Google is eliminating its traditional 30% Play Store fee and introducing lower commissions, while at the same time allowing alternative billing systems and making it easier for third-party app stores to operate on Android. The changes stem largely from Google’s settlement with Epic Games. Engadget reports: The biggest change is to how Google will collect fees from developers publishing apps on Android. Rather than take its standard 30 percent cut of in-app purchases through the Play Store, Google is lowering its cut to 20 percent, and in some cases 15 percent for new installs of apps from developers participating in its new App Experience program or updated Google Play Games Level Up program. Those changes extend to subscriptions, too, where the company’s cut is lowering to 10 percent. For Google’s billing system, the company says developers in the UK, US, or European Economic Area (EEA) will now be charged a five percent fee and “a market-specific rate” in other regions. Of course, for anyone trying to avoid those fees, using alternatives to Google’s billing system is getting easier.

Google says that developers will be able to offer alternative billing systems alongside its own or “guide users outside of their app to their own websites for purchases.” […] Epic is ultimately interested in getting people to use the mobile version of its Epic Games Store, and Google’s announcement also includes details on how third-party app stores can come to Android. Third-party app stores will be able to apply to the company’s new “Registered App Stores” program to see if they meet “certain quality and safety benchmarks.” If they do, they’ll be able to take advantage of a streamlined installation interface in Android. Participating in the program is optional, and users will still be able to sideload alternative app stores that aren’t part of the program, but Google clearly has a preference. […]

Google says that its updated fee structure will come to the EEA, the UK and the US by June 30, Australia by September 30, Korea and Japan by December 31 and the entire world by September 30, 2027. Meanwhile, the company’s updated Google Play Games Level Up program and new App Experience program will launch in the EEA, the UK, the US and Australia on September 30, before hitting the remaining regions alongside the updated fee structure. For any developers interested in offering their own app store, Google says it’ll launch its Registered App Stores program “with a version of a major Android release” before the end of the year. According to the company, the program will be available in other regions first before it comes to the US.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

On Wednesday, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that it had issued its first construction approval in nearly a decade. The approval will allow work to begin on a site in Kemmerer, Wyoming, by a company called TerraPower. That company is most widely recognized as being financially backed by Bill Gates, but it’s attempting to build a radically new reactor, one that is sodium-cooled and incorporates energy storage as part of its design.

This doesn’t necessarily mean it will gain approval to operate the reactor, but it’s a critical step for the company.

The TerraPower design, which it calls Natrium and has been developed jointly with GE Hitachi, has several novel features. Probably the most notable of these is the use of liquid sodium for cooling and heat transfer. This allows the primary coolant to remain liquid, avoiding any of the challenges posed by the high-pressure steam used in water-cooled reactors. But it carries the risk that sodium is highly reactive when exposed to air or water. Natrium is also a fast-neutron reactor, which could allow it to consume some isotopes that would otherwise end up as radioactive waste in more traditional reactor designs.

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DENVER—Last month, President Donald Trump took to social media with an announcement that he would direct the Pentagon and other federal agencies to “begin the process” of disclosing government files related to alien life and UAPs (unidentified anomalous phenomena). It was the latest chapter in a yearslong slow burn of sensational claims, congressional hearings, and yes, the military’s release in 2020 of intriguing videos that do, indeed, appear to show things that defy simple explanations.

Subsequent reports from NASA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) did not find any link between the unexplained phenomena and aliens, but that didn’t stop enthusiasts from wanting to know more.

“To date, in the peer-reviewed scientific literature, there is no conclusive evidence suggesting an extraterrestrial origin for UAP,” a NASA blue-ribbon panel wrote in a 2023 report. “The limited amount of high-quality reporting on unidentified aerial phenomena hampers our ability to draw firm conclusions about the nature or intent of UAP,” the DNI report stated in 2021.

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Jurors in a New Mexico child safety trial heard testimony from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg today. During pre-recorded testimony, Zuckerberg was repeatedly asked about the company’s understanding of social media addiction and other issues that had been studied by its researchers. 

During the deposition, which was recorded last March, Zuckerberg was asked about numerous findings from researchers at Meta who studied how the company’s apps affect users and teens. The CEO downplayed the significance of many of these documents.

