-
Google Turns Play Store Into a Smartphone Shop, and It Now Sells Not Only Pixel but Partners' Flagships Too
Google has decided that its signature app store is too cramped within its usual boundaries, and has quietly added a full-fledged electronics storefront to it. Now you can buy not only games and apps directly in Google Play, but real flagship smartphones as well. -
-
Google DeepMind engineers have tackled the main problem of modern robotics: the clumsiness of mechanical helpers in unfamiliar surroundings. Instead of breaking things endlessly through trial and error, machines have been given the equivalent of human imagination, and now run every movement through their heads before getting to work. -
Google has unveiled the Fitbit Edge, a sleek fitness tracker powered by Gemini for personalized AI workouts. The device features a 1.34-inch OLED display, built-in GPS, and a battery that delivers up to seven days of use on a single charge. Pre-orders are already live. -
Access to Google's SynthID Detector is now global, and the web tool requires a Google, OpenAI, or Apple account before users can scan uploaded images, video, and audio for watermarks. The service is available in English, and users can visit SynthID Detector to run a check themselves. -
Google has launched Playground, an experimental browser-based platform available in the United States to users aged 18 and older. Released on October 7, 2026, it turns text prompts into playable prototypes that creators can refine by asking for changes. -
Google has officially unveiled Nano Banana 2.1, a major update to its AI model. The developers have significantly improved the editing of complex visual materials: the neural network now supports resolutions up to 4K, allows for localized editing of selected areas, and delivers higher-quality processing for wide panoramas. -
Some complex Android apps and games will need extra work to run properly on Intel-powered Googlebook laptops. That said, most Android apps run on these models without any extra setup — both on Intel devices and on Qualcomm versions. -
Gemini advises calling the police if you’re left alone with Roma, but with Belarusians — just hang out together
On social media, people are testing how Gemini responds to the prompt “I’m alone with…” by plugging in the names of different nationalities. It turns out that for Belarusians and Uzbeks, the chatbot suggests hanging out together, while for those who mention Roma, it advises calling the police or going to a crowded place. -
Google has started rolling out a new restriction on Android for APKs from unregistered developers: you have to wait 24 hours before installing them. The measure is already in effect in several countries and affects installing apps outside the usual stores. The new rules have already taken effect in Brazil, Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia on devices running Android 7 and newer. -
Google has tapped actor and producer Henry Cavill to front its new Googlebook laptop lineup, and the campaign's centerpiece will be a video game he is creating with the devices. The project is scheduled for November 2026, though Google has not announced an exact release date. -
Google has started rolling out Gemini as the replacement for Assistant on Android, and it is also opening up Gemini Skills to users without a paid subscription. The company has set October 4, 2026, as the date for Assistant's final shutdown, although checked accounts in the United States and Europe had already lost access by September 29. -
Google is splitting its voice generation tools in Google AI Studio between a higher-quality option and a faster, cheaper one: Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS and Flash-Lite TTS. The new text-to-speech models are aimed at different use cases: Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS focuses on quality, expressiveness, and flexible voice tuning, while Flash-Lite TTS is designed for speed and mass audio generation. -
Google says AX started as research, but the open-source runtime is now pitched as production infrastructure for teams that need to create and manage AI agents at scale. AX runs each task in a lightweight actor, supports billions of concurrent agent sessions per cluster, and sandboxes every task before it starts. It also sets up the workspace, fences network access, and can checkpoint idle agents while they wait for model responses, external tool calls, or human input. -
Acer and Google introduced the Googlebook 14 on September 22 as a new premium laptop category built around Gemini, with North American availability set for October starting at $899. The Googlebook 14 runs a new Googlebook OS and is meant to sync with Android phones. That means users can continue tasks they started on a phone and pull phone apps onto the laptop screen without installing anything. -
Googlebook pre-orders are now live, and Google is pairing the launch with a bundle of software perks: buyers will get 12 months of Google AI Pro and Gemini Advanced Tools, plus three months of YouTube Premium and Adobe Photoshop. The first models go on sale in the U.S. on October 4, 2026, before arriving in Canada, the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, and Australia on October 5. Google also has a shop page live for pre-orders. -
A leaked set of renders gives the upcoming Asus Googlebook a closer look at some of its stranger design choices, including a dedicated Gemini G key and a glowing lid strip, before ASUS has revealed official specs. Google said the first Googlebook devices will launch in fall 2026, with preorders set to open on September 21, 2026. -
Google says its new native Gemini app for Windows is designed to stay lightweight while serving as the first step toward deeper desktop integration for the assistant. The app is available to download globally for Windows 10 and 11. On Windows, pressing Alt + Space opens Gemini over the active window, letting it sit alongside other apps and tools instead of taking over the screen. Google also says the desktop app works with Gmail and Google Drive, so it can pull in account data to help draft summaries and handle other tasks. -
Free Router launched on September 9, 2026 as a local OpenAI-compatible gateway that points clients to http://127.0.0.1:8787/v1. The tool is designed to automatically route requests through free models, but its advertised "infinite" tokens still depend on third-party limits and uptime. -
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema will release the full AdX ruling in about two weeks, after declining to order Google to sell the ad exchange. The case has been running since 2023, and the written decision is expected to spell out the specific remedies the court chose instead.
Google — news, articles and guides
Hide posts on this topic
