Google Pixel 2

As we quickly approach the announcement and launch of the Samsung Galaxy S9, we aren’t expecting much to change on the software side. While Samsung does have a loyal following who enjoyed TouchWiz and the company’s latest Experience launcher, many others still wish the Galaxy handsets ran something closer to “stock Android.”

How much would you pay for a Samsung phone with a Pixel-like version of Android?

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Third-party launchers are an awesome part of Android, especially because you can customize them in a lot of ways. However, it’s often the case that official launchers still work better in some ways.

The Pixel Launcher Google installs on its Pixel devices is easily one of the best in terms of usability, but it lacks a lot of features people want. Now, a developer has added quite a few features to Google’s launcher…

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Yesterday, shortly after Google’s hardware design lead shared images of early Pixel 2 and Pixelbook iterations, a tipster wrote in to tell us that the company had also tested different colored fingerprint sensors and even multi-colored edges. Unfortunately, none of this came to market, and all we got was the orange power button on the panda Pixel 2 XL.

Do you think Google should take what it learned and find ways for customers to customize how the next Pixel smartphone will look?

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Back in 2014, Google hired Ivy Ross to lead Google Glass. With previous stints at Gap, Disney, and Mattel, she is now vice president of hardware design, UX, and research. In an interview, Ross discusses leading the Made by Google design team and revealed some early iterations of the Pixel 2 and other recent devices.

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Like with the original Pixel phones, Google last year released a special edition “Kinda Blue” variant that was limited at launch in the U.S. to Verizon. Today, that color is now available as an Unlocked model on the Google Store and through Project Fi.

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Last July, OnePlus was in the news for running a survey on user phones, asking them what they thought of the device. Then, today, Google began doing something very similar but instead of making it a dismissable notification, the company added a pop-up to a Pixel 2 XL’s settings menu.

Do you think companies should be allowed to add notifications or pop-ups to its smartphones asking customers to answer surveys?

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Back in July of 2017, OnePlus owners were upset when the company began running a “survey” on the phone asking users how they liked its latest handset. Now, it seems as though Google is doing the same thing with the Pixel 2, with a survey popping up in the handset’s settings menu…

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Curved glass has been a trend in the smartphone industry for a few years now, and it’s not really a bad one. Curving the edges and corners of glass help make the device a bit more durable, and it also just looks really cool. However, it’s made getting good screen protectors nearly impossible, especially when that curve is more on the dramatic side.

There have been a lot of inexpensive “solutions” to this, but frankly, they’re not any good. When you up the investment, though, the products get much better, and that’s obvious in the case of Glass Dome screen protectors from Whitestone. Recently, the company brought its product to the Pixel 2 XL, so let’s take a closer look.

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Following this morning’s release of the January security patch, several Pixel and Pixel 2 devices have encountered lag after sideloading the update. Issues include slow animations and long app launch times, but fortunately these is an easy fix.

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Smartphones were probably one of the tops gifts this week at Christmas, and it’s been a good year to gift a phone with tons of great options available. Between the Note 8, Pixel 2, and Apple’s latest crop of iPhones, there are a ton of good phones on the market. However, in an interesting turn of events, it seems that Google actually won the weekend, at least in terms of a boost in sales.

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In addition to opening pop-up locations in Los Angeles and New York for the 2017 Made by Google lineup, the company opened a series of similar stores in India. Given the success of those pop-ups in the key market, Google is now reportedly considering opening brick-and-mortar stores.

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One of the things Google changed about the Pixel 2 from the original that fans didn’t like was the removal of the headphone jack. Google thankfully does include an adapter in the box, but some owners of the phone are reporting that their adapters simply aren’t working.

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At long last, Google has finally launched its first implementation of ARCore on the Pixel 2 handsets in the form of AR stickers. These sticker packs include characters from Star Wars, Stranger Things, and several of the company’s own creations. Here’s a quick hands-on to show you how they work…

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