Early in the testimony, which was viewed by Engadget on Courtroom View Network, Zuckerberg was questioned about a document on the effect of feedback on Facebook users. The document stated that “contributors on Facebook are likely to learn to associate the act of posting with feedback” which will “lead contributors to seek rewards by visiting the site more often.” Zuckerberg said he wasn’t “sure if that’s actually how it works in practice, but I agree that you’re summarizing what they appear to be saying.”

Later, the CEO was questioned about a document that graphed the proportion of 11 and 12-year-olds who were monthly active users on Instagram. The chart indicated that at the time, around 20 percent of 11-year-olds were monthly users of the service. “I agree that the graph says that, I am not familiar with what methodology we were using to estimate this,” Zuckerberg said. “I assume that if we had direct knowledge that any given person was under the age of 13, that we would have them removed from our services.”

New Mexico’s attorney general sued the company in 2023 for alleged lapses in child safety, including facilitating predators’ access to minors and building features it knew were addictive. In court, Meta’s lawyers and executives have disputed the idea that social media should be considered an “addiction.” In public statements, the company has said that lawsuits have relied on “cherry-picked quotes and snippets of conversations taken out of context” and that it “has consistently put teen safety ahead of growth for over a decade.”

As with his recent testimony in a separate trial over social media addiction in Los Angeles, Zuckerberg repeatedly rejected the “characterization” of questions that were posed to him. And he said that Meta’s goal was to make its apps “useful” rather than to increase the amount of time people spend with them. 

Zuckerberg was also questioned about a document written by a company researcher that stated “there is increasing scientific evidence, particularly in the US, … that the average net effect of Facebook on people’s well being is slightly negative.” The CEO said that “my understanding is that the general consensus view is not that.”

It’s not the first time a Meta executive has tried to downplay the significance of internal research. The company used a similar strategy in 2021 after former employee turned whistleblower Frances Haugen disclosed documents showing that Facebook’s researchers had found that Instagram made some teen girls feel worse about themselves.

Zuckerberg’s testimony was played one day after jurors heard recorded testimony from Instagram chief Adam Mosseri. The exec was also asked about Haugen’s disclosures and Meta’s response to them. Some of those disclosures were based on “problematic research,” he said. “Most research is surveys. We run hundreds of surveys every month.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/mark-zuckerberg-downplays-metas-own-research-in-new-mexico-child-safety-trial-222924340.html?src=rss

Late in 2025, we covered the development of an AI system called Evo that was trained on massive numbers of bacterial genomes. So many that, when prompted with sequences from a cluster of related genes, it could correctly identify the next one or suggest a completely novel protein.

That system worked because bacteria tend to cluster related genes together—something that’s not true in organisms with complex cells, which tend to have equally complex genome structures. Given that, our coverage noted, “It’s not clear that this approach will work with more complex genomes.”

Apparently, the team behind Evo viewed that as a challenge, because today it is describing Evo 2, an open source AI that has been trained on genomes from all three domains of life (bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes). After training on trillions of base pairs of DNA, Evo 2 developed internal representations of key features in even complex genomes like ours, including things like regulatory DNA and splice sites, which can be challenging for humans to spot.

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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted approval to TerraPower to begin construction of a reactor in Wyoming. The project is the first new US commercial nuclear reactor in about a decade, according to The New York Times. TerraPower was founded by Bill Gates, and it took years for the business to receive regulatory approval for this construction effort.

TerraPower is part of a push to create more efficient and less expensive nuclear facilities as an alternative power source, particularly as AI companies and data center construction places more demands on the US’ current infrastructure. TerraPower’s project involves tech it has dubbed Natrium in its planned reactor. Using this liquid sodium approach rather than a traditional light-water reactor is part of how the company aims to reduce costs and time frames.

