Facebook’s M virtual assistant is being shut down on January 19

Two years later, Facebook’s pulling the plug on M.

Back in 2015, Facebook announced its own virtual assistant by the name of “M.” M was different from the likes of Siri and Alexa due to the fact that it was regularly monitored by a group of humans to help grow the platform, and because of this, M could do things book reservations, order gifts, and more. The assistant was only ever made available to a small group of people in California, and on January 19, 2018, Facebook will be shutting it down.

In a statement that the company issued, Facebook said:

We launched this project to learn what people needed and expected of an assistant, and we learned a lot. We’re taking these useful insights to power other AI projects at Facebook. We continue to be very pleased with the performance of M suggestions in Messenger, powered by our learnings from this experiment.

As mentioned above, M Suggestions that was released for all users in the United States last April will live on. M Suggestions isn’t as powerful as the full M assistant, but it can be used in Messenger conversations to suggest stickers that you can use, create calendar appointments, etc.

M showed signs of real potential, and while it might be disappointing to some users to see it die, we’re anxiously awaiting to see how Facebook uses this tech with future products and services.

Until then, rest in peace, M.

The first baby monitor with Alexa is coming in February for $229

Sony Xperia XA2 and XA2 Ultra hands-on: No more quirks, these are just good phones

Caveats are gone, so let’s start looking at Sony’s phones again.

Putting aside Sony’s struggles with flagship phones in the U.S., the company has quietly picked up solid sales of its mid-range devices, with notable standouts like the Xperia XA1 and XA1 Ultra in 2017. It stands to reason that a refresh would be in the works, and so we have the appropriately named Xperia XA2 and XA2 Ultra at CES 2018.

Alongside having the distinguished position of marking the return of fingerprint sensors in U.S. Sony phones, the XA2 and XA2 Ultra also show that Sony’s willing to change its long-held positions on other parts of its phone designs as well. This is a good thing.

At a glance, the XA2 and XA2 Ultra are unmistakably Sony phones. The symmetrical design, large bezels, lightly textured metal and bright colors are hallmarks of its phones, even at sub-$400 price points. Pick either phone up, and it feels fantastic, befitting a much higher price. The smaller XA2 in particular, with its 5.2-inch screen, sits in the hand really well and doesn’t have the overwhelming weight of the 6-inch XA2 Ultra. Both of the displays, despite being standard 1920×1080 resolution LCDs look wonderful with good colors and viewing angles.

But there are subtle changes all around that show you they’re definitely new. The fingerprint sensor, of course, is a giveaway. But the backs also now have a subtle curve to them rather than being perfectly flat, which you immediately notice in your hand. The side bezels have shrunken down to the same size you find on any modern Android phone. Yes the top and bottom bezels are still quite large, but trust me even they’re a tad smaller than before — and with 16:9 displays, the phones aren’t very tall. The NFC is in a reasonable place, right under the camera on the back. The XA2, with its relatively small size, has a very big 3300mAh battery.

With all of those design changes, Sony is continuing to get the basics right as well. Big batteries (3300 and 3580mAh) pair up with 1080p screens and a solid Snapdragon 630, which is a recipe for fantastic battery life. The phones have Android 8.0 Oreo and the January 1 security patch out of the box, alongside a simple and unoffensive set of visual customizations. They charge over USB-C in a normal place (centered on the bottom) and have 3.5 mm headphone jacks on the top.

These are all little fixes and improvements that add up to relieving longstanding pain points with Sony phones. And at the same time, it feels like they’ve lost a little bit of their charm and quirkiness that made Sony phones somehow desirable even though they weren’t practical. But looking at the Xperia XA2 and XA2 Ultra, that’s just fine. Because they’re just … good phones, without any caveats.

And remember that these are just Sony’s first mid-range phones of 2018. They’re expected to debut under $400, and will be sold unlocked in the U.S. Provided Sony takes these same fresh philosophies and steps up another level with its flagships, we could be looking at a year where Sony phones are at least back in the conversation in the U.S., rather than just an opportunity to crack a joke about its numerous missteps. Bring it on, I say.

Westinghouse has a 43-inch 4K Android TV that costs just $350

Also available in 50, 55, and 65-inch flavors.

Although 4K TVs used to be reserved for television enthusiasts with thousands upon thousands of dollars to spend, that’s quickly changed over the last few years. 4K TVs are now more affordable than ever, and Westinghouse has a new unit of its own that looks darn tempting.

For just $350, Westinghouse will sell you a TV with a 43-inch screen, 4K resolution, built-in Wi-Fi, and 120Hz refresh rate. The whole package is powered by Android TV, meaning you’ll have access to most major apps and games via the Google Play Store.

