A quick check with Google's online store tells me that the Pixel 2, the smaller of the two new flagship phones, is still hard to get, depending on the model you want. The Verizon option, which includes a SIM card for the wireless carrier, is out of stock entirely. And depending on which variant you want of the unlocked option, you could wait up to three weeks to get yours.
Some models are available right now, though. A Just Black 64GB model will apparently ship out pretty quickly. Even the 128GB model appears to be readily available. That's good news for Google and even better for anyone who might want to buy one of those models.
You're out of luck for now if you want a Clearly White model, though, if you want your phone quickly.
I'm going to take that look at availability and assume that quite a few of you out there managed to pick up a model, and have, hopefully, been able to use it for a bit of time now. And, if you have, I would imagine you've been able to put together some opinions on Google's newest flagship phone.
I've got a few friends who have had their models in hand since launch last month, and they are absolutely in love with their choices. Two of them went with the Pixel 2 and not the larger option, and they are still plenty happy with the devices they'll be using for the foreseeable future. The one remark I've heard at this point is that they wish the Pixel 2 had an OLED display, too. (They are longtime Samsung users, so I can understand this point. I did not point out the complaints with the Pixel 2 XL.)
And that's the only feedback I've received from either owner, which I take as a good thing. There isn't a lot they'd want to change, if anything, and as far as they are concerned Google did a bang-up job.
I've spent some time with the Pixel 2 and I think it's an amazing phone, too. It feels great in the hand, the display is definitely good enough, and it's fast. And smart, in the ways that Google can make that happen. I wish it had the same "panda" color scheme as the Pixel 2 XL, though. I love that option.
One thing I would change, though, are the bezels. Yeah, after using the Galaxy S8, LG V30, and other options, I've come full circle on this particular subject. I wasn't completely on board with the reduction in bezels at first, but I'm very much on that bandwagon now and the Pixel 2's front bezels really stand out.
But that's honestly the only thing I'd change about the Pixel 2. Sure, an OLED panel would be great, but the display in the handset now is good enough. Especially for the price point it sits in. I'm really hoping that next year Google adopts the minimized bezel approach for both of the Pixel variants.
What about you, though? Whether you've gotten a Pixel 2 already or not, what would you change about Google's smaller flagship? Let me know!
Update:The Amazon Echo has a new look for 2017. Check out our newAmazon Echo review.
But the Amazon Echo 2017 isn't the only new device in town: there's also the Amazon Echo Plus and Amazon Echo Spot, an alarm clock-sized Amazon Echo meant for a nightstand. The devices are due out on October 30, alongside the new Amazon Fire TV, but are available for pre-order right now onAmazonandAmazon UK.
Original review continues below...
The Amazon Echo was the device that kicked off Amazon's voice-activated smart home ambitions, and although the company is constantly expanding the lineup (most recently with the new Amazon Echo Show) the Echo is still the core of the lineup.
After all, the original Echo is still receiving new functionality on a regular basis, and will even be getting some of the new functionality coming to the Echo Show, including voice calling and messaging.
It seems like only yesterday we had our first conversation with Alexa, a personal assistant built in to the $179 Amazon Echo (£150, around AU$230). The conversation wasn't very deep, but they got a good laugh asking Alexa stupid questions, having her shuffle music and asking about mundane topics like the weather or the time. The earliest conversations were simple, almost child-like.
As the months went on the conversations got deeper as the team at Amazon added more functionality. Soon we could talk about sports, or what we had coming up on our calendar. Alexa could give sporting scores, or tell us how we were already late for a meeting.
It wasn't much longer before Alexa could read audiobooks, play our favorite podcasts and control some of the other smart devices in our homes. You can now ask Alexa about where you should go for Chinese food, or when the grocery store closes thanks to Yelp integration. Alexa can even now play music from services other than Amazon Prime like Spotify or Pandora in the US.
All this is a way to say that we've seen the Amazon Echo grow up from a novelty to an actually semi-intelligent AI. We've used products for years – iPods or Xboxs for example – but this is the first time that we've witnessed something evolve so much without ever needing a guiding hand.
It's clear that Amazon Echo is something you don't know you want until you have it, and something you don't miss until it's gone.
Check out how we got on when we used the Echo's younger brother, theEcho Dot, for a week.
Design
It's easy to mistake the Echo for a portable dehumidifier. It's all matte black exterior and 9.25 x 3.27 inch cylindrical shape gives it the kind of camouflage you'd expect from an appliance.
Another difference between the Echo and other portable speakers is that the Echo isn't exactly portable. It needs to be plugged in and connected to Wi-Fi at all times. (Which, considering the six-foot power cable, can be a bit of a struggle.)
