Category: Technology

Madden NFL 23 comes out in a week and EA has confirmed that it will not be available on Xbox Game Pass from day 1 although Ultimate subscribers will have free access to the 10-hour EA Play trial.

This year’s installation of American football is exciting. EA has revealed all of the player ratings and the top 10 includes Aaron Donald, Davante Adams, Trent Williams, and Jalen Ramsey.

Some big upgrades and changes have also been made to Face of the Franchise, and you will be able to sample these changes in a time-limited demo soon.

Madden 23 | FieldSENSE Deep Dive Official Gameplay Trailer

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Madden 23 | FieldSENSE Deep Dive Official Gameplay Trailer

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Will Madden 23 be on Xbox Game Pass?

Madden NFL 23 is not coming to Xbox Game Pass so it will not be available from day 1 on either August 16th or 19th.

There was a banner advertisement on the Xbox website which suggested otherwise, however, EA has provided a statement to Gamespot clarifying that Microsoft simply made a mistake.

It’s disappointing that it’s not joining the subscription service for Ultimate subscribers, but, even though you will not be able to access the full game, an Ultimate subscription will get at least you access to the 10-hour trial.

Ultimate price

The price of a Game Pass Ultimate subscription is £10.99 and it will give Xbox console players a free EA Play subscription and therefore free access to the Madden NFL 23 10-hour trial.

The release date for the 10-hour trial is August 16th via EA Help. If you’re not sure about buying this year’s installation, the time-limited demo will be the perfect way to sample all of the new features and additions.

If you don’t want a Game Pass subscription, you can just subscribe to EA Play for £3.99 a month or £19.99 every 12-months. For those who game on PC, you can get access to and keep the full game via an EA Play Pro subscription which costs £14.99 a month or £99.99 per year.

In other news, Apex Legends Season 14 Patch Notes For Hunted Update

Back in 2019, when Netflix still ruled the streaming roost, the company made a statement in a shareholder letter that surprised even keen-eyed media commentators. Having previously stated that its goal was to become the next HBO, Netflix was now saying: “we compete with (and lose to) Fortnite more than HBO.” It was situating itself in a competitive landscape alongside not just TV companies, but all media viewing for audience screen-time. Back then gaming was its biggest threat. Today it might be its saviour.

Netflix has continued to take video games seriously ever since, with many of its biggest shows such as The Witcher, Arcane, Castlevania and resident Evil tied to major gaming IPs. Then in late 2021 it completed the circle by launching Netflix Games, a modest offering of mobile games available to subscribers for no extra cost. For the first six months, there were few interesting titles. Even today, hardly anyone seems to know that the service exists — less than 1 per cent of Netflix users are engaging with games. Yet since June Netflix has been rolling out a surprisingly ambitious gaming line-up, with a plan for 50 to be available by the end of the year.

This comes at a precarious moment for the company, which has suffered significant drops in share price, cut hundreds of jobs and lost more than a million subscribers this year. Are these game offerings just a desperate attempt to retain dominance in an increasingly competitive streaming market? Or does Netflix actually have the goods to claim territory in the gaming sphere and retain subscribers — or even woo a new gaming audience?

Netflix is ​​not alone in attempting to pivot a successful tech platform into the lucrative gaming space. All “big four” tech companies — Apple, Amazon, Meta, Google — have made similar moves, as have platforms such as TikTok and even Zoom. It’s a logical step as games attract a large, committed audience and often last so many hours that they can offer a boost to the holy grail of tech metrics: “engagement time”.

The move also feels natural for Netflix, which pioneered the subscription streaming model that has now been widely imitated across TV and film. This subscription model is perhaps most impactful in the world of mobile games, which were once a reliable source of innovation but have recently been tainted by the rise of the “free to play” business model — which is rife with predatory microtransactions and employs ethically dubious monetization strategies. Paying a monthly subscription enables developers to focus on creating quality gaming experiences rather than tempting players to part with ever more cash.

Naturally, this strategy will only work for Netflix if the games are any good. There are currently 26 titles available across Android and iOS, most of which are casual games of little interest: knittens es candy crush meets cute cats, Shooting Hoops is an odd exercise involving a basketball that is inexplicably attached to a gun, while Domino’s Cafe is literally just dominoes.

