Gemini 3 Flash
Gemini App
- The base Gemini 3 model is rolling out globally in the Gemini app, including signed out users
- "Thinking" is also powered by Gemini 3 Flash, but is meant to answer complex questions faster (rate limit applies)
- Uses 30% fewer tokens on average and 3x faster performance than 2.5 Pro
- Gemini can also now build mini-apps with Opal, this can be found over at Gems

AI Mode in Search
- Gemini 3 Flash is also available in AI Mode for everyone to use
- Gemini 3 Pro is made available for everyone in the U.S. by selecting "Thinking with 3 Pro," with expanded access to Nano Banana Pro

Miscellaneous
- Gemini API: $0.50/1M input tokens and $3/1M output tokens (audio input: $1/1M input tokens)
- The model is now generally available in Gemini API in Google AI Studio, Google Antigravity, Vertex AI, Gemini Enterprise, Gemini CLI and Android Studio

More info: Google Blog (2)
#Apps #Gemini #Search @PixelHubUpdates

Mid December 2025 Android 16 Pixel Update
- Build ID: BP4A.251205.006.E1
- This update is only available for Pixel 8 to Pixel 10 series, including Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Pixel 10 Pro Fold.
- Google has not made any announcement regarding the update, with no released factory and OTA images yet. (As of December 19, Google has posted the new builds on their website.)

Fixes (list of changes provided by Verizon)
- Battery drain: Faster than normal battery depletion.
- Touch unresponsive: Intermittent touch failures observed specifically on Pixel 10.
- Cached content access: Inaccessibility of locally stored content (e.g., offline media, maps) after upgrading from Android 14 or earlier directly to Android 16.

Download: Factory Images | OTA Images
#Updates #A16 #Pixel @PixelHubUpdates

Android 16 QPR3 Beta 1
- Build ID: CP11.251114.006, CP11.251114.004.A1 (Pixel 7a)
- December 2025 Security Patch
- Play Services: 25.41.31
- Pixel 10 series receive the long-requested GPU update with Vulkan 1.4 support

What's New
- Adjust flashlight brightness from QS tile
- New button order for 3-button navigation (Recents, Home, Back)
- Blue indicator when location is used, with options to close the app and manage access
- Slight tweak for "Edit tiles" page
- Slight tweak for long pressing widget should give you popup options to remove or go to widget settings
- New folder animation, with background dimming upon expanding
- At A Glance is now removable from home screen for Pixel devices

Download: Factory Images | OTA Images | GSI
Changes: Android Developers
#Updates #A16 #Beta #Pixel @PixelHubUpdates

Choice screen and alternative billing system for Japan
- Japan Mobile Software Competition Act (MSCA) comes into effect today, with Google making several changes to the Android platform in the country
- Users will be prompted to select a search engine and browser of their choice while setting up a device
- App developers can opt for alternative billing system for in-app purchases

More info: Google Blog
#News #Android @PixelHubUpdates

Gemini: Draw to edit image and detect AI video on the go
- After uploading an image, you can tap on it to make quick edits by sketching or adding texts (Image credit)
- SynthID can now also identify video content generated using Google AI (up to 100 MB and 90 seconds long)

#Apps #Gemini @PixelHubUpdates

NotebookLM: Gemini 3, Export & Data Tables
- Gemini 3 is integrated into NotebookLM for everyone
- Export Study Guides, Briefing Docs, or saved Notes to Google Docs or Sheets (if they contain tables)
- Data Table helps you to categorise scattered data and insights into structured tables, first available for AI Pro and Ultra users, coming soon to everyone in a few weeks

#Apps #NotebookLM @PixelHubUpdates

Android 16 QPR3 Beta 1.1
- Build ID: CP11.251114.007, CP11.251114.004.A2 (Pixel 7a)
- December 2025 Security Patch
- Play Services: 25.41.31
- Fixed a change that caused some apps to crash on startup.

Download: Factory Images | OTA Images | GSI
Changes: Android Developers
#Updates #A16 #Beta #Pixel @PixelHubUpdates

Google One 2026 50% discount offer
- Google is offering hefty limited time discount for Google One annual plans worldwide, only for new subscribers.
- Basic (100 GB): $9.99
- Premium (2 TB): $49.99
- Google AI Pro (2 TB): $99.99

#One @PixelHubUpdates

Google to allow changing email address for your account
Eligibility
- Soon users will be able to "change" your email address (username) on the same Google account.
- This is available for account with email address that ends in @gmail.com, and the new email address will need to end in @gmail.com.
- You can check whether the change has rolled out to your account by going to Google Account > Personal Info > Email (gradually rolling out).
- Note: The support page in English has not updated to reflect this change at the time of writing.

