9to5Google

Google is finally giving users the option to change their Gmail address without deleting their account or making a new one, and it’s so easy to do.

Shopping appears to be one of the big pushes for AI in 2026, and Google is giving Gemini about as large as a boost as it could in this arena thanks to a new partnership with Walmart.

Motorola took to CES 2026 with previews of some big announcements including its first book-style foldable, but also tagging along for the ride is a new “Moto Watch” that just can’t help but bring up memories of the Moto 360 that Motorola seemingly refuses to give a second chance.

2026 could be a blockbuster year for Google after some serious success across almost all areas in 2025. What should and could we expect? Here are a few early-year thoughts and expectations.

On a Google support page, the company says it is rolling out a new option to let users change their email address even if it is an “@gmail.com” address.

Google’s parent company Alphabet has announced an acquisition of Intersect, a “data center and energy infrastructure” company that aims to provide additional support for building out its capacity for AI.

Over the last few weeks of staggered rollouts, some users have gained access to Gemini for Home, which adds Google’s AI assistant to existing Nest devices. The upgrade seems to be breaking some automations, though.

As previously spotted in a promo video for the Pixel Watch 3, Google has released a Find Hub app for Wear OS.

Back in September, Google stopped offering its Weather app for new Wear OS 6 devices. Google Weather has now stopped working on the original Pixel Watch and other devices due to a bug.

One of the lesser-known features that Google offers is a “Dark Web Report” monitoring tool, but it’s about to shut down in early 2026.

Google rolled out a major Pixel Watch update this week that, for Pixel Watch 4 owners, delivers support for new one-handed gestures. They’re super useful already, but do they measure up to the gestures Google introduced a decade ago?

Disney announced a billion dollar agreement with OpenAI this morning over use of its characters, and Google’s going to have to pray it doesn’t alter the deal any further.

After launching the “Remix” tool in August in a server-side update, Google Photos is bringing the image-to-cartoon feature to more users in a much wider rollout.

Google’s various AI tools have been proving their worth as of late, but a common criticism is how Google has built these tools by scraping the work of publishers and creators across the web without explicit permission or compensation, and now the EU is launching an investigation into the matter.

With Wear OS 6, Google promised “more consistent always-on behavior” (AOD), and the Pixel Watch is starting to do this across three key experiences, including the Timer app.

The Mobvoi TicWatch series has produced some memorable Wear OS smartwatches, both in terms of value and hardware advancements, but the company seems to have thrown in the towel altogether.

Circle to Search is getting a new trick that detects suspicious messages or web content, letting users know why it could be part of a scam.

Android 16 QPR2 is here today, but Google’s not solely focusing on new features and changes. Alongside those announcements, the company is also bringing a whole host of improvements and changes to accessibility on Android. In addition to some helpful changes to hearing aids, captions, and more, Google is also building Gemini models into Smart Dictation and Guided Frame on Pixel devices for improved responses.

Just a few weeks after launching its first AI-generated ad, Google has returned with something a little more realistic, but just as timely. Ahead of the holidays, the company is throwing a Love Actually reunion in its latest Pixel ad, even if the star might not be as famous as he thinks he is.

If you’ve seen scattered reports across social media regarding Gmail’s newfound focus on training Google’s AI models on your emails, you can take a deep breath, as the company says these reports are “misleading.”