One of the newest Netflix-exclusive offerings, poinpy, is a different beast. This colorful game about gathering fruit to feed a murderous monster is charming, tense and surprisingly deep. Netflix has also ported acclaimed indie PC games to mobile, including Before Your Eyesa game about grief and memory that you control by blinking, and Into the Breach, a cult hit strategy game that plays a bit like chess with aliens and robots. Then there are licensed games. Netflix already has two games based on stranger things and in June it announced upcoming titles based on Shadow and Bone, MoneyHeist, Too Hot to Handle and The Queen’s Gambit.

With the acquisition of three game studios including Night School, creator of beloved indie title Oxenfreeand announcements of upcoming artistic games including Spiritfarer and immortality, it’s clear that Netflix is ​​taking its gaming gambit seriously. The company remains cagey about its overall strategy but research company Apptopia says Netflix games have been downloaded 23.3mn times. And while the 1 per cent subscriber engagement figure seems low, that still amounts to around 1.7mn daily users.

The offering of Netflix Games isn’t enough to be worth the full subscription price alone, but it could certainly sweeten the deal for those on the fence about whether to renew. It’s still early days but it is beginning to show the promise of a strong curatorial eye. In the meantime, any attempt to liberate mobile games from the shackles of microtransactions is a welcome one.

Elden Ring developer FromSoftware released a new update for its open-world action RPG on Tuesday, fixing a long list of bugs and making numerous balance changes. Those changes include nerfs to the Rivers of Blood sword’s Corpse Piler skill and the Bloodhound’s Step Ash of War — two elements of Elden Ring PvP you may have been very annoyed by over the past six months — and buffs to heavy weapons.

Patch 1.06 for Elden Ring also adds something new: the ability to send summon signs to summoning pools in multiple areas, including “distant areas,” FromSoftware says in the game’s newest patch notes. Players can now help friends and strangers from far away, or invade their enemies in a larger area if they see fit.

For players who play Elden Ring offline, the patch also brings a change to part of White Mask Varre’s questline, letting players battle a new NPC instead of fighting other Tarnished in multiplayer. (Varre’s quest previously required three invasions and access to online multiplayer servers.)

PvP enthusiasts should expect to see fewer instances of Bloodhound Step and Rivers of Blood, as both tactics are now less effective. Patch 1.06 decreases the travel distance and the number of invincibility frames when using Bloodhound’s Step — the closest thing Elden Ring had to a teleportation move — and further reduces its performance when used continuously. A close equivalent, the skill Quickstep, has been given a bit of a boost, though its performance is also reduced when used continuously.

Finally, pour some blood out for the Corpse Piler weapon skill, the default skill for the Rivers of Blood katana. FromSoftware has decreased Corpse Piler’s damage and the bleed build-up of the spraying blood attack, but damage done with the blade itself has been decreased only slightly.

Read on for Elden Ring patch 1.06’s full patch notes, which has better news for fans of greatswords and other large weapons.

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Major Changes Included in the Latest Update

Additional elements

• Added the function to send summoning signs to summoning pools in multiple areas, including distant areas.

※When sending a co-op sign to distant areas with this function, summoning pools in “Mohgwyn Palace” will be excluded

• Added the function to invade a larger area, including distant areas
• Added a new way to advance White Mask Varre’s questline other than participating in multiplayer invasion by defeating a new NPC

balance changes

• Added the following adjustments to Greatsword, Curved Greatsword and Great Hammers:
• Reduced the time it takes for rolling to become possible after an attack (Jump attack, dual wield attack and attacks while mounted not included)
• Increased the motion speed of strong attack and charge attack (mounted attacks not included)
• Increased Guard Counter’s motion speed
• Increased the attack speed of Great Axes and reduced the time it takes for rolling to become possible after an attack (Jump attack, dual wield attack and attacks while mounted not included)
• Increased rolling distance when player has a light equip load.
• Increased the hitbox of Cipher Pata’s weapon skill “Unblockable Blade”
• Increased the range of Ash of War “Glintstone Pebble” and “Glintstone Dart” projectile while decreasing the damage and stagger power
• Decreased the travel distance and invincibility frames of Ash of War “Bloodhound Step” while adding the changes below:

