Technology - Google News

Google is turning off the controls for OnHub routers at the end of 2022 - The Verge
LG’s First Gaming Laptop Packs In Plenty of Power and One Confusing Spec - Gizmodo
Balan Wonderworld Is Officially The Worst Switch Game Of 2021, According To Metacritic - Nintendo Life

Google is turning off the controls for OnHub routers at the end of 2022 - The Verge

Posted: 20 Dec 2021 04:10 PM PST

Google's insistence on cloud-based controls for its networking products has occasionally caused issues, even though it was supposed to make life with OnHub routers simple. Now it will be a reason pushing anyone still using the OnHub to find a replacement by the end of next year when Google's apps stop allowing owners to change the settings on their devices. An email went out to users, and a support page revealed the changeover is scheduled for December 19th, 2022 (via Droid-Life).

When it still seemed unusual for Google and Amazon to make their own hardware, Google teamed up with TP-Link and, eventually, Asus to build OnHub routers that made a point of blending in seamlessly with the rest of your house. They had slick mobile apps to simplify setup and controls, plus a style that blended in so people were more likely to place them in a central location, which could improve WiFi coverage.

Google Support:

Before December 19, 2022

Your OnHub router will continue to work as normal, but won't receive any new software features or security updates. We recommend you upgrade to a new Wi-Fi setup today. A special discount code has been emailed to OnHub users only, for 40% off Nest Wifi on the Google Store. This promotional code is available for a limited time.*

After December 19, 2022

Your OnHub router will still provide a Wi-Fi signal, but you'll no longer be able to manage it with the Google Home app.
You won't be able to update things like Wi-Fi network settings, add additional Wifi devices, or run speed tests.
Google Assistant features like "Hey Google, pause my Wi-Fi" will stop working.
OnHub performance can't be guaranteed.

The idea was that by styling them to fit with interior decorations, people would be more likely to place them in a central location, thereby improving Wi-Fi coverage. They even had slick mobile apps to control them so that you didn't have to dig through ugly menus, but now those apps are gone, with the settings merged into Google's Home app.

After the shutdown date, the routers will still work, but you won't be able to adjust their settings, get any updates, or really do any troubleshooting. For its part, Google is offering owners a 40 percent discount on a Nest Wifi unit, which should knock a fair amount off of pricing that currently starts at $149 for a base unit by itself or $189 for a base and one extender.

For routers that are several years old by now, at least, that doesn't feel like an unfair offer to get a replacement that we called "even faster and more capable than before." Still, it doesn't change the feeling that buying one of these routers means "owning" it only for so long as Google is willing to provide support. How many of your supposedly smart devices will quickly turn into bricks and electronic waste if someone flips a switch on the back end?

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LG’s First Gaming Laptop Packs In Plenty of Power and One Confusing Spec - Gizmodo

Posted: 20 Dec 2021 07:30 AM PST

There is a new gaming laptop brand in town, and it's one you've heard of before. LG, best known for its TVs and home appliances, has unveiled its first gaming laptop, and it appears to be the antithesis of the company's ultra-lightweight "Gram" notebooks.

Dubbed the UltraGear 17G90Q (catchy, huh?), this beastly gaming rig is powered by an 11th Gen Intel Tiger Lake H-series CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Max-Q graphics card. These can be paired with either 16GB or 32GB of DDR4 RAM and up to 1TB of M.2 dual storage.

With that much power under the hood, games should play at high frame rates and look silky smooth on the LG's 17.3-inch, 1080p (16:9) display which flaunts a 1-millisecond response time and 300Hz refresh rate.

The UltraGear fits the stereotypical gamer aesthetic, with a per-key RGB backlit keyboard and winged "LG" logo on the purple-gray aluminum chassis and touchpad. Here, you'll find some nice convenience features, like a fingerprint sensor on the power button, quad speakers, and a 1080p webcam.

Port selection is also excellent, with two Thunderbolt 4 ports on the left side and two USB 3.2 Type-A inputs on the right next to a microSD card slot and a headphone jack. On the rear are a third USB Type-A port, an RJ45 Ethernet jack (FYI, the UltraGear supports Wi-Fi 6E), an HDMI input, and a DC barrel connector.

