Activision has disclosed the budgets of three Call of Duty games, with some reaching impressively high figures ranging from $450 to $700 million. These massive Call of Duty development budgets mark the highest ever seen for the franchise, with Black Ops Cold War at the top.

Leading global transportation companies spanning the makers of passenger vehicles, trucks, robotaxis and autonomous delivery systems are turning to the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX platform and AI to build the future of mobility.NVIDIAs automotive business provides a range of next-generation highly automated and autonomous vehicle (AV) development technologies, including cloud-based AI training, simulation and in-vehicle compute.At the CES trade show in Las Vegas this week, NVIDIAs customers and partners are showcasing their latest mobility innovations built on NVIDIA accelerated computing and AI.Readying Future Vehicle Roadmaps With NVIDIA DRIVE Thor, Built on NVIDIA BlackwellThe NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor system-on-a-chip (SoC), built on the NVIDIA Blackwell architecture, is engineered to handle the transportation industrys most demanding data-intensive workloads, including those involving generative AI, vision language modelsand large language models.DRIVE Ecosystem Partners Transform the Show Floor and Industry at LargeNVIDIA partners are pushing boundaries of automotive innovation with their latest developments and demos, using NVIDIA technologies and accelerated computing to advance everything from sensors, simulation and training to generative AI and teledriving, and include:Delivering 1,000 teraflops of accelerated compute performance, DRIVE Thor is equipped to accelerate inference tasks that are critical for autonomous vehicles to understand and navigate the world around them, such as recognizing pedestrians, adjusting to inclement weather and more.At CES, Aurora, Continental and NVIDIA announced a long-term strategic partnership to deploy driverless trucks at scale, powered by the next-generation NVIDIA DRIVE Thor SoC. NVIDIA DRIVE Thor and DriveOS will be integrated into the Aurora Driver, an SAE level 4 autonomous driving system that Continental plans to mass-manufacture in 2027.Arm, one of NVIDIAs key technology partners, is the compute platform of choice for a number of innovations at CES. The Arm Neoverse V3AE CPU, designed to meet the specific safety and performance demands of automotive, is integrated with DRIVE Thor. This marks the first implementation of Arms next-generation automotive CPU, which combines Arm v9-based technologies with data-center-class single-thread performance, alongside essential safety and security features.Tried and True DRIVE Orin Mainstream Adoption ContinuesNVIDIA DRIVE AGX Orin, the predecessor of DRIVE Thor, continues to be a production-proven advanced driver-assistance system computer widely used in cars today delivering 254 trillion operations per second of accelerated compute to process sensor data for safe, real-time driving decisions.Toyota, the worlds largest automaker, will build its next-generation vehicles on the high-performance, automotive-grade NVIDIA DRIVE Orin SoC, running the safety-certified NVIDIA DriveOS. These vehicles will offer functionally safe advanced driving-assistance capabilities.At the NVIDIA showcase on the fourth floor of the Fontainebleau, Volvo Cars software-defined EX90 and Nuros autonomous driving technology the Nuro Driver platform will be on display, built on NVIDIA DRIVE AGX.Other vehicles powered by NVIDIA DRIVE Orin on display during CES include:Zeekr Mix and Zeekr 001, which feature DRIVE Orin will be on display along with the debut of Zeekrs self-developed ultra-high-performance intelligent driving domain controller that will be built on DRIVE Thor and the NVIDIA Blackwell architecture (LVCC West Hall, booth 5640)Lotus Eletre Carbon (LVCC West Hall, booth 4266 with P3 and 3SS and booth 3500 with HERE)Rivian R1S and Polestar 3 activated with Dolby vehicles on display and demos available by appointment (Park MGM/NoMad Hotel next to Dolby Live)Lucid Air (LVCC West Hall booth 4964 with SoundHound AI)Zeekr MIXRivian R1SNVIDIAs partners will also showcase their automotive solutions built on NVIDIA technologies, including:Arbe: Delivering next-generation, ultra-high-definition radar technology, integrating with NVIDIA DRIVE AGX to revolutionize radar-based free-space mapping with cutting-edge AI capabilities. The integration empowers manufacturers to incorporate radar data effortlessly into their perception systems, enhancing safety applications and autonomous driving. (LVCC, West Hall 7406, Diamond Lot 323)Cerence: Collaborating with NVIDIA to enhance its CaLLM family of language models, including the cloud-based Cerence Automotive Large Language Model, or CaLLM, powered by DRIVE Orin.Foretellix: Integrating NVIDIA Omniverse Sensor RTX APIs into its Foretify AV test management platform, enhancing object-level simulation with physically accurate sensor simulations.Imagry: Building AI-driven, HD-mapless autonomous driving solutions, accelerated by NVIDIA technology, that are designed for both self-driving passenger vehicles and urban buses. (LVCC, West Hall, 5976)Lenovo Vehicle Computing: Previewing (by appointment) its Lenovo AD1, a powerful automotive-grade domain controller built on the NVIDIA DRIVE Thor platform, and tailored for SAE level 4 autonomous driving.Provizio: Showcasing Provizios 5D perception Imaging Radar, accelerated by NVIDIA technology, that delivers unprecedented, scalable, on-the-edge radar perception capabilities, with on-vehicle demonstration rides at CES.Quanta: Demonstrating (by appointment) in-house NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Hyperion cameras running on its electronic control unit powered by DRIVE Orin.SoundHound AI: Showcasing its work with NVIDIA to bring voice generative AI directly to the edge, bringing the intelligence of cloud-based LLMs directly to vehicles. (LVCC, West Hall, 4964)Vay: Offering innovative door-to-door