Google Reopens Pixel Care+ for Older Pixel Phones With Condition
Google has announced a limited-time opportunity for eligible Pixel users to purchase Pixel Care+ even after the usual enrollment period. The company normally allows users to add the protection plan within 60 days of buying a new Pixel phone. Google has reopened Pixel Care+ enrollment for a limited time, but only for US customers. Your phone must pass Google’s condition check before enrollment.
The company requires that the phone work properly and not be physically damaged. You can sign up until August 2, 2026. Compatible phones are: Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, Pixel 9a, Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, Pixel 10 Pro XL, and Pixel 10a. The offer does not cover the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, Pixel 10 Pro Fold, Pixel 8 series, older Pixel devices, or Pixel Watch.
What Does Pixel Care+ Offer?
Pixel Care+ offers protection beyond Google’s standard warranty. It covers accidental damage, hardware failures, and eligible repairs. Google does not charge for eligible front screen, back glass, or battery replacements. The plan also includes next-day replacement and priority support from Pixel experts. Users can add Loss and Theft Protection with a higher-tier plan. Google allows up to two loss-or-theft claims each year. Pricing starts at $8 per month and goes up to $15 per month, while two-year plans cost $159 to $279.
There are a few conditions you must meet before you can purchase Pixel Care+. Google requires your phone to pass a detailed condition inspection. The device cannot have cracked glass, liquid damage, charging issues, faulty buttons, or a swollen battery. Other accidental repairs still include a $99 service fee. Loss and Theft claims require a deductible between $79 and $99. Google does not provide this feature in New York. You must enroll before August 2, 2026.
Google has announced a limited-time opportunity for eligible Pixel users to purchase Pixel Care+ even after the usual enrollment period. The company normally allows users to add the protection plan within 60 days of buying a new Pixel phone. Google has reopened Pixel Care+ enrollment for a limited time, but only for US customers. Your phone must pass Google’s condition check before enrollment.
The company requires that the phone work properly and not be physically damaged. You can sign up until August 2, 2026. Compatible phones are: Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, Pixel 9a, Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, Pixel 10 Pro XL, and Pixel 10a. The offer does not cover the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, Pixel 10 Pro Fold, Pixel 8 series, older Pixel devices, or Pixel Watch.
What Does Pixel Care+ Offer?
Pixel Care+ offers protection beyond Google’s standard warranty. It covers accidental damage, hardware failures, and eligible repairs. Google does not charge for eligible front screen, back glass, or battery replacements. The plan also includes next-day replacement and priority support from Pixel experts. Users can add Loss and Theft Protection with a higher-tier plan. Google allows up to two loss-or-theft claims each year. Pricing starts at $8 per month and goes up to $15 per month, while two-year plans cost $159 to $279.
There are a few conditions you must meet before you can purchase Pixel Care+. Google requires your phone to pass a detailed condition inspection. The device cannot have cracked glass, liquid damage, charging issues, faulty buttons, or a swollen battery. Other accidental repairs still include a $99 service fee. Loss and Theft claims require a deductible between $79 and $99. Google does not provide this feature in New York. You must enroll before August 2, 2026.
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#Google #Reopens #Pixel #Care #Older #Pixel #Phones #Condition
According to a screenshot posted on social media, Waymo told SF customers that service was “temporarily paused” and that “freeway routes are unavailable.”
When TechCrunch reached out to the Alphabet-owned company for comment, a spokesperson said in a statement, “We are making temporary adjustments to our service while we monitor local conditions. We know riders depend on us, and we will return to normal operations as soon as possible.”
Following the initial publication of this article, a Waymo spokesperson added that the company “decided to pause service for approx. one hour to assess the scale of the power outage affecting a large portion of San Francisco and coordinate with local officials.”
Power outages have affected Waymo service in the past, for example when a number of Waymo vehicles stalled on city streets during a blackout in December, and when a similar incident paralyzed traffic during a Golden Gate Bridge fireworks show on the Fourth of July.
As a result, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has called for tougher state regulations to “adequately address how autonomous vehicles operate during major incidents, planned or not.”
This post has been updated with additional comment from Waymo reflecting that service has resumed.
According to a screenshot posted on social media, Waymo told SF customers that service was “temporarily paused” and that “freeway routes are unavailable.”