・Reduced performance when used continuously

・Increased travel distance when on light equip load

• Shortened the activation interval when using “Quick Step” skill in succession, increasing its ability to circle around the enemy when locked-on and add the changes below:

・Reduced performance when used continuously

・Increased travel distance when on light equip load

• Decreased the damage and bleed build-up of weapon skill “Corpse Piler” when hit with the blood attack. When hit by the blade, the damage is only decreased slightly
• Decreased the target tracking ability of sorcery “Stars of Ruin”

Bug fixes

• Fixed a bug which caused some attacks of “Lucerne” to not pierce enemy’s guard
• Fixed a bug which made it harder for a two-handed jump attack with “Bloodhound’s Fang” to break enemy’s stance
• Fixed a bug which caused the effect of “Determination” and “Royal Knight’s Resolve” to disappear after using the “Parry” skill with a dagger
• Fixed a bug when dual wielding Ax and Greataxe which caused additional effects from Spells, Weapon Skills and Items to not be applied correctly
• Fixed a bug when two-handing a Halberd which made it harder to withstand enemy’s attack after using guard counter
• Fixed a bug which caused the physical attack affinity of some weapons to be different from the affinity listed in the description.
• Fixed a bug which caused the player to become more easily noticed by the enemy when wearing “Deathbed Dress”, even when crouching
• Fixed a bug which caused charge attack with flail to damage ally character when wearing “Deathbed Dress”
• Fixed a bug that caused HP to regenerate when switching your equipment to certain type of armor
• Fixed a bug where the effect added to the weapon upon using “Mists of Slumber” was lost when the player received an attack
• Fixed a bug which caused the playable character’s movement to become unstable upon hitting certain enemies with the skill “Ghostflame Ignition”
• Fixed a bug which prevented player from using “The Queen’s Black Flame” skill’s follow-up attack when performing the skill with insufficient FP
• Fixed a bug with the weapon skill “Zamor Ice Storm” which allowed player to more easily withstand enemy’s attack when using the skill with insufficient FP
• Fixed a bug which caused the effect of spells and items added to right-hand armament to occur when using certain weapon skills with left hand.
• Fixed a bug which caused the FP consumption description of certain weapon skills to be different from its actual FP cost
• Fixed a bug that allows “Rock Blaster” to not consume any FP when used with a staff on the left hand and no weapon on the right hand
• Fixed a bug which caused the charged version of “Black Flame Ritual” to consume the same amount of stamina as the normal version
• Fixed a bug which caused the player to receive less HP recovery from incantations and items other than “Flask of Crimson Tears” when activating the effect of “Malenia’s Great Rune”
• Fixed a bug which caused the “Opaline Hardtear” to not increase physical damage negation
• Fixed a bug which prevented the player from jumping mid-air while riding under specific condition
• Fixed a bug which allowed jump attack with Colossal Weapons while mounted to hit twice consecutively
• Fixed a bug which caused some signs to appear more than once in the Summoning Pool
• Fixed a bug which caused the effect of some weapon skill’s attack to persist under specific circumstances
• Fixed a bug which sometimes caused significant performance issue at “Ordina, Liturgical Town” under certain circumstances
• Fixed a bug which prevented the player from picking up dropped Runes upon death under certain circumstances
• Fixed a bug which allowed users to reach certain inaccessible area during multiplayer
• Fixed a bug which caused the multiplayer area to have different boundary than expected
• Fixed a bug that causes some enemies to have incorrect visuals and behaviors.
• Fixed a bug that caused incorrect sounds to be played under certain circumstances.
• Fixed a bug which caused some areas to make the player unable to move which lead to death
• Fixed a bug that caused some places on the map to have incorrect visuals and hitboxes.
• Fixed a bug in some maps that allowed users to reach unexpected locations using certain procedures.
• Fixed a bug with the PC version which caused click input to occur when equipping Staves or Sacred Seals and switching Windows to active.
• Other performance improvements and bug fixes.

other

• Added the “ERROR” text to unauthorized items

※In update file 1.04, we have fixed a bug that allowed players to pass unauthorized items that cannot be obtained in game to other players

After the distribution of this update file, possession and usage of these unauthorized items will be subject to warning or penalty after a certain period of time.