What happens after the change
- The old email address will be used as a recovery email.
- Email will continue to be received via the old and new email addresses.
- All the data stored in the particular account will be intact.
- Users won't be able to create another new email address for the next 12 months, but will have the option to revert back to the old email address.
- Users can continue to sign in to Google with old and new email addresses.

Limitations
- One Google account will allow up to three new creations of email addresses, and this action is not reversible.
- ChromeOS users are advised to make a complete backup first before doing so. After changing, remove and re-add the account with the new email address. Otherwise, the home directory might be empty when you sign in.
- Some of your application settings might be reset after the change.
- Old email address will still be displayed on calendar events and other content created before the email address change.

More info: Google Account Help | Check eligibility
#News #Account @PixelHubUpdates

LineageOS 23.0 supports Pixel 4 series
- LineageOS now provides official builds based on Android 16 for Pixel 4, Pixel 4 XL, and Pixel 4a.
- Out of the 34 Pixel devices (including Pixel Tablet) released since 2016, 8 of the oldest devices are still receiving LineageOS 22.2 builds (Pixel 1~3a series).
- P.S. With Google releasing both Android 16 QPR1 and QPR2 source code recently, LineageOS 23.1 and 23.2 is currently under development.

Source: LineageOS Gerrit
#News #LineageOS @PixelHubUpdates

BREAKING: Google will release the source code to AOSP only 2 times a year

After previously delaying the September QPR 1 AOSP source code release by almost 2 months, Google has now announced that it will release the source code to AOSP every 6 months only i.e in Q2 and Q4.

"Effective in 2026, to align with our trunk-stable development model and ensure platform stability for the ecosystem, we will publish source code to AOSP in Q2 and Q4. For building and contributing to AOSP, we recommend utilizing android-latest-release instead of aosp-main. The aosp-latest-release manifest branch will always reference the most recent release pushed to AOSP. For more information, see Changes to AOSP.”

Follow @TechLeaksZone

Android Canary 2601
- Build ID: ZP11.251212.007

Download: Android Flash Tool | Pixel Factory Images Tracker
More info: Android Developers | BetaWiki
#Updates #A16 #Canary #Pixel @PixelHubUpdates

Gmail with more Gemini integration
- Powered by the latest Gemini 3, below features are first coming to AI Pro and Ultra subscribers, as well as users in the U.S. with English, with more regions and languages support to come in the near future:

- AI Overview: Get a quick answer by asking questions in natural language about your cluttered inbox, available to AI Pto and Ultra subscribers; free for everyone in individual email thread.

- Help Me Write: Draft from scratch or polish your written content in the email; better personalisation based on data from other Google apps will be coming next month.

- Suggested Replies: An improved version of Smart Replies, offers better one-click response based on your writing style and the context of the conversation.

- Proofread: Perform advanced grammar, tone, and style checks, available to AI Pro and Ultra subscribers.

- AI Inbox: An individual section that gives you a brief on the things that matter to you based on the content of your inbox; first available to trusted testers and wide availability in the coming months.

- (P.S.) POP deprecation: Starting January 2026, POP support is dropped for Gmail accounts (Learn more).

More info: Google Blog
#Apps #Gmail @PixelHubUpdates

Alphabet hits $4 trillion market cap
- Google's parent company reached the $4T market cap milestone, becoming the fourth company in the world to do so.
- At the time of writing, Google ranked number two in valuation, right behind NVIDIA and ahead of Apple.
- Gemini 3 sees promising futures, with Apple announcing a partnership to bring the model into their devices via Apple Intelligence later this year.

#News #Alphabet @PixelHubUpdates

January 2026 Android 16 Pixel Update
- Build ID: BP4A.260105.004.E1
- This update excludes Pixel 6 series, Pixel 7, and Pixel 7 Pro
- Audio: Fix for noisy ringback tones experienced during Webex calls under certain conditions
- Battery & Charging [except Pixel 7a]: Fix for issue with battery draining in certain conditions
- Display & Graphics [Pixel 10 series]: Fix for issue with AOD flickering under certain conditions
- Display & Graphics [Pixel 10 series]: Fix for noisy lines flashing on the screen when editing HDR photos in the Adobe Lightroom app under certain conditions
- Display & Graphics [Pixel 10 series]: General improvements for GPU performance in certain conditions
- Touch [Pixel 10 series]: Fix for issue with touchscreen randomly stops working in certain conditions
- User Interface: Fix for an issue where deleting a Live Universe wallpaper could occasionally cause the Wallpaper and style app to become unusable until the device is rebooted

Download: Factory Images | OTA Images
Changes: Pixel Community | Android Security Bulletin | Pixel Security Bulletin
#Updates #A16 #Pixel @PixelHubUpdates

Quarterly software update for the remaining two years on Pixel
If you owned an older Pixel device that is still receiving updates, you might not be surprised how Google is releasing updates inconsistently. After 6 months of observing the patterns, some are able to tell that Google might have switched to a quarterly update model, and that is actually the case here.