When TechCrunch reached out to the Alphabet-owned company for comment, a spokesperson said in a statement, “We are making temporary adjustments to our service while we monitor local conditions. We know riders depend on us, and we will return to normal operations as soon as possible.”
Following the initial publication of this article, a Waymo spokesperson added that the company “decided to pause service for approx. one hour to assess the scale of the power outage affecting a large portion of San Francisco and coordinate with local officials.”
Power outages have affected Waymo service in the past, for example when a number of Waymo vehicles stalled on city streets during a blackout in December, and when a similar incident paralyzed traffic during a Golden Gate Bridge fireworks show on the Fourth of July.
As a result, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has called for tougher state regulations to “adequately address how autonomous vehicles operate during major incidents, planned or not.”
This post has been updated with additional comment from Waymo reflecting that service has resumed.
#Waymo #San #Francisco #service #resumed #onehour #pause #TechCrunchWaymo">Waymo says San Francisco service has resumed after one-hour pause | TechCrunch
Waymo says robotaxi service has resumed after it made “temporary adjustments” in San Francisco amidst a power outage that appears to have affected around 7,000 PG&E customers in the city.
According to a screenshot posted on social media, Waymo told SF customers that service was “temporarily paused” and that “freeway routes are unavailable.”
When TechCrunch reached out to the Alphabet-owned company for comment, a spokesperson said in a statement, “We are making temporary adjustments to our service while we monitor local conditions. We know riders depend on us, and we will return to normal operations as soon as possible.”
Following the initial publication of this article, a Waymo spokesperson added that the company “decided to pause service for approx. one hour to assess the scale of the power outage affecting a large portion of San Francisco and coordinate with local officials.”
Power outages have affected Waymo service in the past, for example when a number of Waymo vehicles stalled on city streets during a blackout in December, and when a similar incident paralyzed traffic during a Golden Gate Bridge fireworks show on the Fourth of July.
As a result, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has called for tougher state regulations to “adequately address how autonomous vehicles operate during major incidents, planned or not.”
This post has been updated with additional comment from Waymo reflecting that service has resumed.
Most of us sense we’re in an affordability crisis these days. If you’re like me, you’re helpless and complacent at the checkstand even when it feels like you’re being mugged. But being billed for billions—or even trillions—more than you owe on web hosting would snap anyone out of their affordability daze.
Amazon Web Services users around the world have noticed one such glitch:
Bharath, an X user based in India, showed off what looks like a $1,499,659,180,107 cost statement and writes, “my soul left my body.” That statement says Bharath’s total is up by 744,728,201,771% this month, which means, by my math, the previous month’s bill was about $200.
According to the Guardian, a marketer named Dan Harvey, working for an educational nonprofit in the U.K. said he “almost had a heart attack” after seeing a bill climb from 43 cents last month to $7.8 billion this month—and the month wasn’t even over. Harvey added to the Guardian that he had to get on the phone with tech support and “have a real dig around,” to get to the bottom of things. Amazon did not apparently return the Guardian’s request for comment.
This has been resolved, according to Amazon, which writes that on July 16 and 17, “customers received erroneous budget and cost anomaly detection alerts, and saw inflated estimated cost and usage data in the Billing and Cost Management Console and the Cost and Usage Reports.” The amounts are “inaccurate” and “did not affect customer invoices,” Amazon writes, but everything has apparently been restored to normal.
An update Saturday on the AWS service health dashboard lays out what happened. Apparently on July 16, a faulty “configuration change” in the AWS billing system was implemented. “This system relies on unit conversion data to calculate line item charges,” AWS writes, but the change “caused updates to the unit conversion data to fail, resulting in inflated line item costs, which propagated to the Billing and Cost Management console and triggered the budget and cost anomaly alerts.”
Logs on the health dashboard show AWS trying to roll out a solution for about two days before marking the issue as fully resolved.
Most of us sense we’re in an affordability crisis these days. If you’re like me, you’re helpless and complacent at the checkstand even when it feels like you’re being mugged. But being billed for billions—or even trillions—more than you owe on web hosting would snap anyone out of their affordability daze.
Amazon Web Services users around the world have noticed one such glitch:
Bharath, an X user based in India, showed off what looks like a $1,499,659,180,107 cost statement and writes, “my soul left my body.” That statement says Bharath’s total is up by 744,728,201,771% this month, which means, by my math, the previous month’s bill was about $200.