And this decision makes sense when you give it some thought. How could an always-on microphone hear you if it runs out of power? It couldn't. Moreover, how would it send your voice to Amazon servers without a connection to the internet? Again, not going to happen.
Sure, it's a hassle to always be connected, but Wi-Fi networks are a dime-a-dozen these days.
On top of the canister are two buttons, mute and listen, while the top ring rotates to raise or lower volume.
Aside the volume ring is the light ring. This glows blue when you summon Alexa, flashes when it is searching for an answer to your query and glows red when you press the Mute button, so you really know that it isn't listening.
In the US the Echo comes with a traditional remote identical to the one that comes with the Amazon Fire TV, or can be controlled from your phone via the Amazon Echo App for those concerned with not having physical buttons to press.
Speaking of which, the app isn't the most fleshed-out companion app we've ever used, and can feel pretty barren in comparison to the Amazon Fire TV storefront. We found a few of the selections relatively useful – controlling radio stations via the app is painless compared with asking Alexa to do it – but the design can look and feel a little lacking compared to the competition.
Along the bottom of the Echo is a 360-degree speaker grille that gives it some surprisingly room-filling sound along with a small, white Amazon logo.
The speaker produces omni-directional sound, so it doesn't really matter whereabouts it sits - whether on a shelf or as a centrepiece on your mantlepiece the sound you get from it is decent though not mind blowing.
Also contained within the chassis is an array of seven microphones, all of which act as ears for the Amazon Echo. They are packed with noise-cancelling technology, so when you say 'Alexa' - the wake word for the Echo - it will be heard, even if you have a soft voice, are in a noisy room, or are playing music - which is likely given the Echo is primarily a speaker.
Simple setup
And you will be saying Alexa a lot - although your reasons of which will be different for every person that uses it.
If you are lost for words at the beginning - and we were, given speaking to a speaker does feel a little unnatural at first - then don't panic. Amazon offers up a small list of things to say to your device when you get it set up, with a selection of hints that are on the box itself and in handy card form. The list isn't extensive but it is enough to get you started. There's also a Things To Try section on the Alexa app, which is a bit more extensive.
But before you can speak to it, you need to set it up. Thankfully this is a fairly simple process.
To connect it to your home network, you need to download the Alexa companion app on Android or iOS and follow the instructions, with your Amazon Echo plugged in.
This app isn't just for Amazon Echo, so if you have a Fire TV or any other Amazon-connected device then these will appear in the Alexa app.The app prompted us to manually connect the Echo through our wireless settings (by choosing Amazon in the settings), but it may ask you to hold the action button on the device for five seconds.
Once done, select your Wi-Fi network, enter the passwords and you should be in, with a confirmation message appearing in the app. This took under two minutes for us to do.
Sound quality
While the Echo can crank the volume, the quality of the sound near its upper and lower limits leaves a lot to be desired.
Testing took place in two environments: a small, 12 x 14 ft bedroom and much larger 20 x 15 ft living room. The confined space, as you might expect, benefitted the quieter volume levels and completely muddled anything above 7. Given enough space, sound only faltered at the highest levels, 9 and 10, but Alexa had a tougher time picking up commands. At least the balance around volumes 4-6 were spot on.
With any other Bluetooth speaker, these kinds of problems would've been grounds for a failing grade. But the fact that Alexa not only needs to produce a lot of noise, but be able to hear over it as well, is good reason to cut it some slack.
Streaming music selection
Now that I've sold you on its music-playing capabilities (not), you're probably thinking, "but gee, what can I play on it?"
The Echo supports Spotify, TuneIn and, if you're a Prime subscriber, Amazon Prime Music. If you're in the US, the Echo also supports Pandora as well.
But, if all else fails or you don't feel like re-buying songs you've paid for on other services, there's one last-ditch effort to get your music: Amazon will actually allow you to import 250 songs to the cloud from your personal collection for free. This may not sound like a lot, but for those of us with one or two go-to playlists, it compensates for any slight inconvenience it caused to add them.
When it works, Alexa feels like the talking computer that sci-fi has been imagining for the last 50 years. Conversations can happen in informal language, and queries are picked up by natural cues instead of awkward syntax. Both "Alexa tell me about razors" and "Alexa, what is a razor?" lead me to the same answer, and feel completely natural when said out loud.
Alexa Skills
Alexa really comes to life when you start adding Skills to it. In the US, Amazon is boasting that there's now over 3,000 skills available for Alexa. It's a nice number but dig into this and you can see that it's quantity over quality.
