Google

Less than a week after its release to Gemini Advanced subscribers, the Google Gemini 2.5 Pro (experimental) model is now available to anyone who wants to try it, albeit with rate limits. Google says the new models now incorporate step-by-step “thinking” processes to become the best ones yet, and outpace the competition on LLM benchmarks.

You can enable it by heading to Photos, clicking Settings > Appearance, and selecting Dark.

The short-term rain forecasts are now available in Search, the company announced today.

Pleos Connect is the name of Hyundai Motor Group’s next-gen vehicle software interface based on Google’s Android Automotive OS, launching in Q2 2026. Today, the automaker kicked off a new annual conference to accelerate the development of Pleos and its “Cloud Mobility” software ecosystem, where “all forms of mobility are connected through software on the cloud,” including urban infrastructure.

So-called “User Choice Billing” — which allows app developers to offer users payment providers other than Google Play for purchases — will be available to British users from March 29th, starting with non-gaming apps. The option is already available to users in the US, Europe, and a handful of other countries.

Gov. Spencer Cox (R) has signed the App Store Accountability Act, a law that will put the onus on app store operators like Apple and Google to verify users’ ages and get parents’ consent for their kids to download apps. It’s a model that app developers including Meta, X, and Snap have applauded and are pushing to be adopted across the country.

The device helps you access your Google account without a password by connecting to your PC through a USB port or wirelessly with NFC. It’s now available for purchase in 11 more countries, including Ireland, Portugal, The Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Puerto Rico, and others.

The operating system will still be open source, but Google is now moving all development to a private, internal software branch. It previously worked on some features, like the Bluetooth stack, in public, but now everything is going in-house to streamline development.

People on Reddit are complaining they’ve missed work after their Pixel 9 alarms didn’t wake them up. Some claim they told Gemini to “stop” a timer or just to hush it, and it would unexpectedly disable all their alarms, too. This isn’t the only time we’ve heard problems with mobile device alarms recently (iPhone, Pixel Watch), have you noticed any issues?

Last week, YouTube acknowledged an issue causing videos and shorts on iOS, desktop, and smart TVs to automatically stream in 144p or 360p even with a strong internet connection. Now YouTube says the problem has been fixed and “all streaming should be back to normal now.”

The Find X8 Ultra will launch in China on April 10th, joined by the Find X8s and X8s Plus. The X8s is a “compact” version of last year’s Find X8, though its 6.3-inch display is still bigger than an iPhone 16.

Until now, you’ve only been able to use the scanner when the display is on, either by waking it or by using the phones’ always-on display feature. Now, Android Authority reports that after testing a settings option to enable screen-off fingerprint unlocking on Pixel 9 phones, Google has expanded that test to other Pixel phones in the third Android 16 beta.

That’s according to WABetaInfo, which spotted that a recent beta of the Android app supports sharing motion photos, Android’s GIF-like animations that accompany some photos, similar to the Live Photos feature found on iPhones (and which, the outlet notes, WhatsApp for iOS already supports).

This big piece from Wired includes, for example, a tidbit that one Google executive “switched from calling her sister during her commutes to gabbing out loud with Gemini Live.”

Google’s Vids product in Workspace, which can make videos using Gemini AI from a prompt and a document from Google Drive, will now automatically add AI-generated voiceovers to videos, according to a blog post. You can remove them if you want.

Motorola is expected to reveal its new generation of Razr flip phones soon, and leaker Evan Blass thinks we’re going to see an unusual new finish: wood. He shared a GIF showing off the Razr Plus 2025 (a.k.a. Razr 60 Ultra outside the US) in a light brown wood version, though didn’t add any details — so we don’t know if this is real wood, like in 2014’s Moto X, or something else.

Filed in 2021, the class action lawsuit accused Google of favoring white and Asian employees by allegedly offering them better pay and career opportunities. The class includes at least 6,632 people in California who worked at Google from February 2018 to December 2024.