Technologies

Save $100 on the AI-Powered Google Pixel 9 at Best Buy

Stop spending hours hunting for screenshots and editing by hand: with built-in Gemini AI, the Google Pixel 9 automates your tasks and makes taking beautiful photos a snap.

We keep almost everything on our smartphones nowadays, from our communications to our photos to our calendars. But the more data piles up on our devices, the harder it can be to find when we need it, or to put it to use without cumbersome scrolling and searching.

Google’s Pixel 9 changes all that with generative AI that sees everything on your phone and assists with exactly the task you need done right now. Google’s built-in Gemini AI also helps you take great photos even in less-than-ideal conditions. and easily edit or reimagine them the way you want. It doesn’t skimp on hardware, either, making it the whole package: CNET’s reviewer says the Pixel 9 «shines for its great camera, elegant design, and clean software.»

There’s never been a better time for an AI-forward upgrade: now through October 6, you can save $100 when you buy the Pixel 9 at Best Buy.

Always-on AI assistance at your fingertips

No matter where you are on the Google Pixel 9, AI is never more than a long-press away. All you have to do is click and hold the power button or voice the wakeup phrase to activate Gemini. What sets it apart from other chatbots is that it already has the context it needs to deliver what you ask.

Say you have come across a photo of a landmark on Instagram, you can simply tell Gemini to explain what’s on your screen, and it will automatically grab a screenshot and find out more about it for you. If you need to take notes on an important call, Gemini can do it for you. If someone texts you an invite, it can add it to your calendar.

Similarly, the built-in Pixel Screenshots app leverages Gemini AI’s smarts to organize your heaps of screenshots. As opposed to manually going through your gallery to retrieve a piece of information you screen-grabbed weeks ago, you can punch in what you are looking for, like an Airbnb Wi-Fi password or a restaurant receipt, and the app will pull up all matching screenshots.

AI experiences are incomplete without a little whimsy, and the Pixel 9 is no different. Its Pixel Studio service can produce AI-generated imagery of just about anything, based on brief prompts — perfect for whether you need visuals for your new business or an invite for a Pokémon-themed game night.

A camera that lets your imagination run wild

Spending hours to set up a shot doesn’t always guarantee flawless results. Some aspects of taking photos, like a passerby walking into your scene when you’re about to click, or gloomy weather in the background, will never be in your control. The Google Pixel 9 changes that. Its pair of rear cameras can still snap high-quality photos even in less-than-ideal conditions, but it’s what it allows you to do after you click the button that stands out.

Is there an unwanted object or person in your photos? Just tap or circle them, and Pixel 9’s Magic Editor will get rid of them without ruining the rest of the image. A trash can in your selfie’s backdrop? Ask Magic Editor to replace it with flowers. Cloudy sky? Magic Editor can switch it to bright and sunny.

The Pixel 9 eliminates the need to request strangers to take your group’s photo, too. Its «Add Me» tool intelligently merges two pictures: each taken by a different member of the group, so that everyone can be in the final shot. You don’t have to worry about aligning the two frames, either. The phone superimposes where everyone was positioned in the first photo so that the second photographer can frame their shot accordingly.

Get your Google Pixel 9 at Best Buy

Since Google promises seven years of updates and new features every few months, the Pixel 9 won’t go out of style anytime soon, irrespective of new models and successors. So grab yours at Best Buy and save an extra $100 on it now.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Thursday, Sept. 4

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Sept. 4.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s a pretty easy one, but if you need help, read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: National park in the Canadian Rockies
Answer: BANFF

6A clue: Elevator choice
Answer: FLOOR

7A clue: Means of transport in Seattle, San Francisco and New York
Answer: FERRY

8A clue: Unlikely chef in a 2007 Pixar film
Answer: RAT

9A clue: «Honor ___ father …»
Answer: THY

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Closest pal, informally
Answer: BFF

2D clue: Text notification, e.g.
Answer: ALERT

3D clue: Jones who sang «Come Away With Me»
Answer: NORAH

4D clue: Number of thieves faced by Ali Baba
Answer: FORTY

5D clue: Loose item at the bottom of a fast-food bag, perhaps
Answer: FRY

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Sept. 4, #346

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Sept. 4, No. 346

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is tough. If you’re struggling but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: I got this.

Green group hint: Recent rings.

Blue group hint: Dallas, this one’s for you.

Purple group hint: Not a pass, but…

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Haul in.

Green group: Last 4 teams to win a Super Bowl.

Blue group: «How bout them Cowboys?»

Purple group: Kick.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is haul in. The four answers are catch, grab, snag and snatch.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is last 4 teams to win a Super Bowl. The four answers are Buccaneers, Chiefs, Eagles and Rams.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is «How ’bout them Cowboys?» The four answers are bout, Cowboys, how and them.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is kick. The four answers are drop, onside, place and squib.

Technologies

Google Is Bringing Gemini AI to Its Smart Home Lineup, Starting Oct. 1

Goodbye, Google Assistant. Hello, Gemini.

It increasingly feels like Google’s AI assistant is omnipresent across our devices and, starting next month, it could also be in your home.

In a post on X on Tuesday, the company teased, «Gemini is coming to Google Home,» and told us to, «Come back October 1.»

At its Made by Google event in August, the company announced Gemini for Home among a slew of other product announcements, so this has been in the works for a while.

Tuesday’s X post teaser appears to show an image of a Nest camera, which Google last upgraded four years ago, suggesting the security camera could be set for a refresh. An upgraded Nest speaker and doorbell, both with 2K camera support, could also be part of the Oct. 1 unveiling.

Google did not immediately respond to CNET’s request for comment.

Android Faithful podcast co-host (and former CNET staffer) Jason Howell is «optimistic» about Gemini replacing Assistant in Google’s smart home products.

«In recent years, I have witnessed my Google Home devices degrading in quality and becoming far less useful for even simple tasks and questions,» Howell tells CNET. «They’ve become buggy and unreliable to the point where I’ve stopped interacting with them for most things.»

Gemini catches dog red-handed

At the Mobile World Congress tech show in Barcelona earlier this year, Howell was impressed by Gemini’s performance with a smart home camera.

«A smart home camera detected a dog that came into the kitchen to steal a cookie off the counter,» Howell recalls. «Through voice interaction, the homeowner could ask the system what happened to the cookie, and, given the video context from the camera and an understanding of what it saw, the system could tell the homeowner that the dog was the culprit.

«This sort of example empowers users to spend less time looking for answers in lieu of simple voice queries that serve them the answer they are looking for with less effort and less time spent.»

Google announced last month that Gemini for Home will eventually replace Google Assistant in its smart home devices. You’ll still activate Gemini with, «Hey Google,» but the advanced AI tech will be able to better interpret more complex and nuanced instructions and questions.

Maybe you’re stumped as to what to make for dinner, so it could be: «Hey Google, what quick pasta dish can I cook in less than an hour?» or, «Give me a recipe for Caesar salad.» Gemini is also designed to work with thermostats and smart lights, so you might tell it to «turn the temp to 68 degrees» and «turn off all the lights except in the kitchen.»

The market for smart home technology is expected to grow by 23% over the next five years, according to Grand View Research.