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The major US carriers will allow any Samsung Galaxy Note7 owner to replace their devices for free, even if the phone was already a replacement.

If you bring the phones to retail stores, you can replace the Note7 with another device including iPhones and other Android phones.

Says Sprint: "Sprint is working collaboratively with Samsung to better understand the most recent concerns regarding replacement Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is also investigating the Note 7 replacement device. At this time, CPSC has not specifically said if customers should or should not use the replacement model. If a Sprint customer with a replacement Note 7 has any concerns regarding their device, we will exchange it for any other device at any Sprint retail store during the investigation window. We will provide additional information when the investigation has concluded."

Verizon: "Samsung is in the process of investigating the incident and is working with the authorities. When there is an update, we will make it available. Any Verizon customer concerned about the safety of their replacement Note7 smartphone may take it back to the original point of purchase to exchange it for another smartphone beginning Saturday, October 8. Verizon online customers may also exchange their replacement Note7 smartphones at Verizon stores beginning Saturday, October 8."

Facebook has introduced "Events from Facebook" today, a new app "designed for event seekers who are passionate about keeping up with nearby events and finding things to do with their friends."

The social media giant explained how the new service works: "When you open Events, you can quickly catch up on new events your friends are interested in, recently-announced events by the Pages you like, and updates from events you're already connected to.

If you're looking for something to do this weekend or even right now, you can easily browse event recommendations based on time, location and your interests. Explore events happening where you are or in places you like to go using the interactive map. You can also search for events in any city if you're planning ahead for a trip."

Finally, the service will track all your events in a calendar letting you easily know when you're busy. You can even add your Google and other calendar events to the service.

For now, Events is available for iOS users with Android users getting the app next month.

Comcast has announced today that most of their ISP customers now have a data cap beginning on November 1st - 1TB per month.

Thanks to their "Xfinity Terabyte Internet Data Usage Plan," you are now capped at 1TB of bandwidth per month, regardless of the speed of your connection. If you absolutely need more than that, $50 per month extra gets you true unlimited.

Now, it appears that Comcast understands that a few people will go over their limits. "If you choose to use more than 1 TB in a month, we will automatically add blocks of 50 GB to your account for an additional fee of $10 each," reads the FAQ. Comcast also says it will give you two free grace period months in the first year to get accustomed to 1TB.

Comcast says 99 percent of its subscribers do not use 1TB but that is sure to change in the future with the advent of 4K streaming.

Speaking during their Oculus Connect keynote, the VR pioneer has announced that the Oculus Touch controller will launch on December 6th for $199.

The controller will come bundled with VR Sports Challenge and The Unspoken, as well as a secondary camera that gamers can place in their play area.

In addition, if you would like a third sensor that allows the Touch controller to room scale, Oculus is selling it separately for $79 starting on the same date.

If you are interested, check out the Rift and the Touch here: Oculus

Over the summer, Verizon agreed to acquire struggling web pioneer Yahoo for $4.8 billion but a new report claims that Verizon wants a hefty discount following Yahoo's most recent hacking scandal.

According to the NYPost, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong could be "getting cold feet" and is "pretty upset about the lack of disclosure and he's saying can we get out of this or can we reduce the price?" Armstrong runs the Verizon division that would control Yahoo.

Yahoo is currently under attack by consumers and U.S. officials following two scandals. The company recently announced that hackers accessed over 500 million accounts, stealing passwords and personal information and the SEC is likely to open an investigation into the company's lack of disclosures. In addition, there have been reports that Yahoo allowed the NSA and FBI to scan hundreds of millions of emails secretly, causing an outrage for consumers.

It is unclear if Verizon has any recourse to drop the price or cancel the deal, but if Yahoo did not disclose these scandals to Verizon, it is hard to imagine the acquirer is happy.

Google completed their assault on Amazon yesterday, launching the Echo-rivaling Google Home.

The device was first teased at I/O earlier this year and the voice-activated personal assistant is now available for pre-order.

Shipping November 4th, Home is $129 and comes with a six-month trial to YouTube Red (normally $10 per month). The Home is a wireless speaker with microphones that allow for voice commands such as "Google, what is the weather today," or "Google, please read my calendar for today." Google Home also works with existing Nest, Phillips, Samsung and IFTTT smart home devices.

Because Google really wants their devices to blend in with your home, there are multiple "fabric" and "metal" options in different colors so that the Home can match your home's aesthetics.

Check out the device here: Google Home

Google has launched the new 4K-supporting Chromecast Ultra at $69.

The HDMI streaming "puck" is an upgrade to the existing Chromecast 2 that sells for $35, although both items will sell concurrently depending on your needs.

Google notes: "Stream up to 4K Ultra HD & HDR picture quality over your WiFi network with Chromecast Ultra, a streaming device that plugs into your TV's HDMI port. Chromecast Ultra provides fast, reliable performance with minimal buffering and smoother streaming."

Most notably, the devices will support HDR for clearer picture and Dolby Vision, as well.

Get yours here: Chromecast Ultra

Google has continued their efforts to take over your home, announcing the Google WiFi home router.