mobility services by combining Vays remote driving capabilities with NVIDIA DRIVE advanced AI and computing power.Zoox: Showcasing its latest robotaxi, which leverages NVIDIA technology, driving autonomously on the streets of Las Vegas and parked in the Zoox booth. (LVCC, West Hall 3316).Safety Is the Way for Autonomous InnovationAt CES, NVIDIA also announced that its DRIVE AGX Hyperion platform has achieved safety certifications from TV SD and TV Rheinland, setting new standards for autonomous vehicle safety and innovation.To enhance safety measures, NVIDIA also launched the DRIVE AI Systems Inspection Lab, designed to help partners meet rigorous autonomous vehicle safety and cybersecurity requirements.In addition, complementing its three computers designed to accelerate AV development NVIDIA AGX, NVIDIA Omniverse running on OVX and NVIDIA DGX NVIDIA has introduced the NVIDIA Cosmos platform. Cosmos world foundation models and advanced data processing pipelines can dramatically scale generated data and speed up physical AI system development. With the platforms data flywheel capability, developers can effectively transform thousands of real-world driven miles into billions of virtual miles.Transportation leaders using Cosmos to build physical AI for AVs include Fortellix, Uber, Waabi and Wayve.Learn more about NVIDIAs latest automotive news by watching NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huangs opening keynote at CES.See notice regarding software product information.

A new NVIDIA DRIVE AI Systems Inspection Lab will help automotive ecosystem partners navigate evolving industry standards for autonomous vehicle safety.The lab, launched today, will focus on inspecting and verifying that automotive partner software and systems on the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX platform meet the automotive industrys stringent safety and cybersecurity standards, including AI functional safety.The lab has been accredited by the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) according to the ISO/IEC 17020 assessment for standards, including:Functional safety (ISO 26262)SOTIF (ISO 21448)Cybersecurity (ISO 21434)UN-R regulations, including UN-R 79, UN-R 13-H, UN-R 152, UN-R 155, UN-R 157 and UN-R 171AI functional safety (ISO PAS 8800 and ISO/IEC TR 5469)The launch of this new lab will help partners in the global automotive ecosystem create safe, reliable autonomous driving technology, said Ali Kani, vice president of automotive at NVIDIA. With accreditation by ANAB, the lab will carry out an inspection plan that combines functional safety, cybersecurity and AI bolstering adherence to the industrys safety standards.ANAB is proud to be the accreditation body for the NVIDIA DRIVE AI Systems Inspection Lab, said R. Douglas Leonard Jr., executive director of ANAB. NVIDIAs comprehensive evaluation verifies the demonstration of competence and compliance with internationally recognized standards, helping ensure that DRIVE ecosystem partners meet the highest benchmarks for functional safety, cybersecurity and AI integration.The new lab builds on NVIDIAs ongoing safety compliance work with Mercedes-Benz and JLR. Inaugural participants in the lab include Continental and Sony SSS-America.We are pleased to participate in the newly launched NVIDIA Drive AI Systems Inspection Lab and to further intensify the fruitful, ongoing collaboration between our two companies, said Nobert Hammerschmidt, head of components business at Continental.Self-driving vehicles have the capability to significantly enhance safety on roads, said Marius Evensen, head of automotive image sensors at Sony SSS-America. We look forward to working with NVIDIAs DRIVE AI Systems Inspection Lab to help us deliver the highest levels of safety to our customers.Compliance with functional safety, SOTIF and cybersecurity is particularly challenging for complex systems such as AI-based autonomous vehicles, said Riccardo Mariani, head of industry safety at NVIDIA. Through the DRIVE AI Systems Inspection Lab, the correctness of the integration of our partners products with DRIVE safety and cybersecurity requirements can be inspected and verified.Now open to all NVIDIA DRIVE AGX platform partners, the lab is expected to expand to include additional automotive and robotics products and add a testing component.Complementing International Automotive Safety StandardsThe NVIDIA DRIVE AI Systems Inspection Lab complements the missions of independent third-party certification bodies, including technical service organizations such as TV SD, TV Rheinland and exida, as well as vehicle certification agencies such as VCA and KBA.Todays announcement dovetails with recent significant safety certifications and assessments of NVIDIA automotive products:TV SD granted the ISO 21434 Cybersecurity Process certification to NVIDIA for its automotive system-on-a-chip, platform and software engineering processes. Upon certification release, the NVIDIA DriveOS 6.0 operating system conforms with ISO 26262 Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) D standards.Meeting cybersecurity process requirements is of fundamental importance in the autonomous vehicle era, said Martin Webhofer, CEO of TV SD Rail GmbH. NVIDIA has successfully established processes, activities and procedures that fulfill the stringent requirements of ISO 21434. Additionally, NVIDIA DriveOS 6.0 conforms to ISO 26262 ASIL D standards, pending final certification activities.TV Rheinland performed an independent United Nations Economic Commission for Europe safety assessment of NVIDIA DRIVE AV related to safety requirements for complex electronic systems.NVIDIA has demonstrated thorough, high-quality, safety-oriented processes and technologies in the context of the assessment of the generic, non-OEM-specific parts of the SAE level 2 NVIDIA DRIVE system, said Dominik Strixner, global lead functional safety automotive mobility at TV Rheinland.To learn more about NVIDIAs work in advancing autonomous driving safety, read the NVIDIA Self-Driving Safety Report.

