C. Scott Brown / Android Authority TL; DR Google has quietly confirmed a timeline for Google Assistant’s retirement. Introduced in 2016, the Google Assistant will likely breathe its last just before its 10th birthday. According to a banner on Google’s support forum, Assistant will remain available “until March 2026.” For almost a decade now, millions of Android devices have spoken the language of the Google Assistant. However, more recently, Google has made it clear that Gemini is its new digital helper, replacing Assistant across multiple platforms, including Android phones, Android Auto, Wear OS, Google TV, and others. Now, Google has quietly confirmed when Google Assistant will take its final bow. Don’t want to miss the best from Android Authority? Set us as a favorite source in Google Discover to never miss our latest exclusive reports, expert analysis, and much more. You can also set us as a preferred source in Google Search by clicking the button below. A banner spotted (h/t Assemble Debug) on Google’s official Android Auto support forum reveals that Google Assistant will continue to work on Android “until March 2026.” It’s the clearest timeline Google has offered till now about Assistant’s impending farewell. In the same notice, Google reassures users that “Gemini will understand the same commands as Google Assistant and also give you the option to speak naturally.” Google For many Android users, especially those with Google Home devices, this is a big moment. Google’s transition from Assistant to Gemini on Google Home devices hasn’t been entirely smooth, with many users still preferring Assistant over the AI chatbot. However, Google Assistant’s demise was inevitable, as the company rapidly transitions to its Gemini-powered era. The Google Assistant emerged in May 2016, first tucked into the short-lived Allo messaging app and the original Google Home speaker, before becoming an integral feature of Android phones. It was and will remain one of Google’s most defining consumer-tech features of all time, one that eventually spread across phones, watches, TVs, cars, and nearly every corner of Google’s ecosystem. Now, as Google moves toward fully transitioning to Gemini, Assistant’s successful near-10-year run seems to be approaching its final chapter. Android users can still choose between Gemini and Google Assistant for now, but it looks like this choice won’t be available for long. Follow.
https://www.androidauthority.com/google-assistant-end-of-life-3618932/
Tag Archives: transitioning
Battlefield 6 Update 1.1.1.5 patch notes adjust vehicle spawns & Redsec battle royale
Battlefield 6 Update 1.1.1.5 Patch Notes: Improvements to Redsec Match Flow, Squad Revives, and End-of-Round Transitions
Electronic Arts and Battlefield Studios have prepared one of the first major patches for Battlefield 6 since the launch of its free-to-play Redsec battle royale module. Update 1.1.1.5 brings a variety of fixes across the game, with a significant focus on balancing and improving key aspects of Redsec, including match flow, squad revives, and round transitions.
Release Schedule
The Battlefield 6 Update 1.1.1.5 is set to launch on November 11, but the patch notes have already been made available. Alongside a number of broader fixes affecting the game’s other modes, many changes specifically target the Redsec experience.
Major Fixes and Updates in 1.1.1.5
- Fixed an exploit allowing players to ascend and access unintended areas by standing on the XFGM-6D Recon Drone and hitting it with the Sledgehammer.
- Resolved an issue where Lock-Guided Missiles were not properly countered by enemy flares and countermeasures.
- Fixed vehicle spawning problems occurring in Breakthrough and Conquest modes.
- Addressed multiple Battle Royale issues impacting match flow, squad revives, and End-of-Round transitions.
- Improved progression, audio, and UI elements to boost clarity, reliability, and overall immersion.
Detailed Changelog
Player
- Corrected dispersion issues where weapon spread was higher than intended when transitioning from sprinting to aiming down sights (ADS).
- Fixed scaling of dispersion with movement speed to better reflect actual player speed, rather than always assuming maximum movement speed for the stance.
- Tuned landing animations to reduce excessive camera and weapon movement during and after landing, enhancing visual stability when aiming down sights.
- Resolved instances where ADS aim could be misaligned after sliding.
Vehicles
- Fixed Lock-Guided Missiles not being correctly countered by enemy flares and countermeasures.
Gadgets
- Patched an exploit that allowed players to reach unintended areas via the XFGM-6D Recon Drone and the Sledgehammer interaction.
Maps & Modes
- Fixed vehicle spawn issues in Breakthrough and Conquest.
- Corrected an error where matches sometimes started with all sectors and objectives active simultaneously.
- Fixed an issue in Strikepoint mode on the Siege of Cairo map, where destruction did not reset at halftime.
