Van Luin and Bambina Blue on Hudson Yards: A Sweet Treat for Ice Cream Lovers

For those looking to indulge in creative flavors, Van Luin and Bambina Blue are two must-visit destinations on Hudson Yards. Both establishments offer a wide range of unique flavors that are sure to tantalize your taste buds. Van Luin's menu boasts an impressive array of options, including vegan choices, making it an inclusive spot for all. And, yes, they do have gluten-free options as well.

But what really sets Van Luin apart is their coffee game. Their own beans ensure a truly exceptional cup, making it the perfect accompaniment to your ice cream treat. On the other hand, Bambina Blue focuses more on gelato, but don't worry – there are nearby cafes where you can grab a coffee to pair with your gelato.

Gemini Live: A Promising but Flawed AI Assistant

I recently had the opportunity to try out Gemini Live, a conversational AI assistant that promises to make your interactions feel natural and continuous. While I was excited to test its capabilities, I was initially underwhelmed by its performance. The AI didn't always provide accurate answers, and at times it would cut out or stop responding altogether.

One notable example was when I asked about a show happening on Little Island, and Gemini gave me the wrong dates. When I used the Gemini overlay to ask questions about a restaurant's food selections, it provided dishes that weren't even on the menu. While I understand that AI is still in its early stages, these mistakes made it difficult for me to trust the responses right away.

Despite these limitations, I do appreciate the idea of being able to ask Gemini questions and get answers without having to sift through menus or documents myself. However, more work needs to be done to ensure that the AI's responses are accurate and reliable.

Google Pixel 9: A Premium Camera and Battery

The Google Pixel 9 is a device that promises to deliver exceptional camera quality and impressive battery life. And, for the most part, it delivers on both fronts. The camera features a 50-megapixel main sensor and an ultra-wide-angle lens with a new 48-megapixel sensor – an upgrade from the Pixel 8's 12-megapixel sensor.

The pixel 9 also boasts panoramic mode with a new interface that makes it easier to time and line up your shots. The camera takes vibrant, colorful photos that feel punchy but still maintain their realism. However, in some cases, I did notice that the iPhone 15 took sharper photos than the Pixel 9.

In terms of battery life, the Pixel 9 has a larger capacity than the Pixel 8 and seems to be holding up well even on busy days. During my testing, I found myself with 38% of my battery left after about 16 hours of general use – a notable improvement over the Pixel 8's performance.

The new Tensor G4 processor, combined with 12 gigs of RAM and a high-refresh-rate display, makes this phone feel fast and responsive.

Pixel 9 Review: A Premium Camera and Battery at a Premium Price

After spending some time with the Google Pixel 9, here are my initial thoughts on the device. I love the new design, which feels premium and modern. The Pixel Screens app is also a game-changer, saving me countless hours of manual searching for information.

However, I'm not entirely convinced that AI is a reason to upgrade from an older model. When stripped away from its AI features, the Pixel 9 doesn't feel significantly different from the Pixel 8. Additionally, with a price increase of $100, the Pixel 9 no longer feels like a mid-range device – it's now firmly in the premium class.

Moreover, Google has traditionally brought software features to older Pixel phones, so we'll have to see if this trend continues with the new AI features. Overall, however, if you're a Pixel fan looking to upgrade from an older model, the Pixel 9 is certainly worth considering – especially when factoring in its improved camera and battery life.