The Valorant update 5.03 patch notes are live now and there are a few notable changes in this update. Here are all the upcoming changes in the new patch.

Valorant update 5.03’s patch notes feature a host of changes that will affect not only several Agents but also the visual aspects of Riot’s FPS. Needless to say, players can also expect bug fixes to arrive as part of the update, too.

With the upcoming release of Agent 21, Riot appears to be preparing the game’s current meta to welcome the new Agent into the roster. Keep reading for a detailed list of all the changes coming to Riot’s tactical shooter in update 5.03.

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Valorant 5.03 patch notes

Valorant update 5.03 will see Agents Chamber, Neon, and Jett being tweaked to balance their performance in the game. It will be interesting to see how these’s Agent changes affect the in-game meta.

Apart from that, the patch will also see Valorant being updated to Unreal Engine 4.26. While the developers have confirmed that this update is causing a few glitches in the main menu, they are dedicated to working out the bugs as soon as possible.

Here’s a full rundown of everything that Riot Games has confirmed in Valorant update 5.03’s official patch notes.

General Updates

• Engine update to Unreal Engine 4.26
  • This update improves the toolset available to our developers in many ways, however, this change will likely go unnoticed by you, as the goal of any Engine update is to happen under the radar.
  • There are some known issues this time around though, mostly the UI is misbehaving. We’re fixing these as quickly as we can, but expect some funkiness in the game and in the Main Menu. If anything interrupts your gameplay, please submit a bug report.
• Agent Browser visual design refresh
  • Just thought we should leverage some of the cool Agent art and lean more into our VALORANT style.

agent updates

Chamber

Rendezvous (E)

• Base cooldown increased 20s >>> 30s
• Recall Cooldown increased 20s >>> 30s
• Cooldown set to 45s whenever a Rendezvous anchor is destroyed
• The diameter size of the “ring” Chamber can stand that allows him to activate Rendezvous decreased 21m >>> 15m

Trademark (C)

• Slow Duration decreased 9.5 >>> 6s

Tour De Force (X)

• Ultimate Points Required increased 7 >>> 8
• Slow Duration decreased 9.5 >>> 6s
• Leg shot multiplier reduced 1.0 >>> 0.85

Headhunter (Q)

• Bullet Cost increased 100 >>> 150

Neon

Overdrive

• Damage per shot reduced 22 >>> 18
• Killzone increased 15m >>> 20m
• Leg shot multiplier reduced 1.0 >>> 0.85
• Headshot multiplier increased 1 >>> 3

Jett

Bladestorm (X)

• Leg shot multiplier reduced 1.0 >>> 0.85

Gameplay Systems Updates

• Added ability to change the “Ghost” keybind outside of Custom Games
  • This option is listed under Settings >> Controls >> Actions

Bug fixes and Known Issues

Agents

• Fixed an issue with Jett’s Tailwind where switching weapons in the middle of the dash would cause the weapon pull-out animation to take longer than desired.

Gameplay Systems

• Fixed a bug where some Reyna/Killjoy HUD elements were still visible after enabling Hide User Interface.
• Fixed a bug where defuse animation wouldn’t consistently play if the orb is tapped in rapid succession.

Known Issues

• Changing crosshair opacity settings in-game causes the crosshair preview visual to flicker
• Spike Announcements UI displaying incorrectly

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So there you have it, that’s everything included in Valorant update 5.03 patch notes. For more about the game, make sure to check some of our other Valorant content:

Best Valorant Agents | Best Sentinels | What is the Night Market? | How to get Gun Buddies | Best Initiators | What is Econ Rating? | How to get free loot drops | Is Valorant on Mac? | When is Valorant on Mobile coming out? | Best Duelists | All Valorant skin bundles | Best Controllers

What you need to know

• Intel just introduced its Arc Pro A-series range of graphics.
• The series is aimed at professionals with demanding graphical workloads, such as those in architecture, engineering, and construction.
• The Intel Arc Pro A30M, A40, and A50 are the first products from the range.
• All of the new GPUs support ray tracing, machine learning, and AV1 hardware coding and acceleration.

Intel just showed off its new range of professional GPUs from the Intel Arc Pro lineup. The Intel Arc Pro A30M, A40, and A50 are the first GPUs from the lineup, and they are designed for professionals with graphically demanding workloads. The A30M is for laptops, while the A40 and A50 are for desktops.