Westinghouse will also be releasing similar models with screen sizes of 50, 55, and 65-inches, and while pricing details on these have yet to be announced, expect them to also be quite competitive.

None of Westinghouse’s’ new TVs support HDR, and while that means you won’t get quite as vivid colors compared to more expensive models, you’re still getting a lot of TV for just $350.

Q3 of 2018 is when the televisions will be released, and that’s likely when we’ll get pricing info for the larger models.

The Nebula Capsule projector is now available on Amazon for $349

AT&T reportedly steps away from deal to sell Huawei phones

This is a big setback for Huawei’s plans to expand in the U.S.

Strong rumors have swirled for weeks that AT&T would soon start to carry and distribute high-end Huawei phones, marking a big move for the Chinese manufacturer as it tries to get a strong foothold in the U.S. market. But at CES 2018, as Huawei and its sub-brand Honor both make announcements about international releases of their phones, Wall Street Journal is reporting that AT&T has backed away from the deal with Huawei.

It was almost a foregone conclusion that Huawei would partner with a U.S. carrier early in 2018, with the expected launch device being the new Huawei Mate 10 Pro. According to WSJ, the announcement of the carrier partnership and phone launch was set for January 9 here in Las Vegas. It isn’t known why the deal broke down, but the implication is that it was AT&T that backed away whereas Huawei was bullish on an entry to the U.S. market with a carrier partner.

Huawei’s options for making a splash in the U.S. are surprisingly dwindling.

Toward the end of 2017 there were also heightened expectations that Huawei’s other brand, Honor, would also see a U.S. carrier debut with the View 10 and 7X. At an Honor-focused CES 2018 event in Las Vegas this week, representatives said that for the Honor brand the immediate future in the U.S. was centered around improving its online sales of unlocked phones and customer support for those devices, with announcements of a carrier partnership coming later on down the road. With these new details about an AT&T deal falling through now coming out, this all makes a bit more sense.

With this setback and the expectation that Huawei wouldn’t partner with either Verizon or Sprint for a device launch on account of their legacy CDMA networks, it leaves Huawei with very few options for making the splash in the U.S. it initially intended to have.

Huawei Mate 10

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Planet Gemini hands-on: The dream of the 90s is alive in Vegas

The Planet Gemini feels like a device from some alternate universe where the Personal Digital Assistant never died. Its eyeglass-case chassis evokes the old Sony Tablet P, while its miniature QWERTY keyboard suggests a laptop that stumbled into a shrinking machine. But its closest relative is probably the Psion PDA from the 1990s — a device beloved as much for its powerful scheduling software as for its robust physical keyboard.

The Planet Gemini is no mere throwback. It’s available in Wi-Fi and 4G versions (for both GSM and CDMA networks), it dual-boots Android and Linux, and you can even make phone calls on it. Planet says the Gemini is meant for bloggers, longform writers and other creators who live and die by a physical keyboard, and it’s easy to see why it’d be a tempting purchase for such folks. Still, it’s hard to envision many people ponying up for a device that slots in somewhere between the smartphone and laptop, yet professes to replace neither.

Of course, you don’t need to imagine it; you can just head on over to Planet’s Indiegogo page to see how many customers have already devoted their dollars to picking up a Gemini of their own. If you’re keen to join them, the device is available for $299 or $399 in Wi-Fi and 4G versions, respectively, with units already in production. The Planet Gemini ships to early backers later this month; deliveries will continue into the spring, at which point I’ll hopefully follow up with a full review.

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Lenovo’s Smart Display is the Google Assistant-powered Echo Show we’ve been waiting for

It’s time for Google Assistant to branch out, starting with displays in the home.

Google Home and Amazon Echo match up in both the small and medium speaker segments, but the hardware offerings start to diverge from there.

Amazon has clearly taken the lead with screen-toting assistant speakers with its Echo Show and Echo Spot, with no response from Google in the category. That is, until now.

Leave it to Lenovo of all companies to make a direct competitor to the Echo Show running Google Assistant: it’s called the Lenovo Smart Display, and it has just been announced at CES 2018. But this isn’t just a Google Home with a screen — it’s so much more.

At its most basic level, the Smart Display combines the experience of having a Google Home and a Chromecast-connected TV — but in a single device. It offers 100% feature parity with Google Home, but has the added benefit of being able to display information similar to the way it would show up on your TV if you asked your Google Home to send something visual to a Chromecast.

The Smart Display comes in two screen sizes, 10 and 8 inches, but the design and capabilities are the same in either aside from the larger version having a great bamboo back. From the front, it’s very inviting with a soft white plastic frame surrounding the display and speaker. The unique wedge shape looks funky at first, but then you realize it lets the Smart Display stand vertically just as comfortably as horizontal it makes sense. A set of rubber feet and rather substantial weight — 2.2 or 2.6 pounds — keep it stable with touches, intentional or not.

