AT&T’s power line-mounted internet service is back for more tests

Providing high-speed internet to rural areas is a constant challenge; after all, there isn’t a lot of incentive for companies to build infrastructure for a limited number of people. That’s why AT&T’s Project AirGig is so interesting. It provides internet speeds of up to 1 gigabyte per second thanks to power lines. Today, the company announced that it’s starting its first international trial of AirGig, as well as its second US trial in the state of Georgia.

It’s been awhile since we’ve heard about AirGig — well over a year — so you’d be forgiven for thinking AT&T had abandoned idea. Apparently, the company is just taking its time with the testing phase. It’s unclear where the first US trial took place.

AirGig works through tiny radio stations that are mounted on top of existing infrastructure and telephone poles. They don’t require access to the pole’s power source and doesn’t use the existing wiring to send signals. Instead, AirGig stations use millimeter wave signals to communicate. It’s a low-cost, low-impact way to put high-speed internet in areas that don’t currently have access to it.

The team at AT&T is hoping to develop the tech further based on what they learn in these trials. There’s no timeline on this current phase, or any hint of when the tech might be available commercially. AT&T is clearly not hurrying along with this project, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Hopefully it means that the tech will be refined and well-tested when it finally does come to market.

Via: Reuters

Source: AT&T

7-Eleven tests app-based deliveries in Dallas

Convenience stores earned their name by stocking food and everyday items in a shop you could easily reach. But what if your local store isn’t all that close, or it doesn’t carry what you’re looking for? If everything goes according to plan, 7-Eleven might have you covered. It’s testing a mobile app, 7-ElevenNow, that lets you order food, drinks and other products for delivery or in-store pickup. You won’t have to brave the rain just to score a pack of your favorite soft drinks — instead, a courier can bring them to you. The trial is active in 10 Dallas-area stores.

How quickly 7-ElevenNow expands will likely depend on the success of the Dallas trial, but it should reach other American locations in 2018.

The company is no stranger to dipping its toe in the delivery waters — it has even made drone deliveries. It sees features like mobile ordering as a way to expand the reach of its stores beyond their immediate neighborhoods, reducing the need for extra stores and making better use of locations that don’t get much foot traffic. You probably won’t use the mobile app often (it’s a bit ridiculous to pay a delivery fee for some milk and potato chips), but that’s not the point. This is more to cover those times when you’d be tempted to visit another store.

Source: 7-Eleven

Best mobile gifts for the 2017 holiday season

‘Tis the season to buy awesome tech for your friends and family, but picking the right gift can prove tricky. That’s why we prepared this list of the tried and tested mobile devices and accessories we loved this year. We have mobile gift options for all budgets that are sure to please the mobile fan in your life. For ideas beyond mobile, check out our holiday gift guide. Now, grab your cocoa, put your feet up in front of a roaring fire, and let’s shop the civilized way – online.

Smartphones

If you’re feeling flush or buying for your significant other or a close family member, then you might consider splashing out on a smartphone. These constant companions play a big role in our lives, so choose wisely.

Apple iPhone X ($1,000)

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

In a year of stellar smartphones Apple’s iPhone X still stood out as something special. If money is no object and you want the best, then you can’t go wrong with this phone. The gorgeous OLED screen, the fantastic camera, and the lightning fast performance add up to our phone of the year. Read our full iPhone X review.

Buy one now from:

Apple  Verizon

Google Pixel 2 XL ($850)

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

For people who prefer Android, there’s no better device than Google’s own Pixel 2 XL. Slick software, a gorgeous design, and one of the best cameras we’ve ever used add up to an easy purchase. Learn more about it in our Google Pixel 2 XL review.

Buy one now from:

Verizon  Best Buy

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 ($930)

You get the same seductive curves in the Note 8 as you’ll find in Samsung’s Galaxy S8, but you also get a bigger screen, an excellent dual-lens camera, and the S Pen stylus with a bunch of dedicated features for note-taking and sketching. Find out more in our Samsung Galaxy Note 8 review.

Buy one now from:

Amazon Samsung

OnePlus 5T ($500)

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Top performance, a great design, a 6-inch AMOLED screen, and a capable camera may leave you wondering why you’d pay more than $500 for a new smartphone. The OnePlus 5T is great value. Read our full OnePlus 5T review for more details.