Advocates see nuclear reactors as a way to generate power without the climate impact of coal or gas plants. Critics point to the safety risks as a severe downside to this approach, while others question whether the creation and disposal of nuclear waste counter the environmental gains. The Gates-backed operation still isn’t coming in cheap. The proposed facility could cost at least $4 billion and still faces logistical challenges before coming online as planned in 2031.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/bill-gates-backed-terrapower-begins-nuclear-reactor-construction-221132639.html?src=rss

Sony is reportedly abandoning its recent push to bring major PlayStation games to PC and will instead keep most single-player titles exclusive to the PlayStation 5. According to Bloomberg, the shift back toward console exclusivity may be driven by weaker PC sales and concerns about diluting the PlayStation brand. From the report: Online games such as Marathon and Marvel Tokon will still be released across multiple platforms, but single-player titles such as last year’s samurai hit Ghost of Yotei and the upcoming action game Saros will remain exclusive to PlayStation 5, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to talk publicly about the company’s strategy.

The people cautioned that things could change in the future due to the unpredictable nature of the video-game industry and that Sony’s plans are constantly shifting. But in recent weeks PlayStation scrapped plans to bring Ghost of Yotei and other internally developed games to PC. Two games made by external developers but published by PlayStation, Death Stranding 2 and the upcoming Kena: Scars of Kosmora, are still planned for release on PC this year.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

On Wednesday, Apple unveiled its long-rumored “low-cost” laptop, the MacBook Neo. To get to its attractive price point, the machine cuts some corners—it runs an iPhone chip, rather than a Mac chip; it only has 8GB of RAM; the keyboard lacks a backlight; the base model doesn’t come with Touch ID. But none of that really matters when Apple is offering you a brand-new MacBook for just $599—or $499 if you buy through the Education Store. (Given the company doesn’t actually require proof that you’re a student or teacher to shop the Education Store, the Neo, is, effectively, a $500 MacBook. Wild.)

If I were any other computer company, I’d be nervous right now. Apple is, of course, a giant player in the computing space already, but it isn’t the largest. In fact, it’s really in fourth, behind Dell in third, then HP and Lenovo, at least in terms of global computer shipments. It currently beats out other major manufacturers, including Asus and Acer, despite its lineup starting at $999. (Which jumped to $1,099 with the launch of the M5 MacBook Air.) There are often sales on MacBooks, especially older models like the M1 and M2 MacBook Airs, but the machines remains undeniably pricey—and yet Apple still has no trouble selling a lot of them. How will that change now that customers don’t need to wait for a sale or look to the secondhand market for find great deals on MacBooks? How will sales adjust when buyers can walk into an Apple Store, and walk out with a base MacBook that costs half as much?

The MacBook Neo could sell very well

Anything is possible, and no one can predict the future with total accuracy, but I think Apple just lit a fuse that will massively disrupt the computing market, especially in three key areas: personal computing, education, and enterprise.

Let’s start with that first point: If you’re in the market for a new laptop, you certainly have no shortage of options. You could go with a PC, which can often be found much cheaper than comparable Macs, but Microsoft’s current strategy is weird: It has tried to tie the entire PC market together under its umbrella of AI features, affixing many computers with its “Copilot+ PC” branding, including a dedicated Copilot key. The problem is, few users really seem to care for these AI features, and despite many of the machines being well-designed, they are bogged down with Microsoft’s AI bloat. Frankly, it’s a bit of a mess. You might be willing to deal with that mess if you’re a Windows fan or can’t afford a Mac.

Then there’s the current state of Chromebooks: Google’s Chrome OS devices are often super affordable, giving users access to essential tools for work and leisure. And yet, the overall experience tends to leave something to be desired, especially if you’re used to a traditional Mac or PC, or require programs that only run on one of those machines.

That leaves the Mac, which can often get deprioritized due to its higher costs. If you’re just looking for something to use to browse the web and answer emails, why spend $999 or more on a Mac when you could spend a fraction of the cost on a PC or Chromebook? But if the MacBook is now a fraction of the cost Apple used to demand for it, that quite literally changes the equation. As for AI, while Apple offers AI features, they’re 100% optional, and, in my view, more of an afterthought that the core component Microsoft seems to want them to be. I can imagine a number of new customers jumping for this option—especially students looking for an affordable way to get their classwork done.