UI & HUD
- Updated Vehicle Customization to properly display unlock criteria for locked Anti-Air Vehicle presets.
Progression
- Fixed the shotgun weapon challenge “Kill 5 Enemies With a Shotgun Without Reloading” to ensure it completes correctly.
- Resolved a bug where progress on the “Engineer Specialist 3” assignment was not saving properly.
Portal
- Fixed “SpawnLoot” not spawning Ammo or Armor as intended.
- Corrected an issue where players with community creation privileges set to Block could still access user-generated Community Experiences when the party leader hosted a match.
Audio
- Fixed an issue where activating the BF PRO Radio Channel via the Commo Rose did not play any audio.
Redsec (Battle Royale Mode)
- Fixed an issue where Battle Royale (Quads) matches failed to end after the last team was eliminated.
- Resolved a bug where being killed immediately after a mobile respawn could inadvertently eliminate the entire squad instead of reviving remaining teammates.
- Fixed cases where players became stuck in a top-down map view following redeployment.
- Corrected an issue where players retained their Second Chance after redeploying and did not transition to the End of Round screen after subsequent elimination.
Redsec UI & HUD
- Fixed a display issue where all squad members showed the same highlighted stat on the Squad Placement screen.
Redsec Progression
- Fixed the “Battle Royal Master Challenge 4” so that progress is now tracked correctly.
That covers the Battlefield 6 Update 1.1.1.5 patch notes. Stay tuned to our Battlefield 6 topic for more news, updates, and in-depth guides to the game.
TJ Denzer – Senior News Editor
TJ Denzer is a passionate gamer and writer, having joined Shacknews in late 2019 and risen to Senior News Editor. Beyond news coverage, he contributes to various livestream projects including Indie-licious, Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. Reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com or find him on BlueSky at @JohnnyChugs.
https://www.shacknews.com/article/146761/battlefield-6-update-1115-patch-notes
UFO tracker maps eerie clusters of unidentified objects lurking beneath US shorelines: ‘We’re being lied to’
NEW — You can now listen to Fox News articles!
A popular UFO-reporting app has been making waves after reportedly recording tens of thousands of mysterious underwater objects along the United States’ coastlines, raising eyebrows and leaving experts with more questions than answers regarding their origin.
Enigma, a non-partisan organization that boasts the “largest queryable historical sighting database for global UFO sightings,” has recorded roughly 30,000 UFO sightings since its launch in 2022, according to the company’s website. However, users have recently turned their attention away from the skies in the hunt for proof that life may exist elsewhere—underwater.
Since August, Enigma has documented more than 9,000 sightings of mysterious objects within 10 miles of U.S. shorelines or other major bodies of water, Marine Technology News reported.
**UFO Mania Grips Small Town After Mysterious Glowing Object Sighting Goes Viral**
Unidentified Submersible Objects (USOs) are defined as “any object detected underwater that cannot be immediately identified or explained,” according to Marine Technology News. USOs can be observed through both technological sensors and by the naked eye, with witnesses often describing them as moving at incredibly fast speeds, making precise changes of direction, and possessing “transmedium” capabilities by seamlessly transitioning between water and air.
“What is really interesting to me is the reports that we receive about [United States] underwater vessels detecting craft moving at exceptionally high speeds underwater,” Kent Heckenlively, author of *Catastrophic Disclosure: Aliens, The Deep State and The Truth*, told Fox News Digital. “Now that’s one of two things: That’s something we don’t understand, or that means our technology is picking up ghosts underwater.”
**House Witness Testifies UFOs Nearly Activated Russian Nuclear Missiles During 1982 Incident**
Of the 9,000 reported sightings since August 2025, approximately 500 occurred within 5 miles of a coastline, according to Marine Technology News. Additionally, over 150 objects were reportedly seen either hovering above or entering and emerging from bodies of water.
The two states with the highest coastal populations—California and Florida—top the charts for the highest number of USO sightings, according to Enigma’s website. California accounts for 389 reported sightings, with the Sunshine State coming in second place with 306 witness accounts.
The data also shows several clusters of activity centered around specific coastal points throughout the country, raising eyebrows for both experts and government officials who fear the objects could pose a risk to national security.