According to the Guardian, a marketer named Dan Harvey, working for an educational nonprofit in the U.K. said he “almost had a heart attack” after seeing a bill climb from 43 cents last month to $7.8 billion this month—and the month wasn’t even over. Harvey added to the Guardian that he had to get on the phone with tech support and “have a real dig around,” to get to the bottom of things. Amazon did not apparently return the Guardian’s request for comment.
This has been resolved, according to Amazon, which writes that on July 16 and 17, “customers received erroneous budget and cost anomaly detection alerts, and saw inflated estimated cost and usage data in the Billing and Cost Management Console and the Cost and Usage Reports.” The amounts are “inaccurate” and “did not affect customer invoices,” Amazon writes, but everything has apparently been restored to normal.
An update Saturday on the AWS service health dashboard lays out what happened. Apparently on July 16, a faulty “configuration change” in the AWS billing system was implemented. “This system relies on unit conversion data to calculate line item charges,” AWS writes, but the change “caused updates to the unit conversion data to fail, resulting in inflated line item costs, which propagated to the Billing and Cost Management console and triggered the budget and cost anomaly alerts.”
Logs on the health dashboard show AWS trying to roll out a solution for about two days before marking the issue as fully resolved.
#Soul #Left #Body #Amazon #Accidentally #Bills #Users #Billions #Times #Oweaffordability crisis,AWS,billing">‘My Soul Left My Body’: Amazon Accidentally Bills Users Billions of Times What They Owe
Most of us sense we’re in an affordability crisis these days. If you’re like me, you’re helpless and complacent at the checkstand even when it feels like you’re being mugged. But being billed for billions—or even trillions—more than you owe on web hosting would snap anyone out of their affordability daze.
Amazon Web Services users around the world have noticed one such glitch:
Bharath, an X user based in India, showed off what looks like a $1,499,659,180,107 cost statement and writes, “my soul left my body.” That statement says Bharath’s total is up by 744,728,201,771% this month, which means, by my math, the previous month’s bill was about $200.
According to the Guardian, a marketer named Dan Harvey, working for an educational nonprofit in the U.K. said he “almost had a heart attack” after seeing a bill climb from 43 cents last month to $7.8 billion this month—and the month wasn’t even over. Harvey added to the Guardian that he had to get on the phone with tech support and “have a real dig around,” to get to the bottom of things. Amazon did not apparently return the Guardian’s request for comment.
This has been resolved, according to Amazon, which writes that on July 16 and 17, “customers received erroneous budget and cost anomaly detection alerts, and saw inflated estimated cost and usage data in the Billing and Cost Management Console and the Cost and Usage Reports.” The amounts are “inaccurate” and “did not affect customer invoices,” Amazon writes, but everything has apparently been restored to normal.
An update Saturday on the AWS service health dashboard lays out what happened. Apparently on July 16, a faulty “configuration change” in the AWS billing system was implemented. “This system relies on unit conversion data to calculate line item charges,” AWS writes, but the change “caused updates to the unit conversion data to fail, resulting in inflated line item costs, which propagated to the Billing and Cost Management console and triggered the budget and cost anomaly alerts.”
Logs on the health dashboard show AWS trying to roll out a solution for about two days before marking the issue as fully resolved.
There are loads of other motion sensors that can alert you to motion or presence in an area or room and trigger lighting, but the right one for you depends on your current smart-home setup.
I really like the Eve Motion Sensor, but if you want it to trigger alerts, you need a smart-home hub, and you must set up an automation. It’s a reliable sensor that works indoors or out. I tested it with a Google Home system.
The Aqara FP2 Presence Sensor ($83) has many features, including zonal and multiple person detection, and is compatible with all the major smart-home ecosystems, though it’s not always very accurate at identifying the number of people in the room. The more affordable Aqara FP300 ($50) is a good enough presence detector for most folks and can also track light, temperature, and humidity.
The Switchbot Presence Sensor ($30) is the most affordable sensor I tested and has a similar feature set, but you will need a Switchbot hub if you want alerts, and there’s a lag between it detecting and alerting.