Despite unveiling the new graphics components, Intel was shy on a release date, only stating that the GPUs will be available “starting later this year from leading mobile and desktop ecosystem partners.”

AirPods Pro are very good, but they are now getting a little long in the tooth. In the time since their release, other companies have leaped in to release products that rival the AirPods Pro, sharing features and adding new ones to the table. Sony is one of the most prolific, with entire product lines designed to take some of Apple’s business – the LinkBuds S are the latest in the lineup.

AirPods Pro features with Sony sound

If the AirPods Pro aren’t up your street, but you’re looking for a pair of noise-canceling in-ears, then the Sony LinkBuds S will be just the thing you’re looking for. They’re a compact option with soft, silicon tips to make a good seal with your ear.

Early this year, I had the chance to try out the fantastic Garmin Fenix ​​7X Sapphire Solar watch and loved that I could train, play, work, and live with the watch mounted on my wrist for weeks. The Fenix ​​7X is built for multisport athletes, while the new Garmin Enduro 2 is optimized for endurance athletes who need a wearable that will track performance for the longest ultra races.

The Fenix ​​7X Sapphire Solar is advertised to provide up to 122 hours of GPS tracking with solar charging. The Garmin Enduro 2 adds more than a day to that with a battery life of up to 150 hours of GPS tracking, more than 40% of that provided by the original Enduro announced in early 2021. The Enduro 2 is clearly not built for casual athletes but for those who participate in the most grueling races today. Ultrarunning events are longer than marathons, typically at least 50km and even over 100km. There are also 100-mile races and even multi-day races with the Garmin Enduro 2 helping these endurance athletes train for and track these events.

The Garmin Enduro 2 sports the familiar standard five-button Garmin user interface with a new touch screen display for the Enduro series. Solar charging is a staple of the Enduro line and continues with the entire 1.4-inch Power Sapphire glass display harnessing the power of the sun.

While the watch is large with a 51mm diameter and 26mm watch band, it is fairly light and comfortable thanks to the titanium bezel and rear case. So far, I love the Ultrafit nylon band that ensures a perfect fit. The Enduro 2 package includes the Ultrafit nylon band along with a 26mm Quick Fit silicone band.

The LED flashlight was one of the coolest new features on the Fenix ​​7X Sapphire Solar. Garmin includes this flashlight on the Enduro 2 and also made it the brightest Garmin flashlight ever, with twice the brightness of the 7X. You can use the white LED light to expose the night or turn on the red light to help you maintain your sight at night. A strobe mode also matches your cadence so people can see you while running on the road or on the trail.

Some of the new training features that are present on the Garmin Enduro 2 include:

• NextFork: Map guide that shows the distance to the next trail intersection, as well as the name of the upcoming trail. Very handy for national parks and other areas where multiple trails can cause confusion.
• Grade-adjusted pace: I live on a hill, so every single time I run, I am going up and down hills. This feature displays an equivalent running pace on flat ground to help you adjust your pace and maintain your stamina.
• Visual race predictor: This pacing estimator uses your running history and overall fitness level to show you where you could finish in your upcoming event. It’s great to watch this time fall as you train more.
• Automatic rest timer: Ultrarunning races are long and hard, so that you may spend some time on a break for replenishment or first aid. The automatic timer logs these breaks without requiring you to pause your run.
• Adventure racing activity profile: This ARWS-approved profile tracks heart rate, elevation, segment times, and other metrics for post-race viewing. A summary screen also helps verify a finish time with the race committee.

Since the Garmin Enduro 2 is optimized for endurance athletes, it comes preloaded with TopoActive maps with multi-continent coverage. Garmin’s new SatIQ technology that dynamically determines the best GPS mode necessary to maximize battery life and positional accuracy is present on the watch. Golf course maps and SkiView maps are also preloaded on the watch.

Also: The 5 best Garmin watch models: Which is right for you?

We saw some exciting new software features on the Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar, but those are not yet present here on the Enduro 2 review unit that just arrived. These include training readiness, Morning Report, HRV status, running power (with a compatible accessory), and real-time stamina. I understand many of the newer Garmin watches will be receiving these features in upcoming software updates, so stay tuned for more on those updates.

