Posts Tagged: well

Motorola’s new Moto G Power (2023) gains 5G as well as much-needed performance and display upgrades

This week would appear to be Motorola week because after launching its new Edge 40 Pro flagship in Europe the smartphone brand has just announced the 2023 edition of its popular Moto G Power. And unlike the last version, this year’s model includes all the upgrades you need and want, including more power, an improved […]

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Google Hangouts is well and truly dead

Google has laid Hangouts to rest, a couple of years after it first announced that it was going to push people to use Chat, its Slack-like app, instead. After allowing users to move to Chat on their own in 2021, Google phased out the Hangouts Chat app for Android and iOS in July. Users were shown a prompt telling them that “Hangouts has been replaced by Google Chat” and to switch to either the standalone Chat app or the Chat experience within Gmail. As TechCrunch notes, the last version of the messaging service, Hangouts for the web, is now also going away for good.

When users access the Hangouts website, they might see a message that says: “Starting November 1, 2022, Hangouts on the web will redirect to Chat on Web. We recommend moving to Chat now.” We can still access the website without being automatically redirected, but there’s a link to Google Chat that we can click to load the new messaging experience. The website might completely disappear in the coming days. 

Chat used to be one of Google’s business offerings before the company switched up its messaging strategy and made it available to everyone. The company says Chat “opens up new and better ways” to collaborate with features that weren’t available on Hangouts. Users can edit Docs, Slides or Sheets side-by-side within Chat. Teams at work or groups of friends can also work on documents and manage tasks using Spaces, which is a dedicated place they can use for topic-based collaboration. And since Gmail features Chat integration, people can easily access conversations without having to open the Chat website. 

Google previously said that those who want to keep a copy of their Hangouts data will have to use its Takeout tool before the service is gone for good. We still see Hangouts on Takeout, so those who want to do some last-minute data-saving may want to do so now while it’s still possible.

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Guerrilla Games explains why ‘Horizon Forbidden West’ works well on the PS4

Guerrilla Games set itself up with an unusual challenge when developing Horizon Forbidden West, which comes out on Friday, February 18th. According to the game’s director and technical director, Guerrilla was well aware of the PS5 and much of its capabilities when it started working on Forbidden West in 2018. But, the company also planned to make the game work on the PS4, a console that turns nine years old this fall.

It’s not unusual for games to be released on both consoles, but Forbidden West is notable for being a particularly massive and detailed game, perhaps the most advanced title yet to come out on the PS5. In a conversation with Engadget, game director Mathijs de Jonge and technical director Michiel van der Leeuw discussed Guerrilla’s process for making sure that the game worked for the PS4 while simultaneously showing off everything the PS5 is capable of.

“We knew it was going to be tricky making something that would make the PlayStation 5 shine, but also be really rewarding for people who have PlayStation 4,” said van der Leeuw. “So we're very happy that we knew about the PS5’s capabilities very early on, because that meant we could plan for how we're going to make this distinction.”

The most immediately obvious difference between the two versions is visual fidelity, with the PS5 targeting 4K resolution (reduced to a checkerboard-upscaled 1800p when running in 60 fps “performance” mode). “From the start, we targeted having higher-fidelity characters, high-fidelity environments, higher-fidelity vegetation, everything, just for the PS5,” van der Leeuw said. “So you'll just see different models for the PS4 version, but with the same sort of atmosphere throughout the game.”

The realities of play-testing during a worldwide pandemic actually provided Guerrilla plenty of opportunities to get feedback on the PS4 experience. “It was really difficult for us, the pandemic just hit us while we're in peak production,” van der Leeuw added. But Guerrilla was able to use Sony’s PlayStation Now game streaming technology to send early builds of the game to PS4 play testers. “Because of the pandemic, we had to switch to remote play testing,” said de Jonge. Sony would have done that with the PS5, but it wasn’t possible to have people into their offices during the pandemic.

The upshot of this was that Guerrilla had to make sure the PS4 version was getting plenty of attention throughout the development process. “It was a big advantage, in a way, that we did have the PlayStation 4,” de Jonge said, “because that meant we really had to get the build in a good state rather than just focusing on the PS5 version.”

Horizon Forbidden West PS5
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While the team was conscious of making things work for the PS4 throughout the game’s development, they also were painstaking about having the PS5 version stand out visually. “We’d look at screenshots for every single thing on-screen, whether it was the grass, the sky, the leaves, the cloth, the hair – everything should have something where if you look at the screenshots, you'd feel like this is definitely the PS5 version,” van der Leeuw said.

While improved fidelity and frame rate were obvious things to expect in the PS5 version, Guerrilla put a lot of thought into how the PS5’s controller could be a differentiator – but it was somewhat of a balancing act getting the experience right. “In our early prototypes, I remember that we set the [adaptive trigger] values relatively high,” de Jonge said, “and I remember that after a few minutes we already felt some fatigue with the triggers. And then we started adding the haptic feedback. And then you have to balance how much haptic you have versus how much pressure you put on the triggers.”