The device will start shipping in December and cost $129 - in-line with other mid-to-high range routers, or you can buy a three-pack for $299 if you would like to create a "mesh network."

"It's modular, so you can get the right fit for your home's shape and sizes. Simply add wifi points to expand coverage," said Mario Queiroz, lead of the product management group within Google's hardware division.

Google promises managing your bandwidth is easy using their app, and also promises that keeping your Internet connection fast is a top priority. Says Google: "Network Assist is intelligent software built into Google Wifi to provide you with the fastest possible speed. Behind the scenes, Network Assist automatically helps you avoid Wi-Fi congestion, and transitions you to the closest Wi-Fi point for the best signal. Network Assist will offer suggestions on how to optimize performance, like where to move a Google Wifi point for faster speeds or providing data so you can adjust your ISP plan."

Check out the router here: Google WiFi

Following yesterday's announcement of the Pixel and Pixel XL, Google has officially killed off the 'Nexus' line of products that has encompassed a handful of phones and a handful of tablets.

The Nexus devices, which started with the Nexus One in 2010, have always been marketed as developer devices, but the Pixels are primed for mass appeal. Many of the Nexus devices were built to showcase the latest version of Android and have never been huge sellers (despite low prices) but that changed with the launch of last year's Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P.

As of writing, all Nexus phones and tablets have been removed from the Google hardware Play store, replaced by Pixel and other Pixel-related hardware.

900 million Facebook Messenger users can now opt-in to end-to-end encryption for their conversations, with the tech giant dubbing the program "Secret Conversations."

Adds Facebook: "Your messages are already secure, but Secret Conversations are encrypted from one device to another," meaning nobody can read them except the people talking, not even Facebook.

To use, when you select "New Message" you will see a "Secret" option on the top right-hand side. In addition to the encryption, you can also set expiration times for the messages (from 5 seconds to one day) if you want to send more sensitive information than usual.

Secret Conversations uses Signal for encryption, the highly-regarded system that is also used in Google's Allo messenger.

During their Pixel launch yesterday, Google also announced that each Pixel phone owner would get 24/7 live support, either via phone call or live chat.

Today, we have some more information on the service, which even includes screen share, allowing Google support reps to see exactly what the issue is on your device as you do in real-time. This is very similar to Amazon's Fire support and is great news for consumers that may not be as tech-savvy.

To access the support, go down go directly to the MadeByGoogle website and toggle the support tab: Here

A bombshell Reuters report today claims that Yahoo was secretly scanning your emails to provide information for U.S. intelligence officials.

The report claims that Yahoo scanned hundreds of millions of emails at the behest of the NSA or the FBI, the first known time that a U.S. Internet company has agreed to a demand to search all incoming messages. In the past, other companies, such as Google and Apple, have agreed to examine stored messages following a crime (for example), but it appears that Yahoo gave the U.S. government carte blanche access.

For now, it is unknown what the officials were looking for "only that they wanted Yahoo to search for a set of characters." it is also unclear what data may have been found or handed over.

According to ex-employees, the decision to follow the classified demand led to the resignation of CIO Alex Stamos, who believed that the directive would lead to massive privacy issues.

Google and Microsoft were quick to deny that they had also been asked by US officials for the same access. "We've never received such a request, but if we did, our response would be simple: 'No way'," added Google.

Samsung has proudly announced that the Galaxy Note7 is available worldwide, again, after the company was forced to recall millions of headsets that were at risk of exploding.

"Along with the several other experience zones showcasing Samsung's latest product, guests have crowded our Galaxy Note7 experience zone since this morning," said Junghyun Kim, Manager of the Seoul-based Samsung D'light shop. "We found that many people are excited to check out the iris scanner, the new S Pen features, such as S Translator, and the camera. Many existing Galaxy Note7 users have already visited and exchanged their phones for a new Galaxy Note7 or other Galaxy devices, and more and more people are inquiring about purchasing the Galaxy Note7."

So far, the Note7 has relaunched in Korea and a few other nations, but is rolling out in earnest in the coming weeks.

The company also "strongly encouraged" consumers who own a recalled Note7 to exchange theirs immediately.

Motorola (now part of Lenovo), has confirmed that 15 of their Android devices will be upgraded to Android 7.0 Nougat at some point.

While most of the phones on the list make sense given their recent releases, there are a couple of 2015-edition devices that did not make the list including the Moto G and Moto e3 Power, although it is unclear why.

Motorola says the rollout will begin this month and continue throughout the quarter.

Full list:

Yesterday, Google launched their Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones, the latest in their annual reference devices created to show off the best of Android.

Today, DXOMark has already crowned the phone with having the best smartphone camera of all-time.

After completing a full review, including different lighting sources, environments, and hardware tests, the company concluded that "Simply put, the Pixel raises the bar for what is possible with a smartphone camera. Image quality continues to improve, and the increased use of HDR+ to render scenes that have previously been difficult for small sensors such as those in smartphones broadens what is possible with these ubiquitous devices. While we have reviewed other smartphone cameras that matched the Pixel's numbers in a few categories, the Pixel is uniquely capable of capturing outstanding images under a wide variety of conditions, and is also among the best we have tested for video capture."

Check the full review here: DXOM