Microsoft dumps a 40-foot data center to the ocean floor off Scotland’s coast

Microsoft’s Project Natick isn’t about a new two-in-one tablet or piece of clever software. Instead, the company wants to sink self-sufficient data centers to the ocean floor. Phase two of its push to revolutionize the data center began on Wednesday as Microsoft’s team dropped a container-sized prototype on the seafloor near Scotland’s Orkney Islands. 

According to Microsoft, the 40-foot prototype contains 12 racks playing host to 864 servers and their associated cooling systems. The team assembled and tested the prototype in France, shipped it to Scotland via a flatbed truck, lowered it onto the ocean floor, towed it out to sea, and connected a cable consisting of fiber optics and power. It now sits quietly with the fish 117 feet below the ocean surface. 

Powering this submerged data center is the European Marine Energy Center that relies on tidal turbines and wave energy converters to generate electricity from sea movement. Wind turbines from local farming lands contribute to the power as well. All of this power is piped from the Orkney Island power grid through a cable attached to the data center. At full capacity, the data center uses just under a quarter of a megawatt of power. 

While the idea might seem like something out of science-fiction, the realities of water-bound computing, especially on a large scale, are very positive. The remote nature of such a facility would mean it would require fewer on-site staff (if any at all), it would be naturally resistant to weather and the environment, possibly even more so than solid ground structures, and perhaps most importantly, would require almost no active cooling. 

Keeping a data center at a chilly operational temperature is one of the biggest challenges for modern operators, with the likes of Facebook looking to innovate by only using renewable energy and recycled waste heat. But putting a data center under the sea could be much more efficient, as it would require no energy to cool at all. 

Microsoft’s first prototype sat 30 feet below the surface just off the California coast in 2015 and remained there for four months. Named after Leona Philpot, an obscure character from the Halo franchise, it survived perfectly well. 

Eventually, Microsoft wants to ramp up and rapidly deploy pre-packaged module data centers everywhere in the world, including “the roughest patches of sea.” Microsoft says they could be “ordered to size, rapidly deployed and left to operate lights out on the seafloor for years.” 

Of course, these submerged data centers won’t be dropped into remote locations of the Earth’s oceans. The plan is to place them near coastal cities around 120 miles off the coast. This will help artificial intelligence-driven technologies thrive in coastal communities and extend out to land-based data centers that are typically located inland to avoid floods, hurricanes, and other troublesome weather. 

Microsoft says the underwater data centers are built to last up to 20 years, though they have an anticipated real lifespan of five years. Their replacement would likely be the result of required hardware upgrades within the individual servers rather than structural damage or failure. 

Updated on June 6: Added the launch of phase two.

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• Think inside the box with these tricked-out shipping container homes
• Google makes good on promise to offset 100 percent of its electricity use
• Designer of out-of-this-world superyacht MY Roswell welcomes spaceship analogies
• University of Michigan hopes new drone facility pushes students to great heights
• 7 ambitious DARPA projects that will help out the military of the future

Comcast outage takes out phone and internet service across the U.S.

Comcast

If you’re a Comcast customer, you probably noticed that your phone and internet service may have been down since this morning. Customers have voiced concern and frustration over the massive nationwide outage affecting home and small business users across the country. Although Comcast’s business Twitter account only confirms that business phone service has been down, home customers are reporting on service tracker Down Detector that the outage is also disrupting internet access in cities such as San Francisco, Miami, Chicago, Portland, and Seattle.

The outage seems to be intermittent, with long periods of down time followed by quick periods of online time. “Internet down in Tallahassee, FL and it has been going up and then down every other hour or so since Tuesday afternoon,” user Wycked wrote on Down Detector’s comment section.

Businesses relying on landline access for phones have been reporting that customers have not been getting through when they attempt to call in, and some customers have been successful in forwarding calls on their business lines to cell phones. With a few medical practices relying on Comcast for small business phone service, the outage is much more than a nuisance.