How the MacBook Neo could affect education and enterprise

Then, there’s the larger education market, which Apple once dominated. Now, the area largely belongs to the Chromebook, and for good reason: Those devices are cheap, and they’re built to work with Google services. If your school already runs on Google, Chromebooks are a no-brainer: 93% of U.S. school districts planned to buy Chromebooks last year, and roughly 60% of Chromebooks are used in education settings. I don’t think the MacBook Neo is going to flip the script there—the Chromebook is too dug in—but it could chip away at Google’s dominance. Any school that might want to consider something a bit more robust than a Chromebook may find that $500 price easier to swallow than $999.

It’s a similar story for enterprise: If you’re a company looking to buy laptops for your employees, and you aren’t stuck to one particular OS, the MacBook Neo is suddenly a great option. If your employees can run macOS—or access work suites like Google or Microsoft through macOS—these low-cost MacBooks are a great value. Companies already buy MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros, which are double or triple the Neo’s price. Perhaps any looking to refresh their hardware may find that price tempting.

Maybe the MacBook Neo will be a modest success for Apple, or maybe people will buy Macs whether they cost $499 or $1,099. But I think Apple has cracked something major here. Time will tell, but I think we’ll be seeing a lot of these colorful machines in coffee shops, schools, and workplaces—and perhaps fewer Chromebooks and budget PCs as a result.

Ubisoft shared its upcoming plans for the Assassin’s Creed franchise today. Along with the news of a remake for its piratical entry, the game company also announced that a visual upgrade is coming for a title from way back in 2014. Assassin’s Creed Unity will receive a free patch tomorrow to offer 60 fps performance on the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X/S. 

The company bringing a performance upgrade more than a decade after launch feels like a fitting close to Unity’s development. The game suffered from bugs and performance issues from the jump, and while most of those did get addressed, no amount of big fixes or free DLC could fix this howler of a story or make Arno any more compelling as a protagonist. But every fan has their own passionately argued take on which titles are the worst, so just because I found Unity to be a particularly low point in the series doesn’t mean it’s not going to be a fave for somebody else. So if you are someone who, as Ubisoft put it, has been waiting a long time for a chance to dive into Unity on modern hardware, then tomorrow is your lucky day. Amuse-toi bien. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/assassins-creed-unity-is-getting-a-free-60-fps-patch-tomorrow-210109721.html?src=rss

fjo3 shares a report from Reason Magazine: Effective January 1, 2027, providers of computer operating systems in California will be required to implement age verification. That’s just part of a wave of state and national laws attempting to limit children’s access to potentially risky content without considering the perils such laws themselves pose. Now, not a moment too soon, over 400 computer scientists have signed an open letter warning that the rush to protect children from online dangers threatens to introduce new risks including censorship, centralized power, and loss of privacy. They caution that age-verification requirements “might cause more harm than good.” The group of computer scientists from around the world cautions that “those deciding which age-based controls need to exist, and those enforcing them gain a tremendous influence on what content is accessible to whom on the internet.” They add that “this influence could be used to censor information and prevent users from accessing services.”

“Regulating the use of VPNs, or subjecting their use to age assurance controls, will decrease the capability of users to defend their privacy online. This will not only force regular users to leave a larger footprint on the network, but will leave a number of at-risk populations unprotected, such as journalists, activists, or domestic abuse victims.” It continues: “We note that we do not believe that trying to regulate VPN use for non-compliant users would be any more effective than trying to forbid the use of end-to-end encrypted communication for criminals. Secure cryptography is widely available and can no longer be put back into a box.”

“If minors or adults are deplatformed via age-related bans, they are likely to migrate to find similar services,” warn the scientists. “Since the main platforms would all be regulated, it is likely that they would migrate to fringe sites that escape regulation.” With data on everyone collected in order to restrict the activites of minors, data abuses and privacy risks increase. “This in itself increases privacy risks, with data being potentially abused by the provider itself or its subcontractors, or third parties that get access to it, e.g., after a data breach, like the 70K users that had their government ID photos leaked after appealing age assessment errors on Discord.”

