Google Assistant can now pull up specific news topics

There’s a lot going on with the Google Assistant — let’s break down the important stuff.

In May 2016, we got our very first taste of the Google Assistant with the debut of Allo. The Assistant was a big draw to Allo at the time, with Google marketing it as a helpful bot that could make restaurant reservations, search the web, and more within your conversations.

Since then, the Assistant has gained heaps of new features and expanded to smartphones, tablets, speakers, and more. Google’s shown no interest in slowing down development for the Assistant, meaning that it’s likely here for the long-haul.

Whether this is your first encounter with it or you just need a quick refresher, here’s everything you need to know about the Google Assistant.

The latest Google Assistant news

August 9, 2018 — Deeper, more specific news coverage is now rolling out

Pretty much since the Assistant’s inception, you’ve been able to asy “Hey, Google, what’s the news?” to get a quick overview of all the big headlines for any given day.

Starting today and rolling out to users across the U.S., you can now ask the Assistant about news for specific topics, such as “What’s the latest on NASA?” or “What’s the news on the women’s national soccer team?”. Asking these questions on a Smart Display will pull up related YouTube videos while audio-only speakers such as Google Home will read out exceprts from news articles.

Additionally, this command is also be available for Android Auto, Android phones, and Asssitant-powered headphones like the Bose QC35 II.

August 3, 2018 — Google Home can now understand what room it’s in for contextual light controls

That title might make this not sound all that exciting, but this is actually pretty cool.

Up until now, asking your Google Home to “turn on the lights” or “tune off the lights” without specifying a certain room would result in every single connected light being turned on/off. However, a new update now allows the Google Home to only control the lights in the same room as it when this command is issued.

For example, if you have a Google Home assigned to the same room as the smart lights in your living room, asking that Google Home to turn on the lights will only activate the bulbs in the living room. You can still specify rooms with your voice, but this update should make these interactions a lot more natural.

Following numerous Redditors discovering this feature, Google confirmed to Android Police that this is indeed rolling out to users and will be making its way to everyone over the coming days.

All the important details

Google Now paved the way for Google Assistant

The Google Now page compared to the new Google Feed.

Before there was the Google Assistant, we had Google Now. Google Now was introduced to the world all the way back in 2012, offering contextual info through the Google Now page and helpful answers to random questions with an “OK Google” voice command.

A lot of what made Google Now so great can still be found in the Google Assistant today, with the exception of the Google Now page. The Google Now page used to be home to cards showcasing the weather, information on packages that had shipped from online orders, boarding passes, and more. It’s since been replaced by the Google Feed – a collection of news stories Google thinks you’ll be interested in – and it’s definitely the biggest departure between the two services.

The Google Assistant as a whole is still more powerful than Google Now ever was, but long-time Android users like myself are still mourning the loss of that Now page. RIP, old friend.

Read more: Google Now is being left to wither and die as Google Assistant takes the focus

It’s available on just about everything

In just a few short years, the Google Assistant’s gone from being exclusive to a now-failed chat app to being integrated into just about anything you can think of.

You’ll find Google Assistant built right into most Android phones, it’s the star of the show for the Google Home lineup, and it’s even making its way into sound bars.

Here’s the full list of devices with Google Assistant

Setting up the Google Assistant is as easy or complex as you want

When you set up a device for the first time that has the Assistant, getting started is pretty simple. Accessing it is just a voice command or tap away depending on what gadget you’re using, but if you want to really fine-tune your experience, Google’s got you covered.

Take a quick dive into your Assistant settings and you’ll find options for just about everything – including your weather preferences, changing the Assistant’s voice, retraining your voice model, picking out preferred news sources, and much more.

How to set up and customize Google Assistant

Google Assistant is available in multiple regions and languages

Of course, a smart voice assistant isn’t any good if you can’t actually use it. Fortunately, Google Assistant will be available in 52 countries —adding 38 countries this year — and 17 languages by the end of 2018.

More: Google Assistant will expand to 38 countries and 17 languages in 2018

Google Home’s the premier way to get the Assistant in your house (at least for now)

It’s great to have the Google Assistant on your phone, but if you want to truly experience just how helpful it can be, you’ll want to consider picking up a Google Home.

Google Home is Google’s line of smart speakers that put the Assistant on full-display, allowing you to control smart devices, ask random questions, set timers, play music, and more by just using your voice.

You can spend as little as $49 for the Google Home Mini, $129 for the original Google Home, or a whopping $399 for the Google Home Max.

However, as great as the Home series is, don’t forget that Smart Displays are just on the horizon.

Announced at CES 2018, Smart Displays are essentially smart speakers with the Google Assistant and a touch screen display that can show you helpful visuals when talking to them. It’s basically Google’s answer to the Amazon Echo Show and Echo Spot, and we can’t wait to see more from them.

Everything you need to know about Google’s Home speakers

Then again, is an always-listening speaker the right fit for your home?

However, the convenience of a Google Home (or any smart speaker for that matter) does come at the cost of privacy. Speakers like the Google Home are “always listening”, meaning they’re constantly on the lookout for a hot word to know when you’re talking to it (such as “Ok, Google” and “Hey, Google”).

This means the microphone on a Google Home is always active, but it’s not necessarily storing all the audio it hears when it doesn’t detect its hot word.

Most all speakers allow you to restore some privacy by being able to mute the microphone, but if you want to start asking the Assistant questions, you’ll need to unmute it first.

To learn more about these “always listening” speakers, I’ll pass the mic over to Jerry

Big upgrades are coming to the Assistant on Wear OS

Switching gears for a second, the Google Assistant on Wear OS (formerly Android Wear) is about to get a big upgrade.

In the near future, the Assistant on Wear OS will support Assistant Actions (basically apps for the Assistant) and give you the option to hear its responses through your watch’s speaker or a pair of connected Bluetooth headphones.

Along with this, Google will be adding something called “smart suggestions.” After asking the Assistant for the weather, for example, you’ll see little bubbles for “weather tonight”, “use celsius”, and more so you can continue the conversation with just the tap of your finger. Google Assistant on Android offers something similar, and it’s a great tool to have.

IFTTT supercharges the Assistant’s usefulness

IFTTT (If This Then That) is a powerful online tool that allows you trigger something (that) if a certain event (this) happens. You can connect IFTTT to the Google Assistant to create your own recipes using this formula, and it can allow for some incredibly helpful combinations.

