Facebook tries to take on Amazon Echo Show with Portal device

The timing might not be the best one but that doesn’t seem to be slowing the company down. Facebook just launched Portal and Portal+, two devices that will let you make voice and video calls to other Facebook and Messenger users. The smaller Portal is like the Amazon Echo Show with a big 10.1-inch display with a 1,280 x 800 resolution and a 10W dual speaker. It has four far-field microphones and a 12-megapixel wide-angle camera.

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OnePlus 6T launch to happen on Oct. 30

While we’re speculating whether the OnePlus 6T is dropping on October 30, what we do know is the company will launch the phone then. OnePlus just confirmed the launch date on Twitter and on its website, claiming it will be its biggest event ever. Happening at Pier 36 in New York, the livestream will start at 11 a.m. ET (8 a.m. PT) on the company’s site and YouTube channel, so better mark that date and time if you want to check out OnePlus’s newest innovation.

Google + for consumers will shut down by August 2019

Google + will not go out with a bang, or even a whimper. The long irrelevant play at creating a social media platform tied to Google services will instead be extinguished with hushed apologies for the recent discovery that Google had allowed a known exploit to exist without notifying its users.

Google + was once a vibrant and alternative to Facebook and Twitter which offered a good place to post and dialogue about various interests and ideas. The service, which was available on the web and then on mobile, lost traction and eventually withered due to poor management and promotion. Google has apparently pivoted it as an enterprise tool, but the consumer service will end next year.

The recent discovery that a three-year old vulnerability was left open by Google has sped up the service's demise. The Wall Street Journal reported that Google knew and kept secret information about the exploit that affected 500,000 user accounts and exposed even private user information.

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More images of the upcoming Google Pixel 3 leak hours before launch event

Google Pixel 3 image by Evan Blass

While Google has been planning a fall launch event in New York City to show off, among other products, the new and improved (now with trendy notch) Pixel 3 flagships, we're seeing more renders of the devices and even a hint of a new "Pink Sand" variant.

The latest leaks were courtesy of Evan Blass who also unloaded an image of the Pixel Slate, the 2-in-1 Chromebook tablet that can presumably run Windows 10, complete with its keyboard accessory.  Anyone interested in the Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL now has a good idea of what the device is all about (hint: mostly camera upgrades). The larger Pixel 3 has been captured and unboxed in YouTube videos and already has a full review from unwire.uk out weeks before its intended launch.

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