Eliana Willis

The Pixel 9 Pro hero is a beautiful device from every angle. Jack Wallen/ZDNETA few months ago, I was emphatic that my time with Pixel phones was over because Google had announced it was planning to inject even more AI “goodness” into Android. I saw that as an opportunity to jump ship.My goal was to buy the Nothing Phone 3. Then, as fate would have it, Nothing CEO Carl Pei announced that his company was going all-in on AI, and the next Nothing Phone would leverage the technology in ways no other device had.Foiled again.Also: I replaced my Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra with the Pixel 9 Pro XL for a month – and can’t go backA few weeks after that proclamation, the leaks for the Pixel 9 lineup made it clear that Google was serious about returning the “flagship” moniker to the lineup. Instead of questionable design choices for the hardware (like the unsightly camera hump, too-slick glass, and oddly-beveled edges), Google was opting for a classier look.The company succeeded.I placed my order, trading in my Pixel 8 Pro and getting a whopping $700 in credit, sat back, and waited. A couple of weeks later, my pink Pixel 9 Pro More

Cesar Cadenas/ZDNETZDNET’s key takeawaysKensington’s new SD5000T5 EQ Docking Station goes on sale on September 21 for $400 More

Get a Babbel lifetime language subscription at a big discount right now.  StackSocial Learning a new language can be daunting. But right now, you can buy a lifetime subscription to Babbel Language Learning from Stack Social that lets you choose from 14 languages and access more than 10,000 hours of online language education for just $140 […] More

Magnetic breakaway USB-C connector – right angle configuration. Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNETZDNET’s key takeawaysThese 140W and 240W USB-C connectors More

Lance Whitney/ZDNETWith the launch of iOS 18, iPhone users are finally able to exchange rich text messages with their Android counterparts. But beyond Apple’s support of RCS, each carrier needs to activate the capability — and for now, many carriers have yet to jump on the bandwagon.Also: 8 ways I’m preparing my iPhone for iOS 18 – and I recommend you do tooRCS, or Rich Communications Service, is a messaging standard released by Google a few years ago. Designed to replace SMS messaging, RCS is a more modern standard that can handle richer content. With RCS enabled, texts from your iPhone to Android users can include larger file attachments, higher-quality photos and videos, audio messages, read receipts, more types of emojis, and smoother group chats.In the US, RCS is available on the iPhone via the three major carriers (AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile), many regional providers, and a few mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). RCS support also varies across Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and India. In general, the major carriers tend to offer it; the smaller ones, not so much.Specifically, support for the iPhone is still limited among MVNOs, according to Ars Technica. Such operators typically offer pre-paid services but then piggyback on the networks of major carriers to provide the actual connectivity. In the US, for example, Consumer Cellular, Cricket, and US Cellular have all implemented RCS for the iPhone. But other MVNOs in the US, such as Boost Mobile, Mint Mobile, Simple Mobile, and Ultra Mobile, have yet to hop onboard.Also: iOS 17.7 rolls out this week – here’s why it might be a safer bet than iOS 18As one outstanding absence, Google Fi doesn’t yet support RCS from the iPhone. The irony here is that Google pushed RCS as a standard in the Android world and shamed Apple into implementing it on the iPhone. Apparently, though, Apple still has more to do to enable RCS for iPhone users on Fi than simply supporting the capability with iOS 18. More

Taylor Clemons/ZDNETZDNET takeawayThe SteelSeries Arena 9 5.1CH speaker system is available at Best Buy More

Almost every iOS update seems to have one bug or another. If you’re someone who relies on your iPhone, you might be tempted to delay the update for a few days so you can see just how buggy this release is, or maybe even wait for the iOS 18.0.1 bug fix release that will inevitably be rolled out soon after.However, because iOS updates are usually brimming with security updates, I don’t recommend waiting. If you insist on taking this course of action, you do need to make sure that your iPhone isn’t going to automatically update itself during that time. Also: The best iOS 18 features that will make updating your iPhone worthwhileTo do so, go to Settings > General > Software Update and turn off Automatic Updates until you are ready to update.If you don’t install iOS 18, then make sure to install the iOS 17.7 update. More