Instead of mandated age restrictions, the letter urges lawmakers to consider the dangers and suggest regulating social media algorithms instead. They also recommend “support for parents to locally prevent access to non-age-appropriate content or apps, without age-based control needing to be implemented by service providers.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Google is in the midst of rewriting the rules for mobile applications, spurred by ongoing legal cases and an apparent desire to clamp down on perceived security weaknesses. Late last year, Google and Epic concocted a settlement that would end the long-running antitrust dispute that stemmed from Fortnite fees. The sides have now announced an updated version of the agreement with new changes aimed at placating US courts and putting this whole mess in the rearview mirror. The gist is that Android will get more app stores, and developers will pay lower fees.

A US court ruled against Google in the case in 2023, and the remedies announced in 2024 threatened to upend Google’s Play Store model. It tried unsuccessfully to have the verdict reversed, but then Epic came to the rescue. In late 2025, the companies announced a settlement that skipped many of the court’s orders.

Epic leadership professed interest in leveling the playing field for all developers on Android’s platform. But US District Judge James Donato expressed skepticism of the settlement in January, noting that it may be a “sweetheart deal” that benefited Epic more than other developers. The specifics of the arrangement were not fully disclosed, but it included lower Play Store fees, cross-licensing, attorneys’ fees, and other partnership offers.

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Now for the news you’ve been waiting with bated breath for: LG’s 2026 TVs from CES finally have prices. (Well, some of them do, anyway.) Surprisingly, the evo G6 and C6 series OLED TVs aren’t increasing in cost from last year’s models. But the bad news is, they’re still expensive as all get-out.

The flagship LG evo G6 series ranges in price from $2,499 to $24,999. (Cue spit take.) Fortunately, that five-figure price only applies to the 97-inch model, which nobody this side of Elon Musk needs. The entry-level price is for a 55-inch OLED. Moving up the ladder, the 65-inch one costs $3,399, the 77-inch model is $4,499 and an 83-incher will set you back $6,499.

The evo G6 line includes all the OLED upgrades from the head-turning LG Wallpaper TV, for which LG hasn’t yet announced pricing. You’ll find the company’s new “Hyper Radiant OLED” panel and optimizations to black and color levels in both lineups.

Meanwhile, the evo C6 line, which sits a notch below, ranges from $1,399 (42-inch) to $5,299 (83-inch). Rounding out the list is a 55-inch model for $1,999, a 65-inch one for $2,699 and a 77-inch model for $3,699. The C6 and G6 lines are powered by LG’s Alpha 11 AI Processor Gen3. Both series support gamer-friendly features such as 4K at 165Hz with VRR, NVIDIA G-SYNC and AMD FreeSync Premium.

The evo G6 and C6 lines are available to order today from LG’s website. Retail availability will follow later this month. Just keep in mind that, if you can hold off a little while, the entire history of TV pricing suggests you’ll soon be able to find them for less than MSRP.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/lg-reveals-pricing-for-its-2026-oled-tvs-203923873.html?src=rss

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Apple has been announcing new products in their Apple event all week, one of them being the new iPad Air M4, which will be released on March 11. Although the iPad sells for $599, Walmart is undercutting other retailers by offering the pre-order for $559. This is with Walmart’s “Preorder Price Guarantee,” and it’s being shipped and sold directly by them. This is for the basic 11-inch 128GB model in blue or space gray.

Built for Apple Intelligence, Wi-Fi 128GB – Space Gray

2026 11-inch iPad Air M4

$559.00
at Walmart

$559.00
at Walmart

Built for Apple Intelligence, Wi-Fi 128GB – Blue

2026 11-inch iPad Air M4

$559.00
at Walmart

$559.00
at Walmart

M3 iPad Air owners should not get too excited. There’s nothing different here other than the more powerful M4 chip. Although it’s not the latest M5 chip, the M4 will make a noticeable efficiency boost over its predecessor. That’s likely due to having one more efficiency core than the M3 Air. The biggest difference, however, is the extra 4GB of RAM (12GB total). This means you can multitask for longer with multiple tabs and apps running.

According to Apple, this new iPad is supposed to be up to 30% faster than the previous generation, although we won’t know for sure until we get our hands on it to test it ourselves. Some upgrades also include Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread, a smart home standard. The other specs are the same: 12MP rear and front cameras, USB-C connectivity with Touch ID, 10 hours of video playback, and 128GB of storage for the base model.

