Just before the holiday break, CEO Sundar Pichai and other Google executives had a 2025 strategy meeting, with Gemini being the “biggest focus” looking ahead.

Google is testing a new Gemini-aligned loading animation for AI Overviews in Search that is flashier and bolder than the current approach.

Some three months after launch, the “middle-child” Pixel 9 Pro has evolved into a polished, poised, Pixel. Here’s what it’s like to live with and whether it’s the best buy in the latest lineup.

The biggest moment for Google Messages in 2024 was when the iPhone gained RCS support with iOS 18 in September. In terms of new features, there were some highlights but the biggest one — a redesign of the text field — was stuck in limbo. There are quite a few big additions in the pipeline. 

In the latest Android Auto update, Google is widely rolling out a new music players for all apps including the likes of Spotify, Apple Music, and more.

Joining the ongoing Samsung New Year’s Savings sale and the $200 price drops on Galaxy Tab S10+/Ultra configurations, today we are highlighting your last chance at the major Google Pixel offers. The end of year sale is soon to wrap up and there is still up to $300 in savings at the ready on Google Pixel 9/Pro/Fold devices alongside deals on Pixel Tablet, Pixel Watch 3, and more. From there we move over to a new all-time low on Dell’s new XPS 13 Copilot+ PC with Intel’s Lunar Lake Ultra 7 chip and one of the best prices ever on LG’s brilliant 55-inch C4 OLED smart TV at $1,047 ($750 under the 2024 launch price). Everything else awaits down below in today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break. 

OnePlus is offering a new tablet that takes a lot from the Oppo Pad 3. The new OnePlus Pad tablet for sale in China equips MediaTek’s new Dimensity 8350 SoC and brings an 11-inch display.

The OnePlus Open stood the test of time and managed to stand out among 2024 foldables despite having launched in 2023, but as we near time for its sequel, we’re all certainly curious to see what’s in store. This week, a new leak claims to reveal the OnePlus Open 2’s design, as well as offering more details on its specs and release date.

Now in its third year, the Pixel Watch experience remains quite consistent in 2024. Compared to Pixel phones, it’s harder to distinguish each generation’s hardware, while the software has changed even less.  

After rolling out a round of design updates and new features to the mobile app, YouTube is testing a “Play something” FAB.

Season 2 of Squid Game was released on December 26 — in a choice, thematic decision — and Google Search is marking the occasion with an easter egg. 

Vibrant smartphone colors aren’t nearly as common as many wish, with most devices often coming in blacks and whites, and plenty of bland offerings beyond that. With its upcoming “blue” for the Galaxy S25 Ultra, though, Samsung might be going for a color that’s so subdued, it just has to be a joke.

Google’s Circle to Search feature, which first debuted on Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel devices in early 2024, is now coming to the Nothing Phone series with the new Android 15 update that launched this month.

Samsung is widely expected to host a launch event for the Galaxy S25 series on January 22, with the company reportedly also showing off the Galaxy Ring 2 and its smart glasses at the same event.

The idea that some apps are “must-haves” or “essentials” for your Android phone is bound to be subjective, especially with millions to consider and choose from.

One of the main draws to Samsung’s ecosystem is how well devices work together. While it isn’t exactly seamless yet, some features allow users to take advantage of the bridge in similar operating systems. One upcoming feature in One UI 7 will seemingly allow users to paste recent photos straight from Galaxy phones to Galaxy Books in certain apps.

Today’s collection of fresh new deals are now at the ready starting with up to $400 off Dell’s Inspiron 14 Plus Snapdragon Copilot+ PC alongside the return of Galaxy Tab S10+/Ultra configurations at up to $200 off as part of the now Samsung New Year’s Savings sale. We also spotted some lows on TCL’s VRR Q65 QLED Google Smart TVs starting from $218, these 190MB/s SanDisk Extreme microSD offers, Anker’s sweet 250W desktop charging station with the onboard display, and even more from $2.50. Scope everything out down below. 

HDR content looks amazing, until it burns your retinas at 11pm in a dark room. Annoyingly, the ability to turn off HDR content on Android devices has been missing, but Samsung is finally providing an option with its One UI 7 update for Galaxy devices.

Samsung is set to unveil the Galaxy S25 series in just a few weeks and while we’ve seen a lot of leaks so far, new renders posted by dbrand offer the best look yet at the design of the company’s upcoming trio.

In 2024, Made by Google rolled out big updates with new features to Pixel phones on six occasions. The year saw everything from routine operating system updates to entirely new apps and even a rebrand.