Some of our favorite uses for IFTTT and the Assistant include adding contacts to your Google account, setting your Google Calendar status to Busy for a certain period of time, and much, much more.

Getting started with IFTTT can take some time and patience if you’re new to it, but once you’re all set up and ready to go, it can prove to be a lifesaver.

How to connect Google Home and IFTTT to do amazing things with your connected tech

You’ll get the same experience no matter what devices you use

With so many devices capable of running the Assistant, it’d be easy to think that the experience you get on one gadget would be different from another. This is something that Google struggled with for a while at first, but we’re finally in a position where the Assistant experience you get on a smart speaker, for example, is the same you’ll get on your phone.

There are a handful of features here and there that still create for some discrepency, but for the most part, the Assistant you use on your Pixel 2 is the same one found on Google Home.

Google Home and Google Assistant finally offer the same experience

Google Duplex is actually going to be a thing

Google showed off Duplex — Google Assistant making natural-sounding phone calls on your behalf — at I/O 2018, but quickly noted that it was just an experiment. Flash forward a couple months, and Google announced that certain users have started testing Duplex, and a public release will be here in the next few months. Before you know it, Google Assistant will be able to book hotels, dinner reservations, hair appointments and more without you lifting a finger.

More: What is Google Duplex?

Updated July 2018: Added the Google Duplex and language support sections, as well as links to recent Assistant news.

New gameplay footage for Red Dead Redemption 2 gives our deepest look yet

The wild west has never looked this good.

Yes, it’s finally happening my fellow outlaws. Red Dead Redemption II is real and it’s coming to PlayStation 4 this year. After Rockstar Games’ massively successful open-world cowboy game set during the death of the Wild West, fans began clamoring for a follow-up that continued the story of the Marston family or embraced a new gunslinger.

After years of rumors and silence on Rockstar’s end, they finally surprised the world on one random morning in 2016 by announcing a sequel to their critically acclaimed western. It took over a year to get any actual concrete details regarding the game and frankly, it’s still a bit of a mystery but it sounds like it could be a mix of a story of a new outlaw and also fill in a massive gap in John Marston’s story.

See at Amazon

What’s new with Red Dead Redemption 2?

Rockstar Games has been quiet lately regarding the highly-anticipated sequel, but with Red Dead Redemption 2’s imminent launch approaching in just a few short months, the studio is starting to discuss the game some more. We’ll keep you up to date with everything you need to know as it’s released.

August 10, 2018 — New Red Dead Redemption 2 gameplay has arrived!

Rockstar today released new gameplay footage for Red Dead Redemption 2, giving us our deepest look at the wild west open world game yet. The 6-minute trailer showed us a great deal of the gameplay mechanics, a bit of the world, and more.

For starters, we got to see the sheer scope of the open world. Red Dead Redemption 2 will be massive in size, and there will be a variety of environments to explore both on foot and on horseback. From mountainous terrain and forested countrysides to those growing towns chock full of saloon-goers and merchants, it appears players will be able to take in the full breadth of the cowboy experience.

Rockstar says it was important for the game to be massive not just in size, but also in depth. That means the player — taking the reigns as Van Der Linde gang member Arthur Morgan — will have a living, breathing society around him to interact with.

Red Dead 2 may set a new standard for open-world gameplay.

You can go into shops and sell the pelts you’ve skinned off the back of your latest game hunting prey. And if you get caught trying to steal or shortchange the shop vendor, well, don’t be surprised if you have to knock him out in the street. That the townspeople gathered around to watch the confrontation as it went down is a testament to the emphasis Rockstar is placing on immersion.

That sort of interaction can be coerced out of the game by your own will, too. You can interact with almost everyone and everything. Meet some passersby on the road with a quick greeting and be on your way, or question someone you think might be doing dirt in the city. These interactions seemingly have the potential to escalate into something more, whether that be a new opportunity for Arthur Morgan and Co. or more fisticuffs to keep people in their place. And yes, that also means you can defuse certain situations.

Should the fighting become so fierce that you resort to weapons, you’ll find a new combat system that makes the deed more fluid and fun. Hand-to-hand combat, especially, seems far more involved than the original game. As far as shooting is concerned, Dead Eye is back, and it’ll be cooler than ever to put bullets into the heads of six of your enemies simultaneously.

At the end of your daily musings, you’ll head back to camp to meet up with your gang. This is likely where you’ll be getting the bulk of your missions, but it’s also a chance for the player to get to know the other characters in the group. They’ll share stories and sing and dance with you as you eat, and you can also play various games to keep morale high. There’s a gameplay benefit to all this, as Rockstar says spending time with these people could unlock new secrets.

As a pillar of the gang, you’ll be tasked with helping keep them afloat by regularly replenishing food, water, and other supplies. We’re not sure what would happen should their morale get too low, but apparently that will play a part in how others in the gang approach you.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is slated for an October 26th release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Head to Amazon and pre-order yours today.

See at Amazon

August 8, 2018

Rockstar has announced that we will see new gameplay for Red Dead Redemption 2 on August 9. This should be our first significant look at gameplay since the game’s announcement. The trailer will air 11AM Eastern, and can be viewed on Rockstar’s website or YouTube channel. We’ll be updating this post with details about the gameplay announcement once it arrives.

August 6, 2018

The big question on everyone’s mind: When are we finally getting gameplay? All signs point to soon. Rockstar has recently sent out Red Dead 2 care packages to members of the press, and with Gamescom taking place in just a few weeks, the developer could be gearing up for a big reveal. Red Dead II was notably absent at E3 2018, so the next biggest gaming convention seems like a good bet for it to make an appearance.

During a recent financial call, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick took the chance to hype up Red Dead 2 even more, saying, “My belief is that Red Dead Redemption 2 will shatter expectations and that the online experience also will be extraordinary, but unexpected.”

Its online aspect was a bit contentious when rumors of its existence began floating around since Red Dead’s identity was tied to its single-player, but it looks like Rockstar may have something special they’ve got cooking up if they’re hyping it up so much.

He continued by saying that Red Dead II will “redefine the industry” and “captivate audiences around the world.”

PC release?

Though Rockstar only announced PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game, there’s still hope it could come to PC. It appears that a programmer at Rockstar, who previously worked on GTA V and L.A. Noire, listed Red Dead II on his LinkedIn profile with its platforms being labelled as “PS4/Xbox1/PC.” This was eventually amended once word got out, but it’s unknown if this was a simple mistake or a PC version is indeed in the works.