Powering the Pixel 9 is Google's new Tensor G4 processor, which combined with 12 gigs of RAM and a high-refresh-rate display makes for a seamless user experience.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthe pixel 9 is packed with more AI smarts and a better Ultra wide camera all wrapped in a more polished design but is it worth it let's dive in I've spent a few days using the pixel 9 and so far it's really making me curious about where Google's AI could go in the future I spent way too much time creating silly photos in pixel studio and playing around with a new feature called add me which uses AR to take group photos but using the pixel 9 has also shown me that despite the hype AI isn't a reason to upgrade your phone at least not yet Google is on the right track with some of the pixel 9's new features like the ability to search for anything in your screenshots and while it's not a reason to upgrade your phone I do really like the way Google is thinking about Ai and I'm looking forward to a time when it truly makes our phones a lot easier to use but that day isn't quite here just yet the pixel 9 shines for a lot of the same reasons its predecessors did it has solid cameras really clean software and beautiful Hardware but Google does have a higher bar to live up to now that the pixel 9 starts at $7.99 which is $100 more than the pixel 8 was at launch here's a closer look at my thoughts so far but don't forget to read my full review for more details first let's start with the obvious the pixel 9 has a new look the camera bar now has a floating island style design rather than stretching across the entire back of the phone and the metal edges are flatter as well this gives the pixel 9 a more seamless shape since the edges aren't interrupted by the camera module I love the way it looks and feels so much that I don't even want to put a case on it especially in this new pey pink color I'm just going to say it it looks more like an iPhone and in a good way the screen is also a bit larger and brighter compared to the pixel 8 which makes it slightly easier to see in sunlight although I did still find myself cranking the brightness up all the way to use it Outdoors but it's really the software that makes the pixel 9 different from previous version of Google's phone these new phones have a handful of AI powered features such as an image generator app a tool for changing objects and photos into something else and a new app that lets you search for content in your screenshots pixel Studio the image generator was so much fun to play around with I went down a rabbit hole typing in whatever I could think of although it can't make images of people yet which limits some of its usefulness I can see this being useful for really any situation where you might need to come up with a custom graphic for something like maybe a party invitation I know personally myself I could see it being really useful for creating characters for games like Dungeons and Dragons once it can create people but we'll have to wait and see where it goes in my experience the results were pretty accurate based on the prompt but there were some instances where they were a little off I tried creating an image of Pikachu Jigglypuff and Mew in a forest together for example and instead of making Mew it made some kind of hybrid of Mew and Jigglypuff but either way I really enjoyed typing in the prompts and seeing what Google would make of them reimagine another new feature lets you select objects and photos and change them into something else entirely in my experience this feature works best When selecting a flat object in the background rather than something with a lot of depth pixel screenshots seems like one of the most practical new AI features you can basically search for any piece of information that's stored in a screenshot like a Wi-Fi password for your Airbnb or an order confirmation and it will pull it up and then there's add me which is probably one of the wildest new features I've seen on a phone in a long time so we're going to try out a new feature called add me which basically makes it so that you can take a group photo while everyone is actually in the photo even when no one's there to take it for you so here's how it works one person takes the photo then they hand off the phone to another person in the photo to take a second photo the phone then combines both images to create one photo with everybody in it it definitely works um it does look a little less natural than if we were both both just standing next to each other in the photo um the positioning is definitely correct but it just looks like two people that don't know that they're standing next to each other because that's exactly what it is basically those are some of Google's pixel specific features but I also got to play with Gemini live on the pixel 9 which is the more conversational version that requires a paid subscription you can interrupt Gemini and ask follow-up questions with the goal being to make talking to Gemini feel as natural as talking to a person what are some good ice cream spots nearby there's a couple of great options for classic highquality ice cream head to Van luin on Hudson yards they've got tons of creative flavors plus some vegan options do they have glutenfree options too both places have options oh okay um do they also have coffee at any of those ice cream places yeah van Luan has great coffee they their own beans so it's really good Bambina blue focuses more on the gelato but there are some cafes nearby if you want coffee with your ice cream Gemini live certainly sounds more natural and can continue conversation even after I've interrupted but its answers weren't always accurate and at times it would cut out and stop responding for example when I asked about a show happening on Little Island Gemini gave me the wrong dates and when I used the Gemini overlay to ask questions about a restaurant's food selections it gave me dishes that weren't on the menu I love the idea of being able to ask Gemini questions rather than sifting through menus and documents myself but these results make it a little hard for me to trust the responses right away like Samsung many of Google's AI features are impressive and really fun to use but they do feel siloed they feel designed for individual use cases rather than making your entire phone software feel smarter as a whole but I think that's where things are headed so I'm interested