“Unacceptable when patients cannot reach out to, or be contacted by their medical practitioners,” KJ Buttler wrote on Down Detector. “I am recommending that we stop using Comcast voice in the immediate future. Too many incidents of outage.”

Comcast has acknowledged the problem on its @ComcastCares support account on Twitter: “@comcastbusiness customers may still be experiencing an issue with their Voice service. We appreciate your patience as we continue to resolve. Please continue to check back here for more updates.” Some customers are even reporting that Comcast expects the problem to be resolved by this afternoon.

“Now they’re telling me 2:55 p.m. California time,” user Kerry wrote on Down Detector. Another user reported that service is expected to be back by 5:45 p.m. ET for the Miami area. Other users noted on Twitter that service is slowly coming back in their area.

This nationwide outage affecting Comcast Xfinity and Comcast business subscribers follows a smaller recent outage affecting parts of Colorado earlier this month. In that incident, Comcast blamed the disruption on a physical cut to its fiber cables.

Comcast has not provided any explanation for today’s outage. With service disrupted across the country, the culprit may be more than just a cut to Comcast’s fiber lines.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Nest’s network failed and people’s smart home devices went dark for 3 hours
• TaskRabbit back online after cyberattack, warns users to monitor their accounts
• Russia’s attempt to block Telegram crashes the country’s internet
• Kidde smoke alarms are being recalled because they can’t detect smoke
• Soon, you won’t need a separate subscription to watch Netflix on Comcast Xfinity

9 Amazon Echo Accessories You Never Knew Existed (but Should Definitely Check Out!)

Amazon’s Echo line already is pretty good. But for just a few bucks more you can make your Echo even better.

So you’ve got an Amazon Echo ($179.99). Or maybe (or more likely) the less-expensive Echo Dot ($49.99). Or maybe even a newfangled Echo Show. That’s just the start of things. Turns out there’s a burgeoning accessory ecosystem that’s actually full of useful things that make your Echo just a little bit better.

And none of it breaks the bank.

Let’s take a quick look at a few of the things you definitely should give a gander if you’ve got a new Echo.

• Echo Spot Adjustable Stand
• Amazon Echo Buttons
• Aobelieve Acrylic Speaker Stand for Alexa Amazon Echo Plus and 1st Generation Echo
• Echo Dot Case
• Portable Battery Case for original Echo
• Voice remote for Echo and Echo Dot
• Screen protector for Echo Show
• Wall hanger for Echo Dot
• VAUX cordless speaker for Echo Dot (Gen. 2)

Echo Spot Adjustable Stand

The Amazon Echo Spot is a cool little guy. But maybe you just don’t like how it sits flat on your desk or night stand. Maybe you want it to get just a little more height on it.

That’s where this adjustable Echo Spot stand comes in. It’s just $20 and attaches with magic. Wait. No. Not magic. Magnets. Magnets are pretty much magnets, though, and so we’ll allow it.

But the point is this is a cool little accessory if you just need to prop up your Echo Spot at tad.

See at Amazon

Amazon Echo Buttons

An Amazon Echo is a lot of fun on its own. But have you ever wanted to just come inside and sit around with your friends and play games with an Echo — and any of the Echo devices — with a sort of game show buzzer? Now you can.

For just $19 you get a couple of Amazon Echo Buttons that let you play a number of games through the Echo. They light up, you mash it when it’s your turn, and hijinx ensue.

It’s that simple. Just buy ’em, tell your Echo to pair ’em up, and you’re on your way.

See at Amazon

Aobelieve Acrylic Speaker Stand for Alexa Amazon Echo Plus and 1st Generation Echo

If you’re like me and you just don’t like the design of the OG Echo or new Echo Plus, give this a shot. It’s an acrylic stand for about $25 — or a cage, if you will — that envelops the speaker. It’s definitely something you’ll want to look into if you have cats, or kids, or anything else running around that might knock over your Echo, as it adds some much needed stability.

It’s also got a little holder for the remote control, which means you’re far less likely to lose it. The stand also doesn’t impede the sound coming out of the speaker, which is especially important given the improvement (and increase in price) in the Echo Plus.