The story so far…

Rockstar Games appears to be returning to the traditional one playable character route after successfully experimenting with three playable protagonists in Grand Theft Auto V but he’s not John or Jack Marston. Players will travel back to 1899 (12 years before the first game) to fill the boots and don the hat of a much less noble man that goes by the name of Arthur Morgan, a brute that’s running with Dutch van der Linde’s gang during their prime. While little is known about Arthur, we know he’s a much more sinister cowboy who doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty. In the second trailer, we see him interrogating and roughing up several people who appear to owe money to Dutch’s Gang, perhaps for protection. He’s a brutal force that is loyal to Dutch and likely only Dutch.

It’s likely we’re going to see the rise and fall of the gang, with Arthur Morgan playing a pivotal role.

The story will see Morgan and Van der Linde’s gang stealing, running, and fighting to survive the rugged and cruel world that is the Wild West. Order has not yet been established, technology is slowly beginning to evolve into something far more advanced, and people like Dutch believe it’s important that things stay the way they are. The Van der Linde gang was always viewed as a Robin Hood-type of bandits, stealing from the rich to give to the poor and resisting the government in favor of a structure where it was an “every man for himself” situation.

The gang eventually evolved into something far more dangerous and unhinged according to an anecdote provided by John Marston, leading him to realize their Robin Hood act was all a front for their evil actions and crimes. The event that likely leads to the start of the downfall of the gang seems to be a heist in Blackwater which later became known as the Blackwater Massacre. In the plot synopsis for the game provided by Rockstar, it’s revealed that the gang is being hunted after they botch a robbery in the wealthy town that is seen toward the end of the first RDR.

Within the lore of the series, the Blackwater Massacre was a massive shootout that took the lives of over 30 people. Civilians, cops, and criminals were among the casualties of the bloody shootout, actual details of why the battle took place remain a mystery to the residents of Blackwater because the officials went to great lengths to cover it up. Why? Well, we’ll likely find out in Red Dead II.

Most people involved died or were criminals who escaped but one of the few survivors was the legendary lawman, Landon Ricketts. Ricketts is in the first game and Marston teams up with him in Mexico, Marston knows him for his status but the two don’t seem to know each other. It’s entirely possible that Marston was uninvolved in the heist or was playing coy and using him to further his quest for redemption.

How does it connect to the original Red Dead Redemption?

So, what’s the connection to the first Red Dead Redemption? Well, Rockstar is being very, very careful not to say much about this game and how it connects to the first game but it will shed light on the stories John told in the first game as well as provide more depth to the men we hunt down in that same game.

John Marston is indeed in the game but Rockstar has noted that this is Arthur Morgan’s story, not John’s.

Given this game takes place long before the events of the original game and has a direct link to it via Dutch van der Linde and his gang, it’s hard to imagine Rockstar isn’t trying to expand John Marston’s story in some way. With games like Grand Theft Auto, there have been very subtle connections tying the games together but none of them are direct sequels or relate to each other in any way. With Red Dead Redemption II, Rockstar had the chance to name the game something like Red Dead Revolution, Red Dead Retribution, or something along those lines given that the series so far has gone Red Dead Revolver and then Red Dead Redemption. They purposely named it in a way that links the two games.

Marston was also a substantial part of Dutch’s Gang, he was taken in by Dutch when he ran away from the orphanage he lived in. He was raised by this gang and lived with them for a large majority of his life and in the fallout of him abandoning the gang, it all went to hell and it was more or less disbanded. John Marston is indeed the game, he’s heavily featured in new screenshots and is seen in the newest trailer once or twice but Rockstar says this is Arthur’s story, not John’s. That doesn’t mean that we can’t expand on the character, it just means he will not be the focal point of the narrative.

Major gameplay innovations are coming in the western sequel

Since Rockstar has been pretty prude about Red Dead Redemption II, we only have the word of the press who have seen the game in action to understand how the game plays. There will be more details in the future regarding what the gameplay will look like but for right now we’ll just give you the basic rundown of what we know. For starters, Rockstar seems to be creating their most realisitic world yet and abandoning some of the most video game-y aspects in their formula for something with more depth.

According to Rockstar, they’ve been developing Red Dead Redemption II for eight years, starting as they were wrapping up the first game. In that time, they’ve been handcrafting a world with lots of detail and creating systems that may be fairly unexpected from them. A large portion of the game is centered around managing the gang, Arthur is Dutch’s right-hand man and he helps keep everything running smoothly. This means you’ll help perform odd jobs for gang members, go hunting to get food for the camp or get money to line their pockets with, and so on.

Rockstar has been very clear that you don’t have to do this and you won’t be severely punished if you don’t but the gang will make comments if you leave them hanging for days on end. If you do choose to take care of your gang, you’ll be rewarded in ways that have not yet been revealed and your gang will grow stronger.

Also on tap is a new dialog system that allows you to approach situations with more options than just shoot and kill. Each NPC has their own set of branching dialog, with the player able to talk niceties or show a degree of impatience in any given encounter. And this isn’t just a black and white morality system either. Some choices will be gray areas, some will be lore-advancing, some will lead to friendships, and others will most certainly erupt into bloodbaths. It’s unclear if there will be any more to this system – such as a relationship mechanic that gauges each NPC’s level of warmth toward you – but it’s something.

If you do choose to go off and do things like hunting, you’ll be able to see the amount of depth that Rockstar has added to its hunting system since the original game and Grand Theft Auto V. You’ll find yourself stalking animals, choosing your weapon carefully so you don’t damage pelts/meat, and tracking an animal by following blood trails after you’ve hit it. Once you’ve tracked the animal down, you may find it still alive, bleeding out and yelping. Arthur will then take out his knife and stab the animal in the heart to end its suffering and take what you want from it.

You can then string up your kill on the back of your horse and take it back to camp to feed your people or sell it in town and take the money for yourself. Regardless of what you choose, your hunt will rot and decay over time so the longer you have it on the back of your horse (yes, it’s literally on your horse, not in an invisible pouch), the less valuable it’ll be. If you were to kill an animal (or even a person) behind and let it sit in the wild, vultures, coyotes, and other creatures would come and munch on the remains.