in seeing where this goes AI is definitely the big new thing on this year's pixel phones but but it's not the only thing worth talking about camera quality is also another area Google has traditionally paid a lot of attention to the pixel 9 generally has the same camera as the pixel 8 a 50 megapixel main camera and a separate camera for taking Ultra wide shots but the ultra wide camera on the pixel 9 has a new 48 megapixel sensor which is an upgrade from the pixel 8's 12 megapixel sensor I could definitely see the difference in some photos but in others the ultrawide upgrade was less noticeable this photo of a park at little island has much more color than the pixel 8's image but in this other picture of the amphitheater I couldn't really tell the difference until I zoomed in and looked at the wooden stage area panoramic mode also has a new interface that makes it much easier to time and line up your shots otherwise the pixel 99's camera is more or less the same as the one on the pixel 8 I'm still trying out the camera but in my early tests I'm getting photos that are colorful that feel Punchy but are still realistic and true to life which can be a tough balance to strike I didn't see too much of a difference between the pixel 9 and pixel 8 but I did think the iPhone 15 took sharper photos than the pixel 9 in most circumstances the pixel 9 also has a larger battery than the pixel 8 and so far I'm seeing promising results on a really busy day that involved going to a park taking lots of photos keeping the screen brightness high and going out with friends at night I still had 38% of my battery left after about 16 hours of General use on a much less busy day that was mostly spent at home I had 64% after roughly the same amount of time but of course battery life will always vary depending on how you use your phone and we're still running CET battery test so be sure to check out the written review for future updates powering all of this is Google's new tensor G4 processor the new chip combined with the new 12 gigs of RAM and the high refresh rate display makes this phone feel fast and clean so after using the pixel 9 for a few days here's what I like and don't like I really love the new design and I think the pixel screenshots app will save me a lot of time I also appreciate that Google is paying attention to improving the ultra wide camera even if it is a small upgrade and you get 7 years of software updates with this phone meaning it'll get new features for a while to come but I'm not convinced AI is a reason to upgrade and when you strip away the new AI features this phone isn't all that different from the pixel8 Google also has a track record of bringing software features to older pixel phones so we'll have to see if it continues that tradition with these new features now that the pixel 9 is $100 more expensive it's also in a different class of device it doesn't feel like a high-end mid-range phone anymore but now it's a premium phone and at that price Samsung gives you a dedicated telephoto camera in addition to the wide and Ultra wide cameras on the Galaxy s24 but overall if you are a pixel fan and you're upgrading from an older phone you'll probably find a lot to like in the pixel 9 check out my full written review on CNET for more details thanks for watching and I'll see you next timethe pixel 9 is packed with more AI smarts and a better Ultra wide camera all wrapped in a more polished design but is it worth it let's dive in I've spent a few days using the pixel 9 and so far it's really making me curious about where Google's AI could go in the future I spent way too much time creating silly photos in pixel studio and playing around with a new feature called add me which uses AR to take group photos but using the pixel 9 has also shown me that despite the hype AI isn't a reason to upgrade your phone at least not yet Google is on the right track with some of the pixel 9's new features like the ability to search for anything in your screenshots and while it's not a reason to upgrade your phone I do really like the way Google is thinking about Ai and I'm looking forward to a time when it truly makes our phones a lot easier to use but that day isn't quite here just yet the pixel 9 shines for a lot of the same reasons its predecessors did it has solid cameras really clean software and beautiful Hardware but Google does have a higher bar to live up to now that the pixel 9 starts at $7.99 which is $100 more than the pixel 8 was at launch here's a closer look at my thoughts so far but don't forget to read my full review for more details first let's start with the obvious the pixel 9 has a new look the camera bar now has a floating island style design rather than stretching across the entire back of the phone and the metal edges are flatter as well this gives the pixel 9 a more seamless shape since the edges aren't interrupted by the camera module I love the way it looks and feels so much that I don't even want to put a case on it especially in this new pey pink color I'm just going to say it it looks more like an iPhone and in a good way the screen is also a bit larger and brighter compared to the pixel 8 which makes it slightly easier to see in sunlight although I did still find myself cranking the brightness up all the way to use it Outdoors but it's really the software that makes the pixel 9 different from previous version of Google's phone these new phones have a handful of AI powered features such as an image generator app a tool for changing objects and photos into something else and a new app that lets you search for content in your screenshots pixel Studio the image generator was so much fun to play around with I went down a rabbit hole typing in whatever I could think of although it can't make images of people yet which limits some of its usefulness I can see this being useful for really any situation where you might need to come up with a custom graphic for something like maybe a party invitation I know personally myself I could see it being really useful for creating characters for games like Dungeons and Dragons once it can create people but we'll have to wait and see where it goes in my experience the results were pretty accurate based on the prompt but there were some instances where they were a little off I tried creating an image of Pikachu Jigglypuff and Mew in a forest together for example and instead of making Mew it made some kind of hybrid of Mew