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Alphabet’s Project Wing plans to deliver burritos by drone in South Eastern Australia

Avatar for Haye Kesteloo Oct 17 2017 - 12:33 pm PT
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Burrito's delivered by drone - Alphabet’s Project Wing in South Eastern Australia

It has been a little quiet around Alphabet’s Project Wing, but that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been any progress. Over the last few years, Project Wing has made thousands of test flights and now they are ready to start testing burrito deliveries… again.

The test market is Queanbeyan, South Eastern Australia, where two merchants have signed up for Project Wing. Guzman y Gomez, a Mexican food chain, and Chemist Warehouse, a chain of pharmacies. These companies will receive orders from test consumers, who’ve purchased items using the Project Wing app on their smartphones. Project Wing’s drones will then fly out and make the deliveries.


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Pixel Visual Core is Google’s first custom SOC, will make Pixel 2 photos even better in Android 8.1

Avatar for Justin Duino Oct 17 2017 - 6:55 am PT
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Google is able to take such fantastic photos on the Pixel 2 because of a fine-tuned mix of physical hardware (camera lens and sensor), software (enabling HDR+), and machine learning. Even in its current form, the new phones take some of the best photos on a phone.

But the HDR+ process on the Pixel 2 and 2 XL uses a lot of processing power when capturing stunning photos with almost no latency, so Google made Pixel Visual Core, its first consumer-facing system-on-a-chip, which will help it process photos faster and more efficiently.


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Google Pixel 2 Initial Review: Buy the bigger one [Video]

Avatar for Oct 17 2017 - 6:03 am PT
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Last year’s Pixel and Pixel XL replaced the Nexus lineup as the de facto flagships for stock Android purists, and they ended up being some of the best phones on the market. Naturally, we were excited to get our hands on their sequels, and I’ve spent the weekend with the Pixel 2.

Our full review is coming soon, but in the meantime we wanted to give some of our early impressions on the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL — and I was tasked with sharing my thoughts on the smaller one.


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Here’s a list of every song the Google Pixel 2’s ‘Now Playing’ feature can recognize [Google: Much more than 17K]

Avatar for Justin Duino Oct 16 2017 - 4:28 pm PT
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One of the Google Pixel 2’s best new features is its ambient music recognition technology. What’s impressive is that the handset itself will be able to identify almost any song and without the need to communicate with any external servers. Thanks to a developer, we now have a list containing all 17,000+ songs the Pixel 2 is currently capable of recognizing…


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Google Pixel 2 & 2 XL: How to take a screenshot

Avatar for Justin Duino Oct 14 2017 - 6:30 am PT
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As with any Android smartphone, it’s pretty easy to capture screenshots on the Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL. Unlike other OEMs, though, there aren’t any fancy ways to capture scrolling screenshots or create animated GIFs. Instead, Google sticks to the tried and true method of using the physical power and volume buttons as well as the Assistant to help capture content on your screen…


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Google is permanently removing Home Mini’s top touch functionality due to always-recording bug

Avatar for Justin Duino Oct 11 2017 - 5:13 pm PT
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Yesterday, Google confirmed that one of the Home Mini’s features — the ability to trigger Assistant by tapping on the top of the speaker — was defective on a select number of units. As the bug was causing the smart speaker to essentially listen and record its surroundings 24/7, Google quickly pushed out an update to disable this feature.

Google has now reached out to let us know that it has permanently removed the Assistant-specific touch functionality and will not bring it back…


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Google finds that Russia did, after all, use its platforms to interfere with 2016 election

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Oct 9 2017 - 5:53 am PT
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While the Russian government was found to have bought around 3,000 ads on Facebook in an attempt to influence the 2016 U.S. election, Google has previously said that it had found no similar practices on its own ad platforms.

However, it now appears that further investigation has found evidence of Russian-bought election ads on YouTube, Google Search, Gmail and the company’s DoubleClick ad network …


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Made by Google pop-up stores will open in NYC and LA on October 19

Avatar for Justin Duino Oct 8 2017 - 11:17 pm PT
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Just like last year, Google is going to be hosting two pop-up stores, one in New York City and another in Los Angeles, to show off and sell some of its new Made by Google products. The search giant hasn’t provided many details about the stores themselves, but we do know that doors will open starting on October 19…


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LifeProof Frē for Pixel 2 / 2 XL pre-orders open, first waterproof Made for Google case

Avatar for Justin Duino Oct 5 2017 - 1:53 pm PT
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After listening to complaints about the lack of water resistance last year, Google made sure that the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL were IP67 water and dust resistant. While this rating is meant to protect the handsets in up to 1m of water submersion for 30 minutes, it isn’t complete protection. If you need something that offers more to protect your phone, LifeProof has something that might work……


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Moshi joins Made for Google with a ridiculously expensive USB-C to 3.5 mm adapter

Avatar for Oct 4 2017 - 1:46 pm PT
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Following the Pixel 2 launch event, the online Google Store has been updated with new accessories from third-party manufacturers participating in the new Made for Google program. While most of the accessories listed are headphones and cases, Moshi is offering a USB-C adapter that aims to tackle the Pixel 2’s lack of a headphone jack.


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Where to buy the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL: Here’s what we know so far

Avatar for Justin Duino Oct 4 2017 - 11:37 am PT
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Google officially unveiled both of its second generation Pixel smartphones today. While the smaller Pixel 2 isn’t much of a departure from last year’s model, the Pixel 2 XL has received a refreshed look and increased price tag. Additionally, Google has once again partnered with Verizon to be the Pixel 2’s exclusive wireless provider, but will sell the handsets unlocked at other retailers. Here’s what we know so far…


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Google Pixel 2 XL specs: Minimal bezels, dual front-facing speakers, $850 price tag, more

Avatar for Justin Duino Oct 4 2017 - 10:20 am PT
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As expected, Google unveiled two new Pixel smartphones today: the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. While the smaller of the two handsets did get a small design tweak around back, it keeps the large bezels found around the display. The Pixel 2 XL, on the other hand, received a major upgrade, now with smaller bezels and dual front-facing speakers. Here are the Google Pixel 2 XL’s official specs…


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