It looks as if Rockstar will be carrying over the heists from GTA V as we see Arthur Morgan robbing a bank and holding up a train in the second trailer. It’s unclear how much of a focal point these will be in the game since it was the core of GTA V’s campaign but one has to imagine it plays a similar role given you’re a gang of notorious western criminals.

We do know there will be some depth to those heists, though. Players can go loud or quiet, create distractions, choose who you bring with you (some can be done solo but isn’t recommended), and use a bunch of other different variables to create different outcomes throughout the heists. All of this will result on if and when law enforcement shows up amongst other things. It’s unclear if you can have gang members die or get critically wounded in these heists like in Grand Theft Auto V or just how dynamic these systems are. Grand Theft Auto V’s heists were heavily scripted, if you chose a certain crew member to come with, they’d always die on the same mission in the same spot because it was coordinated by Rockstar’s writing. It was more of the illusion of choices having consequences rather than them actually having any meaning at all.

Some major changes are also coming in combat with the ability to dual wield weapons like Max Payne, bows and arrows used for hunting and maybe even some stealth combat as we see Arthur Morgan taking a knife to someone’s back in the dead of night. We also see Arthur brutally beating people up in the third trailer, suggesting Rockstar has refined their melee combat to create more intense and fun brawls.

A cowboy’s best friend

A cowboy’s best friend isn’t his fellow outlaws/lawmen, it’s his horse. In the original Red Dead Redemption, your horse was almost supernatural in the sense it teleported to you and was basically immortal. You didn’t have much of a connection to it because outside of its speed and stamina, there was nothing too special about the horses. In Red Dead Redemption II, Rockstar plans on changing that.

Your horse in the sequel will be very special. Perhaps the most significant change from the first game or any Rockstar game for that matter is that you won’t be able to carry every single weapon with you. The joke of pulling an RPG out of your rear end in GTA wouldn’t apply in this game as you’ll only be carrying small weapons such as handguns on your person, rifles and other gear will travel via your horse. We’re not sure if you can sling at least one rifle over your shoulder while walking around but you can expect most of your guns to be unavailable if your horse isn’t nearby.

Your horse won’t be disposable in this game, it’ll mean a lot more to you because it has lots of value. You’ll grow a bond that effects how scared it gets when put in danger, how far it gets from you, and more. Rockstar hopes that this bond won’t just serve a gameplay effect but a personal and emotional one to. If your horse gets critically wounded, you can attempt to heal it with medical supplies, if you don’t have any you can try and run into town quickly and gather some and run back. You may come back to your horse dead, making you realize that you left that poor animal that loved you to die thinking you abandoned it in its final moments. Brutal stuff, I know. Should it die, you’ll have to start that bond all over with a new horse and presumably any gear you can’t carry off of that horse’s corpse is lost.

It adds a whole new layer to an aspect that’s iconic to westerns but doesn’t have a lot of attention paid to it.

When you can play it and when we’ll know more

The only questions remaining are when we can play the game and when we can expect more firm details from Rockstar. The game is currently scheduled to release on October 26th, 2018 for PlayStation 4 as well as Xbox One, and we can likely expect some news regarding the game in June or July via a Game Informer cover story or a new breakdown directly from Rockstar. As of right now, we’ll just have to hold our breaths and keep waiting to saddle up again.

Where to buy Red Dead Redemption 2

You can now pre-order Red Dead Redemption 2 ahead of its October 27th release date. You’re in for some nice goodies if you decide to give Rockstar your cash early. All pre-orders for Red Dead Redemption 2 come with the War Horse mount and the Outlaw Survival Kit. The former is a grey-colored steed that has better courage and stamina than others, while the Outlaw Survival Kit gives you extra health kits, Dead Eye replenishment, and more.

If you pre-order the digital copy on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, you’ll also get some extra in-game cash to start your game, as well as a treasure map, though you’ll need to pre-order the game by July 31st to get those.

There’s also a special edition of the game available. It comes with 2 extra side missions, a black thoroughbred horse, gameplay bonuses through medllian and talisman charms, in-game cash bonuses, gameplay boosts, and discounts, a gunslinger outfit, and three additional weapons. You’ll also get a real map of the game world.

If that’s not enough, the Ultimate Edition comes with everything that the Deluxe Edition does, but you can add two more in-game outfits, another black thoroughbred with an exclusive saddle, a Survivor camp theme for the game’s online mode, three additional free weapons, and XP bonuses for online play up to rank 25.

As an added bonus for Grand Theft Auto 5 players, all digital pre-orders also come with in-game currency for GTA Online. Standard Edition gets $500,000, Special Edition gets $1,000,000, and Ultimate Edition gets $2,000,000.

Then there’s the big kahuna reserved for the most die-hard Red Dead fans. It’s a full-blown Collector’s Box, a red-tinted metal tithing box with a lock and key that comes with an assortment of real world goodies. There’s a collectible coin, a double-sized puzzle, a red bandana, a treasure map, a pin set, commemorative playing cards, a real 150-page Wheeler, Rawson and Co. catalogue, and 12 collectible cigarette cards.

You can pre-order your preferred digital edition of Red Dead Redemption 2 at the PlayStation Store, Xbox Store, or direct from the Rockstar Warehouse. Those opting for the Collector’s Box, however, can only get it through the Rockstar Warehouse.

Wanting to catch up and play through the original Red Dead Redemption before the sequel drops? You can find the Game of the Year Edition for $20 at Amazon

See at Amazon

Updated August 2018: New gameplay footage is out! We’ve added the trailer, as well as detailed it for those who can’t watch.

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This could be Palm’s first-ever Android phone

The Palm Pepito will be sold exclusively on Verizon in the U.S. for an unknown price.

After bringing back the BlackBerry brand to much success, TCL confirmed earlier this year that it also has plans to release a Palm-branded Android phone at some point in 2018. Now, thanks to a new report from Android Police, we have our very first glimpse as to what that device will look like.

Currently codenamed as the Palm Pepito, the phone is reported to have a minuscule 3.3-inch display with a resolution of just 720p on an LCD panel. The battery is also rather petite at just 800 mAh.

Other rumored specs include a Snapdragon 435 processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB of internal storage, and Android 8.1 Oreo.

Like we previously heard, the Palm Pepito is expected to launch on Verizon when it comes to the U.S., and at this time, there’s still no word if it’ll be available on other carriers or unlocked in any form.