Buy one now from:

OnePlus Amazon

Huawei Honor 7X ($200)

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

With a big, edge-to-edge screen, a great design, a solid dual-lens camera, and some other bells and whistles you’d expect to find in a phone twice this price, the Honor 7X is very reasonably priced and makes a great gift. Find out more in our Honor 7X review.

Buy one now from:

Honor

Tablets

Whether lounging around at home, or watching a movie on a flight or train, sometimes you want a bigger screen than your phone. Tablets are a great gift for young and old, so here are our top picks.

Apple iPad ($330)

Julian Chokkatuu/Digital Trends

The right tablet for most people, Apple’s 2017 iPad has a 9.7-inch display, plenty of power under the hood, and a wide choice of great, fully-optimized, apps and games. Find out all about it in our Apple iPad review.

Buy one now from:

Apple

Apple iPad Pro 10.5-inch ($650)

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

If you want the best tablet in the world, then this is it. Perfect for kicking back and watching a movie, but also capable of doubling up as a laptop replacement, the iPad Pro 10.5-inch is powerful and beautifully designed. Read our full iPad Pro 10.5-inch review.

Buy one now from:

Apple Best Buy

Amazon Fire HD 10 ($150)

Dan Baker/Digital Trends

For anyone on a tight budget, the Fire HD 10 is a great pick. If you’re a Prime member and you want something to watch movies, browse the web, and play games on, this is ideal. For kids we recommend checking out the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition, which comes with age-appropriate curated content. Read our full Amazon Fire HD 10 review.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Wearables

They can help you get fit, listen to music on the go, and stay in touch, so little wonder that wearables are still growing in popularity. They also make great gifts. Here are the wearables we’d love to receive.

Apple Watch Series 3 ($330)

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

With plenty of personalization options, slick voice controls, and superb fitness tracking capabilities, the Apple Watch Series 3 is the best smartwatch on the market, especially if you own an iPhone. Read our Apple Watch Series 3 review for more details.

Buy one now from:

Apple Amazon

Samsung Gear Sport ($300)

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

If you have an Android phone, then consider Samsung’s Gear Sport smartwatch. It’s slim, stylish, and capable of tracking your fitness activities accurately. Shop around and you should be able to find it discounted. Find out more in our Samsung Gear Sport review.

Buy one now from:

Amazon Samsung

Huawei Watch 2 ($300)

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

This is one of the most feature-packed Android Wear 2.0 smartwatches around with built-in GPS, NFC, heart rate monitor, 4GB of storage, and a lot more. You can also find it highly discounted if you shop around. Read our Huawei Watch 2 review for more details.

Buy one now from:

Amazon B&H

Moov Now ($60)

If you just want a simple fitness tracker that syncs up with your phone, then the waterproof Moov Now can track various activities and boasts a battery that can last up to six months. Read more about the Moov Now.

Buy one now from:

Amazon Jet

Mobile accessories

If you’re looking for some tempting tech gift ideas that won’t break the bank, then this range of mobile accessories should be right up your street.

Phone cases

Affordable, practical, and fun, phone cases can be great gifts for the smartphone owner in your life. Incipio offer a great range of phone cases that combine style and protection. If you want something tough, then try Otterbox or Speck. For a personalized gift, why not order a customized phone case from Casetify? We also think the cases at Carved are a little bit special.

Casetify Custom Case ($40+)

Simon Hill / Digital Trends

Get a solid protective case with a photo or text of your choice on the back. You can design your ideal case at Casetify and create something personal and unique.

Buy one now from:

Casetify

Carved Traveler Case ($24+)

Simon Hill / Digital Trends

Natural wood grain and a black plastic shell with extra grip is a good combination, but Carved also offers artistic designs, like this Grand Teton case at $39. There are loads of gorgeous designs to choose from.

Buy one now from:

Carved Amazon

We have dedicated round ups that highlight the best iPhone X cases, best Galaxy S8 cases, and the best cases for just about every other phone you can name, so take a look at those for more ideas.

Battery packs

We have a big roundup highlighting the best portable chargers, but to save you some time here are our top two picks. Portable battery chargers are great gifts and perfect for keeping smartphones alive on the go.

