, can now suggest the best crops and even expand existing images by filling in details with generative AI to get more of the scene. Finally, a new “reimagine” feature will let you add elements like fall leaves or make grass greener — punching up your images, yes, but blurring the line between which of your memories are real and which are not.
Circle to Search now lets you share
You can already search anything that you see on your phone by simply circling it, but now, AI will intelligently clip whatever you’ve circled and let you instantly share it in a text message or an email. Handy.
Google

Pixel Screenshots
Google

If you can’t figure out how to sort through the tons of pictures of receipts, tickets and screenshots from social media littering your phone’s photo gallery, use AI to help. A brand new app called Pixel Screenshots available on the new Pixel devices at launch will go through your photo library (once you give it permission), pick out screenshots, and then identify what’s within each picture. You can also click pictures of real-world signs (such as a music festival you want to attend, for example), and directly ask the app relevant questions like when do the tickets for the festival go on sale. 
Call Notes
A new feature called Call Notes will automatically save a private summary of each phone call. so you can refer back to a transcript to quickly look up important information from the call like an appointment time, address, or phone number later. Google notes that the feature runs fully on-device, which means that nothing is sent to Google’s servers for processing. And everyone on the call will be notified if you’ve activated Call Notes. 
Pixel Studio

Google
We’ve been able to use AI to generate images for a long time now, but Google is finally building in the feature right into Android thanks to Pixel Studio, a dedicated new image-generation app for Pixel 9 devices. The app runs on both, an on-device model powered by the new Tensor G4 processor and Google’s Imagen 3 model in the cloud. You can share any images you create in the app through messaging or email directly. 
A similar feature called Apple Image Playground is coming to newer iPhones with iOS 18 in September.
Custom weather reports
Google will use AI to create custom weather reports for your specific location right at the top of a new Weather app so you “don’t have to scroll through a bunch of numbers to get a sense of the day’s weather,” according to the company’s blog post. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/here-are-all-the-ai-features-coming-to-the-pixel-9-phones-173551511.html?src=rss

Google’s Pixel 9 lineup is powered by cutting-edge hardware like the Tensor G4 processor and tons of RAM that should help keep your phone feeling fast and fresh for years to come. But all that hardware is also designed to power brand new AI experiences.

“Android is reimagining your phone with Gemini,” wrote Sameer Samat, Google’s president of the Android Ecosystem, in a blog post published on Tuesday. “With Gemini deeply integrated into Android, we’re rebuilding the operating system with AI at the core. And redefining what phones can do.”

Here are the big new AI features coming with the new Pixel devices.

Gemini overlays and Gemini Live

Gemini, Google’s AI-powered chatbot, will be the default assistant on the new Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL and Pixel 9 Pro Fold phones. To access it, simply hold down your phone’s power button and start talking or typing in your question.

A big new change is that you can now bring up Gemini on top of any app you’re using to ask questions about what’s on your screen, like finding specific information about a YouTube video you’re watching, for instance. You’ll also be able to generate images directly from this overlay and drag and drop them into the underlying app, as well as upload a photo into the overlay and ask Gemini questions about it.

If you buy the pricier Pixel 9 Pro (starting at $999), Google’s bundling in one free year of the Google One AI Premium Plan that typically runs $19.99 a month for access to 2 TB cloud storage and access to Gemini Advanced, which lets you try Gemini directly in Google products like Gmail and Docs to help you summarize text and conversations.

Crucially, Gemini Advanced also includes access to Gemini Live, which Google describes as a new “conversational experience” to make speaking with Gemini more intuitive (I’m not the only one having a hard time keeping track of all the things Google brands “Gemini,” don’t worry). You can use Gemini Live to have natural conversations with Gemini about anything that’s on your mind, including, Google says, using it for help with complex questions and job interviews, choosing between a variety of voices that sound stunningly lifelike, according to demos that Google showed Engadget earlier this month.

Recently, OpenAI released Advanced Voice Mode, a similar feature, to paying ChatGPT customers with a voice assistant that can talk, sing, laugh and allegedly understand emotion. When asked if getting Gemini Live to sound as human-like as possible was one of Google’s goals, Sissie Hsiao, the company’s vice president and general manager of Gemini Experiences told Engadget that Google was “not here to flex the technology. We’re here to build a super helpful assistant.”

Photos and Camera features

Google is using AI to make both taking and editing pictures dramatically better with the Pixel 9 phones, something they’ve focused on for years now. A new feature called Add Me, which will be released in preview with the new devices, for instance, will let you take a group photo and then take a picture of the photographer separately and add it to the main picture seamlessly — handy if you don’t have anyone around to take a picture of your entire group.

Meanwhile, Magic Editor, the built-in, AI-powered editing tool on Android, can now suggest the best crops and even expand existing images by filling in details with generative AI to get more of the scene. Finally, a new “reimagine” feature will let you add elements like fall leaves or make grass greener — punching up your images, yes, but blurring the line between which of your memories are real and which are not.

Circle to Search now lets you share

You can already search anything that you see on your phone by simply circling it, but now, AI will intelligently clip whatever you’ve circled and let you instantly share it in a text message or an email. Handy.

Pixel Screenshots

If you can’t figure out how to sort through the tons of pictures of receipts, tickets and screenshots from social media littering your phone’s photo gallery, use AI to help. A brand new app called Pixel Screenshots available on the new Pixel devices at launch will go through your photo library (once you give it permission), pick out screenshots, and then identify what’s within each picture. You can also click pictures of real-world signs (such as a music festival you want to attend, for example), and directly ask the app relevant questions like when do the tickets for the festival go on sale. 

Call Notes

A new feature called Call Notes will automatically save a private summary of each phone call. so you can refer back to a transcript to quickly look up important information from the call like an appointment time, address, or phone number later. Google notes that the feature runs fully on-device, which means that nothing is sent to Google’s servers for processing. And everyone on the call will be notified if you’ve activated Call Notes. 

Pixel Studio

We’ve been able to use AI to generate images for a long time now, but Google is finally building in the feature right into Android thanks to Pixel Studio, a dedicated new image-generation app for Pixel 9 devices. The app runs on both, an on-device model powered by the new Tensor G4 processor and Google’s Imagen 3 model in the cloud. You can share any images you create in the app through messaging or email directly. 

A similar feature called Apple Image Playground is coming to newer iPhones with iOS 18 in September.

Custom weather reports

Google will use AI to create custom weather reports for your specific location right at the top of a new Weather app so you “don’t have to scroll through a bunch of numbers to get a sense of the day’s weather,” according to the company’s blog post. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/here-are-all-the-ai-features-coming-to-the-pixel-9-phones-173551511.html?src=rss

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