Google pays Samsung an 'enormous sum' for preinstalling Gemini

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The Google Gemini push on the Samsung Galaxy S25 series you've seen comes with a significant payday for the South Korean smartphone maker. Testimony from Google's ongoing antitrust trial in the US revealed that the search giant is paying an "enormous sum" as fixed monthly payments as part of a two-year deal between Google and Samsung. The latter also gets a share of Gemini subscription revenue.

For this unspecified amount, Samsung has sidelined its Bixby assistant to make Gemini the default artificial intelligence assistant in its flagship series. Internal documents from Google also revealed that it was considering more restrictive agreements with its partners, requiring them to preinstall Gemini alongside Search and Chrome.

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Yahoo is keen to buy Google's Chrome browser

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If the US Justice Department forces Google to sell its Chrome browser to remedy its search monopoly, Yahoo will be one of the companies in line looking to buy it. (The others include OpenAI and Perplexity.) In the meantime, the legacy search brand is developing a browser prototype. The company believes the browser could boost its search market share. And if it acquires Chrome, it estimates a jump to double digits from its current 3% share, since it believes that around 60% of search queries are done through web browsers, directly from the address bar. Buying the browser also means it cuts development time, which Yahoo Search General Manager Brian Provost believes takes six to nine months to develop its own.

Provost estimates the deal could cost tens of billions of dollars, but he believes that Yahoo's owner, Apollo Global Management, can help it secure funding. As The Verge pointed out, Apollo actually owns a browser brand, but Provost said it isn't an active browser. And you may know this brand, given it was embroiled in its own antitrust case. It's NetScape.

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Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders in Canada begin April 24, price unchanged

Retail pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2 in Canada will begin on April 24, 2025, with the price unchanged. The standalone model will be priced at $629.99, while the bundle including Mario Kart World will cost $699.99. The release date for the Nintendo Switch 2 is June 5, 2025.

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Gemini Live screensharing now free for Android users

Google has announced that Gemini Live's screensharing feature, which allows the artificial intelligence to see and respond to your camera and screen, is now free for all Android users via the Gemini app. 

This feature was initially planned to be exclusive to Gemini Advanced subscribers. The rollout to all Android users with the Gemini app has started and will continue over the coming weeks.

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