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.
Epic and Google are settling, but the US version of the plan still rests in Judge Donato’s hands. He’s asking for “friend of the court” briefs in early April, meaning it’ll be longer before he makes a decision.
The feature, announced as part of various updates alongside the GDC Festival of Gaming, is rolling out to select games to start, including Brotato: Premium. Also: free 60-minute game demos, ones that let gamers pick up where they left off after they pay.
[Android Developers Blog]
Now users in Canada, New Zealand, and India can access Chrome’s built-in Gemini AI assistant, which has added support for more than 50 languages, including Spanish, French, Hindi, and Chinese.
Along with answering questions about what’s on your screen, Gemini in Chrome can help you do things like send messages in Gmail, create a table comparing products in your tabs, and remix images you see online.
They joined a new initiative called Utilize that aims to use strategies like battery storage and virtual power plants to make more use of the electrons already available to the grid. It’s a plan that’s supposed to make electricity more affordable as opposition grows to data centers blamed for higher utility bills.
A new toggle is being rolled out in Google Photos that allows users to choose between “classic” and AI-powered “Ask Photos” modes when searching through the app. The AI search had a rocky launch, and now Google Photos lead Shimrit Ben-Yair says users want more control over their results.
Android Headlines has published renders from leaker OnLeaks reportedly revealing the design of the Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold expected to be announced later this year. The design remains mostly unchanged from last year’s more durable Pixel 10 Pro Fold, but there’s a slightly redesigned camera bump with the actual lenses protruding more, and the Pixel 11 Pro Fold will be slightly thinner at 10.1mm when folded, and 4.8mm when open.
While Epic v. Google isn’t quite finished in the US, we no longer have to wait and see if the highest court will hear the case. Rule 46.1 reads that if all parties file in writing that a case be dismissed, “the Clerk, without further reference to the Court, will enter an order of dismissal.” That agreement has now happened.
It’s a $100 million project meant to limit methane and other pollutants that are even more powerful greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide. But any company serious about climate change still needs to address their carbon emissions, the most abundant planet-heating pollutant. Both companies’ carbon footprints have grown as they expand data centers for AI.
[https://www.axios.com/2026/03/05/google-amazon-climate-superpollutants]
I’ve been updating it for hours with bits from court documents, blog posts, email fact-checks, even a quick interview with Google Android boss Sameer Samat and Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney. I’m about done, but I still need to parse the new Games Level Up Program and Apps Experience Program...
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney made the announcement alongside the news of Google’s sweeping Android App Store changes. The game already returned to Google Play in the US in December.
“The parties expect to submit a revised proposal to the Court by March 4, 2026.” That’s today.
Judge Donato seemed extremely skeptical of the previous proposed settlement during the live courtroom proceedings, particularly because Epic and Google had quietly worked out a new $800 million business deal behind the scenes. We’re standing by for the “revised proposal” now.
The privacy and security-focused Android fork currently only has official support for Pixel devices, but that could be changing. Motorola announced on Monday at MWC that it has struck a long-term partnership with the GrapheneOS Foundation to “strengthen smartphone security and collaborate on future devices engineered with GrapheneOS compatibility.”
Part of Rahman’s new role includes “community engagement,” he says. He’s joining Android after spending 10 years reporting on the platform.
AI companies could stand together to draw red lines on military AI — why aren’t they?
South Korea has long restricted the export of mapping data over national security concerns leaving Google Maps, launched there in 2008, to flounder against local rivals Naver and Kakao. The Transport Ministry said the revision is being made in the interest of promoting tourism.
Google is testing the second Android 17 beta on compatible Pixel devices in line with its accelerated release timeline. The release notes say it adds desktop window-like app bubbles so users “can organize, move between, and move bubbles to and from anchored points on the screen,” although testers report they haven’t seen them working yet.
There are also cross-device app handoffs, which can work with a web app even if it isn’t installed on the second device.
In December, Google Translate started using Gemini AI to improve translations for colloquial phrases and idioms that might not make sense in other languages, and now the Translate app also offers alternative phrasings on iOS or Android.
Users can also ask the AI for more context with new “Understand” and “Ask” buttons.