Anker PowerCore Speed 20,000 ($56)

Simon Hill / Digital Trends

This huge capacity portable charger will refill an iPhone 8 six times over and it supports quick charging. If it’s more than you need, then check out the 10,000mAh capacity version. Anker makes our favorite, functional, no-frills portable chargers, so you can’t go wrong with any of its offerings.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

iQunix MiniPower Portable Charger ($13)

Simon Hill / Digital Trends

This will fully charge most smartphones once. It’s durable and very portable, so it’s easy to slip in a bag. It’s also very affordable and makes a nice wee gift.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Wireless chargers

If your loved one has a new iPhone or an Android that supports wireless charging, then you should get them a wireless charging pad. We have a list of the best wireless chargers if you need more ideas, but here are a couple of our favorites.

RavPower Wireless Fast Charging Pad ($50)

Fast, portable, and good value for money, this Qi-compatible pad is a great pick. When we tested three wireless charging pads with the iPhone 8 this was the winner.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Anker PowerPort Wireless 5 Stand ($27)

Simon Hill / Digital Trends

For affordable, quality mobile accessories you can’t beat Anker and this reasonably priced wireless charging stand is ideal for propping up your phone on the desk or nightstand. It works with any phone that supports the Qi standard.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Bluetooth speakers

We have a great round up of the best Bluetooth speakers, but they’re all quite expensive, so we’ve picked out a couple that are ideally priced as gifts.

Divoom Timebox Mini ($60)

Simon Hill/Digital Trends

A fun gift for kids or adults, this Bluetooth speaker also has a programmable pixel art display. You’ll find a host of unusual features via the companion app for Android or iOS.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Anker SoundCore 2 ($40)

The Anker SoundCore outputs 12W, is water resistant, works for phone calls, and has a decent big battery. If you can stretch to $80, then you can buy the even better 20W, SoundCore Boost.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

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Samsung refreshes its Notebook 9 laptops for 2018, adds model supporting S Pen

Samsung revealed on Wednesday, December 13, the latest refresh of its Samsung Notebook 9 family slated for 2018 in North America. There will be three units in the refresh along with a new 2-in-1 labeled as the Samsung Notebook 9 Pen. This model will include Samsung’s S Pen and sport a 13.3-inch screen, while the refreshed Notebooks 9 units will consist of a 13.3-inch model, and two 15-inch models.

According to Samsung, all four units rely on Intel’s eighth-generation Core i7 processors with integrated graphics. But one of the 15-inch models will ship with a discrete GeForce MX150 graphics chip built for laptops, promising four times better performance than integrated graphics. This chip is good for running PC games on medium detail settings, and at a 720p resolution.

First, let’s dig into the hardware specifics:

Notebook 9 13
Notebook 9 Pen 13
Notebook 9 15
Screen size:
13.3 inches
13.3 inches
15 inches
Resolution:
1920 x 1080
1920 x 1080
1920 x 1080
Color space:
sRGB 95 percent
sRGB 95 percent
sRGB 95 percent
Max brightness:
500 nits
450 nits
450 nits
Hinge:
180 degrees
360 degrees
180 degrees
Processor:
Intel 8th Gen Core i7
Intel 8th Gen Core i7
Intel 8th Gen Core i7
Graphics:
Integrated
Integrated
Integrated
GeForce MX150
Memory:
Up to 16GB DDR4
Up to 16GB DDR4
Up to 16GB DDR4
Storage:
Up to 1TB
NVMe PCIe SSD
Up to 512GB
NVMe PCIe SSD
Up to 1TB
NVMe PCIe SSD
Audio:
2x 1.5-watt speakers
2x 1.5-watt speakers
2x 1.5-watt speakers
Camera(s):
720p
720p, infrared
720p
Connectivity:
Wireless AC
Bluetooth 4.1
Wireless AC
Bluetooth 4.1
Wireless AC
Bluetooth 4.1
Ports:
1x USB-C (Gen1)
2x USB-A (Gen1)
1x HDMI
1x uSD card slot
1x Audio jack
1x USB-C (Gen1)
1x USB-A (Gen1)
1x HDMI
1x uSD card slot
1x Audio jack
1x Thunderbolt 3
2x USB-A (Gen1)
1x HDMI
1x uSD card slot
1x Audio jack
Battery:
75WHr
39WHr
75WHr

Dimensions: (inches)

12.18 x 8.18 x 0.58
12.22 x 8.13 x 0.57/0.64
13.69 x 9.03 x 0.60
Weight:
2.19 pounds
2.19 pounds
2.84 pounds
Security:
Fingerprint scanner
Fingerprint scanner
Fingerprint scanner
Color:
Titan Silver
Crush White
Light Titan
Titan Silver
Crush White

The Samsung Notebook 9 Pen version provides a built-in holder for the S Pen peripheral. Once its removed, Samsung’s Air Command utility automatically launches on the notebook, providing access to Autodesk Sketchbook, Samsung Notes, and other S Pen shortcuts.