This one comes in white, if your Echo is white, or in black.

Echo Dot Case

Let’s face it — the Echo Dot ain’t much of a looker. Fortunately, Amazon sells some clothes for this little guy. The fabric cases run $10, and the leather ones are about $20. While that’s a good chunk of the price of the Echo Dot itself, it goes a long way to turning the plastic puck into something you don’t mind folks seeing in your living room.

Do take care that you’re getting the right one, though. If your Echo Dot only has two buttons, it’s a first-generation Dot. The second-gen Dot sports four buttons.

See at Amazon

Portable Battery Case for original Echo

Why would you want this instead of an Amazon Tap, which is meant to be portable? Well, for one, you already own an Echo and don’t want to spend another $100 and change. Another reason would be that I’ve just never been that crazy about the Amazon Tap, and I’ve owned one from the start.

So that’s where this little guy comes in. This is an extra $50, but it’s definitely less expensive than adding a Tap to your Echo arsenal. It’s got a rubberized base that fits on the bottom of your OG Echo and promises up to 6 hours of playback time. It’s done up in that same sort of plastic as the Echo itself and sort of makes the whole thing look like a rocket. It’s got an on/off switch, low-battery LED and another for charging status.

This uses the Echo’s power cable to charge, which is nice, so you won’t have to have yet another USB cable clunking things up.

Note: This is not compatible with the new Amazon Echo Plus.

See at Amazon

Voice remote for Echo and Echo Dot

Let’s say you only have a single Echo in your home, but you want to use it from anywhere. That’s where this little $29 remote comes in. Stash it in your pocket and pull it out wherever you are to talk to Alexa — even if it’s in another room.

It’s also got dedicated buttons for music playback, which is nice.

See at Amazon

Screen protector for Echo Show

I’m not a huge fan of screen protectors, but I also won’t begrudge anyone who is. If you want to protect your investment, $8 gets you this tempered screen protector for the Echo Show. I could definitely see using it in the kitchen, perhaps, because food spills and splatters do happen.

See at Amazon

Wall hanger for Echo Dot

Some folks want to stash their Echo Dot on the wall, out of the way. Some folks also like to do so with tape or Velcro. But of course, there’s a better way.

This outlet hanger lets you stick the Dot (either generation) on the wall without drilling or needing extra wires. Not bad for about $14.

See at Amazon

VAUX cordless speaker for Echo Dot (Gen. 2)

The Echo Dot is great, but its speaker leaves a lot to be desired. This cordless speaker uses the Echo Dot’s 3.5mm aux plug for audio, and Micro-USB for charging.

After that you’ve got something that looks and sounds a whole lot better than the Echo Dot on its own, is portable — and at $50 still comes in less expensive than the Amazon Tap.

See at Amazon

Updated June 2018: Added some great new entries!

Amazon Echo

• Tap, Echo or Dot: The ultimate Alexa question
• All about Alexa Skills
• Amazon Echo review
• Echo Dot review
• Echo Spot review
• Top Echo Tips & Tricks
• Amazon Echo vs. Google Home
• Get the latest Alexa news

See at Amazon

Inbox’s location-based reminders are going away

The snooze until “someday” option is also being retired.

It’s been a hot minute since Google gave a lot of attention to Inbox, and while that’s now changing, it’s not for the better. According to reports from multiple users, Inbox’s “someday” and “pick place” snooze options are being eliminated.

One of Inbox’s selling points is the ability to snooze emails so they disappear from your main inbox for a certain amount of time. Someday would snooze the email until a random date in the future, and while nice to have, wasn’t ever that useful.

The biggest stab in the back is the removal of pick place. With this, Inbox allowed you to snooze an email until you got to a certain location. For example, you could snooze an email about your utility bill being due until you got home. This is something I used all the time with Inbox, and it’s a real shame to see that it’s disappearing.