The change is noticeable when Google did not release builds for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro initially last July. This is also when Google started to not include all the security patches but only the critical ones monthly, with rest of the patches released quarterly.

According to the words of the support team, Pixel devices will be switching to a quarterly update cadence when the phone had about 24 months of support remaining. This explains why this month's update had excluded Pixel 6 series, Pixel 7, and Pixel 7 Pro. Just like the case for security patches, Google might release builds outside of the quarterly cycle if they deemed it "critical."

In short, this means older supported Pixel devices will continue to receive Android OS upgrade and QPRs update, whichever is applicable, alongside Pixel Drop. They just won't receive monthly fixes and security patches anymore.

#News #Pixel @PixelHubUpdates

Android 16 QPR3 Beta 2
- Build ID: CP11.251209.007.A1, CP11.251209.007 (Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 6, Pixel 6a, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 7)
- January 2026 Security Patch (December 2025 for Pixel 6 series, Pixel 7, and Pixel 7 Pro)
- Play Services: 25.47.33
- Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro gains AirDrop compatibility support (access not available yet)

Fixes:
- App drawer becomes unresponsive when scrolling
- Android Auto incorrectly logs extensive screen time, impacting battery life
- Graphical glitches and performance degradation when interacting with the notification shade in full-screen or PiP modes
- Excessive battery drain issue occurring overnight
- Battery charging limit not being respected
- Wi-Fi connection bug that causes slow internet speeds
- A crash when accessing radio information settings
- Delay and lack of feedback when switching audio outputs to speakerphone during calls
- Display flickering issue when waking the device from AOD
- Application startup issue, including Microsoft applications managed by Intune
- Broken and slow wireless charging
- System crashes that occurred when folding a foldable device with an app open

Download: Factory Images | OTA Images | GSI
Changes: Android Developers
#Updates #A16 #Beta #Pixel @PixelHubUpdates

Gemini: Personal Intelligence & Veo 3.1 Ingredient to Video
Personal Intelligence
- Retrieve available information of yours from various services by Google and deliver them in a few taps
- Opt out of personalised conversations by regenerating responses or using temporary chats
- The experience is off by default, with the option to disable any time
- All of the data are processed within Google's data centers, with Google promising not to use them for training their Gemini models
- First available in the U.S. for Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers (personal accounts only), coming to more regions and free tier soon

Gemini App usage limit (updated)
- AI Plus: 30 prompts/day (Pro); 90 prompts/day (Thinking)
- AI Pro: 100 prompts/day (Pro); 300 prompts/day (Thinking)
- AI Ultra: 500 prompts/day (Pro); 1500 prompts/day (Thinking)

Veo 3.1 Ingredients to Video
- Better consistency while handling characters, backgrounds, and objects
- Generate vertical videos in 9:16 aspect ratio
- Upscale video resolution to 4K, existing 1080p option gains improvements
- The model is also available via YouTube Shorts and the YouTube Create app

TranslateGemma
- Open source translation models built on Gemma 3, available in 4B (mobile), 12B (laptop), and 27B (maximum fidelity) parameter sizes
- Support 55 core language pairs with high-quality performance, alongside an additional 500 language pairs
- Available on Kaggle and Hugging Face, with the option to deploy in Vertex AI

More info: Google Blog (2, 3) | Gemini Apps Help
#Apps #Gemini #Veo @PixelHubUpdates

January 2026 update potentially breaks connectivity features on Pixel
- There are reports that Wi-Fi and Bluetooth stop working for some Pixel owners who are on the latest January 2026 update.
- Affected models include but are not limited to Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, and Pixel 10 Pro XL.
- One report on Issue Tracker suggests Google Play Services could be the culprit.
- Additionally, camera is reportedly not working for some Pixel 10 Pro users.
- When using Quick Share to transfer files with an Apple device on Pixel 10 series, the Wi-Fi. connection will be dropped (so far it is not resolved since its debut).
- P.S. Microsoft apps that crashed earlier in QPR3 Beta builds should now be working.

#News #Pixel @PixelHubUpdates