News

Google paid Samsung a lot of money to install Gemini on Galaxy

Will pay them for at least two years

Published

April 23, 2025

Luigi Leonardo

The obnoxious downpour of AI drowning our smartphones today is, personally, bothersome. Despite my (and, I suspect, other people’s) overwhelming lack of desire to use AI-based assistants, smartphone makers are persistently pushing more and more of the same into our smartphones. Even worse, some companies, as in the recently discovered case of Google, are shelling out lots of money to get other companies to preinstall software, like Gemini, on the latter’s products.

According to Bloomberg, Google is paying Samsung an “enormous sum of money” every month for the latter to preinstall Gemini on their Galaxy phones. The arrangement started in January this year and will run for at least two years. Besides the lump sum every month, Google is also paying Samsung a percentage of the ad revenue generated by Gemini.

The deal’s reveal comes as a result of an antitrust case between Google and the United States. In the past, the American courts have deemed the company guilty of coercing others to install their apps and keep out competing ones.

To defend the decision, Google says that they amended the deal to allow Samsung to install software from other brands if they choose. Samsung says that other competitors have also offered substantial deals for app installations.

Google’s deal is the latest move to encourage users to fall for AI software. Of course, the availability of software doesn’t always translate to its quality. Even if Google pays other companies a ton of money, there’s no guarantee that more users will actually use Gemini.

Entertainment

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie trailer shows first look at Yoshi

The premiere was also moved up by a few days.

Published

January 27, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

As a fan of the Super Mario games, I’m still waiting patiently for the next 3D Mario title. In the meantime, we’ve got Mario in 3D to stave off the hunger. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie will premiere on April 1, and it just got a new trailer.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie was announced quite some time ago, if the first film’s stinger wasn’t enough of a confirmation for you. As in that post-credits scene, Yoshi is set to make his debut. Now, the new trailer reveals the green dinosaur for the first time.

In the trailer, Mario and Luigi head to the Sand Kingdom to investigate a strange disturbance inside a pyramid. The disturbance turns out to be a scared Yoshi. What follows is a short montage of scenes from the movie but doesn’t reveal much of the connection between Yoshi and the movie’s story.

From the previous trailer, Bowser Jr. wants to claim the throne as the universe’s big baddie. It’s still unknown how Yoshi (and even Rosalina) connects to the overall plot.

Still, the trailer has a bunch of Easter eggs for fans of the franchise. For one, the Sand Kingdom is an area from the latest 3D Mario game, Super Mario Odyssey. Heading into the pyramid, you might also hear a subdued version of the “Underground Theme”. Then, when Yoshi finally appears, you’ll hear Super Mario World’s “Overworld Theme”.

The trailer also shows a peek at Birdo.

From the new trailer, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie will premiere a few days earlier on April 1. Previously, it was set to premiere on April 3.

Gaming

Blizzard will host four major game showcases starting this week

They will feature World of Warcraft, Overwatch 2, Diablo, and Hearthstone.

Published

January 27, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

It’s been a while since the last BlizzCon. For a couple of years now, Blizzard decided to skip the formerly annual event for smaller announcements throughout the year. This year, however, the company is celebrating its 35^th anniversary, and it has a lot of plans to celebrate.

For one, BlizzCon will return this year. The event’s return should be a good one, especially since the last one even featured LE SSERAFIM performing live for fans. For its 35^th anniversary, the company is likely pulling all the stops.

But right now, to whet our appetite for what’s to come, Blizzard will host four spotlight streams for almost all its franchises: World of Warcraft (January 29), Overwatch (February 4), Hearthstone (February 9), and Diablo (February 11). Sorry, StarCraft fans!

Each stream, watchable on YouTube and Twitch, will feature major announcements for each franchise. This shouldn’t be a surprise because three of the four franchises are set to launch major content soon.

World of Warcraft, for example, will launch the new Midnight expansion on March 2. Overwatch 2 is teasing a Talon takeover. Diablo IV, finally, will launch the new Lord of Hatred expansion on April 28.

If you’re sad about the lack of StarCraft content, there is a rumor that the RTS franchise will get the spotlight for the upcoming BlizzCon happening later this year.

News

nubia joins durability competition with launch of V80 Max

Budget smartphone introduces durability-related upgrades

Published

January 24, 2026

GadgetMatch

Not to be left behind in the budget smartphone durability and waterproofness competition, nubia has launched nubia V80 Max in the Philippines.

The latest device starts at just PhP 6,499 via ecommerce platforms like Lazada, Shopee, and TikTok Shop. It has a regular retail price of PhP 9,999.

Unarguably, the most significant upgrades from the V70 Max are the 1.8-meter drop resistance and IP64 water and dust resistance.

The phone features 360-degree all-round protection for impacts, ensuring they keep up with most competitors offering the similar durability-laden features.

Everywhere else, the improvements are incremental. The budget handset is powered by an octa-core processor with up to 1.8GHz clock speed.

The phone houses a 6,000mAh battery with support for Bypass Charging and even reverse charging.

In front is a 6.9-inch 720p display with up to 780 nits of brightness, which is 41.8% brighter than the previous generation. On paper, the panel is also capable of up to 120Hz refresh rate.

For its cameras, the nubia V80 Max has a 50MP main camera coupled with a 16MP front camera.

Additional OS features include AI Scam Alert, AI Social Publisher, and more. The V80 Max also introduces weak signal optimization for challenging areas.

It even has a network-free communication capability of its own, called nubia LinkFree.

Customers can get the new budget device in five colorways: Stardust Purple, Stellar Silver, Aurellia Gold, Sky Cyan, and Space Black.