One user on the Google Product Forums has since noted that the two features are officially being retired but is asking folks to send feedback in the Inbox app to let Google know that we want them to stick around.

It’s also worth noting that these changes are happening no matter which version of Inbox you have, meaning there’s no point in reverting to an older build of the app.

It sure looks like Google is about to kill Inbox

Aerial Dream (or, how to get the excellent Apple TV screensavers on Android TV)

One of the best features of Apple TV can be on Android, too.

The default screensaver on Android TV is fine. Google’s always done well at showcasing photography as a background, and it’s one of those things that makes Android TV so compelling — even when you’re not actively using it, it still looks good.

But Apple TV has taken the screenshot to a whole new ‘nother level with its “Aerials.” We’re not just talking static image here. We’re talking video. High-level (and high-resolution) moving art, that almost looks like it’s standing still. But it’s not. You can fly through San Francisco. Or Hawaii. Or London. Or, soon, over the Earth. Day or night. You can waste days looking at these things. (OK, that’s maybe a slight exaggeration. But they really are that good.)

And you can get them on Android TV. (Actually, any device running Android.) All it takes is an app. And best of all? It’s free.

More at CordCutters.com: How to use Apple TV screensavers on Android TV

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Whether you’re looking for new tech gear or household items, we’ve got you covered.

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How to use Oculus Venues

Take live events to the next level by joining the crowd

You can find the Oculus Venues apps right in the library on your Oculus Go. The app should have come preloaded on your headset so there won’t be any downloading needed. This app is a game changer for watching live events in VR. Instead of watching from a private browser you’ll be watching in a VR showroom with everyone else who is watching in VR. It’s set up much like a concert hall where you each have your own seats, 4 per section and a whole lot of sections.

The first thing you want to do is load up the app by selecting it from the menu. It will immediately prompt you to connect it to your Facebook and, once you do, the fun begins!

• Social sharing: What it is and what it does
• Choosing your event
• Viewing options
• People options
• Audio settings
• Reporting other users

Social sharing: What it is and what it does

From the main menu of the app, there are only two notable things, the option for “Social Sharing” on the top right and the list of live events right in front of you. Social sharing allows you to control how much of your interests people are allowed to see. Just because you connected your Facebook to Oculus Venues does not mean it is going to automatically share all of your personal information. In fact, with Facebook’s growing concern for its user’s safety, you have to opt into it.

Even if you opt into this option it will only share information of shared interests with fellow peers. This means if you like the Android Central Facebook page only the other people who have also like the page will be able to see that you do. The full warning goes as follows:

In Venues, other attendees can see if you have something in common with them on Facebook like your mutual friends or Pages you’ve both liked. This only shares the things that you have in common, not your full Facebook profile.

To opt into social sharing:

Select the settings button on the top left of the main menu screen of Oculus Venues.
Select Social Sharing.
Select Enable.

Choosing your event

All available options will appear in a list as soon as you enter the event. On the bottom of each icon, you’ll see information on the date and times the events are taking place. For more information on each event, all you gotta do is select the event in question and read the description. If the event is available to watch now you’ll have an option to join the venue to get in. If not you can always hit the “Subscribe” button to receive updates.

Upon trying to enter an event for the first time it will request access to your microphone and give you warnings of the time of an event you’ll be joining. For instance, if you’re watching a late night concert it will give you warnings about the potential foul language you might hear in the songs or audience. If you agree to these terms select “accept” and you will be loaded into the event.

Viewing options

If you want to watch these live events but don’t want to talk to other people you can totally watch by yourself. As soon as you load into a venue it will start you in the Solo Viewing Mode. It’ll kinda look like you’re in a private booth looking down at the audience around you and the show in front of you. If you want to join all the people that you see having fun down there select “Join crowd” from the menu in front of you. This will place you in a random open seat within the audience.

To change your seat you can either select “Try new seat”, which will be in the same spot “Join crowd” used to be. This will randomize your seat to another one in the venue. Another way of doing this is to select any of the seats by you. While you can’t directly move to a seat across the room you can keep changing your seat manually until you get there. Kinda like having to actually walk over there!