So let’s talk about how the Smart Display actually works, because it’s quite clever. At its core, it’s running Android Things, which is Google’s Android build designed for these IoT type of products that don’t need to run a full-fledged Android system (as some would have in the past) but still have lots of useful smart home hooks and a custom interface. It’s clear that the Smart Display is just the first of many Assistant-powered devices that will use this interface, as Google will standardize it across devices just as it has done with Assistant on smartphones, tablets, speakers and TVs.

Think of a Google Home and a Cast-enabled screen linked together.

The always-on ambient screen is literally just the same “backdrop” experience as a Chromecast — it can pull from Google Photos or a variety of other sources, configured in the Google Home app. It’s waiting for the “Hey Google” wake word, including personalized results based on your trained voice, but you can also tap the screen once to be taken to the main “home screen” of sorts. Here you’ll see upcoming events and reminders, plus cards for ongoing tasks — whether that’s a timer, current weather, directions to an appointment, ongoing media controls or just about anything else. This is the only place where you could actually launch experiences by touch — everything else is accomplished by voice.

And of course, you can just talk to the Smart Display just like a Google Home — but you get far more in response. Any regular search-style knowledge questions come back with responses in both text/images and voice. Ask for a video and it plays right away in YouTube. Ask for directions, get an interactive map (and directions sent to your phone). Set reminders, timers, appointments and more, and get confirmation both on the screen and audibly. There is, of course, the cliché demo showing step-by-step cooking instructions, and little games that you’ll play once to impress your friends and never touch again.

Sound-wise, there’s an array of microphones to listen to commands from a distance just like a Google Home, plus a big 10W speaker that’ll sound just as good. A front-facing camera is designed to work with Duo right out of the box, calling both phones and other Smart Displays, and Google’s open to the idea of having other applications — video calling or otherwise — be able to access the system just as they do now on Google Home. There are hardware volume keys along one side, and even a physical camera cover to squash privacy concerns.

The devices we were able to see and use were clearly not finished in either hardware or software, which isn’t surprising considering the release is slated for mid-summer. Despite that, the hardware looks and feels fantastic. It’s light, inviting and unassuming, particularly in the smaller 8-inch size. The screen isn’t fantastically bright or clear, but for the distance you’ll be using this at in a home with good lighting it’ll do well. The pricing is right, at $199 for the 8-inch and $249 for the 10-inch, bookending the current Echo Show price.

For those who want the security and accessibility of having a display to work with, it’ll be a small price bump over the $129 Google Home to get something that truly feels like more of a home hub to then be augmented by Google Home Minis elsewhere. This is absolutely a growth area for Google, and Lenovo is simply the first partner out the gate with it.

More: With expansion to screens and cars, Google Assistant is officially everywhere

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With expansion to screens and cars, Google Assistant is officially everywhere

Google Assistant is moving into more places in and outside the home.

When Google debuted the Assistant at I/O in 2016, it was this tiny little feature inside a little-used messaging app called Allo.

But by the time it expanded to Pixel phones and the Google Home speaker later that year, we knew that this wasn’t some fly-by-night project the company would later abandon, but a line-in-the-sand statement on the future of computing. Or maybe it was just a way to get back at Amazon’s not-so-slow encroachment into the smart home space. Either way, Google Assistant was a big deal.

At CES 2018, Google is taking even more steps towards Assistant ubiquity, both with its physical presence at the show and its multitudinous announcements surrounding the nascent smart home space.

Google not only sold six million Home speakers during the holiday sales period but it has positioned the cloud technology as the one-stop shop for Google’s widely-used Knowledge Graph, which encompasses everything from search to maps to shopping.

The Lenovo Smart Display appears to be what the Amazon Echo Show wanted, but failed, to deliver.

Today, Assistant is debuting in two more important places: screens, and cars. On the screen side, the Lenovo Smart Display is the first of many Assistant-focused products that can show rather than tell. YouTube videos, recipes, maps, Duo video calls, and everything else one can do on a tablet can be recalled using voice on a stationary and attractive showpiece that also doubles as a speaker.

Though Google says it worked extensively with Lenovo on the industrial design of the Smart Display, which comes in two sizes and debuts this summer, other similar (and likely cheaper) products will be forthcoming in the months ahead from JBL, LG, and Sony.

Cars are also getting in on the Assistant through Android Auto support. While it’s been possible up to this point to call on Google in the car using voice, Google has reworked the way Assistant communicates with Android Auto, both through the app and in-car displays. Some cars can even use Assistant on the phone or inside the home to lock and unlock doors, check fuel levels, and more. The future is here, and it’s weird (and awesome).

