Google Pixel 4’s ‘Raise to talk’ feature for Assistant could come to Canada ‘soon’

With the improvements being brought to Google Assistant, one of the new features Google Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL users can expect is a “Raise to talk” feature. It’s designed to activate Assistant in a more intuitive, fluid way. Basically, you could just lift the phone and immediately ask Assistant a question or issue a command. As long as the command or question is said directly after raising the device, Assistant will acknowledge it. Otherwise, the virtual assistant will ignore it.

It might raise some concerns about the lack of hotword activation and how it could just take in everything that’s being said. But with the new Google Assistant, speech recognition will be handled entirely on the device. The company shrunk its voice recognition and comprehension model from 100GB to just 0.5GB so that it can run on phones. This also allows you to issue back-to-back commands or questions without almost any latency.

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'Call of Duty: Mobile' surpasses 35 million downloads worldwide in its first 3 days

In the first three days since Activision and Tencent's Timi game development division launched Call of Duty: Mobile, the free-to-play shooting game has been downloaded over 35 million times worldwide. According to mobile analytics company Sensor Tower, the game has reached 20 million downloads in the first two days. Activision claims the game has gotten the no. 1 ranking on the Apple App Store in over 100 countries.

As for how much revenue the company has earned so far, Sensor Tower claims the game has racked up around US$2 million (approximately CA$2.7 million) in the same two-day period. Like a lot of mobile games, Call of Duty: Mobile comes with in-app purchases that range from $1.39 to $139.99. 

Pixel 4 Canadian prices leak ahead of launch

The Google Pixel 4 is launching with this new colour on October 15th

We're just days away from the launch of the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL, and just ahead of that, Evan Blass leaked the Canadian prices of the phones on Twitter. There are two configurations per device: 64GB and 128GB.  

Here is the pricing as follows:

• Pixel 4 64GB: CA$1,049.95
• Pixel 4 128GB: CA$1,199.95
• Pixel 4 XL 64GB: CA$1,199.95
• Pixel 4 XL 128GB: CA$1,359.95

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Instagram tests out QR codes for its 'Nametag' feature

You may or may not know that Instagram has what's called a Nametag feature. And it looks like the company wants to add QR codes to it. App researcher Jane Manchun Wong discovered the change. Right now, Nametag is used within the Instagram app to allow other users to scan it so they can follow you. It shows your username and the Instagram logo within the white square. The background is customizable. While Wong was going through the app, she found the QR code option, which looks a bit more unique than usual QR codes we see with simplified Instagram logos thrown into the mix. But it seems this feature works with standard QR scanners. That means you can take your Nametag outside of Instagram and share it with whomever you want. As for whether this feature rolls out to all users, well, that's something we can't say right now.