Meanwhile, all four models are based on a premium magnesium aluminum alloy called Metal12. It’s supposedly lighter than aluminum, but durable enough to withstand everyday use. The bezel surrounding all four Notebook 9 screens measures just 0.244 inches thin, providing more viewing area and less frame.

The notebooks provide up to 16GB of system memory, PCI Express-based NVMe SSDs, HDMI output, and fingerprint scanners. The 15-inch models add a Thunderbolt 3 port while the S Pen-based unit includes an infrared camera for facial recognition. In turn, the benefits of using the S Pen means the 2-in-1 has a smaller battery than its pen-free 13.3-inch clamshell brother.

All four Samsung Notebook 9 models will hit Korea in December followed by a launch in North America in the first quarter of 2018. Samsung has yet to provide pricing, but we’ll likely find out more during the CES 2018 technology show in Las Vegas in early January.

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DOJ confirms criminal investigation into Uber vs. Waymo

The civil trial between Uber and Waymo over stolen self-driving technology was supposed to start December 4th, but Judge Alsup announced a delay last month. Now he has unsealed the letter (over objections from the US Attorney’s Office in San Francisco) from the Department of Justice that caused the delay. It not only confirms that there is a criminal investigation into Uber’s behavior, it reveals a former employee’s claim that the company intentionally used “non-attributable electronic devices” (read: burner phones and the like) to conceal use of any stolen technology.

In the letter, it also says that the former employee, Richard Jacobs, described a “hypothetical” where two CEOs could meet covertly for a long period of time prior to an acquisition. Two CEOs, like, say, Anthony Levandowski of Otto and Travis Kalanick of Uber.

Source: DocumentCloud

Samsung’s 2018 Notebook 9 lineup includes MacBook, Surface challengers

Last year Samsung’s Notebook 9 laptop kept it simple with a standard thin-and-light design that got the important things right, but didn’t sport flashy features like a high-res display or hybrid design. Earlier this year the Pro edition added a folding hinge for 2-in-1 tablet use and a stylus, and next year the company will fully revamp its lineup with four new devices. The new Notebook 9 Pen is ready to take on Surface devices with its built-in battery-free S Pen stylus, to go with a “thoughtfully designed” 2-in-1 hybrid laptop/tablet. The 13-inch devices comes with an 8th generation Intel Core i7 CPU, up to 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage, but weighs just 2.2 pounds thanks to its “Metal12” magnesium-aluminum alloy.

The three new Notebook 9 laptops have a more familiar look and feel, and are available in either 13.3- or 15-inch sizes. They can include up to 1TB of storage, and the 15-inch has an option for discrete graphics, but they share the Pen’s CPU and RAM options. All of these laptops include fingerprint scanners and Windows Hello support (the 9 Pen includes IR scanning for facial recognition), while only the 15-inch has a Thunderbolt port.

We’ll learn more about them in a couple of weeks at CES, and see all the new competition on the way in 2018. There’s no word on price or exact release date, but they’re due to arrive in the US during Q1.

• Notebooks designed for mobility – both devices are among the thinnest in their class for easy portability, and working on-the-go. Made from Metal12™ complemented by Micro Arc Oxidation (MAO) technology, both devices are lighter than most metal laptops, yet durable with the advanced MAO treatment of oxide coating on the surface to ensure to-do lists get finished regardless of where life takes you.
• Added security and convenience – both devices come with Windows Hello built-in for secure authentication through the fingerprint sensor without having to type in a password, while the Notebook 9 Pen also features an IR front-facing camera for facial recognition login through Windows Hello. Both PCs feature the Privacy Folder for storing sensitive data.
• High-quality performance – combining the best in portability with a high-quality display and strong performance, the RealView display brings a bright and accurate premium image, with lifelike colors and incredible brightness ideal for using the device both indoors and out. Both devices also feature the latest 8th generation Intel Core i7 processor and Samsung Dual Channel Memory for quick speeds to handle jobs like running multiple programs or viewing and rendering high-quality graphics without reduced performance or speed.
• Productivity and collaboration – Samsung offers several tools that appeal to tech-savvy professionals such as Samsung Link Sharing, which allows users to transfer videos, photos and documents stored on their PC to another computer or smart device*. Additional software solutions available on both devices include Samsung Message that enable users to send messages from their PC to contacts saved on their smartphone**, as well as preinstalled Voice Note for voice-activated note taking, and Studio Plus for custom content creation and editing.