In the UK, at our count, there's around 2,800 Skills available - a great number and not bad for something that's just launched in the UK but, again, that number is flattering. Many of the skills are fairly useless add-ons that you will probably use once then grow bored of them.
We tried a number of them and they vary in quality. Some of them are really simple but great to use. Guitar Tuner worked well: load this up and it will help you tune up your guitar's strings in no time. Jamie Oliver's Skill is good too. We asked it how to make a decent bolognese and it emailed us the recipe straight way. It would have been more helpful to have this narrated through the Echo but it was useful all the same.
The majority of Skills aren't great though, unless you want to learn facts about cats, snakes, coffee, chameleons… this list unfortunately goes on and on.
In amongst the filler there are some fantastic Skills available, especially if you have already taken some steps to making your home smart.
We have Hive installed and linking this with Amazon Echo was a revelation. Having the ability to turn on your smart lights with your voice never grows old and it feels instinctive to ask Alexa to turn your heating up by a degree or two. Echo will also link in with Nest, Netatmo, Philips Hue, SmartThings and Honeywell products. There's no doubt that the smart home is where Amazon Echo thrives - it just works so well. And it won't end here, either - as Sonos has announced that it will offer integration in 2017.
When you do choose a Skill, however, there are some inconsistencies with how you ask Alexa for that particular information. For instance, once we set up Hive to work with Alexa, we never had to ask Alexa to launch Hive, just say things like: "Alexa, dim the dining room lights 50%". That would dim the lights no problem. But, when it came to asking for travel information, we had to say: "Alexa, launch National Rail" and then ask about our commute. This adds a bit of a barrier that makes the experience less than seamless.
Another instance is when you ask Alexa to play a song or album. This works well, but what Alexa replies with is rather clunky, saying: "Playing David Bowie's Life on Mars through Spotify". The Spotify bit isn't really needed as we already set Spotify up as our default music service in the Alexa app.
You should also be prepared for some random live albums to be played instead of the album you want. Alexa is intuitive but does get it wrong occasionally. These are small niggles but they do take a little getting used to.
Final verdict
That first year, we spent so much time focusing on how the Echo performed as a Bluetooth speaker that we failed to see how much potential the platform had as a smart-home hub and generally intelligent, time-saving device. We put it up against Siri and there was no contest – Apple's AI was simply smarter and more well-rounded. That's no longer the case.
For many, the $179 / £150 Echo is still a novelty, and until Alexa starts truly understanding natural human speech I don't expect to change their minds. The Echo is for those that can recognize the potential in a product, the DIY-ers and makers of the world that can look at something and find new uses.
It's for those that need a Bluetooth speaker, sure (as we stated earlier, we really can't see ourselves going back to a run-of-the-mill speaker after spending so much time with the Echo), but it's not the audio fidelity that will keep the Echo on your shelf for a year. It's Alexa.
If you can't see yourself enjoying the 'smart' aspect of Amazon's smart speaker, we wouldn't recommend the Echo. With other connected speakers out there like Sonos, LG Multi-Room Audio and a dozen Google Cast-enabled devices like the Chromecast Audio, there's just no reason to go all-in on a subpar speaker.
That said, if you want to see the future of AI in the making and be a part of that process, you absolutely need to buy the Amazon Echo.
Originally reviewed January 2015
from TechRadar: Technology reviews http://ift.tt/2z5dUu9
The Amazon Echo will always be known as the device that brought smarts to the speaker world. And it was Alexa, Amazon’s voice AI, that brought the Echo to life.
Granted, it was a gimmick at first but Amazon has been vocal about improving Alexa and it’s now a vital and voracious part of the smart home puzzle.
This is both a blessing and a curse for Amazon. Initially Alexa was only available through the devices the company made but now it’s omnipresent, with many a speaker manufacturer allowed to use the voice AI - the most high-profile recently being the Sonos One.
Something needed to change for Amazon to stay at the top of the smart speaker game and that’s where the Amazon Echo (2nd Generation) comes in.
It’s a whole different look for the Echo range. It’s a speaker that’s been designed to blend in with your home furnishings, rather than a prop for the latest Star Wars movie. But does blending in mean that Amazon’s Echo no longer stands out?
This is how we got on when we used the Echo's younger brother, theEcho Dot, for a week.
Design and features
The new Amazon Echo continues Amazon’s crusade of making voice the future of the operating system, bolstering Alexa’s skillset and wrapping all of this up in a much nicer chassis - an interchangeable one at that.