**Reporter’s Notebook: Military Whistleblowers Testify to Congress About Unexplained UFO Encounters**
“It seems like there are five or six areas where there’s real high UFO activity around water,” Heckenlively said. “It would make a great deal of sense, and I think the problem that the regular person is facing is that they’re saying to themselves, ‘Okay, if these things are real, how could they come to earth and hide?’ And the ocean seems like a great place to hide.”
The sentiment is echoed by retired Navy Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet, who previously argued that video footage released by the Pentagon shows technology that “jeopardizes U.S. maritime security, which is already weakened by our relative ignorance about the global ocean.”
“The fact that unidentified objects with unexplainable characteristics are entering U.S. water space and the [Department of War] is not raising a giant red flag is a sign that the government is not sharing all it knows about all-domain anomalous phenomena,” Gallaudet wrote in a report released last year.
**JD Vance Says He’s ‘Obsessed’ With Eerie UFO Videos**
The 2019 video depicts an unidentified object buzzing past the Navy’s USS Omaha ship before plunging into the Pacific Ocean without a trace.
“Pilots, credible observers and calibrated military instrumentation have recorded objects accelerating at rates and crossing the air-sea interface in ways not possible for anything made by humans,” Gallaudet wrote.
Of the various witness accounts compiled by Enigma, one of the most compelling shows two mysterious underwater objects lighting up while underwater, according to Marine Technology News.
Enigma and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
However, years of public skepticism have led to apps such as Enigma crowdsourcing data regarding UFOs, in what Heckenlively believes is a positive step toward transparency between the U.S. government and citizens looking for answers.
“I’m skeptical of alien stuff,” Heckenlively said. “But I’m convinced that the government is lying to us.”
[CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE APP.]
https://www.foxnews.com/us/ufo-tracker-maps-eerie-clusters-unidentified-objects-lurking-beneath-us-shorelines-were-being-lied-to
‘A glimmer of hope’: What does GTA 6 mean for Red Dead Online?
Despite the success of *Red Dead Redemption 2*, *Red Dead Online* hasn’t quite lived up to its potential since breaking free from beta in mid-2019. That’s not to say it isn’t a good game. With the right mix of players on any populated server, Rockstar’s multiplayer cowboy crime sim still ranks among the most entertaining open-world games in 2025.
However, despite its scope to match the ambition of *GTA Online* once upon a time, *Red Dead Online* instead persists in the lurching shadow of its modern-day cousin. In fact, so neglected has *Red Dead Online* been over the last few years that even the most ardent fans—those who signed the several-thousand-strong #SaveRedDeadOnline petition of 2023—would have likely given up on the game at the beginning of this year.
Now, however, with *Red Dead Online* riding high on a new lease of life—after receiving a handful of new missions for the first time in years—and with the *GTA 6* release date coming into focus, could our return to Vice City help break new ground in the Old West?
“Back in July, Rockstar unexpectedly dropped a brand-new *Red Dead Online* content trailer for the first time in over four years, which gave me a real glimmer of hope they might return to the game in a bigger way once *GTA VI* is out and their resources free up,” says prominent Rockstar commentator Ben, aka Videotechuk.
“Rockstar also seems to be building on the *Strange Tales of the West* content in the coming months,” he adds, “and with current rumours of new current-gen versions in the works, Rockstar could have the footprint to deliver more *Red Dead Online* updates without being held back by the Xbox One and PS4.”
Even a cursory glance into *Red Dead Online*’s corner of the GTA Forums highlights a flurry of activity, reignited interest, and general buzz around *Red Dead Online* in the wake of July’s update—something that’s been entirely missing in recent years. There, a whole host of newcomers, lapsed wranglers, and hardcore players (including one chap who’s logged close to 10,000 hours) are happily sharing fables from the frontier, making it a lovely place to explore.
It’s a safe bet that the core of Rockstar’s dev team will remain focused on *GTA 6* long after the crime sim lands on May 26 of next year—with many of those folks, you’d assume, transitioning onto work on whatever shape *GTA Online 2.0* takes following the base game’s arrival.
Once all of that falls into place, though, wouldn’t it make sense to return some focus to *Red Dead Online*, given the renewed interest and strong opposition to putting it out to pasture entirely? Ben certainly thinks so.
“Also, it’s kind of a no-brainer to come back as *Red Dead 2* continues to sell better than most modern-day titles on this market, which is just nuts.”
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/grand-theft-auto/a-glimmer-of-hope-what-does-gta-6-mean-for-red-dead-online/