Source: Samsung, Samsung Newsroom

iOS 11 Indoor Maps Feature Now Available at More Than 40 Airports and Malls

Starting in iOS 11, Apple introduced support for indoor maps for select malls and airports around the world. Indoor maps have been slow to roll out, but Apple has been steadily adding additional mall and airport maps since September.

Apple today began listing indoor maps for malls and airports on its iOS 11 feature availability page, giving us a clear picture of exactly where the indoor mapping feature is available for the first time.

Apple offers indoor maps at 34 airports around the world, in countries that include the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Hong Kong, the UK, and Canada.

Indoor maps for malls are more limited, but are available in several locations around the United States including Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Jose, and Washington, DC.

Apple’s indoor mapping feature provides full layouts of each mall or airport location with icons for restaurants, elevators, bathrooms, shops, and other notable landmarks. Different floors are clearly marked, making it easy to navigate through unknown areas.

For airports, Maps users can see the location of gates, terminals security checkpoints, check-in desks, and baggage claim areas, which can be helpful when in a new location. As for malls, stores can be filtered by categories like clothes, beauty, food, and shoes, so it’s quicker to find just what you’re looking for.

All of the malls and airports where the Apple Maps indoor mapping feature can be used are listed on the iOS 11 feature availability page.

Tag: Apple Maps
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Force Block extension now blasts evil ‘The Last Jedi’ spoilers in Chrome

The eighth installment in the Skywalker saga, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, is just a few days away from flooding movie theaters. Early reviews are starting to arrive, some of which herald it as the best Star Wars movie since The Empire Strikes Back. That’s a tall order to fill, but if you want to judge for yourself without any pre-show spoilers, there is a Chrome extension just for you.

Called Force Block, the extension first arrived on the Chrome Web Store at the end of 2015. Creator Matt Tyndall realized that he couldn’t escape spoilers related to the seventh episode, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, without shutting off his internet connection. To get around that possible mind-numbing disconnect, he proceeded to create a Chrome extension.

“Luckily, J.J. Abrams and Disney have kept the story buttoned up for us so far, giving us a unique chance of experiencing the movie like many did when A New Hope first premiered,” he said. “But once the film starts making its way into the hands of those outside the innermost circles, well …”

According to Tyndall, Force Block will analyze web pages using “smart pattern detection.” During the scan, the extension relies on a database of Star Wars terms and will flag the page if too many tagged terms reach a specific threshold. The page will go dark, save for one message stating that “the ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of spoilers.”

Once the warning appears, you have the option of continuing, and to prevent the extension from blocking the page in the future. Force Block experienced more than 100,000 downloads by the time Priceless Misc added support for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in December 2016. Now it protects Star Wars fans against evil spoilers stemming from The Last Jedi, as well.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits theaters on Friday, December 15. The Resistance is still battling the New Order while Rey (Daisy Ridley) serves as Luke Skywalker’s (Mark Hamill) latest Padawan on the planet Ahch-To. The film supposedly tackles a lot of questions raised by The Force Awakens, but early reviews say the tone, action, and dramatic storytelling echoes the greatness of The Empire Strikes Back. Given the lackluster reception of the prequels and the A New Hope-style storyline in Episode VII, The Last Jedi appears to be the best post-Empire film to date.

But as Tyndall pointed out prior to The Force Awakens, many fans want a spoiler-free experience just like many of us observed when Star Wars originally hit theaters in 1977. That is where the Force Block extension comes in although no Star Wars movie will ever make the same impact as the original Episode IV film did 40 years ago.

Once The Last Jedi arrives and thoroughly dazzles your eyeballs, the Chrome extension can always be removed. Instructions for doing so can be found here.