All those specifics aside, though, can we just take a minute to agree that the Pepito is adorable? Small phones are a rarity in 2018, and as such, the Pepito looks like nothing else that’s currently on the market. Die-hard Palm fans might think otherwise as this is a completely different form factor compared to handsets like the Palm Pre and Pixie, but as a Pre owner myself, I’m still excited to see what TCL has to offer.

What’s your take on Pepito?

BlackBerry KEY2 review: Just my type

Spotify CEO explains what the company’s new Samsung partnership means

Deeper Bixby integration, ease of use across multiple devices, and more are on the way.

After its announcements for the Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy Watch, and Galaxy Home during its Unpacked event in NYC, Samsung brought Spotify CEO Daniel Ek on-stage to talk about a new partnership between the two companies. Samsung says that Spotify is now its go-to music streaming partner and is working with the company to bring a more seamless listening experience to its customers, but what does that actually mean?

Shortly after the event, Ek highlighted some of the user-facing changes that are on their way as part of the new deal via a blog post.

When asked “What can users look forward to right away?”, Ek said:

Users can get excited about Spotify becoming part of the set-up experience on a Samsung device from the very beginning. For example, when someone buys a phone, the user can easily discover the Spotify app on Samsung Smart Switch. And soon, Samsung Smart TV users will be able to play Spotify through the SmartThings app.

Galaxy smartphone owners that still use Bixby will also get deeper Spotify integration, and soon, Spotify will be the “only music service to be fully integrated with Samsung Music.” Even if you’ve never listened to Spotify before, Bixby will still pull songs from it if you ask the assistant to play some music.

As for making the Spotify listening experience more seamless across multiple Samsung devices, Ek said:

When you buy a new Samsung phone and use the SmartThings app to set up your Samsung Smart TV or Galaxy Home, you will be prompted to link your Spotify account. So right from the beginning, you’ll have that collaboration. It only takes a few simple steps.

Furthermore, “when a user enters Wi-Fi while listening to music on mobile with the Spotify app, they’ll be able to move playback from the lock screen, instead of having to go back in the Spotify app.”

Daniel Ek also notes that this is “just the start of things to come”, suggesting that we’ll see even more Spotify integrations with future Samsung products down the road.

Samsung’s first Bixby smart speaker is the Galaxy Home

Samsung Galaxy Watch hands-on preview: Another Gear in all but name

The ‘Gear’ may be gone, but these are very much the same watches we know.

Samsung’s wearable strategy has settled into a groove the past few generations, with each smartwatch offering the same basic story: a circular display with a rotating bezel that runs Samsung’s own operating system and has tons of features for health and fitness tracking. The new Galaxy Watch may have a different name, dropping “Gear” altogether, but it’s primarily more of the same.

The last Samsung smartwatch, the Gear Sport, came out just 10 months ago — and as such, the new Galaxy Watch doesn’t have many differentiating features or specs. The main differentiation with this release is the “same” watch is available in two sizes, unifying the lineup a bit whereas the Gear S3 Frontier and Gear Sport were staggered releases with only a single size each.

The Galaxy Watch’s larger version is a 46 mm case, sporting a 1.3-inch display like the Gear S3 line. The smaller version is 42 mm, with a 1.2-inch display, like the Gear Sport. Both displays are 360×360 resolution, just like the last few generations of Samsung smartwatches — that means they’ll look good, and in my time they reminded me exactly of the experience I had using the Gear Sport and Gear S3.

This is effectively a Gear S3 and Gear Sport refreshed for 2018 under a new name.

The larger model has a really large battery at 470mAh, a big upgrade from the Gear S3’s 380mAh. The smaller model is just 270mAh, though, smaller than the Gear Sport’s 300mAh. With that 470mAh it’s not surprising Samsung can claim “several days” of use, as the Gear S3 was already a 2-4 day watch depending on how you used it. I assume the 42 mm Galaxy Watch will be more like the current lineup’s battery life, but Samsung’s talking a big game about longevity with a new processor that’s focused on efficiency.

The new Galaxy Watches look and feel very similar to the Gear S3 Frontier and Gear Sport, and the dimensions bare that out. My first take when picking up the new models was that they felt lighter, but they actually aren’t — this very well could’ve been the simple thin bands the demo units had on them. And to that point, you can still replace these bands with any standard watch band, which gives you customizability and upgrade options in the future.

Just like the current Samsung smartwatch crop, the new Galaxy Watch has a nice-looking shiny metal exterior that catches your eye with a contrasting texture or color (depending on the version) for its rotating bezel. The back still throws me off a little bit because it’s very cheap-feeling plastic, but that’s what’s required to be able to let the radios get out of this thing.

Samsung’s software and rotating bezel are still great for a smartwatch.

Samsung’s choice to stick with the rotating bezel interface is extremely smart, because it just feels so intuitive to grab that gnurled edge and turn it to move through the interface. The best part about it, just like using a rotating side button on Wear OS, is that you can navigate without obscuring the interface with your big finger — which is extremely important on a watch with just a 1.2-inch display. The two side buts are useful escape hatches for getting back a level or moving directly home to the watch face, and it doesn’t take much time to figure them out.

Unlike the rumors pointed to, the Galaxy Watch has Samsung’s custom-built Tizen Wearable Platform still, now updated to version 4.0. In my time scrolling through the interface Samsung doesn’t seem to have made any changes to the core design paradigm, but has simply refreshed the iconography and colors a bit. This is still a primarily black-and-white base with icons taking over the bulk of the colors and brightness. The default set of watch faces look great, so much so that I doubt most people will bother going into the Galaxy Apps store to download something new.

Samsung didn’t make any huge changes to the experience here because it really didn’t have to. Outside of offering two different sizes, changing the battery life story and unifying under a new brand name, the new Galaxy Watch doesn’t really do anything that the combination of the “old” Gear S3 and Gear Sport did. But Samsung wasn’t going to just keep selling devices as they get to be a year, and two years, old — they needed a refresh.

Right now, people will probably prefer to save $50-75 and get a Gear Sport or Gear S3.

If the history of Samsung’s smartwatches continues to play out and you can get a Gear S3 and Gear Sport for months after these new Galaxy Watches come out, there’s a good chance people will keep picking up those old models at steep discounts. The new Galaxy Watch comes in at $329 and $349 for the two sizes, which is quite expensive when the Gear Sport is under $250 and the Gear S3 Frontier is under $300 now with effectively the same specs, features and experience.

