Pixel Watch sports a rather fat bezel

@rquandt / Twitter

Rumours have been going around that the Pixel Watch is getting a rather thick bezel, and this leaked image gives us the closest look at it. It looks like the bezel takes up almost 10mm of its rumoured 41mm diameter. And while Wear OS 3 seems to be doing a good job at obscuring the black ring, some menus—like those in the leaked image—makes it rather obvious.

The Pixel Watch is expected to get an "improved" version of Wear OS 3, with support for native apps like Google Maps, Google Wallet, Google Assistant, and Google Home. The smartwatch is also expected to get Fitbit integration. The Pixel Watch will launch alongside the Pixel 7 tomorrow at 10 AM ET.

Source | Via

Apple reportedly agreed to TSMC chip price increase

After initial reports that Apple was balking at paying TSMC more for its processors, Apple has reportedly accepted the chip manufacturer's price hike. Apple reportedly initially rejected the 6% price increase in late September. But a new report from Economic Daily News suggests the company has changed its mind. 

TSMC is a major chip manufacturer for Apple devices. It's believed that Apple will be the first company to use TSMC's new 3-nanometer processors for its A17 chip coming out in next year's iPhone 15 Pro. It's unclear what the price hike will be for since it might be well along the next round of chip production.

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Meta to shutdown its Substack competitor in early 2023

Source: Meta

Meta tried to go after Substack with its newsletter platform Bulletin. However, the company doesn't see a future for it, with plans to shut it down by "early 2023. Bulletin was announced back in June 2021, pitching it as a platform "focused on empowering independent writers, helping them reach new audiences and power their businesses." The idea was similar to Substack, where readers could subscribe to newsletters from the writers they liked, and the writers could charge money for their work and other perks.

Some writers Meta added to the service include Malcolm Gladwell and Tan France. The company promised it wouldn't take a cut from the subscriptions until 2023. Unfortunately, the service hasn't taken off as well as Meta liked. And now Bulletin joins some of the company's projects being shut down.

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BMW is going to build an Alexa-based custom voice assistant

BMW cars already have support for Amazon's Alexa. But the carmaker wants to take things a step further by building its own custom voice assistant based on Amazon's Alexa core technology. This upcoming voice assistant will be built using Amazon's Alexa Custom Assistant. It's a service that allows automakers and device manufacturers to create their own digital assistants using Amazon's tech.

This service will allow BMW to create its customized wake words, voices, and capabilities with Alexa as the base. BMW hopes it can "enable an even more natural dialogue between driver and vehicle." This is critical for ensuring the voice assistant reduces distractions for drivers since it can help with things like finding directions, changing music, or even adjusting the heating or cooling in the cars. BMW aims to roll out its custom-built voice assistant within the next couple of years.

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