People options

Everybody has their own avatars in Oculus Go that is customizable from the main menu. While you’re seeing their designed avatars, they’re seeing yours. Not just that, but selecting the “People” option from the main menu will show you all the people you are able to hear right now. From the main menu their face will light up when they are the one talking and, if you’re watching their avatars, a volume symbol will appear by their mouth when they are talking.

Another thing you will notice from the People menu are little icons under their avatars. This is where the social sharing comes in. All of those icons are all the shared interests and friends that you have with the person.

Audio settings

Once inside of a venue you’ll be faced with a square that will serve as your menu bar. One of the options on this bar is to control all of your settings. From here you can change the volume of the event and the chat audio. If you want to be able to hear your peers more than you hear the event all you gotta do is drag bar to the right so it passes the event volume (and vice versa). This is not affected by the overall volume control from the buttons on your headset. This only changes the levels of each selection.

The second option you will find on this menu is the ability to mute and unmute your microphone. You can also mute your microphone from the main menu under your avatar.

Reporting other users

Oculus has a code of conduct they want to make sure is followed by these live events. Once you try to load into a venue for the first time it will play a short video about the code of conduct, letting you know the rules and how they will be monitoring the event. You have to accept these terms to be able to join a room. Don’t worry, if you missed the video every time you load into an event it will show the prompt again except this time it will give you the option to accept or read the written code of conduct.

Should you be faced with an unsavory person while in these rooms you can always report them to Oculus yourself.

Select their avatar.
Select the reporting option.
Go through the prompts to fill out the report.

There is also an option to do this through the Reporting section of the menu in front of you.

Select “Report” from the main menu on the bottom.
Decide if you want to report with a video or without one.
If you select to report without one it will take you to the home screen of your Oculus Go, follow the prompts to complete the report.
If you decide to report a video it will give you a short time to record a video and then start the prompts to complete the report.

I have found a small error when it came to reporting someone. For some reason, if you go directly back into the room you won’t have a menu option anymore. If you go through the option of reporting someone you’ll have to close the app entirely and load back into it so that you still have your menu inside of the venue.

Have you tried venues?

What has been your favorite live event so far? Tell us in the comment section below!

Android P: Everything you need to know

From new gestures to extending battery life, here’s everything you need to know about Android P!

Following last year’s Oreo release, 2018 is the year of Android P. We’re still some time away before Google rolls out the new software to all users, but even in its current form, P is showing a lot of promise.

Things are bound to change leading up to Android P’s official launch, but for the time being, here’s everything you need to know about this year’s big update.

Android P is officially Android 9

As spotted in the third developer preview, Android P is Android 9. This signifies that Android P is a big upgrade from 8.0 Oreo, and based on what we’re about to dive into, we’ve got no problem agreeing with that.

It completely changes Android’s navigation system

Back in 2011 with Android 3.0 Honeycomb, Google introduced Android’s iconic three button navigation system we’ve come to know and love – Back, Home, and Recents. Seven years later with Android P, these are being eliminated in favor of a gesture-based system.

Android P is the first time Google’s heavily relying on gestures for navigating the UI, and in their current form, they work as follows:

• Tap the Home button/pill to go home
• Swipe up to access the recent apps page
• Swipe up twice or do a long swipe for the app drawer
• The Back button only appears in certain apps/menus when it’s needed

This combination of taps and swipes is a bit confusing right now, but we’re expecting Google to roll-out a more refined version of this in later Developer Previews or in the final build. You can still use the traditional three buttons in Developer Preview 2 and 3 if the gestures aren’t your thing, but it’s rather obvious that this is the future Google wants for Android.

Android P’s gestures are a jagged pill you should learn to swallow

The user interface is more rounded and colorful

Android P isn’t as drastic of a visual change like we saw with the jump from KitKat to Lolipop, but compared to Oreo, there are some elements that are noticeably different.