The U.S. carriers are likely to make a push with these watches when the LTE versions launch, offering them up at steep discounts when you sign up for a data plan or monthly financing. But for the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-only models, these aren’t likely to flip the script from the slow-and-steady sales from the last generations they so faithfully follow.

Apple Pay Gains Momentum With Estimated 250 Million Users, 200% Transaction Growth Predicted Next Year

An estimated 31 percent of iPhone users have made a purchase with Apple Pay in the past year, up from 25 percent a year ago, according to a new Apple Pay estimates shared today by Loup Ventures analyst Gene Munster.

Apple Pay now has an estimated 252 million users, equating to 31 percent of the active installed iPhone base, according to Munster.

Apple does not provide official details on how many people use Apple Pay, but in a recent earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that there were upwards of 1 billion Apple Pay transactions in Q3 2018, triple the amount from a year ago.

Based on these figures combined with past Apple reports of yearly Apple Pay growth, Munster expects transaction growth of 200 percent over the course of the next 12 months.

Bank adoption of Apple Pay is also growing steadily, and during the same earnings call, Apple announced that 4,900 banks support the feature. The number of banks supporting Apple Pay has increased by 1,701 since the December quarter, marking a 55 percent growth in North America, 141 percent in Asia, and 370 percent in Europe.

Munster believes that just 20 percent of global smartphone users use their phone as a wallet, a number that he expects to rise to 80 percent in the future.

Apple is well-poised to position the iPhone as the premium digital wallet on the market given that it’s the only digital wallet option “with all five payment pillars” defined as mobile, desktop, in-app, peer to peer, and point of sale.

Munster says Apple Pay is much more popular overseas, with 85 percent of users being international compared to 15 percent in the United States. Apple Pay is estimated to have 38 million users in the U.S. and 215 million in the 20+ other countries where Apple Pay is available.

Apple Pay works in retail locations with the Apple Watch and iPhone, and in apps and on the web with iPhone, iPad, and Mac. As of iOS 11.3, Apple also supports Apple Pay Cash payments, a feature that is currently limited to the United States.

Apple Pay is available in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Singapore, Switzerland, Hong Kong, France, Russia, China, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, Taiwan, Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, UAE, Brazil, Ukraine, Norway, and Poland at the current time, and it is also set to expand to Germany later this year.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
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Hands-On With Samsung’s New Galaxy Note 9 and Galaxy Watch

Samsung today hosted an event in New York where it unveiled its newest product updates, including the Galaxy Note 9, the Galaxy Watch, and the Galaxy Home speaker.

MacRumors attended Samsung’s event and was able to get some hands-on time with Samsung’s new line of flagship devices, which is worth checking out because Samsung’s main product lineup is quite similar to Apple’s with the introduction of the new Galaxy Home device.

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Samsung’s Galaxy Note 9 device comes just a few weeks ahead of when Apple plans to unveil its 2018 iPhones, and it gives us a look at the feature set Samsung is hoping will lure customers away from new Apple devices.

Unlike other Android smartphones, Samsung continues to eschew the notch, and the Galaxy Note 9 looks quite similar to the Galaxy Note 8 with small top and bottom bezels, an aluminum frame, a built-in iris scanner for biometric authentication, and a fingerprint scanner at the rear.

Samsung has tweaked the location of the fingerprint scanner, putting it underneath the rear camera instead of next to it, which often led to people touching the camera element in the previous device. Speaking of the camera, Samsung is using the same dual-camera dual-aperture setup as last year, with the addition of a new Intelligent Camera feature that optimizes camera settings for whatever you’re taking a picture of.

The Galaxy Note 9 features a 6.4-inch AMOLED screen, a smidge bigger than the 6.3-inch screen in the previous device, and also smaller than the rumored 6.5-inch display Apple’s “iPhone X Plus” device is expected to offer.

Inside, the Galaxy Note 9 uses a Snapdragon 845 processor and what Samsung describes as a watercooling system for superior game performance, and it comes equipped with an updated S Pen, a factor that has always set the Note line apart from the iPhone, as Apple’s devices do not support its one and only stylus, the Apple Pencil.

The S Pen has been upgraded with Bluetooth, so it can be used as a remote for things like playing and pausing movies, playing slideshows, and taking selfies. An S Pen SDK is coming later this year that will allow developers to integrate S Pen functionality into their apps. Dock-free DeX support is included in the Galaxy Note 9, allowing it to be connected to an external display.

To compete with the HomePod and the Apple Watch, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Home and the Galaxy Watch. Access to the Galaxy Home was limited and we couldn’t get a good look at it, but it features a spaceship-like design with a U-shaped body that curves inward and three metal feet.

Samsung, like Apple, hyped the audio quality of the Galaxy Home on stage and demonstrated its integration with Bixby, Samsung’s digital assistant and Siri competitor.

As for the Galaxy Watch, it features a circular display with a traditional watch-style face that also maintains the rotating bezel for control purposes. Like the Apple Watch Series 3, the Galaxy Watch features LTE so it is not reliant on an accompanying smartphone.

It has a battery that lasts several days, and like the Apple Watch, it offers a breathing guide, heart rate monitoring, support for 39 types of workouts, and automatic workout detection, a feature Apple is bringing to the Apple Watch in watchOS 5. Samsung is pairing the Galaxy Watch with a wireless charger that can charge a smartphone and the watch at the same time, which sounds a lot like Apple’s still-missing AirPower device.

At its event, Samsung was also showing off the Galaxy Tab S4, its new iPad Pro competitor that was introduced last week. The 10.5-inch Galaxy Tab S4, which has a 16:10 AMOLED display, features DeX support, a Book Cover Keyboard, and an S Pen, along with a Snapdragon 835 processor, 4GB RAM, and a 7,300 mAh battery for 16 hours of battery life.

With today’s announcements, Samsung’s full fall 2018 product lineup is now available, and these are the devices that will directly compete with the products that Apple is expected to launch across the remaining months of 2018.

We’re expecting three new iPhones, including a 5.8-inch OLED device that’s a followup to the iPhone X, a 6.5-inch OLED iPhone that can be thought of as an “iPhone X Plus,” and a lower-cost 6.1-inch iPhone with an LCD display. All three devices are expected to ditch the Home button and Touch ID in favor of Face ID enabled through a TrueDepth camera system.