Somewhat surprisingly, the team working on haptics is separate from the team working on the adaptive triggers. “Haptics are handled in our studio by the audio design designers, but the adaptive triggers are handled by our game designers,” de Jonge said. Obviously, no part of game design happens in a vacuum, but he specifically cites the collaboration between those teams as something he was proud of in the development process.

The end result is something that doesn’t scream out to you as a huge update, but a skillfully executed component that helps Horizon Forbidden West shine on the PS5. “I think it was great to see also how we could [use haptics and adaptive triggers] make the different weapons stand out, sort of give them their own character,” de Jonge said. “So it really feels different when you use a slingshot versus when you fire an arrow using a bow.”

Like most games specifically built for the PS5, Horizon Forbidden West loads quickly, thanks to the console’s built-in SSD. With such a massive map to explore, near-instantaneous loading (like when you fast travel) is a huge quality of life improvement. But van de Leeuw said these optimizations are more than just having a fast drive. “You don’t realize how easily games are bottlenecked,” he said. “If you run a PC game on a very fast SSD, it doesn't automatically load in like seven seconds. There's so much work we had to do.”

Horizon Forbidden West PS5
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The end result is a game so quick that the development team had to revamp the tips that appear on loading screens. “In Horizon Zero Dawn, we called it fast travel, but it could take maybe a minute to actually load,” de Jonge said. “With the PS5, it’s maybe four or five seconds, it loads so quickly that players can’t even read the hints.” But from testing, Guerrilla knew that players came to rely on these hints, so they decided to slow things down just a bit. “We had to add a very simple feature where it hangs on the loading screen for enough time so you can actually read at least one hint while it loads.” Of course, people who want to speed through things can just mash X or turn off the pause in settings so that the game loads up as fast as possible.

While Engadget hasn’t tested Horizon Forbidden West on the PS4 yet, early reportsindicate that Guerrilla stuck the landing, building a game that doesn’t feel compromised on the PS4 that still shows off the power of the PS5. “I'm quite happy how it turned out,” said van der Leeuw. “I'm very proud of the PS5 version. But the PS4 version has the same sort of atmosphere, same sort of feel. Of course, it's a generation older, but it holds up, I think, quite well.”

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

These are the winners of Google’s Android search auction in the EU; Bing didn’t fare very well

After taking a hefty fine from the EU, Google was also forced to open up Android’s search engine and include other options for users to pick from. They went about it in a very weird way by offering up a paid auction, but regardless, those results are in. Here’s what users in other countries will […]

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Nike’s self-lacing Adapt BB shoes aren’t playing well with Android phones

How do you know you're living in the future? When your shoes have technical problems. Owners on Google Play and CNET report that Nike's Android companion app for the self-lacing Adapt BB has some teething troubles, most notably a buggy firmware updat…
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OkCupid’s ‘real’ name push isn’t sitting well with users

OkCupid is facing a lot of backlash for ditching usernames in favor of real names. As TechCrunch noted, its app's Google Play and App Store pages are flooded with one-star reviews posted over the past month, complaining about the features the service…
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The new Fi Fit Quiz tells you if Project Fi is, well, a fit

You’re not going to choose a wireless plan in the blink of an eye, but you can easily educate yourself on whether or not a particular carrier offers what you want. It’s possible one of the carriers you consider will be Project Fi. To help you know about its sole wireless plan, Google has created […]

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Today we carry technology. Tomorrow we’ll wear it

No longer just a means for protecting us from the elements, tomorrow’s clothing will be stronger, lighter, more comfortable, custom fitted to us, and even smart enough to interact with our gadgets.

The post Today we carry technology. Tomorrow we’ll wear it appeared first on Digital Trends.

Wearables–Digital Trends

London’s first-ever naked restaurant strips away the tech as well as the clothes

Dining at London’s first-ever naked restaurant means casting aside not only your clothes, but your smartphone, too. The new eatery is keen for diners to get back to basics and to have a night out “without impurities.” So make sure you scrub up before you go.

The post London’s first-ever naked restaurant strips away the tech as well as the clothes appeared first on Digital Trends.

Cool Tech–Digital Trends

PlayStation sells well (again), but mobile is hurting Sony

Sony made money. Again! The company saw in tiny increase (0.5%) in sales compared to the same quarter last to 2,581 billion yen (or $ 21.5 billion), but income now stands at $ 1.69 billion. This quarter's financial results was yet more balancing (and c…
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As tech’s biggest names descend on Berlin for IFA 2015, here’s what we’ll see

IFA, the biggest tech show in Europe is about to kickoff in Berlin, Germany. Here’s everything we expect to see at the show from Samsung, Sony, LG, Asus, Microsoft, Intel, and more. TVs, phones, wearables, and the smartphone will power the show.

The post As tech’s biggest names descend on Berlin for IFA 2015, here’s what we’ll see appeared first on Digital Trends.

Android Army»Digital Trends

Samsung seems to be all smiles as the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge Plus sell well in South Korea

With the company needing a home run with its recently launched Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge smartphones, Samsung is probably happy to learn that 25,000 units a day, combined, are being sold in the company’s home country of South Korea.

The post Samsung seems to be all smiles as the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge Plus sell well in South Korea appeared first on Digital Trends.

Mobile»Digital Trends