The name Google is synonymous with online searches, but over the years the company has grown beyond search and now builds multiple consumer products, including software like Gmail, Chrome, Maps, Android, and hardware like the Pixel smartphones, Google Home, and Chromebooks. Its name can also be found on internet services such as Google Fi, Flights, Checkout, and Google Fiber. Here is all of the latest news about one of the most influential tech companies in the world.
People with low vision can use Guided Vision to have Gemini describe what’s nearby and ask follow-up questions.
The Android-focused blog is still publishing posts even though all of its full-time staff were cut.
To distribute an Android app in Brazil, Thailand, Singapore, or Indonesia — even outside Google’s Play Store — developers must now go through Google’s verification. It’ll roll out everywhere else from next year. Unverified apps can still be sideloaded, but the new process includes a 24-hour waiting period before apps can be installed.
A satellite equipped with Google’s Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) launched aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket on Thursday. The mission is part of Google’s Project Suncatcher, an experimental initiative that could eventually put AI data centers in space.
Advanced Protection, which launched last year as an option for people who need stronger security safeguards, will now automatically lock down a device if it detects repeated authentication failures within settings menus and apps.
This builds upon several other capabilities available with Advanced Protection, including features that block unknown USB chargers and prevent apps from abusing accessibility features.
After a French far-right politician used AI to strip a real Muslim woman of her hijab last month, The Guardian tested ChatGPT, Grok, and Gemini’s image editors and found that all the chatbots would comply with such requests. This issue has persisted for many months, adding to fears about how easily AI tools can be used to undress and violate women and children.
Several wacky keyboard designs have been showcased by Google Japan every October for the last few years. Each has their own challenges for practical typing, but especially this new conveyor belt-inspired creation. You’ll learn patience by waiting for the keys you need to roll around — such a moving design.
The reusable, custom instructions for Gemini are also rolling out to Workspace users starting October 5th and in the Gemini app starting October 13th. Google’s shutting down Gems starting in November for individual users, and as early as March 1st, 2027 for Workspace users.
Google has now confirmed what we reported this spring: ChromeOS is done in 2034. The company says it’s committed to its 10-year-support promise, but for those Chromebooks that can’t be turned into Googlebooks, it might have to get creative.
“Many newer commercial Chromebook models will be capable of upgrading to Googlebook OS,” Google writes. But not all. Nearly 100 different models of Chromebook are supposed to get support till 2035 or later.
An issue in Firebase’s analytics led some iOS apps that use the Google service to crash on launch, a problem which persisted for hours even after Google’s fix. That’s one more thing to worry about after internet outages and rogue AI attacks.
[Android Authority]
The July Digital Markets Act ruling required Google to share search data with rival search engines by January 2027, and give third-party AI assistants equal access to Android by that July. Google’s Oliver Bethell told Bloomberg that sharing user search data “would cause irreversible harm to user privacy.”
Along with an updated homepage, the Arts & Culture app has a new AI-powered search feature that allows you to ask questions using natural language. The app also adds two new AI experiments, including Chrono Look for virtually trying on historical attire, and Dial an Artist, which lets you “call” an AI chatbot modeled after a historical artist.
Google is replacing Gems with skills starting November 17th, as spotted earlier by 9to5Google. While Gems lets you create personalized AI assistants, Google’s skills feature offers similar capabilities by allowing you to create custom instructions for Gemini.
The Pixel 11 Pro light is so far underwhelming, only working for calls from favorite contacts or Gemini interactions. Google always said message support is on the way, but a report from Android Authority suggests new colors are coming too, expanding on the five available now. That’s still behind what other devs have done with it.
To test the new AI-powered features on Ring, Google Nest, and Apple Home connected video doorbells, I put on the iconic Scream mask to see if any of them would warn me.
Only Google told me someone was wearing a mask; Ring somehow still knew it was me, and Apple just said “someone” was at the door. Read the full review.