Apple is also planning to launch new Apple Watch Series 4 models, which are said to have bigger displays, better batteries, and improved heart rate monitoring technology, plus there are revamped iPad Pro models in the works with slim bezels, no Home button, and Face ID support.

What do you think of Samsung’s new product lineup, and how does it measure up to what Apple is rumored to be to putting out this fall? Let us know in the comments.

Tag: Samsung
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New 2019 Emoji Candidates Include Service Dog, Deaf Person and More Couples

The Unicode Consortium is working on the list of emojis that will be added to Unicode 12 in 2019, and today Emojipedia shared some details on new emoji candidates that have been suggested for inclusion.

New candidates for Unicode 12 include service dog, deaf people, and mixed race couples.

Because the list of emojis has not yet been finalized, these new emoji candidates won’t be included for sure, but they could make their way onto various platforms that support emoji if the Unicode Consortium ultimately approves them.

These new emoji candidate suggestions join other emoji suggested for 2019, including diving mask, waffle, Hindu temple, white heart, ice cube, sloth, flamingo, skunk, ballet shoes, falafel, onion, garlic, otter, and more.

A full list of Unicode 12 emoji candidates is available from Emojipedia.

Apple will likely add the Unicode 12 emoji to iOS, macOS, and Apple Watch devices sometime in the fall of 2019.

At the current time, we’re waiting on the addition of Unicode 11 emojis, which Apple said it will add to iOS later this year.

Apple previewed many of the new emoji that it plans to add, including red hair, gray hair, curly hair, cold face, party face, face with hearts, superheroes, kangaroo, peacock, parrot, lobster, mango, lettuce, cupcake, and more.

A few proposals have been made for emojis coming in 2020 and were announced by the Unicode Consortium today, including ninja, military helmet, mammoth, feather, dodo, magic wand, carpentry saw, and screwdriver.

Tags: emoji, Unicode Consortium, Unicode, Unicode 12
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Apple Picks Up New Video Game Comedy From Charlie Day and Rob McElhenney

Apple gave a straight to series order for a half-hour scripted comedy show created by Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day, reports Variety. The show is said to be set in a video game development studio.

Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day are best known for popular comedy show “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” which the duo have starred in since 2005 alongside Glenn Howerton, Kaitlin Olson, and Danny DeVito.

McElhenney and Day will write and executive produce the series, and McElhenney is set to be one of the show’s stars.

Apple has inked deals for more than a dozen TV shows, including several other comedy shows. A “You Think It, I’ll Say It” TV show based on Curtis Sittenfield’s short story collection is in development, as is “Central Park,” an animated series developed by Loren Bouchard.

A full list of all of the TV shows that Apple has in development is available in the Original Content section of our Apple TV roundup.

Rumors suggest the first of Apple’s TV shows could debut in the spring of 2019, with Apple perhaps planning to distribute them via a new streaming service.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 12Tag: Apple’s Hollywood ambitionsBuyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Neutral)
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Samsung Galaxy Note 9 hands-on review

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Samsung Galaxy Note 9

Year-to-year, Samsung phones don’t seem exciting. The improvements are often marginal and the designs hardly change. Individually, however, these phones are incredibly polished, and filled to the brim with features and high-quality components. Reading the specs sheet alone, it’s jaw-dropping how much tech Samsung can fit inside.

From afar, the new Galaxy Note 9 may feel like a miniscule upgrade over its predecessor, but the sum of its parts make it a killer phone. Is it inspiring like the iPhone X? No. Does it have the most recent version of Android? No. But it’s still a damn good phone. Here’s why.

Refined design, beautifully large display

It’s tough to tell the difference between last year’s Galaxy Note 8 and the Note 9 from the front. Blindfolded, it’s impossible to tell the two apart in the hand as well. Like the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus, it’s all about refining the design.

Samsung has slimmed the bezels surrounding the screen ever so slightly on the Note 9, allowing for a larger 6.4-inch screen as well as a tiny drop in height. The Note 9 is still a little wider and thicker, but it’s tough to notice. There’s a bit of bezel on the bottom, and the sensors in the top bezel don’t stick out like a sore thumb anymore.

The power button is on the right edge, with the volume rocker on the left, above the infamous Bixby button. They’re incredibly clicky, and all the buttons are easy to access. A headphone jack sits on the crowded bottom edge, next to the USB Type-C charging port, bottom-firing speaker, and S Pen. The speaker works with the top earpiece to produce stereo sound, and you just push on the S Pen to pop it out. We’ll get to the new features with the stylus later.

The edges of the Infinity Display curve into the rear, making the phone feel comfortable to hold, and the flat edges on the sides help with maintaining a tight grip. It feels like you’re holding an expensive remote control.

It all looks more elegant and professional.

The 6.4-inch Super AMOLED screen will keep you glued to the screen. Its 2,960 x 1,440 pixel resolution is brilliantly sharp, and colors appear vibrate with inky blacks. Samsung makes the best smartphone displays, and we certainly think this one might be its best.

The glass rear of the Note 9 is where noticeable changes have occurred. The fingerprint sensor is now in a more sensible place below the dual-camera module — it’s much easier to reach. Within the camera module itself, the middle camera is bigger than the one to the left. There’s a flash and other sensors packed on the right edge. It all looks more elegant and professional.

Like almost all high-end Samsung phones, the Note 9 is IP68 water- and dust-resistant, so it will be able to survive underwater up to 1.5 meters for about 30 minutes.

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

The new colors elevate the Note 9 even further. There’s Lavender Purple and Ocean Blue, and we’d pick Ocean Blue largely because of its fun, contrasting yellow S Pen. The Lavender Purple model only comes with a purple S Pen, but it still looks gorgeous.

There’s not much visually different about the Note 9 over its predecessor, which doesn’t make it as exciting, but it still oozes luxury.

Killer performance for gaming, Android software

Almost every flagship smartphone of 2018 has Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 processor inside. The Galaxy Note 9 is no different, but it will likely have an edge over the competition thanks to a new water carbon cooling system. Yes, there is actual water in the phone, though incredibly miniscule amounts. Samsung said the thermal spreader is also three times bigger, which should keep the processor cool during intensive tasks like gaming. It will be fascinating to test how well this system works.

Samsung’s not only trying to target professionals with the Note 9, but gamers as well. One of the world’s most popular game — Fortnite: Battle Royale — is launching on Android for the first time, but Samsung Galaxy owners (S7 and up) will exclusively get access for 30 days, starting today. The game will then become available on Epic Games’ website, rather than the Google Play Store.

