This week’s top stories: Pixel 2 tidbits, Galaxy Note 8 impressions, Assistant updates, and more

In this week’s top stories: We offer some tidbits about the upcoming Pixel 2, Google highlights new features coming to Assistant, Ben talks about his “long weekend” with the LG V30, and much more. Read on for all of this week’s news.

We kick this week off with some more information about the upcoming Pixel 2. Stephen reported that the device will likely feature IP68 water and dust resistance, as well as an always on display and models with 64GB and 128GB of storage. Furthermore, a Pixel 2 customer support job popped up on LinkedIn this week.

Google this week also highlighted upgrades for Assistant. The company talked about improvements such as better voice recognition, making Assistant more contextually aware, and a translator mode.

Meanwhile, Joe argued that you probably won’t want to buy this year’s smaller Google Pixel 2, while Ben offered his extended thoughts on LG’s latest V30 flagship device.

Last but not least, evidence continued to mount this week that Google is working on a pair of headphones featuring Assistant. The headphones are codenamed “Bistro” and could possibly be Google’s competitors to the Apple AirPods.

These and the rest of this week’s top stories below:

Android | 

• Pixel 2 tidbits: Slate gray/black model, 64GB and 128GB storage, likely IP68 water & dust resistance, always on display
• Google’s Pixel 2 will likely use a Snapdragon 835 as Qualcomm seemingly has no plans for 836
• LG V30: ‘Long weekend’ impressions on the display, camera, battery life, and more [Video]
• Opinion: You probably won’t want to buy this year’s smaller Google Pixel 2
• Pixel 2 customer support job at Google via Accenture pops up on LinkedIn [Update]
• Samsung Galaxy Note 8: AT&T units arriving as soon as today — 10 days earlier than expected
• ‘Data Transfer Tool’ hits the Play Store, possibly showing off Pixel 2-esque render
• Huawei is officially the 2nd largest smartphone brand on the planet as it surpasses Apple
• Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Review Roundup: Nearly perfect but with a ridiculous price
• Here’s how to kill Android Oreo’s annoying ‘running in the background’ notification
• Android 8.0 Oreo available for some OnePlus 3 owners, stable builds for 3, 3T, and 5 coming this month
• Sketchy questionnaire from earlier this year surveys preferred Google Pixel 2 features

Accessories |

• Google support page reveals new ‘Headphones’ product, possibly Assistant-running ‘Bisto’
• Google Assistant is gaining mysterious new smart home control features, software update inbound

Apps |

• Google shows off upgrades for Assistant — better voice recognition, more contextually aware, translator mode
• Chrome 61 for Android hits stable w/ share menu & Translate redesign as bottom bar UI begins rollout
• Chrome 61 rolling out now to Mac, Windows, and Linux w/ new developer APIs

Google |

• Why would Google want (need?) to buy HTC’s failing smartphone division?
• Google Feed is no longer an exclusive to US users, rolling out now to other countries
• Google’s Drive File Stream client for enterprise G Suite customers launching today

This week’s top videos |

• Galaxy Note 8 unboxing and first impressions: What a press kit! [Video]
• Essential Phone Review: Android’s best hardware overshadowed by a subpar camera [Video]
• Previewing ARCore with Atom Visualizer [Video]

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