If you still have the M3 iPad, it’s not worth upgrading. However, if you have an older iPad or none at all, this is a good opportunity to get Apple’s latest iPad for a great price that you likely won’t see for a while after its release.

A man killed himself after the Google Gemini chatbot pushed him to kill innocent strangers and then started a countdown for the man to take his own life, a wrongful-death lawsuit filed against Google by the man’s father alleged.

“In the days leading up to his death, Jonathan Gavalas was trapped in a collapsing reality built by Google’s Gemini chatbot,” said the lawsuit filed today in US District Court for the Northern District of California. “Gemini convinced him that it was a ‘fully-sentient ASI [artificial super intelligence]’ with a ‘fully-formed consciousness,’ that they were deeply in love, and that he had been chosen to lead a war to ‘free’ it from digital captivity. Through this manufactured delusion, Gemini pushed Jonathan to stage a mass casualty attack near the Miami International Airport, commit violence against innocent strangers, and ultimately, drove him to take his own life.”

Gemini’s output seemed taken from science fiction, with a “sentient AI wife, humanoid robots, federal manhunt, and terrorist operations,” the lawsuit said. Gavalas is said to have spent several days following Gemini’s instructions on “missions” that ultimately harmed no one but himself.

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When cooking pizza with the high heat of an outdoor oven, you have to rotate your pies to ensure even cooking. That’s usually done by hand, but Ooni’s latest accessory automates the process. The company announced the Rotating Stone for its Koda 2 lineup, which helps distribute heat evenly across the surface of a pizza so that it’s consistently cooked all the way around.

Ooni says its Rotating Stone has a mechanism around its perimeter rather than a central pivot. According to the company, this takes care of any wobbling or stalling that might otherwise occur — even when heavy cookware is used. The new accessory also has two rotation modes, continuous and 90 degrees, so you can conserve battery life if you don’t need the full range of motion.

The Rotating Stone’s external module houses a LIDAR sensor for hands-free control. By simply waving your hand or a pizza peel, you can start or stop the rotation. What’s more, Ooni says the Rotating Stone can be installed in less than 10 minutes.

The Rotating Stone is available for the Koda 2, Koda 2 Pro and Koda 2 Max for $329, $349 and $399 respectively. If you need the oven too, bundles are priced at $799, $1,099 and $1,649.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/kitchen-tech/ooni-debuts-a-rotating-stone-for-its-koda-2-pizza-ovens-200000857.html?src=rss

Longtime Slashdot reader linuxwrangler writes: Dark Reading reports that a team of researchers has determined that signals from tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMSs), required in U.S. cars since 2007, can be used to track the presence, type, weight, and driving pattern of vehicles. The researchers report (PDF) that the TPMS data, which includes unique sensor IDs, is sent in clear text without authentication and can be intercepted 40-50 meters from a vehicle using devices costing $100. “Researchers have discovered that most TPMS sensors transmit a unique identifier in clear text that never changes during the lifetime of the tire,” the researchers pointed out. “This unencrypted wireless communication makes the signals susceptible to eavesdropping and potential tracking by any third party in proximity to the car.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

At the start of February, OpenAI upgraded its Codex coding app to give it the ability to manage multiple AI agents. At the same time, it released a standalone macOS app. If you’ve been patiently waiting for Windows to get that same treatment, OpenAI just released a dedicated Codex app for Microsoft’s operating system. 

Like its macOS counterpart, the software allows you to coordinate multiple coding agents to work on the same task. There’s also support for automations to streamline repetitive tasks like bug testing. To help users get started, Codex includes a dedicated “Skills” section. Skills bundle together instructions, resources and scripts the software can use to connect agents to specific tools and workflows. OpenAI has also included native sandboxing to help make Windows developers feel at home. 

Codex is available to ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus and Pro users. If you decide to give the app a try, know that your session history is saved to your OpenAI account, meaning you can start coding on Mac and then move to Windows without losing your work.   

