| The Google Pixel 4 is shipping this week — on October 24th to be exact. If you’re interested in it, that’s good news because it means reviews should be landing in the first half of the week. If you’re not interested in it, that’s good news because the tech cycle will inevitably move on to something else fairly soon and you’ll no longer have to read about leaks, announcements, security concerns, security updates, and Pokémon wallpapers. I would like to give a shout out to Rita El Khoury at Android Police for her post pointing out that Google Photos doesn't know how to compress the HEIC file format commonly used for photos on iPhones and therefore ends up offering unlimited storage for them. It's one of those weird edge cases that happens with file formats and it's sort of fun to think about. Less fun: Google calling it a "bug" and promising to "fix" it. As El Khoury points out, HEIC files are smaller than even many compressed JPGs, so any conceivable "fix" in this case would probably end up being weirdly punitive? I have no idea how Google is going to address this one. - Dieter Apple rumors + Latest macOS Catalina beta hints at new 16-inch MacBook Pro People looking very very closely at this image seem to see it having a real ESC key. October is almost over and Apple hasn’t announced an event. Does that mean this laptop is coming later than we hoped or does it mean Apple is just going to quietly release it and avoid the embarrassment of having to tout a new, better keyboard design on stage? If it’s the latter, that is certainly a choice. + Apple rumored to launch new AirPods Pro headphones at end of October I’m excited for AirPods that I can actually hear on the train without turning the volume up to eardrum-crushing levels. Overall, I'm just sort of wondering what Apple's play is here. You could tell me these devices are coming out next week and I'd listen. You could say they'll be held for the Spring and I'd nod knowingly and say "yes, you are very plugged in to the current Apple rumor cycle." It's not a big deal but actualy it kind of is: there are people desperatly clinging to aging MacBook Pros, waiting for the new one. There are also thousands (millions!) of relatives who want to buy simple holiday presents for teenagers they don't understand (and maybe fear) -- and earbuds fit right in that $100-$200 zone that says "I care but I don't actually know you that well." It would be nice if both groups of people had a clearer sense of what to do come Black Friday. Be inspired + Watch two NASA astronauts conduct the first all-female spacewalk in history The only news that’s even close to being as good as this is the fact that they fact-checked the president from space (again!). + Luna Display turns your Mac into a secondary display for your other Mac I love that Luna refuses to go quietly into the Sherlocking Night. I also love that it has created a feature that iMac owners have been asking Apple to bring back. Google stuff + Google to update Pixel 4 face unlock with eye detection ‘in the coming months` Glad Google is committing, sad it’s just “in the coming months.” Let’s hope the company overdelivers. + Google can’t even get full RCS support for the Pixel 4 Google rolled out RCS in the UK and France without mucking about with the carriers -- it just provided the service directly. Because of that, I had this thought that maybe it would start doing the same in the US, but only for Pixel 4 owners to start. Instead, the Pixel 4 will have worse RCS support than even the Pixel 3, as Verizon isn’t supporting it at launch. What even are we doing here, Google? Other gadget news + OnePlus 7T Pro review: small updates make a great phone slightly better I get that it’s long been OnePlus’ MO to release these little spec-bump mid-cycle updates, but I still don’t get it. It’s an improvement, sure, but I can’t help but wonder if the engineering that went into this would be better spent on making the next phone even better than it otherwise would be. + OnePlus 8 Pro will swap the pop-up camera for a hole-punch, leak claims I think this is smart. The motorized camera stuff is neat and worked much better than I expected, but the tradeoffs aren’t as good as a simple tiny circle in the display. + Samsung says fingerprint security fix is coming as early as next week Good on Samsung for rushing this fix out, bad on them for having this issue in the first place. Hey Google -- take a page from Samsung and expedite that fix for the Pixel 4’s face unlock working even if your eyes are closed. + The Hydrogen One is now only $645, which is $645 more than you should spend on it Good headline from Jake, but I humbly suggest that he could have written “which is $1000 more than you should spend,” implying that even if you paid me I wouldn’t use this phone. + Ikea’s Fyrtur smart blinds start to arrive in the US, but only in retail stores A peek behind The Verge curtain: posts about these smart blinds (or are they shades?) are consistently more popular than you might expect. People are really hyped up for them. It’s a shame that Ikea has taken so long to get them out the door. + Here’s how Google Pixel Buds 2 and its wireless earbud competition actually look in your ear This is a post with a lot of photos of ears. It’s incredibly useful as you can actually see what these buds look like. But also it’s a lot of ears. You will become aware of your own ears as you scroll through it. Then maybe your teeth. They’re just sitting there in your mouth. Teeth. | 
