Gemini gets a Flipkart buy button, Google's TPUs head to orbit, and fake sale sites
Google tests checkout inside Gemini for Indian shoppers and ships AI chips to space on October 1. Plus an Instagram feed reset, a fake-shop checklist before the sales, and why skipping updates is the real risk.
- Long Press · Daily Five28 Sept 202601 / 05
commentaryGoogle is testing a Flipkart buy button inside Gemini
Google is testing a Buy button for Flipkart listings inside Gemini and AI Mode for some users in India, starting with phones, electronics and accessories, and it reportedly wants a wider rollout in October, just before the festive sales. Amazon listings show up in the same results without the button. That makes this a commercial deal wearing the clothes of a neutral assistant, and I'd keep comparing prices myself.
The problem
Shopping in India already starts on Google for a lot of people, then hops to a Flipkart or Amazon tab to actually pay. Google wants to remove that hop, and every AI company is chasing the same idea of an assistant that finishes the job instead of handing you links.
What changed
TechCrunch reported on September 26 that select users in India now see a Buy button on some Flipkart product listings in Gemini and in Google's AI Mode. Tapping it opens a Flipkart-branded checkout without leaving the AI screen. The test covers smartphones, electronics and mobile accessories, and a broader rollout is reportedly planned for October, ahead of the sale season. Google has also been pushing an open standard it calls the Universal Commerce Protocol for this kind of agent shopping.
The catch
It's a limited test, and neither company has said how payment works or whether UPI is part of it. Amazon products appear in the same answers but without a button, which is a pretty clear hint about who has a deal with whom.
What it means for you
Use Gemini to shortlist, not to decide. Before you tap Buy, check the same model on the other big store, because an answer with one checkout button isn't really a comparison.
- Long Press · Daily Five28 Sept 202602 / 05
newsGoogle is sending four AI chips into orbit on October 1
On October 1 Google launches the first Project Suncatcher test satellite, four of its TPU AI chips on SpaceX's Transporter-18 rideshare, built with Planet and powered by a 1kW solar panel. The chips already survived radiation tests beyond what a five-year mission would throw at them, and Google wants a two-satellite setup by 2027. It's a genuinely interesting experiment, but cooling, laser links and launch costs are still open problems, so I'd file orbital data centres under science project for now.
The problem
AI data centres are running into a power wall. They need enormous amounts of electricity and cooling, and new grid connections take years, so the big labs are looking at every odd source of energy, including the sun above the clouds.
What changed
Google's first Suncatcher satellite, called MVP, carries four TPUs and rides SpaceX's Transporter-18 mission on October 1. Google built it with satellite company Planet and says its Trillium TPUs survived a radiation dose greater than a five-year mission in proton-beam tests, plus launch-vibration testing. The plan is a two-satellite constellation by 2027 and, eventually, 81-satellite compute clusters.
The catch
This flight mostly proves the hardware survives launch and space. Getting heat out of chips in a vacuum, linking satellites with lasers at coin-on-a-distant-target precision, and making launches cheap enough to compete with a shed full of servers are all still unsolved.
What it means for you
Nothing changes for your Gemini queries this year. Watch the October results, though, because if the chips work in orbit, the energy argument around AI gets a lot more interesting.
- Long Press · Daily Five28 Sept 202603 / 05
tipReset your Instagram recommendations in 30 seconds
If your Instagram feed is still serving you the stuff you watched once at 2am, go to your profile, open the menu, then Content preferences and Reset suggested content. It clears the recommendation history behind Explore, Reels and your feed without touching who you follow, and you can add words you never want to see while you're there. Expect a few odd days while it relearns from what you actually stop on.
The problem
Instagram's recommendations are built from what you linger on, not what you like. A few accidental watches can tilt Explore and Reels for weeks, and tapping Not interested one post at a time barely dents it.
What changed
Instagram has a full reset: Profile, the three-line menu, Content preferences, Reset suggested content. It wipes the history behind suggestions in Explore, Reels and feed. Your follow list stays exactly as it is, and the flow lets you review ad topics and add hidden words along the way.
The catch
The feed starts from scratch, so the first few days can feel random, and anything you follow still shapes what you see. Unfollow the accounts that drag your feed down or the reset won't last.
What it means for you
Do the reset, then be deliberate for a week: watch what you actually want, skip the rest fast. That week teaches the algorithm more than months of passive scrolling.
- Long Press · Daily Five28 Sept 202604 / 05tip
119,000 fake shops are waiting for your festive-sale click
Security firm Nebty found DoppelCart, a network of about 119,000 fake shop sites, mostly on .shop domains, cloning 44,182 real brands with copied photos, product pages and prices up to 65% lower. The checkout sends your card details and even your bank OTP straight to the operators. With the big Indian sales starting around October 8, open the brand's own app instead of tapping ads, pay with UPI or a virtual card, and treat a miracle discount as a warning, not a win.
The problem
Sale season trains everyone to hunt for the lowest price and tap fast. That's exactly the habit fake shops feed on, because a clone of a real brand with a slightly better price looks like a lucky find rather than a trap.
What changed
German security startup Nebty documented DoppelCart, a fake-shop operation spanning more than 119,000 domains that impersonate 44,182 brands, about two clones per brand. The sites copy catalogues and images, sometimes loading them straight from the real brand's servers, and their checkout code streams card numbers, expiry dates, CVVs, names and addresses to the operators in real time. It can also capture the one-time code your bank sends.
The catch
Most of the targeted brands are global rather than Indian, and a well-made clone is hard to spot by eye, so checklists only go so far. The safest move is simply not landing on the fake in the first place.
What it means for you
For the Amazon and Flipkart sales starting around October 8, shop inside the official apps, type brand URLs yourself, and never enter an OTP on a store's own page. If a price makes you gasp, close the tab.
- Long Press · Daily Five28 Sept 202605 / 05
myth busterSkipping phone updates doesn't protect you. It exposes you.
The idea that updates slow your phone keeps a lot of people snoozing that notification for months. Google's September Android patch fixed 180 security flaws, including a Wi-Fi memory bug that could let an attacker run code on a phone without any tap from the owner. When an older phone feels slow, the usual culprit is a worn battery or storage that's nearly full, not the patch. Install the security update; if your phone no longer gets one, that's the real reason to upgrade.
The problem
Plenty of people treat the update prompt as a risk rather than a fix. They heard a story about a phone getting sluggish after an update and decided the safest thing is to stay put.
What changed
Google's September 2026 Android security release patched 180 vulnerabilities across two patch levels, 2026-09-01 and 2026-09-05. Dozens are rated critical, and one, CVE-2026-28662, is a Wi-Fi memory corruption bug that researchers say could allow remote code execution without extra privileges or user interaction.
The catch
Big version upgrades on old hardware can feel heavier, and phone makers have throttled ageing batteries before, so the myth didn't come from nowhere. Security patches are a different thing from a new Android version, though, and they're the part you shouldn't skip.
What it means for you
Open Settings and check Software update today, and look for a September 2026 patch level. If your phone stopped getting patches, plan the upgrade around that, not around a new camera.