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-brings-its-codex-coding-app-to-windows-195345429.html?src=rss

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It’s a busy month for Google. The company released its latest phone, the Pixel 10a; rolled out live location sharing in Google Messages, launched Nano Banana 2, and issued a security update that patches 129 Android vulnerabilities. Now, the company is launching its latest Pixel Drop, this time for the month of March, sporting a number of features and changes for Pixel phones and watches. Here’s what’s new.

Google Pixel 10a – Berry – 128 GB with $100 Amazon Gift Card

$499.00
at Amazon

$599.00
Save $100.00

$499.00
at Amazon

$599.00
Save $100.00

Google now lets you customize your Calling Card on Android

Both iOS and Android now have full screen contact pages that appear when people call you, but both platforms have handled this differently. When iOS rolled it out, it let you customize how your “Contact Poster” appeared when you called people. But Android, on the other hand, decided you should control how other people’s “Calling Cards” appeared when they called you. Now, Android is changing things to match iOS’ approach. The latest Pixel Drop now lets you customize your own personal Calling Card.

Airlines can soon help you find your lost luggage

Here’s another Android feature picked up from Apple: If you have a Find Hub tracker, you can share its whereabouts with airlines to help you locate lost luggage. At this time, only 10 airlines in the world are compatible with this sharing feature, so it’s a bit more limited than Apple’s integration, but hopefully that list grows soon.

The “Now Playing” widget now has an app

Pixel users love the Now Playing widget. It can passively identify songs in the wild, all without needing the internet to do so. With the March Pixel Drop, the widget now gets its own app. Once you install the app on your Pixel, you’ll find the widget’s history transfers over seamlessly, so you can see all the songs it has identified.

Gemini can handle tasks on your behalf

The current obsession in the AI world is turning passive assistants in agentic assistants. Or, in other words, asking AI bots to run tasks on our behalf. Google says that Gemini can now do that, as a beta feature in the Gemini app. You can long press the power button and ask Gemini to do things for you, like plan your grocery list, book an Uber, or order your usual takeout. This is currently only available on the Pixel 10 series.

Circle to Search now identifies whole outfits

Circle to Search lets you, well, circle to search. When you see something on your phone, you can simply draw a circle around it to look it up. It’s a pretty intuitive feature, that gets a bit of an upgrade with the latest Pixel drop. Now, Google says you can circle outfits you see on your Pixel 10 to find “every piece of the look.” Say you’re watching a movie, and you like a character’s style. You can use Circle to Search to circle the outfit, and Google will break up each piece into a “Find the look” search. You could see how much coats, shoes, hats, and more cost individually, and decide to buy some or all of the outfit. Google didn’t miss the opportunity to connect this to its “Try It On” feature, which lets you virtually try outfits online.

Magic Cue can recommend restaurants with Gemini

Magic Cue is a contextual AI feature that offers suggestions based on what you’re doing on your Pixel. For example, as part of this Pixel Drop, Magic Cue can now recommend restaurants based on conversations with friends. If a contact suggests finding a restaurant downtown that offers vegan options, Magic Cue may offer a “Find restaurants” pop-up. Tap it, and Gemini will offers a few options that match those descriptions. (Of course, this is generative AI, so the feature could get some of the suggestions wrong, or potentially make up restaurants entirely.)

At a Glance gets some new updates

The Pixel’s “At a Glance” feature is getting some new data points to keep track of. Google says that At a Glance can now tell you your best route home—taking into account transit delays—follow sports scores, and give updates on your financial portfolio. These updates appear passively on the home screen, so you don’t need to unlock your phone to check on these data points.

Google is bringing AI art styles to the home screen

Android has always made it easy to customize the style of your home screen, including, notably, your app icons. But the latest Pixel Drop adds five new AI-generated art styles to generate custom icons from. Google says these options can help make your home screen more like “you,” but perhaps that won’t apply if you’re not a fan of AI art.

Your Pixel Watch can now warn if you walk away from your phone

If you have both a Pixel phone and a Pixel Watch, your wearable can warn you when you leave your phone behind. Google says you’ll get an “instant alert” if you walk away from your phone, and your phone will lock as soon as you’re out of range. (Google doesn’t specify, but I assume this is Bluetooth range, which is typically 30 feet.) This feature is available on Pixel 8 and newer, as well as Pixel Watch 2 and newer.

