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• Identity Check was spotted on a OnePlus 13 running the Android 16 beta.
• The feature is expected to arrive on more Android phones with the Android 16 update coming later this year.
• It requires a change to Android's biometric prompt code, which can't be completed without a full update.

When enabled, Identity Check requires biometric authentication to view or modify certain sensitive parts on your Android smartphone. A fingerprint or face unlock is required for the following actions when your device is outside of a trusted location:

• Accessing saved passkeys and app passwords
• Changing PIN, pattern, or password, and turning off Find My

For these actions, biometric authentication is mandatory outside of trusted locations with Identity Check enabled — a password, PIN, or pattern won't work as an alternative. This is intended to prevent people from hijacking your Google account or other online accounts in the event your phone is lost or stolen, even if the bad actor knows your password.

Nick Turley, OpenAI's chief, was asked to testify as part of Google's trial against the DOJ.

• ChatGPT's chief said in open court that OpenAI would be interested in buying Google Chrome if the opportunity presents itself.
• Nick Turley added that he is deeply worried that OpenAI is facing a lot of difficulties integrating itself into Android smartphones.
• If OpenAI buys Chrome, it could “have the ability to introduce users to what an AI-first experience looks like.”

As Google sits in the hot seat for paying companies to utilize its products in place of any competition, court testimony reveals that Google did the same thing with Gemini. Samsung was reportedly paid a lot of money to push Gemini as a preinstalled app in One UI.

According to the report, the contract was set for at least two years. In it, Google set out to regularly pay Samsung for each device that has Gemini pre-installed. The ads within the app are also a part of the deal, with Google paying Samsung a percentage of revenue from interactions.

Alphabet Inc has initiated talks with its local contract manufacturers—Dixon Technologies and Foxconn—to shift a part of the global production of Google Pixel smartphones to India from Vietnam, especially devices headed for the US.

The company has also shared plans with the contract manufacturers on localising some components in India, such as enclosures, chargers, fingerprint sensors and batteries, the executives said. Currently, most components for made-in-India Pixel phones are imported.

Enter Android XR, the first new version of Android made for the Gemini era. Google says it's built with Gemini at the core, enabling a brand new type of user interface that's driven entirely by the way you interact with Google's multimodal AI.

As you might have guessed, the XR in Android XR isn't some weird Roman numeral moniker. Rather, it stands for eXtended Reality and is a new spinoff of Android built to unify XR products — mainly smart glasses and VR headsets — under a new set of standards and tools. It's exactly how Android Auto is built for car infotainment systems, and Wear OS is built for smartwatches.

Google has announced the end of cooperation with developers from Russia on the Google Play platform as of December 26. Russian developers will lose the opportunity to receive revenue from the sale of applications and subscriptions.

This means that Russian developers will no longer receive income from the sale of paid applications or subscription renewals through the service.

According to the decision, the processing of financial transactions for developers with accounts in Russian banks will also be terminated from this date. The last payments will be made on January 15, 2024, but the date of complete termination of cooperation has not yet been determined.

The government is not asking for Google to sell Android right away, but it wants that option if other measures it imposes don’t work to restore competition. In general:

For the avoidance of doubt, Google must not provide itself with preferential access to Android or Google-owned apps or data as compared to the access it provides to all other GSEs and AI Products…

Google cannot:

• “make any Google GSE [general search engine], Search Text Ads, or AI Product (including on-device AI) mandatory on Android Devices”
• “reduce, prevent, or otherwise interfere with the distribution of rival GSE, Search Text Ads, or AI Products on Android Devices”

• Google will discontinue official support for Android Lollipop OS, which debuted with Nexus 6.
• Also known as Android 5.0, it was widely popular for introducing Material You to Android devices.
• The said OS will no longer receive Google Play Updates, citing that less than one percent of active devices are running it.

• Google is discontinuing the Google One VPN service later this year, as it announced in April 2024.
• Some features will be deprecated completely, but the dark web reports feature is staying as a free feature for all Google users.
• Making the functionality free for everyone could help people become more aware of their online safety.

”Dark web report will become available to all users with a consumer Google Account,” the company explains, as reported by 9to5Google. “Dark web report is integrated with Results about you as a combined solution to help users protect their online presence.”

A pricing leak from France seems to suggest consumers are in for higher price points this year with the Pixel 9 series.

Pixel 9:

• 128GB - 899 euros (~$980)
• 256GB - 999 euros (~$1,089)

Pixel 9 Pro:

• 128GB - 1,099 euros (~$1,198)
• 256GB - 1,199 euros (~$1,307)
• 512GB - 1,329 euros (~$1,449)

Pixel 9 Pro XL:

• 128GB - 1,199 euros (~$1,307)
• 256GB - 1,299 euros (~$1,416)
• 512GB - 1,429 euros (~$1,558)
• 1TB - 1,689 euros (~$1,841)

Pixel 9 Pro Fold:

• 256GB - 1,899 euros (~$2,070)
• 512GB - 2,029 euros (~$2,212)