Samsung is all about business with the new Galaxy S9

We’re just hours away from Samsung’s launch of the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus at Mobile World Congress 2018. But ahead of the launch, Slashleaks just released the official promo video for the new devices. Instead of delving into the features though, the video focused on the value of the phones for the enterprise market. As was said in the three-minute video, “The perfect phone for you is the perfect phone for business.”

But as you can see, Samsung didn’t do much to change the looks of the device. It still looks like the Galaxy S8 but thankfully with a better placement for the fingerprint reader, as rumours have been showing for the past few months. The video focuses, though, on things like the newly improved DeX dock for easily turning the S9 into a mobile computer; the improved Samsung Knox 3.1, the company’s defense-grade security platform; and what they’re calling “Intelligence scan,” which seems to either be facial recognition or an iris scanner to make it easier to unlock the device. The phone will also have an enterprise edition, it seems, that comes with extended maintenance and security updates for up to four years. We also get confirmation that the phone is water resistant. But we can see this only tells one part of the story. But we’ll find out later all the other special features Samsung plans to offer its other customers.

Source: TechCrunch 

J.J. Abrams confirms script for ‘Star Wars Episode IX’ is finished

Jurassic World’s Colin Trevorrow was originally set to direct the upcoming Star Wars Episode IX but he was replaced by Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams. With the change, the release of the movie was pushed back from May to December of 2019. But now it seems at least the script for the new movie is done and filming will begin at the end of July. Abrams talked about the progress of the movie on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. He said, "We have a script, which is a big deal for me. It starts shooting end of July. Sometimes having the script in advance is something I haven't always been lucky enough to have. But I'm writing this with Chris Terrio, who's a genius, and I'm having a great time."

Abrams was previously quoted saying they won’t be playing it safe with the new film. "I feel like we need to approach this with the same excitement that we had when we were kids loving what these movies were," he said. "But at the same time, we have to take them places that they haven't gone, and that's sort of our responsibility."

Source: Gamespot

Airbnb to offer more experiences in 2018 as it expands to 1,000 cities

We reported earlier that Airbnb was expanding its offerings for a wealthier clientele. But that wasn’t all the company is working on. Airbnb also announced it plans to expand its “experiences” feature to 1,000 cities. The feature was launched a little over a year ago to offer its travelers unique, local activities they might want to try out. Some of the new places to get experiences include Iceland, Easter Island, and Tasmania.

The move to introduce experiences was a wise one especially when it faced regulation issues in some cities as well as continued competition from hotels and others that work in the travel industry. It helps supplant the revenue of the company, while drawing in more users that want more out of their trips. Some of the experiences the company offers range from those with a “social impact” to meeting others for a meal to activities for thrill-seekers, among many others. "The options are endless," said Joe Zadeh, Airbnb's vice president of trips. "We are working with our hosts where anyone can build an experience around their passion."  

Source: CNET

Google confirms it’s looking into the battery drain bug affecting Pixel 2 and 2 XL users

Review: Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL

You may or may not have noticed the battery on your Pixel 2 or 2 XL draining faster than usual. You’re not alone. A bunch of pixel users have been complaining of this issue after the February security patch was released. Google stayed silent about the matter for a while but now the company at least acknowledges it’s looking into the problem. A community manager on the company’s user forums confirmed they are investigating the issue. There are big releases yet to remedy the issue but for now they are “reaching out privately” for bug reports.

The issue revolves around battery levels dropping faster than usual and some even report their phones are taking longer to charge as well. And it seems even some original Pixel users have been experiencing these issues. Here’s to hoping Google fixes this relatively quickly.

Source: 9to5Google