A video unboxing of the Google Pixel Slate, Slate Keyboard and Pen

Here's a quick unboxing and first impressions on the upcoming Google Pixel Slate, its accessory Keyboard Case and Pixelbook Pen. The Pixel Slate starts shipping this Thursday and comes in several configurations staring at $849. The Pixel Slate Keyboard costs $259 and the Pixelbook Pen is $129 from Best Buy, the Google Store and other retailers.

Latest Essential Phone software update can render some SIM cards inactive

Essential Phones are famous for being one of the first devices to offer the latest Android updates and features. This has made it possible for Essential customers to get the Android Pie update just as quickly as Google's own Pixel devices.

It seems that the latest Android update  to Android Pie with the September security patch is rolling out to most Essential Phone users. Many users who have installed the update have encountered a serious bug that renders their SIM cards inactive. This effectively makes their Essential Phones unable to make calls or access cellular data, thus rendering them inoperable.

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Essential Phone finally gets pinch-to-zoom support for YouTube

Today we get a case of better late than never with a new feature Essential has brought to the Essential PH-1. The smartphone finally supports YouTube’s pinch-to-zoom feature. Before users had to live with seeing black bars above and below 16:9 videos because the screen has the unusual 19:10 display ratio. Thankfully, the company finally listened to its users and it now supports this feature. It’s not showing up for all users yet but some commenters on Essential subreddit suggest uninstalling the app, updating it, and clearing cache to get the feature to work. Reddit user osikiri discovered the feature and says he’s using version 13.34.50 of the YouTube app and is running an Android 9 Pie device.

Source: XDA Developers

Android P update rolling out to Essential Phones on Telus and Koodo in Canada

Some joy for Essential Phone PH-1 users in Canada rocking Telus or Koodo SIM cards. The much awaited Android P update has started to roll out and is available via Software Update on the device. Clocking it at around 1.2 GB, the update took me around 10 minutes to install.

Essential Phone now gets access to the new gestrures as well as the overview screen which is now the best way to scroll through open apps. Aside from interface tweaks and battery gains, there is a Digital Well Being feature, still in beta, that will help monitor app and phone use for smartphone addicted users.