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• Everything we know about ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’ so far
• Bring the power of the Force to your holidays with these Star Wars deals
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• Disney preps new Rian Johnson-helmed Star Wars trilogy, new live-action series
• Stellar ‘Star Wars’ gifts to celebrate the release of ‘The Last Jedi’

Deep-learning algorithms help study brain waves to predict seizures

Researchers at the University of Melbourne and IBM Research Australia have taken a big step in developing the ability to predict seizures triggered by epilepsy. Using deep learning, a brain-inspired machine learning technique, the system automatically analyzes the electrical activity of a patient’s brain, improving seizure prediction by 69 percent, and giving patients time to recognize the onset of an episode.

Artificial intelligence algorithms are increasingly being used in healthcare, from crunching chemical combinations to discovering new drugs to offering advice on dieting. But in most of these cases, the algorithms are best used in combination with medical professionals, giving human decision-makers insight to make better decisions.

“Epileptic seizure monitoring and prediction is a perfect use case for demonstrating the potential of this,” Stefan Harrer, an IBM Research Australia staff member who worked on the recent study, told Digital Trends. “[It has] huge amounts of noisy, unstructured data that clinicians were previously required to analyze manually (with many details on EEG data incredibly difficult for them to interpret or even see and real-time analysis virtually impossible). A.I. has shown that EEG data can now be analyzed and could be applied in a fully automatic, patient-specific mobile system.”

The system developed by Harrer and his team was trained on EEG data previously collected from multiple patients over several years during which seizures occurred. By comparing seizure data to a dataset of patients with normal brain activity, when a seizure hadn’t yet occurred, the system was able to identify recurring patterns that signaled the onset of an episode. They system can’t yet be generalized since the patterns are patient-specific, but the study demonstrates how the right data can aid a patient.

“Our hope is that this could inform the development of a wearable seizure warning system that is specific to an individual patient, and could alert them via text message or even a fitbit-style feedback loop,” Harrer said. “It could also one day be integrated with other systems to prevent or treat seizures at the point of alert.”

Moving forward the researchers want to be able to collect this data from outside the skull, making the process less invasive, while leveraging other factors about a patient’s environment and physiology to better refine the prediction models.

The results were presented at the 2017 NIPS Conference in Long Beach, California. A paper detailing the research is scheduled to be published in the journal EbioMedicine.

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Google extends Assistant support to older Android smartphones and tablets

Back in February, Google’s biggest announcement at Mobile World Congress was that its artificially intelligent Assistant was officially available on smartphones running Android Marshmallow and Nougat. Google is now bringing built-in support for the Assistant to smartphones running older operating systems — specifically Android Lollipop, along with tablets running Marshmallow and Nougat.

Assistant lets users perform certain actions with their voice by saying “OK Google,” or by pressing and holding the home button. You can ask it about your upcoming day — and Assistant will recite your calendar events, the weather, and even put on a podcast of your choice — or you can use it to control your smart home devices. It can make quick translations, find the nearest restaurant, pull up your flight information, and a whole lot more. It’s conversational and it understands contextual search so you don’t need to repeat queries or commands more than once.

Assistant originally debuted in Google’s messaging app, Allo. It then went on to be a prominent feature of the Google Pixel, the company’s first phone “made by Google,” and it’s also what powers Google Home, an Amazon Echo competitor. It’s also available now on Android Wear, and it’s heading to Android Auto as well as Android TV.

Smartphones running Marshmallow or Nougat — basically version 6.0 or higher — have been able to use Assistant since March. The best part was that you didn’t have to wait for a version update from Google or your device manufacturer, which would have taken months to roll out. Instead, version 6.13 or higher of the Google app brought the Assistant functionality.

There are rules governing which devices are eligible to utilize Assistant, though. Specifically, you’ll need to have Google Play Services installed, so phones in China are not able to utilize Assistant. Secondly, your device will need to have at least 1.5GB of RAM, and a 720p or higher screen resolution.

For those with a phone running Lollipop — which was released in 2014 — the update should appear on your device soon. But it will only be available if you have set the language to English in the U.S., India, U.K., Canada, Australia, and Singapore. It will also be available to those who have set their main language to Spanish in the U.S., Spain, and Mexico — along with users in Italy, Japan, Germany, South Korea, and Brazil.

As for Android tablets that are running 7.0 Nougat and 6.0 Marshmallow, the update will be rolling out over the next few weeks. But it will only be available to those in the U.S. who have their default language set to English.

Update: Google Assistant will be available on phones running Android Lollipop and tablets running Nougat and Marshmallow.

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