At first glance, things like the colorful icons in Settings, circular Quick Settings icons, and rounded corners for just about every menu jump out like a sore thumb. These elements do take some getting used to, but I ultimately came around to liking them quite a bit.

Something else you’ll notice with Android P is just how alive it feels. Between the new gestures and updated animations, Android moves in a way that I’ve never seen before. Oreo was smooth and buttery, but Android P flies underneath your fingertips in a way that can only be experienced in-person.

There are tools for helping you use your phone less

Google talked a lot about helping people with their “digital wellbeing” at this year’s I/O conference, and a lot of those efforts are baked right into Android P.

Although not live in Developer Preview 2 or 3, later versions of Android P will introduce a new system called Android Dashboard. Android Dashboard will offer a quick glimpse into how you’re using your phone, including stats on which apps you’re using the most, how many times you’ve turned on the screen, how many notifications you’ve received, and how much time you’ve spent on each app.

You’ll also find a feature called App Timers that’ll restrict you from using a certain app after you’ve spent x amount of time on it, as well as tools for easily turning on Do Not Disturb and switching your screen to a monochrome color palette to help you wind down for bed.

Google’s ‘digital wellbeing’ initiative feels incomplete and insincere

Google’s trying to squeeze as much juice as possible out of your battery

It seems like Google’s always trying to find ways to maximize your phone’s battery life as much as possible, and with Android P, those efforts are present in a new Adaptive Battery mode.

Similar to how Adaptive Brightness automatically adjusts your display’s brightness level based on your environment and usage, Adaptive Battery will examine how you use your phone and limit CPU usage to apps you infrequently use.

Google notes that Adaptive Battery can lower CPU usage by as much as 30%, and thanks to the use of Machine Learning, it’ll only get better the more you use your phone.

App shortcuts are everywhere

With Android Nougat, Google introduced us to App Shortcuts for the first time. Holding down on an app icon to quickly access certain elements of it can be genuinely useful at times, and with Android P, Google’s taking these to the next level with App Actions and Slices.

App Actions will try to determine what you’ll do next with your phone and give you recommend shortcuts for doing so within the app drawer, Assistant, and more. For example, if you watch Good Mythical Morning each day with breakfast, you might see an App Shortcut in your app drawer for searching Rhett and Link on YouTube during the morning.

On the other hand, Slices will allow you to perform more complex actions from the Assistant or Google Search. In the example Google gave at I/O, searching “I want to book a ride” will give you a special link to call a ride home via Lyft (assuming you’ve got the app installed).

157 new emoji

In Developer Preview 3, Google added a ton of new emojis to keep your conversations bright and colorful — 157 of them, to be exact.

Although we won’t run through the entire list, some of the highlights include red hair, superhero, face with three hearts, bagel with cream cheese, mooncake, lobster, and llama.

There are also improvements to existing emoji, including two new gender-neutral family and couple designs and updated looks for the bacon, salad, turtle, and cricket emojis.

A new standard for biometric authentication

Fingerprint sensors and face unlock systems make it easier than ever to access private information on our phones, and in Android P Developer Preview 3, Google added a brand-new standard for this called “BiometricPrompt API.”

Thanks to the new API, developers no longer have to create their own dialog for using biometric systems with their apps. This isn’t something you’ll notice in day-to-day use, but it’s an important background change we’re more than happy to see.

All the little things

In addition to the big changes found in Android P, there are a ton of smaller elements also scattered throughout the update. Some of my favorites include:

• Built-in screenshot editor
• Zoom pop-up when highlighting text
• Changing the volume now defaults to your media volume
• Volume controls appear on the right of your screen instead of the top
• Do Not Disturb is more customizable and easier to understand

You can sign up for the beta now

Similar to last year’s Oreo beta, anyone with a Pixel phone can opt-in to the Android P beta right now to get an OTA update to download and play with the new software.

However, Google’s Pixel phones aren’t the only ones that get to have fun with this early access. Google’s opening up its Android Beta Program to third-party OEMs for the first time ever thanks to Project Treble, including Nokia, OnePlus, Sony, Essential, Xiaomi, Vivo, and Oppo.