and Jigglypuff but either way I really enjoyed typing in the prompts and seeing what Google would make of them reimagine another new feature lets you select objects and photos and change them into something else entirely in my experience this feature works best When selecting a flat object in the background rather than something with a lot of depth pixel screenshots seems like one of the most practical new AI features you can basically search for any piece of information that's stored in a screenshot like a Wi-Fi password for your Airbnb or an order confirmation and it will pull it up and then there's add me which is probably one of the wildest new features I've seen on a phone in a long time so we're going to try out a new feature called add me which basically makes it so that you can take a group photo while everyone is actually in the photo even when no one's there to take it for you so here's how it works one person takes the photo then they hand off the phone to another person in the photo to take a second photo the phone then combines both images to create one photo with everybody in it it definitely works um it does look a little less natural than if we were both both just standing next to each other in the photo um the positioning is definitely correct but it just looks like two people that don't know that they're standing next to each other because that's exactly what it is basically those are some of Google's pixel specific features but I also got to play with Gemini live on the pixel 9 which is the more conversational version that requires a paid subscription you can interrupt Gemini and ask follow-up questions with the goal being to make talking to Gemini feel as natural as talking to a person what are some good ice cream spots nearby there's a couple of great options for classic highquality ice cream head to Van luin on Hudson yards they've got tons of creative flavors plus some vegan options do they have glutenfree options too both places have options oh okay um do they also have coffee at any of those ice cream places yeah van Luan has great coffee they their own beans so it's really good Bambina blue focuses more on the gelato but there are some cafes nearby if you want coffee with your ice cream Gemini live certainly sounds more natural and can continue conversation even after I've interrupted but its answers weren't always accurate and at times it would cut out and stop responding for example when I asked about a show happening on Little Island Gemini gave me the wrong dates and when I used the Gemini overlay to ask questions about a restaurant's food selections it gave me dishes that weren't on the menu I love the idea of being able to ask Gemini questions rather than sifting through menus and documents myself but these results make it a little hard for me to trust the responses right away like Samsung many of Google's AI features are impressive and really fun to use but they do feel siloed they feel designed for individual use cases rather than making your entire phone software feel smarter as a whole but I think that's where things are headed so I'm interested in seeing where this goes AI is definitely the big new thing on this year's pixel phones but but it's not the only thing worth talking about camera quality is also another area Google has traditionally paid a lot of attention to the pixel 9 generally has the same camera as the pixel 8 a 50 megapixel main camera and a separate camera for taking Ultra wide shots but the ultra wide camera on the pixel 9 has a new 48 megapixel sensor which is an upgrade from the pixel 8's 12 megapixel sensor I could definitely see the difference in some photos but in others the ultrawide upgrade was less noticeable this photo of a park at little island has much more color than the pixel 8's image but in this other picture of the amphitheater I couldn't really tell the difference until I zoomed in and looked at the wooden stage area panoramic mode also has a new interface that makes it much easier to time and line up your shots otherwise the pixel 99's camera is more or less the same as the one on the pixel 8 I'm still trying out the camera but in my early tests I'm getting photos that are colorful that feel Punchy but are still realistic and true to life which can be a tough balance to strike I didn't see too much of a difference between the pixel 9 and pixel 8 but I did think the iPhone 15 took sharper photos than the pixel 9 in most circumstances the pixel 9 also has a larger battery than the pixel 8 and so far I'm seeing promising results on a really busy day that involved going to a park taking lots of photos keeping the screen brightness high and going out with friends at night I still had 38% of my battery left after about 16 hours of General use on a much less busy day that was mostly spent at home I had 64% after roughly the same amount of time but of course battery life will always vary depending on how you use your phone and we're still running CET battery test so be sure to check out the written review for future updates powering all of this is Google's new tensor G4 processor the new chip combined with the new 12 gigs of RAM and the high refresh rate display makes this phone feel fast and clean so after using the pixel 9 for a few days here's what I like and don't like I really love the new design and I think the pixel screenshots app will save me a lot of time I also appreciate that Google is paying attention to improving the ultra wide camera even if it is a small upgrade and you get 7 years of software updates with this phone meaning it'll get new features for a while to come but I'm not convinced AI is a reason to upgrade and when you strip away the new AI features this phone isn't all that different from the pixel8 Google also has a track record of bringing software features to older pixel phones so we'll have to see if it continues that tradition with these new features now that the pixel 9 is $100 more expensive it's also in a different class of device it doesn't feel like a high-end mid-range phone anymore but now it's a premium phone and at that price Samsung gives you a dedicated telephoto camera in addition to the wide and Ultra wide cameras on the Galaxy s24 but overall if you are a pixel fan and you're upgrading from an older phone you'll probably find a lot to like in the pixel 9 check out my full written review on CNET for more details thanks for watching and I'll see you next time\n"