All of the great Garmin 24/7 health and wellness features are also present, so you will have heart-rate monitoring, blood oxygen measurements, Body Battery, fitness age, sleep score, sleep stages, and more. A new Health Snapshot feature will record and generate a report of key stats that includes heart rate, heart rate variability, blood oxygen level, respiration, and stress. Recovery advisor and daily suggested workouts are also found on the Enduro 2.

Garmin Pay, offline music support, multi-GNSS support, incident detection, and everything Garmin offers is found on the Enduro 2. The Garmin Enduro 2 is available now for $1,099.99 in one size and one color.

We have a review unit mounted on our wrist and will be testing it for the next few weeks so if you have any questions or functions you want us to try out, please leave a comment below.

Samsung has finally made its OLED range available down under. You can buy it right now for up to $754 off the asking price.

LG’s stranglehold on the Australian OLED TV market has finally been challenged. The Samsung OLED range is now available for your shopping pleasure in Australia.

Unveiled at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) at the beginning of the year, it was initially believed that these snazzy screens would not become available in Australia. Thankfully, this is not the case. Better late than never, right?

You can purchase the Samsung 55-inch OLED 4K TV for $3,495 and the 65-inch version for $4,495 from The Good Guys. In both cases, you’ll enjoy discounts from RRPs of $4,079 and $5,249 respectively.

Buy Samsung OLED TVs

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About the Samsung OLED range

What sets Samsung’s latest OLED range apart? First, let’s take a look at what OLED TVs actually entail.

OLED stands for organic light-emitting diode. OLED screens omit the LED backlighting that characterizes just about every other TV on the market. Instead, each individual pixel of the screen emits its own light.

The benefits of this practice are immense and are the main reasons OLED screens are considered the best on the market. Most significantly, OLED screens can completely “shut off” pixels or groups of pixels to produce a true black color. Conversely, other types of screens have to shield the LED backlighting to attempt to produce a black and the results are generally far inferior.

But Samsung fans know that good enough is never good enough for the South Korean giant. It has continued to innovate by incorporating elements of its trademark QLED screens in its new OLED line. According to Samsung, the quantum dots that characterize QLED screens contribute brighter and more realistic colors to its new range of OLED screens. Click here for a comprehensive run-down of QLED technology.

Some other impressive features of the range include true RGB sub-pixels, HDR 10+ technology, a Tizen smart TV experience, Samsung object tracking sound and Q-Symphony with Dolby Atmos. All told, these TVs appear seriously impressive and well worth the price of admission.

Buy 4K TVs

If the latest and greatest Samsung OLED TVs are a little bit out of your price range, here are some more palatable offerings for you to browse.

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Samsung released the Galaxy Watch 4 last year as the first watch with Wear OS 3, the latest version of Google’s wearable software platform. It finally received Google Assistant a few months ago, but now the same problem has happened with the second Wear OS 3 watch.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 shipped without the ability to use Google Assistant, even though it used the same Wear OS software experience included Assistant (and Google Now before that) on every other watch model. Samsung and Google never provided a clear answer on why it was initially missing — Samsung probably preferred you use its own Bixby voice assistant — but an update in May added the ability to use Assistant.

Nearly a year after the Galaxy Watch 4 was released, we now have our second watch running Wear OS 3, the Montblanc Summit 3. However, it’s also missing Google Assistant. Michael Fisher confirmed the problem in a product review for the Summit 3, and there’s not even an alternative virtual assistant, which the Galaxy Watch does offer.

Play Video

Google provided the below statement to Fisher and How-To Geek about the missing Google Assistant feature:

Our priority with Wear OS is to deliver a high performing platform for our partners and users, and we are taking the time to ensure our apps and services deliver a quality experience. We have nothing more to share at this time.

Google and Samsung were co-developing Wear OS 3 for an extended period before it arrived on the Galaxy Watch 4, and Google has had almost a full year to finish working on a version for other watch makers to use. That makes the missing Assistant a bizarre omission, especially when the Montblanc Summit 3 is a luxury smartwatch that costs $1,290.

Google will release its own Pixel Watch with Wear OS later this year, which is expected to include Google Assistant.

Source: Michael Fisher
Via: 9to5Google