This phone will be able to handle anything and everything you throw at it.

In our brief time with the phone, we didn’t notice any performance problems at all. Apps launched quickly, and scrolling through apps and the Android 8.0 Oreo interface felt smooth. This phone will be able to handle anything and everything you throw at it, and we’ll do more testing to see how it handles Fortnite and other intensive games.

There are two models of the Note 9 available: One with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and one with 8GB of RAM and 512GB storage. That massive storage upgrade also means a higher price tag, but we don’t know by how much yet. The phone also supports a MicroSD card slot, so you can add even more space if you need it.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Compared To

Moto E5 Plus

LG V30

HTC U11

Xiaomi Mi Mix

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge

YotaPhone 2

Sony Xperia Z3

HTC One Remix

Huawei Ascend Mate 2

LG G Flex

LG Optimus 4X HD

HTC One S

Samsung Galaxy S II

Google Nexus S

T-Mobile myTouch 3G

There’s not much difference in software here over the Galaxy S9 — it’s Samsung’s Experience launcher over Android Oreo, though we’d have liked to see Android 9.0 Pie considering Google just released it. It’s unclear yet when Samsung plans to push the update to the Note 9.

Bixby is still present, though Samsung has yet to share which improvements the virtual assistant has received to make it a little more useful. We’ll likely hear more at the launch event in New York City.

A.I. Camera

Samsung’s mantra with the Galaxy S9 was the “Camera. Reimagined.” It’s no surprise the company is sticking with the same system on the Note 9.

The dual-lens module on the rear is comprised of two 12-megapixel lenses with dual optical image stabilization, and one lens has mechanical disks that enable variable aperture. That means the primary lens can switch between f/1.5 and f/2.4 aperture, which will allow the Note 9 to excel with low-light photography. We’ve already seen it in action with the S9 Plus, and the results are fantastic.

The second lens has an f/2.4 aperture, and it can handle 2x optical zoom. It’s also used for Samsung’s portrait mode, also known as Live Focus. From the brief tests we ran, the camera shutter reacts quickly, and photos look great. Does it stand out from the S9, though? Yes, and it’s all because of artificial intelligence (A.I.).

Samsung has injected A.I. into its camera — just like several other smartphone manufacturers like Huawei and LG — which means the camera can detect up to 20 scenes, like a sunset or a pet. “Scene Optimizer” learns these scenes after receiving hundreds if not thousands of similar images, and then it’s taught to tweak the photo to match that ideal scene. For example, if you point the camera at a sunset and snap a photo, the A.I. will know just how to tune the exposure, color, and contrast of the photo to make it look better than ever.

This may just be the best A.I. scene detection tuning we’ve seen to date.

In early tests, photos tuned by the A.I. more often looked better than photos from a Galaxy S9, and it takes less than a second for the camera to identify the scene. This may just be the best A.I. scene detection tuning we’ve seen to date, as the rest tend to mostly oversaturate photos.

A.I. is also used for Flaw Detection. If you take a photo and someone blinked, a popup in the camera app will alert you, suggesting you retake the picture before you put your phone away and lose the moment. It can also identify when there’s a lot of backlight, or when there’s a smudge on the camera.

This is how A.I. should help in a smartphone camera. There’s no work the user has to do, and the changes the A.I. makes are sensible. That being said, you can turn this feature off in the camera settings.

The 8-megapixel front-facing camera has a f/1.7 aperture, and it should take good selfies. You can also access AR Emojis here, in case you want to turn into a Disney character, or someone else.

S Pen and DeX

The S Pen is a crucial selling point of the Note 9, but we’ve never found it to be all that useful (except for drawing). Sure, you can create animated GIFs with Live Messages, or hover over words to translate them, but it’s almost always faster to just use fingers. With the Note 9, Samsung may have finally give the stylus a purpose.

There’s now Bluetooth Low Energy embedded inside the S Pen, expanding its functionality up to 30 feet from the Note 9. This means you can control parts of the phone at a distance, such as moving through a powerpoint presentation; launching the camera and taking a group photo; or changing music tracks. You can customize what you want the button on the S Pen to do all through the Settings menu. It’s intuitive and easy to use, and works as advertised.

Our favorite was placing the Note 9 upright on a table to snap a selfie at a distance, which we can see people doing if selfie sticks aren’t available. What’s better is Samsung is releasing a software developer kit, so third-party app developers can create commands for their apps with the S Pen.

All this means the S Pen does need to be charged, but fret not. Samsung’s engineers have outfitted a supercapacitor into the stylus, which is kind of like a tiny battery that charges in a flash. Store it inside the Note 9 for 40 seconds, and you’ll get about 30 minutes of battery life. You shouldn’t have to worry about battery life too much.

Store it inside the Note 9 for 40 seconds, and you’ll get about 30 minutes of battery life.

The Note 9 also has a productivity-focused trick up its sleeve. Simply plug in a USB Type-C to HDMI cable from the Note 9 to a TV or external monitor, and you’ll launch the DeX Android desktop interface. It’s for a niche group of people, but you can use the phone as a trackpad, and a keyboard will pop up when you need to enter text. It’s especially handy if you want to throw a presentation onto a bigger screen during a meeting — you can continue using your phone without worrying about notifications appearing on the external screen as well.

Massive battery

Despite battery woes that nearly tarnished the Note brand two years ago, Samsung is getting a little bold again by outfitting a large 4,000mAh battery inside the Note 9. It probably explains why the phone is a little thicker, which shows Samsung has learned from its mistake. Either way, this phone should easily get through a day, and potentially half of the next day as well (if not more).

Price and availability

The Galaxy Note 9 will set you back $1,000 for the base 128GB model. It’s clear Samsung is going directly after the iPhone X. This model will be available from Samsung’s website, and retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, Costco, Sam’s Club, Straight Tal Wireless, Target, and Walmart. You can also purchase it through a carrier, with support from AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon, and Xfinity.

The 512GB model with 8GB of RAM has a eye-widening price tag of $1,250. It’s going to be a tad tougher to find as it’s only available at “select retail locations,” but you can always nab it online at Samsung’s website, or through AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and U.S. Cellular.

The Note 9 may not have a lot of upgrades for Note 8 owners, but it’s packed with top of the line specifications, components, and some handy software improvements. Is it worth the $1,000 price tag? We’ll find out in our full review coming soon.