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.

Google’s Pixel smartphones will probably never compete with the likes of Apple or Samsung on the global smartphone stage, but the growth remains, as Google Pixel reportedly grew by 25% in 2025.

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.

Apple is officially adopting Google Gemini as the backbone of its AI-powered Siri upgrade, with the switch landing for customers “later this year.”

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.

After Google pivoted away from its stout book-like foldable form factor found in the original Pixel Fold, Apple’s coming iPhone Fold and a future Samsung foldable may just end up copying the same idea.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

Apple has had iPhone owners trapped within its walled garden for years, with many genuinely not knowing what lies beyond that ecosystem. But Google has been working over the past few years to poke some holes in that wall, and its latest move in bringing AirDrop compatibility to Android Quick Share is just another reminder of how things are getting better. But… is anyone actually switching?

Just like sponsored cards that appear in any normal Google Search results, ads are reportedly starting to creep into AI Mode searches.

Google has announced a lawsuit in the US that aims to take down “Lighthouse,” an organization that sends scam phishing texts such as the USPS scams that everyone seems to get.

Google has released a handful of new merch ahead of the holiday season, with the latest batch including a familiar Android plushie and more.

Samsung has reportedly been on the fence regarding the future of its super-slim smartphones after the Galaxy S25 Edge failed badly, but that hasn’t stopped the company from putting on a brave face to try and compare the Galaxy S25 Edge to the iPhone Air in a series of ads.