Holiday deals kick off in earnest, Android messaging gets a face-lift

This is CNET and here are the stories that matter right now. With just over a week until the holiday break, retailers are ramping up the holiday deals. You can score $400 off the iPad Air as well as big deals on Xbox and Nintendo Switch while Amazon is offering discounts across the board on Echo speakers, Fire TV, and more. You can find all the deals on cnet.com. [MUSIC] Android users will finally get iMessage like features on Monday with the arrival of RCS text messaging. Google's rich communication service will bring new features like chat over WiFi, read receipts, typing indicators and the ability to send and receive high RES images and videos. Just update messages and carrier services to get the new features. [MUSIC] And finally New Orleans has declared a state of emergency after city employees were hit by an apparent cyber attack. In a tweet the city said out of an abundance of caution employees had been advised to disconnect and power down devices. Officials say there's no evidence passwords or data was lost. But the FBI has been called in to assist with investigations. [MUSIC] Stay up to date with the latest by visiting CNET.