How to get Android P on your Pixel right now (or roll back to Oreo)

The official build should be released in August

If you’d rather not mess with the beta and just wait for the final version to drop, we’re not too terribly far out from it.

Google notes that the final release for Android P will be published in Q3, and based on the above timeline and Oreo’s release schedule, we should see Android P get a proper launch at some point in August.

Updated June 6, 2018: Added new features included with Android P Developer Preview 3.

Android P

• Android P: Everything you need to know
• Android P Beta hands-on: The best and worst features
• All the big Android announcements from Google I/O 2018
• Will my phone get Android P?
• How to manually update your Pixel to Android P
• Join the Discussion

Grab the ecobee4 Alexa-enabled Smart Thermostat for $209

It’s learning.

Smart thermostats are awesome and honestly, you should have one in your home. This Alexa-enabled ecobee4 is one of the best on the market currently, and this discount is only a few bucks more than a previous low. Right now you can pick one up for just $209, which is $50 lower than it normally sells for.

You can control it with just your voice or through the free ecobee iOS and Android app, and the included room sensor helps keep an even temperature throughout your whole house. If you’re looking to save a few bucks while keeping your house cool this summer, this is a perfect way to do it. Be sure to grab one now, before you miss out on the savings.

Depending on where you live, you may qualify for some additional rebates, making this an even smarter investment.

See on Amazon

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 rumors: Release date, specs, price, and features!

Here’s everything we know about the Galaxy Note 9!

Now more than ever, Samsung’s Galaxy S+ phones are becoming eerily similar to the Note series. The Note used to be Samsung’s way of touting all of the latest and greatest tech it had to offer, and while this is still the case, the same can be said for this year’s Galaxy S9+.

Samsung needs more than just the S Pen to make the Note 9 stand out from its own phones and the rest of the competition, and luckily, all signs are pointing to something exciting for this year’s release. Here’s what we know so far!

June 6, 2018 — This is what the Galaxy Note 9 might look like

We’ve been talking about the Galaxy Note 9 for months at this point, but up until now, we haven’t had a definitive idea as to what the phone will look like. Thankfully, 91Mobiles partnered with @OnLeaks to scratch that itch for us.

As you can see in the video above, the Note 9 will look very similar to last year’s Note 8. The front will be home to a large, notch-free Infinity Display while the back houses two rear cameras and a fingerprint sensor. The way the cameras and fingerprint sensor are positioned is slightly different compared to the Galaxy S9, but even so, there’s no mistaking this for a modern Samsung phone.

The bottom frame also shows a slot for the S Pen, USB-C port for charging the Note 9, a speaker grill, and 3.5mm headphone jack.

June 1, 2018 — The Galaxy Note 9 will be announced on August 9 with an upgraded camera

Per a report from Bloomberg, Samsung will host an Unpacked event in New York on August 9 where it’ll officially unveil the Galaxy Note 9.

There’s still a lot that’s unknown about the phone, but it’s reported that the Note 9 will have a very similar design compared to the Note 8, a much-improved camera, and Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 845 processor in select markets.

Following the event, Samsung hopes to officially release the phone by the end of the month.

When will the Galaxy Note 9 be released?

Samsung typically releases its Galaxy Note series in the second-half of the year, often in mid-to-late August.

It was reported on March 29 that Samsung had begun production of OLED panels for the Note 9 two months earlier than it usually does, suggesting that this year’s Note may be released as early as July.

How much will the Galaxy Note 9 cost?

Pricing for the Note series has steadily been going up each year, as has the majority of the smartphone industry.

The Galaxy Note 8 costs $950 unlocked, and I’d expect the Note 9 to cost either the same or slightly more. Apple proved with the iPhone X that people aren’t afraid to shell out $1000+ for a new smartphone, and I don’t consider it to be out of the question for Samsung to follow suit with the Note 9 – especially if it adopts newer technologies like an in-display fingerprint sensor.

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