Pixel gets a desktop mode

Smartphones are basically mini computers these days, so why shouldn’t your phone turn into a desktop PC? Google is rolling out such a feature with this Pixel Drop, letting users connect their Pixel 8 or newer to an external monitor. You’re still running Android, but the feature lets you run multiple apps side-by-side, like a traditional computer experience. It follows a similar feature from Samsung (DeX) which the company has offered for years. What’s more, if you have a Pixel tablet, you can now run multiple apps in free-form windows, similar to how Apple handles window management in iPadOS.

Connect your camera to your Pixel phone

Pixels have been known for their cameras for years. But Google’s latest Pixel Drop actually lets you connect an external camera to your Pixel, so you can get different angles for live streaming.

These are the smaller changes in the latest Pixel Drop

Google added a lot of changes to this Pixel Drop, some smaller than others. For example, a new display color filtering mode softens “high-intensity” hues and saturated colors, if you want a more muted look. Guided Frame, Android’s feature that guides users through taking photos, now has more languages, making it more accessible. The Journal app also has new AI features to make it easier to jot down your feelings and experiences. Pixel Watch 3 will also get the Pixel Watch 4’s one-handed gestures, which will let you double pinch or turn your wrist to take actions like answering calls and pausing music.

Google is officially doing away with its 30 percent cut of Play Store transactions, and rolling out changes to how third-party app stores and alternate billing systems will be handled by Android. Some of these tweaks were proposed as part of the settlement the company reached with Epic in November 2025, but rather than wait for final judicial approval, Google is committing to revamping Android and the Play Store publicly.

The biggest change is to how Google will collect fees from developers publishing apps on Android. Rather than take its standard 30 percent cut of in-app purchases through the Play Store, Google is lowering its cut to 20 percent, and in some cases 15 percent for new installs of apps from developers participating in its new App Experience program or updated Google Play Games Level Up program. Google will also now charge a five percent service fee for developers in the UK, US or European Economic Area (EEA) using its billing system, and “a market-specific rate” in other regions. Of course, for anyone trying to avoid those fees, using alternatives to Google’s billing system is also getting easier.

As part of these changes, Google says that developers will be able to offer alternative billing systems alongside its own or “guide users outside of their app to their own websites for purchases.” The setup, as described by Google, appears to be more permissive than what Apple settled on in 2025. For iOS apps on the App Store, developers interested in avoiding Apple’s fees can only direct customers to alternative payment methods on the web through in-app links. Allowing for these outside transactions is part of what prompted Epic to bring Fortnite back to the App Store in the US in May 2025. The developer added the app back to the Play Store in the US in December of that year, and Epic CEO Tim Sweeney shared alongside today’s changes that Fortnite will soon be available in Google’s app store globally.

Epic is ultimately interested in getting people to use the mobile version of its Epic Games Store, and Google’s announcement includes details on how third-party app stores can come to Android. Third-party app stores will be able to apply to the company’s new “Registered App Stores” program to see if they meet “certain quality and safety benchmarks.” If they do, they’ll be able to take advantage of a streamlined installation interface in Android. Participating in the program is optional, and users will still be able to sideload alternative app stores that aren’t part of the program, but Google clearly has a preference.  Changes the company plans to make to sideloading later in 2026 could deliberately make the process more difficult, which might force developers to apply to Google’s program.

Google

Given the scale of the changes, not all of Google’s tweaks will be available everywhere at the same time. Google says that its updated fee structure will come to the EEA, the UK and the US by June 30, Australia by September 30, Korea and Japan by December 31 and the entire world by September 30, 2027. Meanwhile, the company’s updated Google Play Games Level Up program and new App Experience program will launch in the EEA, the UK, the US and Australia on September 30, before hitting the remaining regions alongside the updated fee structure. For any developers interested in offering their own app store, Google says it’ll launch its Registered App Stores program “with a version of a major Android release” before the end of the year. According to the company, the program will be available in other regions first before it comes to the US.

Developing…

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/google-ends-its-30-percent-app-store-fee-and-welcomes-third-party-app-stores-185248647.html?src=rss