Finally, Google is expanding Assistant further into existing categories, including TVs and headphones. Television makers like LG, Changhong, Funai, and Haier will integrate Assistant into their custom operating systems this year, while Android TV-powered sets from TCL, Skyworth, and Xiaomi will gain the same functionality through updates.

Ultimately, Google wants Assistant to be a consistent experience wherever possible and is leveraging its relationships with hardware companies all over the world to make it happen. If last year’s CES was the year of Alexa, Google Assistant is dominating the conversation in 2018. While some of the products appear underwhelming or may not come to market at all, that Assistant is expanding to more form factors is a big deal, especially given that it is available in far more countries than Amazon’s Alexa platform.

Get used to saying “Hey Google” a lot more often.

Google also appears to be doubling down on “Hey Google” as a call sign for the Assistant; in briefings given to Android Central throughout the week, representatives from Google and other companies demoing products didn’t use “OK Google” at all, and actively encouraged us to start using the less formal greeting going forward. It’s not quite as catchy as “Alexa”, but it’s an improvement.

Google says that Assistant is now running on 400 million devices around the world, and that number should reach a billion within a year. To make the platform more enticing, it is consolidating its disparate commands under the name “Actions”. In a blog post, Google described the reasoning for the change:

Since the Assistant can do so many things, we’re introducing a new way to talk about them. We’re calling them Actions. Actions include features built by Google—like directions on Google Maps—and those that come from developers, publishers and other third parties.

A new directory makes it easy to check whether one’s smart home products or apps work with Assistant, and should help drive sales of those products as well.

In the meantime, if you’re in Las Vegas for CES this week, you can catch a glimpse of Google’s Assistant ambitions while riding the monorail.

Actually, don’t do that.

The Lenovo Smart Display is the first Google Home I might actually buy

The Lenovo Smart Display is a Google Home with a built-in screen – and that makes it the very first Google Home I might consider buying. While you still control it primarily with your voice, the touchscreen lends much more versatility to the notion of a home assistant: you can check on the Nest Camera monitoring your baby room, start a Duo call with your Pixel-toting friends, or stream the latest video from your favorite YouTuber (ahem). Yes, those are all blatantly transparent house ads for Google’s own products, but more importantly they’re things that are difficult or impossible to do on the Smart Display’s principal competition, Amazon’s Echo Show.

The Lenovo Smart Display with Google Assistant will come in 8″ and 10″ sizes when it debuts this summer, with prices starting at $199 and topping out at $249. Check out the MrMobile hands-on and Android Central’s own take, and let me know in the comments if you’d like to see my traditionally mobile-only coverage fleshed out with a Lenovo Smart Display review later in the year!

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Android Oreo is now on 0.7% of devices, but Marshmallow is still king

Android Oreo is very slowly but surely climbing in numbers.

Google releases the Android Distribution numbers once per month to let developers know which OS versions to target, and January’s numbers are now available. Not surprisingly, Marshmallow is still on top with 29.7% of the Android pie.

Oreo did make some gains, though. Android 8.1 is making its first appearance with 0.2% of the Android marketplace, while Android 8.0 stayed at the same 0.5% it was at last month. Nougat is still in second place with 26.3%, with Lollipop at 25.1%. KitKat and Jellybean lost marketshare, while Ice Cream Sandwich and Gingerbread are still somehow hanging on.

As we move through CES and into MWC, we’ll see more phones announced running Oreo, with last year’s devices like the Galaxy S8 and OnePlus 5T getting their updates to Oreo in the next few months. Once that starts happening, Oreo’s marketshare will take off.

Which version of Android does your phone have? Let us know down below!

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HyperX memory improves your PC’s light show with infrared

Many PC enthusiasts use light-up RAM to add a flair to their systems. But creating a proper, synchronized light show isn’t always easy. Even if you have the right motherboard, compatible RAM and the necessary software, there’s no guarantee of a harmonious display. HyperX wants to fix that: it’s introducing new Predator DDR4 modules that can use infrared light to sync their RGB illumination. There’s no guesswork and no external cables — you can just assume your lights will pulse together using power directly from the motherboard.

If you prefer the more conventional route, HyperX is promising compatibility with existing RGB control software from ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI and others. You should also see support from case makers like In-Win.

The new Predator memory ships sometime in the second quarter of the year. HyperX hasn’t divulged pricing or configurations, but it’s reasonable to presume that this will carry a premium like other RGB memory sticks. You’re paying for decoration on top of gaming-friendly memory, and that rarely comes cheap.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.

Source: HyperX