Philips Hue
Outdoor Motion Sensor
The Philips Hue Outdoor Motion Sensor is excellent, but only if you already have a Hue setup, because it needs a Hue Bridge to connect to. I installed the sensor in my backyard and tested it with the Bridge Pro. It reliably detects people with few false positives. I configured my outdoor sensor to turn on a backyard light strip (not Hue) after sunset and send me a notification when triggered between specific hours (midnight and 6 am) using Google Gemini.
There’s also a Philips Hue Indoor Motion Sensor and a Contact Sensor ($40) for doors and windows. Both are very reliable and can be configured to trigger alerts.
Smart Light Sensing
As an interesting alternative to dedicated motion sensors, you can also use some smart lights for detect presence and motion indoors.
Wiz SpaceSense
If you have a few Wiz lights, you can try SpaceSense, which uses Wi-Fi to detect motion in rooms. I wasn’t that impressed when I tried SpaceSense, but how effectively it works depends on how many Wiz lights you have and where they are located. I was also testing it as a way to automatically turn lights on, and there’s some lag that limits its usefulness on that score. But as a security alert that can tell you when there’s motion in your home when you’re away, it could be very useful. If you already have Wiz lights, you may as well try it, as it doesn’t require a subscription.
Philips Hue MotionAware
Signify is the parent company of Wiz and Philips Hue, and MotionAware is very similar to SpaceSense, but it uses Zigbee, rather than Wi-Fi. Again, how well it works depends on the number of Philips Hue lights you have and their layout. Unfortunately, it does require a subscription if you want to receive alerts. MotionAware can trigger lights at no extra cost, but if you want motion alerts, you must pay $1 per month or $10 for the year. It is also included in Hue Secure subscriptions from $4 per month.
More Security System Alternatives
SimpliSafe
8-Piece Wireless Home Security System
You might consider a modular security system. We like the Simplisafe system, which offers a base station, keypad, and a range of sensors. You can also find modular systems from security stalwarts like ADT and Vivint, and security camera makers like Eufy and Arlo.
There are loads of other motion sensors that can alert you to motion or presence in an area or room and trigger lighting, but the right one for you depends on your current smart-home setup.
I really like the Eve Motion Sensor, but if you want it to trigger alerts, you need a smart-home hub, and you must set up an automation. It’s a reliable sensor that works indoors or out. I tested it with a Google Home system.
The Aqara FP2 Presence Sensor ($83) has many features, including zonal and multiple person detection, and is compatible with all the major smart-home ecosystems, though it’s not always very accurate at identifying the number of people in the room. The more affordable Aqara FP300 ($50) is a good enough presence detector for most folks and can also track light, temperature, and humidity.
The Switchbot Presence Sensor ($30) is the most affordable sensor I tested and has a similar feature set, but you will need a Switchbot hub if you want alerts, and there’s a lag between it detecting and alerting.
Philips Hue
Outdoor Motion Sensor
The Philips Hue Outdoor Motion Sensor is excellent, but only if you already have a Hue setup, because it needs a Hue Bridge to connect to. I installed the sensor in my backyard and tested it with the Bridge Pro. It reliably detects people with few false positives. I configured my outdoor sensor to turn on a backyard light strip (not Hue) after sunset and send me a notification when triggered between specific hours (midnight and 6 am) using Google Gemini.
There’s also a Philips Hue Indoor Motion Sensor and a Contact Sensor ($40) for doors and windows. Both are very reliable and can be configured to trigger alerts.
Smart Light Sensing
As an interesting alternative to dedicated motion sensors, you can also use some smart lights for detect presence and motion indoors.
Wiz SpaceSense
If you have a few Wiz lights, you can try SpaceSense, which uses Wi-Fi to detect motion in rooms. I wasn’t that impressed when I tried SpaceSense, but how effectively it works depends on how many Wiz lights you have and where they are located. I was also testing it as a way to automatically turn lights on, and there’s some lag that limits its usefulness on that score. But as a security alert that can tell you when there’s motion in your home when you’re away, it could be very useful. If you already have Wiz lights, you may as well try it, as it doesn’t require a subscription.