We’d been told the 15-inch laptop would start at $1,299, but preorders just opened for a much friendlier $1,149.99. It’s the biggest of the first five Googlebooks, with an Intel Core Ultra 5 325 processor inside, 16GB of RAM and 512GB storage, and an HDMI port. It ships from October 4th.
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Googlebooks will be available at retailers later this week, but you might not need to buy a new device to get Google’s latest laptop OS. “Many of our newest Chromebook devices will be eligible to transition over to Googlebook OS,” says Google in a support note targeted at Chromebook enterprise and education customers. Google hasn’t shared migration paths or device eligibility yet, but it’s encouraging to see the search giant sticking to what it announced earlier this year.
Robert O’Callahan is quitting his work on AI chips for Google Deepmind, saying “…my team’s goal is ultimately to make AI much cheaper and lower-latency, and I don’t think that’s good for people right now.”
While he says it’s not related to recent AI warnings and resignations, he listed some concerns:
However, I am not convinced the chance of ASI doom is 100%. Rather, I think the risk is real but uncertain… I’m also very concerned about other AI-related issues: cognitive surrender, AI-induced psychosis and loneliness, power concentration, economic disruption, cybersecurity, lack of accountability, and so on
Googling “Googlebooks” doesn’t pull up any info about Google’s upcoming laptops. It’s an entire page of links, and even an AI overview, about Google Books — a search index of actual books. Not ideal for potential customers looking for information on new products launching soon.
Google is great at names.
After bringing its plugin to ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, and Slack, Adobe’s app is now available in Google’s chatbot too. Just tag “@Adobe” in Gemini with your request after installing the plugin, and it’ll surface the best Creative Suite tools for editing photos, generating marketing designs, and more.
Google is rolling out the feature to all Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in the US, India, and Brazil. It scans your photos to build a digital wardrobe of your clothes, allowing you to view separate pieces and try on new outfits virtually.
The blood pressure trends, insulin resistance trends, and sleep breathing quality metrics mentioned at the 2026 Made By Google event weren’t available when the Pixel Watch 5 launched last month, but now Google says they’ll start rolling out to Watch 3 models and later this week. You can set them up in the Google Health app, and trend reports will arrive in “early October.”
According to The Information, the companies will call it the Standards Authority for Frontier AI, or SAFA, which could launch by early 2027. It would handle AI safety regulation tasks like “supporting third-party organizations that conduct testing of models before they’re deployed and laying out how AI developers should report safety and security incidents.”
[The Information]
When Motorola announced its funky-looking new flagship the other day, a bunch of you wanted to know if it falls under the partnership with Graphene. The devs previously said they were waiting for security features in Qualcomm’s new chips. GrapheneOS will also roll out to Motorola foldables, but the Signature 27 comes first.
When you type the “@” symbol into the bottom Gemini bar in Docs, you’ll now see a list of Gemini Notebooks. Select one, and Gemini will draw from those sources to generate a document from your prompt.
After launching for iPhone last year, a free Android version of the Premiere mobile app is now available on the Google Play store. Devices need at least 5GB of RAM and to be running Android 13 or later, and the app provides a multi-track editing timeline with tools for visual effects, audio, transitions, and more.
As I mention in my Googlebook hands-on piece, Google’s new laptop OS has clever ideas about how an Android-based laptop and an Android phone interact. It’s worth checking out in motion, like in our short video that went up today.
We’ll of course be testing and reviewing Googlebooks to see if they actually have the juice. In the meantime, watch me hold a microphone like a goof.
MediaTek is announcing its new Dimensity CX C10 Max processor. It’s an Arm-based chip built on TSMC’s 3nm process, with an 8-core CPU, 11-core GPU, and an NPU capable of up to 55 TOPS. This will be MediaTek’s Googlebook chip, as it’s designed for thin-and-light laptops like the five initial Googlebooks that were just announced.
App casting, handoff, and seamless file sharing make Googlebooks feel (almost) obvious with an Android phone.