The new-look Echo is smaller and wider than its predecessor, which means it’s a lot more steadier on its feet. While we always felt that an accidental nudge would topple the original Echo over, the new Echo’s sturdier footprint means that it isn’t going anywhere.
Its look does mean that it’s less sci-fi and more in keeping with the current crop of smart speakers - in particular Google Home and Apple’s not-yet-released HomePod.
We haven’t got an issue with this. The style is more desirable than the original Echo and Amazon has decided to combine elements of the Dot with the fullsize device, switching up the volume dial for a pair of buttons. These are joined by a mute button to stop Alexa hearing everything and a button to summon Alexa if you’re too busy to say its name out loud.
This does mean the nice ergonomic experience or rotating a dial rather than tapping the buttons on the top is missing, which is a shame.
The all-new Amazon Echo’s exact measurement are: 148 x 88 x 88mm. Compare this to the original’s 235 x 84 x 84mm and it’s plain to see the height loss and waist gain. Weight-wise it’s a solid 821g.
The Amazon Echo we tested came in the color Charcoal Fabric but there are a number of other colors to choose from. That’s right, Amazon has stretched beyond black and white with its color palette, as well as the material it is using to cover the Echo’s innards.
There are three fabric options: Charcoal, Heather and Sandstone. There are also three ‘finish’ offerings; Oak, Walnut and Silver. Their names (apart from the last) may conjure up wood but it’s worth noting that the shells are made from plastic and are £10/$10 more expensive than the fabric versions.
The shell is interchangeable, too. So if you change the decor in your living room you can in theory buy a new shell to encase your Echo. These are available separately for £20/$20 for the fabric versions and £30/$30. This does feel a touch expensive given it means you are paying around a third of the price for a shell when most of the money has surely gone into the internals of the Echo machine but the option is there.
Amazon has kept it simple when it comes to outputs. There is just room for the power port and 3.5mm audio output on the back, which was previously only featured on the smaller Echo Dot.
Performance
The Amazon Echo (2nd Generation) is a breeze to set up but it does mean that you have to venture into the Amazon Alexa app. Amazon has made some improvement with its Alexa app but it’s just not slick enough for our liking.
It does spell out how to get the Echo on to your network, though, so there’s no denying its simplicity when it comes to installation. Head to Settings and Set up a New Device and then just choose the right Echo for installation (they are handily shown as icons) and follow the setup instructions.
We had no problems at all installing, which meant that we saw the green ring light in a minute or so and were ready to start asking Alexa to do things.
That’s actually quite a big jump for many people who first get an Amazon Echo, actually knowing what to ask Alexa - what works and what doesn’t. Obviously you can check out TechRadar’s handy best Alexa skills guide but Amazon also add a little booklet into the mix with some ideas. These are pretty simple but effective.
So, you can ask Alexa what the time is, what the weather is like (you will have to input where you actually live for this), for a flash news bulletin, ask it a joke, to set a timer… there’s a whole host of things you can do without setting up a Skill (which are essentially the Echo’s version of apps for your phone).
But to really make your Echo sing (and it does sing, just ask it) you will want to dive into the Skills and modify the Echo to work for you.
Again this is a simple process (head to the All Skills version of the app) but it’s a quality minefield. There are thousands available but only a small percentage of these are actually worth bothering with depending on what other ‘smart’ things you have around the house.
In our tests, we hooked the Echo up to the following Skills: Amazon Music, Spotify, TuneIn Hive thermostat (and smart lights), a Sonos system, our Just Eat account and Google Calendar.
On the whole the Echo managed to work well, although it did occasionally trip itself up and get confused. Asking for 6Music (the UK radio station) would sometimes take us to a devilish playlist of 666 music, while we would eventually get to the radio station we wanted by sometimes saying BBC 6Music to avoid confusion. Other times we would have to add “on TuneIn” to the end of what we asked Alexa.
You need to do this if you have two or more music accounts linked up to it as well, but that makes sense. In the app you can choose, say, Amazon Music as being the most dominant service to avoid having to repeat commands over and over.
Other teething issues included some content being played on another Echo device not in the same room as us when we wanted it to be played on the new Amazon Echo. We tried out Alexa reading aloud one of our Kindle books and its voice sounded distant - it took us a few seconds to realise that it was because the book was being read in the upstairs bedroom, where our 1st gen Echo resides.
But these are only occasional glitches with what is a simple and smooth service offered by Amazon. Echo and Alexa have made making your home smart so much easier and these devices have to be applauded for that.