Up to this point, LG has run its laptop division with a singular focus: make the lightest devices possible. That changes with this gaming rig, which comes in at 15.75 x 10.7 x 0.8 inches and weighs 5.8 pounds. To be fair, plenty of 17-inch models clock in at over six and even seven pounds.

LG's first gaming laptop will be available in the U.S. starting in early 2022. There is no word yet on pricing; we've reached out and will update this article once we learn more.

Based on what we do know, the UltraGear should be a capable machine, though some of its specs raise an eyebrow. In just a few weeks' time, Intel and AMD are both expected to reveal new chips—with the former rumored to launch 12th Gen H-series CPUs. Releasing a product with the 11th Gen variant when everyone else is prepping to push out 12th Gen-powered gaming laptops is an interesting choice.

And while I'll need to confirm this detail, LG's press release suggests the UltraGear will only be available with an RTX 3080 GPU. If accurate, the UltraGear 17G90Q will likely have a high starting price. There is a lot to like here, too, including some beefy specs and generous ports and features, but the appeal for LG's opening into the gaming world will largely depend on how much you have to pay to get in.

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Balan Wonderworld Is Officially The Worst Switch Game Of 2021, According To Metacritic - Nintendo Life

Posted: 20 Dec 2021 05:30 PM PST

We're at the tail-end of 2021, and that means awards are being handed out for the best (and worst) video games of the year.

We've seen plenty of winners, but what about the games that didn't go down so well this year? If you're wondering what exactly were the worst games of the year, Metacritic has now put together a "top 10" list. This was the criteria:

"the lowest-scoring games released for any platform between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021. Games are ranked by Metascore (as of December 18, 2021) prior to rounding, and any titles with fewer than 7 reviews from professional critics are excluded. If a single title would have landed on the list multiple times due to low scores on more than one platform, we only included the lowest-scoring version."

While the overall winner is technically eFootball 2022 for PC, the worst game specifically for the Nintendo Switch was Balan Wonderworld. Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto Trilogy for Switch was the only other Nintendo version mentioned on the list, placing sixth.

eFootball 2022 - 25 (PC)
Balan Wonderworld - 36 (Nintendo Switch)
Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood - 42 (PS4)
Taxi Chaos - 42 (PS4)
Of Bird and Cage (PC)
GTA: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition - 47 (Nintendo Switch)
I Saw Black Clouds - 48 (PS4)
Arkham Horror: Mother's Embrace - 48 (PC)
Demon Skin - 48 (PC)
Necromunda: Hired Gun - 49 (PS4)

Here's what Metacritic had to say about both of these games:

Balan Wonderworld:

A new 3D platformer from the creator of Sonic the Hedgehog? Count us in! [Checks reviews ...] Er, on second thought, maybe not. It's one thing to be a retro-styled platformer, which could have its charms, but it's another altogether when the game actually plays like it was made decades ago, which is what critics felt about the creaky Balan Wonderworld. (It also doesn't help that Balan has an odd costume-swapping mechanic, overly simplistic controls, and an incomprehensible story.) The game appears to be a commercial failure, and creator Yuji Naka retired from Square Enix shortly after its inauspicious release.

While the Switch version may have the game's lowest Metascore, Balan Wonderworld scored poorly on every platform, though it did manage to sneak into the yellow range with a 51 on PS5.

Grand Theft Auto Trilogy:

Need further proof that we are now living in the darkest timeline? How about the inclusion of one of the gaming world's most heralded franchises in our list of the year's worst games. Rockstar's remastered compilation of three older Grand Theft Auto titles—2001's Grand Theft Auto III, 2002's Vice City, and 2004's San Andreas, each scoring in the 90s upon their original releases—turned out to be one of 2021's biggest gaming disappointments. The remastered graphics managed to both remove some of the originals' charms and introduce new distractions and inconsistencies, while the compilation was also unexpectedly buggy at launch. The next-gen console versions (on PS5 and XBX) of the trilogy were marginally better than this Switch version, which suffered from even more performance issues, but they were still utterly disappointing.

What do you think of Metacritic's top 10 worst games of 2021? Did you play anything on this list? Comment down below.

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