The New York Times has introduced the next title coming to its Games catalog following Wordle’s continued success — and it’s all about math. Digits has players adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing numbers. You can play its beta for free online right now. 
In Digits, players are presented with a target number that they need to match. Players are given six numbers and have the ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide them to get as close to the target as they can. Not every number needs to be used, though, so this game should put your math skills to the test as you combine numbers and try to make the right equations to get as close to the target number as possible.

Players will get a five-star rating if they match the target number exactly, a three-star rating if they get within 10 of the target, and a one-star rating if they can get within 25 of the target number. Currently, players are also able to access five different puzzles with increasingly larger numbers as well.  I solved today’s puzzle and found it to be an enjoyable number-based game that should appeal to inquisitive minds that like puzzle games such as Threes or other The New York Times titles like Wordle and Spelling Bee.
In an article unveiling Digits and detailing The New York Time Games team’s process to game development, The Times says the team will use this free beta to fix bugs and assess if it’s worth moving into a more active development phase “where the game is coded and the designs are finalized.” So play Digits while you can, as The New York Times may move on from the project if it doesn’t get the response it is hoping for. 
Digits’ beta is available to play for free now on The New York Times Games’ website

One of the best things about Wear OS smartwatches these days is the Google Assistant integration and that goes for the Google Pixel Watch 3 as well. However, if for whatever reason you decide you don’t want to use this incredibly useful feature, just know that you can actually disable it. In fact, turning off Google Assistant on your Pixel Watch 3 is pretty simple. If you aren’t sure how to disable it and you want some help, that’s what this handy little guide is here for.

We’ll walk you through the steps to disable Google Assistant if you decide you simply don’t want it to be active. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that in doing so, you’ll be crippling the watch a little bit. After all, smartwatches are, among other things, meant to give you a hands-free way to interact with tons of smart features. Things you maybe can’t do with your phone because your hands are full. Nevertheless, it’s understandable that not everyone will want to use Google Assistant on their watch. And if you aren’t using it, then there’s not much of a reason for it to be enabled.

It’s also worth mentioning that you can always enable it again if you change your mind. So with that said, let’s dive in.

How to disable Google Assistant on your Pixel Watch 3

Bring up the quick settings menu

You’ll want to start by bringing up the quick settings menu. The watch will walk you through how to get to this upon your first time setting it up. Just in case you forgot though, you simply need to swipe down from the top edge of the display to bring up the quick settings menu.

Tap on settings

Now tap on the settings tile. The settings tile is the button that looks like a little gear icon. Just like on your Android smartphone.

Scroll down to the Google menu

When you open the settings menu, it should put you right at the top, with “connectivity” being the first sub-menu you can open. Scroll down a bit, either by using your finger or the haptic crown, and look for the “Google” sub-menu. Tap on that.

Tap on “Assistant”

This will be the first option in the Google sub-menu. Tap on Assistant to see a handful of options you can enable or disable.

Scroll down and tap on “Turn off Assistant”

In this menu scroll all the way down to the bottom and tap on the button that says “Turn off Assistant.” This will give you a tiny disclaimer about what will happen and what you won’t be able to do if you disable this feature. Now tap on the “Turn Off” button That’s pretty much it. Now it’ll be disabled.

Alternatively, there are some other ways to lessen the Google Assistant interaction if you don’t want to turn it off completely.

Turn off the wake word

If you still want to use Google Assistant on your Pixel Watch 3, but don’t want the wake word to be active, you can turn this off to limit the interaction so that it won’t activate without you manually trying to engage the Assistant. In the same menu where you disabled the Google Assistant feature, there are three other toggles you can play with. The first one is to turn off the Hey Google wake word. If you disable this toggle, then you won’t be able to activate the Assistant when saying this.

It also means that it won’t randomly activate anytime something that sounds remotely similar is said. This doesn’t happen often, but it can happen. If you do turn this off, you’ll want to make sure that the toggle just below this is turned on. This toggle controls pressing and holding the side button to bring up Google Assistant. You can disable this as well and still use the Google Assistant feature. However, you’ll now have to access it by opening the app drawer and tapping on the Assistant app. That might be preferrable to you, but if you want ease of use, leave this toggle enabled.

Samsung will begin using the One UI name for all its consumer devices, now including TVs and home appliances. Executive Vice President Sally Hyesoon Jeong made the announcement at the company’s 2024 developer conference (via 9to5Google). The One UI branding was previously exclusive to its Galaxy phones, tablets and wearables.

“One UI now goes beyond mobile as the software experience for all Samsung consumer devices,” Hyesoon Jeong said onstage at the San Jose keynote. It’s part of the company’s aim for more cohesive branding across its consumer ecosystem, especially as its AI approach evolves.

Samsung also teased that its next software user experience, One UI 7, will arrive with the 2025 batch of Galaxy S phones. “One UI 7 will bring a fresh, new look to the entire interface,” Hyesoon Jeong said at the conference. She laid out three goals for the upcoming software: simple (with a purpose), impactful (leaving a “signature impression”), and emotive design that elicits a human reaction from the user.

The Samsung VP says the One UI 7 home screen grid represents the more focused design principles. “It’s sleeker and easier to use, giving you a neat home screen no matter which Galaxy device you’re using,” said Hyesoon Jeong.

Although you’ll have to wait until early next year for One UI 7, the company said a developer beta will be available to test-drive by the end of this year.

Bloomberg reported that Tencent and Ubisoft’s founding Guillemot family are discussing a potential buyout of the French video game developer, in a story citing unnamed sources.

Ubisoft has lost more than half its market value in 2024, and it has taken a pounding for a poorly received Star Wars: Outlaws open world title and a delay in its holiday release Assassin’s Creed: Shadows.

Tencent is the biggest company in gaming, and it already holds a stake in Ubisoft from the time when it helped CEO Yves Guillemot fend off a hostile acquisition by Vivendi.

Bloomberg said Tencent and Guillemot Brothers Ltd. have been speaking with advisers to help explore ways to stabilize Ubisoft and bolster its value. One option is taking the company private together. That’s a logical solution, considering the company’s valuation has fallen 40% to around $1.9 billion this year. After the report, Ubisoft shares rose as much as 33% in Paris trading on Friday. That was the biggest gain since Ubisoft went public in 1996.

Of course, if they go private, Ubisoft’s numbers will become opaque, and we’ll lose another source of transparency in the game industry. Tencent has about 9.2% of Ubisoft’s net voting rights, while the Guillemot family holds about 20.5%.

Ubisoft said it does not comment on “rumors or speculation,” and we’re awaiting comment from Tencent.

Star Wars: Outlaws has underperformed expectations, and Assassin’s Creed Shadows was highly anticipated because of its setting in the samurai era of Japan. But the game has faced criticism from core gamers and some Japanese fans over its choice of main characters.

After Vivendi’s failed attempt, Ubisoft was reportedly in play a couple of years ago as well. In 2022, Tencent bought 49.9% of the Giullemot Brothers holding company in addition to its stake in Ubisoft as part of a friendly investment that helped ward off any hostile takeover.

Ubisoft has more than 19,000 employees, making its seasoned game development teams among the envy of the industry. It has also shown willingness to expand to just about any new game platform. But those employees come with high operating costs that have lowered profits over time.