Sound quality on the Amazon Echo (2nd generation) was crisp. Every time Alexa spoke it was very clear as to what she’s saying and the Echo’s seven-mic array meant that it always picked up when we said Alexa. And Alex, much to the annoyance of our friend called Alex.
To test out what music is like through it we chose a mixture of music. Four Tet’s excellent New Energy hit the bass notes well, with the Echo coping to a point. That said, if you want a sound upgrade then it’s best to look at the Amazon Echo Plus. The new Amazon Echo is more than passable with its sole 2.6-inch woofer and single 0.6-inch. The inclusion of Dolby processing does offer a more expansive sound but it wasn’t as warm as we would have liked. Crank it up and it the sound quality also starts to break up a little.
The twang of Weezer’s guitars in Pacific Daydream were picked out well, however, so it’s more in the lower levels where the Echo starts to strain.
Comparing it to the original Amazon Echo and the new model easily competes, which is fantastic considering the radically lower price point.
Although not exclusive to this model of Amazon Echo, Alexa has been given some significant upgrades in recent times with some great new features.
The ability to take calls through the Echo is a nice addition, as is the Drop In feature - essentially an intercom for your home between Echo devices. This has cut down the ‘shouting upstairs that dinner is ready’ din no end in our home.
The Routines feature is warranted, too. This bunches a number of smart things together that can happen with one command. You can now turn on lights and get a morning briefing just by saying, “Alexa, start my day”. It’s a fun feature and one that will grow and grow when more Skills are added.
The grouping of smart home devices has also been improved which makes it a lot easier to control multiple devices (from multiple manufacturers) with just one command. Again, if you want to smooth out your smart home then you may want to opt for the Amazon Echo Plus which offers even more simplified smart device discovery and essentially does away with many a smart device hub, thanks to its ZigBee integration.
Final verdict
The new Amazon Echo (2nd generation) is a refreshing update to the Amazon range and a radically reduced price. It’s a better-looking speaker than the original and is packed with all the smarts you have come to expect from the Amazon, the Echo range and, most importantly, Alexa.
Its arrival, though, doesn’t quite have the heft or ‘wow’ factor of the original Echo and it can’t quite match the likes of Sonos for sound quality. But its price point is utterly compelling.
For Amazon to offer a speaker that’s better-looking than its predecessor with no reduction in features, at a price that’s some 40% cheaper is a fantastic achievement.
from TechRadar: Technology reviews http://ift.tt/1uas9ql
One day before it's expected that we'll officially meet the HTC U11 Plus, we're getting a clear look at the new device thanks to a pair of leaks.
First up, a video has made its way online that appears to show the HTC U11 Plus and HTC U11 Life. The clip looks to be a hands-on video with both devices that was accidentally posted early.
This video shows the HTC U11 Plus with what appears to be a translucent backside. There's a coil below the HTC logo that could be used for wireless charging. We can also see the U11 Plus's rear fingerprint reader in the video and its support for Edge Sense, which lets you perform actions by squeezing the phone.
Also shown off is the unannounced HTC U11 Life, which is smaller than the U11 Plus and has a front fingerprint reader with capacitive Back and Recent Apps buttons.
Meanwhile, prominent leaker Evan Blass has shared high-quality images of the HTC U11 Plus. This appears to be the same translucent model shown in the video above, giving us a peek at the devices internals.
HTC has confirmed that it's making an announcement on November 2nd, and it's expected that both the U11 Plus and U11 Life will be revealed at that time.
BLU Products regularly launches unlocked Android smartphones that work with multiple carriers in the U.S., but those devices haven’t been compatible with Sprint. That’s changing today.
The BLU S1 is now official as BLU’s first Sprint-compatible smartphone. In addition to working on Sprint, it supports Boost Mobile, Sprint’s prepaid subsidiary, as well as AT&T and T-Mobile.
In addition to that Sprint compatibility, the BLU S1 offers a 5.2-inch 1280x720 display, Android 7.0 Nougat, and an octa-core MediaTek MT6750 processor. There’s a 13-megapixel rear camera with phase detection autofocus and LED flash, too, as well as a 5-megapixel front camera for all of your selfie needs.
Other features of the BLU S1 include a front fingerprint reader, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, a microSD card slot, and a 2,800mAh battery.
The BLU S1 is now available, and it’s even on sale at Amazon. This sale is only happening until November 1st at 11:59 pm PDT, though, so you don’t have long to take advantage of it.
Also of note is that the BLU S1 works with Sprint’s Postpaid Bring Your Own Device promo. This means that if you buy the BLU S1 and activate it on Sprint, you’ll get a $200 Visa gift card that’ll cover the cost of your new phone.