Philips Hue MotionAware
Signify is the parent company of Wiz and Philips Hue, and MotionAware is very similar to SpaceSense, but it uses Zigbee, rather than Wi-Fi. Again, how well it works depends on the number of Philips Hue lights you have and their layout. Unfortunately, it does require a subscription if you want to receive alerts. MotionAware can trigger lights at no extra cost, but if you want motion alerts, you must pay $1 per month or $10 for the year. It is also included in Hue Secure subscriptions from $4 per month.
More Security System Alternatives
SimpliSafe
8-Piece Wireless Home Security System
You might consider a modular security system. We like the Simplisafe system, which offers a base station, keypad, and a range of sensors. You can also find modular systems from security stalwarts like ADT and Vivint, and security camera makers like Eufy and Arlo.
#PrivacyFirst #Alternatives #Home #Security #Camerassecurity,shopping,privacy,smart home,sensors,buying guides">The Best Privacy-First Alternatives to Home Security Cameras
Kini is very reliable. I tested it in a drawer and a cabinet, and it always alerted me when they were opened. It also keeps a log with times listed. While alerts go via the cloud, maker Kinisium says it doesn’t collect data, and you can turn off logging entirely if you prefer. Kini also has a Stasis mode, so you can reverse it and have it alert you when there has been no movement for a set period. This makes it a versatile monitoring device, and you could use this mode to ensure an elderly relative opens their medicine cabinet each day or check what time your dog walker opened a door. Kini is also compatible with IFTTT for automation, and there’s even a webhook integration that can send notifications to a custom URL.
More Motion Sensors
There are loads of other motion sensors that can alert you to motion or presence in an area or room and trigger lighting, but the right one for you depends on your current smart-home setup.
I really like the Eve Motion Sensor, but if you want it to trigger alerts, you need a smart-home hub, and you must set up an automation. It’s a reliable sensor that works indoors or out. I tested it with a Google Home system.
The Aqara FP2 Presence Sensor ($83) has many features, including zonal and multiple person detection, and is compatible with all the major smart-home ecosystems, though it’s not always very accurate at identifying the number of people in the room. The more affordable Aqara FP300 ($50) is a good enough presence detector for most folks and can also track light, temperature, and humidity.
The Switchbot Presence Sensor ($30) is the most affordable sensor I tested and has a similar feature set, but you will need a Switchbot hub if you want alerts, and there’s a lag between it detecting and alerting.
Philips Hue
Outdoor Motion Sensor
The Philips Hue Outdoor Motion Sensor is excellent, but only if you already have a Hue setup, because it needs a Hue Bridge to connect to. I installed the sensor in my backyard and tested it with the Bridge Pro. It reliably detects people with few false positives. I configured my outdoor sensor to turn on a backyard light strip (not Hue) after sunset and send me a notification when triggered between specific hours (midnight and 6 am) using Google Gemini.
There’s also a Philips Hue Indoor Motion Sensor and a Contact Sensor ($40) for doors and windows. Both are very reliable and can be configured to trigger alerts.
Smart Light Sensing
As an interesting alternative to dedicated motion sensors, you can also use some smart lights for detect presence and motion indoors.
Wiz SpaceSense
If you have a few Wiz lights, you can try SpaceSense, which uses Wi-Fi to detect motion in rooms. I wasn’t that impressed when I tried SpaceSense, but how effectively it works depends on how many Wiz lights you have and where they are located. I was also testing it as a way to automatically turn lights on, and there’s some lag that limits its usefulness on that score. But as a security alert that can tell you when there’s motion in your home when you’re away, it could be very useful. If you already have Wiz lights, you may as well try it, as it doesn’t require a subscription.
Philips Hue MotionAware
Signify is the parent company of Wiz and Philips Hue, and MotionAware is very similar to SpaceSense, but it uses Zigbee, rather than Wi-Fi. Again, how well it works depends on the number of Philips Hue lights you have and their layout. Unfortunately, it does require a subscription if you want to receive alerts. MotionAware can trigger lights at no extra cost, but if you want motion alerts, you must pay $1 per month or $10 for the year. It is also included in Hue Secure subscriptions from $4 per month.
More Security System Alternatives
SimpliSafe
8-Piece Wireless Home Security System
You might consider a modular security system. We like the Simplisafe system, which offers a base station, keypad, and a range of sensors. You can also find modular systems from security stalwarts like ADT and Vivint, and security camera makers like Eufy and Arlo.
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