This is the end, my beautiful friend.
The saga of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is nearly over, but it refuses to go away entirely. For the stragglers holding onto their devices, carriers are now taking extra steps to convince people to give in their units. T-Mobile is sending out an update today to cap maximum charging capacity at 60%, and regulators in New Zealand are going even further.
Speaking of going even further, today marks the final edition of the Daily Briefing. While we had a lot of fun putting it together each day, we’re returning to a more traditional way of reporting the news, as so many of you have requested in the answers to the State of Android Central survey we published yesterday.
Google Home is now available to buy!
We’ve got a review and a comparison, but today you can buy one for yourself. Google’s connected-speaker-slash-assistant is now available at Best Buy, Target and Walmart.
T-Mobile and AT&T are pushing out updates to cripple the Note 7
T-Mobile is pushing out another Note 7 update to bring its maximum charge to 60% and pushing more annoying notifications, further crippling the phone to incentivize customers to return them. AT&T is doing the same, saying that 85% of customers have returned their devices. More
New Zealand carriers are going even further
New Zealand’s telecom providers, in cooperation with the country’s regulator, have decided to block the IMEI numbers — essentially cutting off service — for the remaining few hundred people in the country still using Note 7s. More
Some Daydream View VR headsets are being delivered already
Ahead of schedule, some folks are already receiving their Daydream View VR orders. Unfortunately, (as noted by Android Police) those who received them are unable to use them right now, with a prompt saying “Daydream apps cannot run unless you update Google VR Services.” With the headsets originally set to become available on November 10, odds are we see the necessary updates in the coming days.
Moto M gets the full leak treatment
Motorola’s upcoming Moto X refresh, likely for the Chinese market, will sport a rear fingerprint sensor and a MediaTek processor. It’s being unveiled on November 8. More
Xiaomi’s Mi Mix gets torn down, phone parts found within
For its forward-facing aesthetic, Xiaomi’s bezel-free Mi Mix concept phone is very much just that — a phone. That has been confirmed after GizmoChina decided to perform a teardown of the device, revealing a fairly traditional internal layout — with a few neat tricks.
Alexa comes to a kitchen tablet
This is interesting. Though it was announced back in April, TCL has finally released Xess, its strangely-named kitchen tablet with a built-in handle and bundled IP camera. It also has Amazon’s Alexa built right in. TCL is the parent company of Alcatel, the smartphone maker, and is one of the bigger electronics names in China these days. Xess is available for $499 from Amazon. See at Amazon
Samsung has begun Android 7.0 beta testing for the Galaxy S7 edge
UK users, you are in luck. Samsung will soon begin testing its version of Android 7.0. Those who have the Galaxy Beta Program installed on a Galaxy S7 edge will be able to take Samsung’s version of Nougat for a test drive. It’s unclear if the beta will be extended to Galaxy S7 users, as well.
Thanks for following us on this brief Daily Briefing journey! We’re still going to bring you the news you love, just in a more traditionally per-article format. If you want to keep getting Daily Briefings, sign up for our newsletter and get one each morning in your Inbox!