diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 03db358..41f8f28 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ TensorFrames is available as a
  [official instructions](https://www.tensorflow.org/versions/r0.7/get_started/os_setup.html#download-and-setup)
   on how to get the latest release of TensorFlow.
 
+ - (Optional) pandas >= 0.19.1 if you want to use the python interface
+
  - (Optional) the [Nix package manager](http://nixos.org/nix/) if you want to guarantee a fully reproducible build environment. This is the environment that will be used for reproducing bugs.
 
 Additionally, if you want to run unit tests for python, you need the following dependencies:
@@ -52,7 +54,7 @@ Additionally, if you want to run unit tests for python, you need the following d
 Assuming that `SPARK_HOME` is set, you can use PySpark like any other Spark package.
 
 ```bash
-$SPARK_HOME/bin/pyspark --packages databricks:tensorframes:0.2.9-rc0-s_2.11
+$SPARK_HOME/bin/pyspark --packages databricks:tensorframes:0.2.9-rc1-s_2.11
 ```
 
 Here is a small program that uses Tensorflow to add 3 to an existing column.
@@ -150,7 +152,7 @@ The scala support is a bit more limited than python. In scala, operations can be
 You simply use the published package:
 
 ```bash
-$SPARK_HOME/bin/spark-shell --packages databricks:tensorframes:0.2.9-rc0
+$SPARK_HOME/bin/spark-shell --packages databricks:tensorframes:0.2.9-rc1
 ```
 
 Here is the same program as before:
@@ -200,14 +202,14 @@ build/sbt distribution/spDist
 Assuming that SPARK_HOME is set and that you are in the root directory of the project:
 
 ```bash
-$SPARK_HOME/bin/spark-shell --jars $PWD/target/testing/scala-2.11/tensorframes-assembly-0.2.9-rc0.jar
+$SPARK_HOME/bin/spark-shell --jars $PWD/target/testing/scala-2.11/tensorframes-assembly-0.2.9-rc1.jar
 ```
 
 If you want to run the python version:
  
 ```bash
-PYTHONPATH=$PWD/target/testing/scala-2.11/tensorframes-assembly-0.2.9-rc0.jar \
-$SPARK_HOME/bin/pyspark --jars $PWD/target/testing/scala-2.11/tensorframes-assembly-0.2.9-rc0.jar
+PYTHONPATH=$PWD/target/testing/scala-2.11/tensorframes-assembly-0.2.9-rc1.jar \
+$SPARK_HOME/bin/pyspark --jars $PWD/target/testing/scala-2.11/tensorframes-assembly-0.2.9-rc1.jar
 ```
 
 ## Acknowledgements
diff --git a/project/Build.scala b/project/Build.scala
index a2ed318..daefcfb 100644
--- a/project/Build.scala
+++ b/project/Build.scala
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ object Shading extends Build {
 
 
   lazy val commonSettings = Seq(
-    version := "0.2.9-rc0",
+    version := "0.2.9-rc1",
     name := "tensorframes",
     scalaVersion := sys.props.getOrElse("scala.version", "2.11.8"),
     organization := "databricks",
diff --git a/python/requirements.txt b/python/requirements.txt
index 1d15f1e..d23e599 100644
--- a/python/requirements.txt
+++ b/python/requirements.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 # This file should list any python package dependencies.
-nose==1.3.3
-pandas==0.19.0
+nose>=1.3.3
+pandas>=0.19.1