Monopoly, the classic board game that originated more than 100 years ago as an anti-capitalist critique of wealth inequality, is getting a fresh coat of paint and some interesting new features. Hasbro vice president of board games Brian Baker told Polygon in a recent interview that the goal at Hasbro Games was to make the iconic product more inviting to modern players and that effort started, he said, with the box itself.The new-look Monopoly, heading to retail on July 15, 2025, features a square box instead of the traditional rectangle. Baker said that brings the game into physical alignment with modern, boutique board games that have by and large settled on the square format. It also makes it easy to fit inside a Kallax shelving unit, the de facto Ikea-made storage unit of choice for tabletop fans.When we think about the player experience, Baker said, its not just about the rules. It is literally from the moment they take the game off their shelf assuming that the game still fits on their shelf. He also highlighted the revised look of the games currency and the shape of the deed, Community Chest, and Chance cards inside the box, which once again can be differentiated by their profiles alone. Theres even a sturdy plastic organizer so that all of the game components have their own little nooks or crannies to occupy on the table and inside the box.[It] makes it easy to set up, Baker said, and then everything goes back into its place and [gets] put away. Thats the experience we want to consider, start to finish.Once out of the box, Baker said the next thing to notice about the new game is the size of its components. The metal movers, including a new moneybag standing in for the classic battleship, are roughly 20% bigger than the originals. The houses and hotels are embiggened as well. But why spend the money on tooling and casting all these new pieces? Well, Baker said its for the same reason restaurants spend so much money on their cutlery.We just felt like they didnt hold enough value [when they were so small], Baker said. This is the worlds most popular board game, and this is one of the most important components in the box. We need to do that justice by making sure that [] when you hold one of those tokens in your hand, that it holds the value.Perhaps the biggest change to the Monopoly product lineup, however, is that there is a lineup and not just a single SKU. Thats right, this time out the classic real-estate trading game is getting a series of expansions, all of which are designed to speed up the process of playing the game.Monopoly Free Parking Jackpot Expansion, Baker said, riffs on the traditional house rule that hands out the games Luxury Tax as a kind of grand prize. It adds a spinner to the board, granting players a chance to let it ride without adding money back into the in-game economy and slowing down the game.Meanwhile, Monopoly Go to Jail Expansion, Baker said, removes some of the sting of being sent to the hoosegow by adding corruption cards that are only available to convicted felons. Monopoly Buy Everything Expansion puts literally everything including the bank itself up for sale.We dont necessarily need to sell more Monopolys, Baker said. Most people already own Monopoly. What theyre looking for is a reason to play it again.Expect Monopoly, with its new storage tray and larger components, at Amazon, Target, and Walmart later this year. Pre-orders are available now.

Sony seems determined to turn every PlayStation game in its library into a movie or TV show and it has continued that push by announcing that its developing live-action movies based on Horizon Zero Dawn and Helldivers 2.The news was shared by PlayStation Productions head Asad Qizilbash during Sonys press conference at CES in Las Vegas late Monday. Both films are early in development and have no talent attached yet at least not that Sony was willing to divulge.Last years surprise smash hit Helldivers 2 is an online co-op shooter in which players assume the role of armored space commandos fighting hordes of bugs and robots. Any movie adaptation will have to contend with the huge and obvious debt its setting owes to Paul Verhoevens satirical action masterpiece from 1997, Starship Troopers. Qizilbash said that PlayStation Productions was working with Sony Pictures on the adaptation.Horizon Zero Dawn, the open-world adventure game in which post-apocalyptic tribal hunter Aloy fights giant robot animals, sounds like its intended to be a major movie project. Qizilbash said PlayStation Productions was developing the film with Columbia Pictures Sony Pictures flagship movie brand, which has already released movies based on Gran Turismo and Uncharted. Just imagine Aloys beloved origin story, set in a vibrant far-future world filled with the giant machines, brought to you for the first time on the big screen, Qizilbash teased.PlayStation Productions was formed in 2019 with the intention of turning Sonys game franchises into movies and TV shows, and its been pretty busy. As well as Gran Turismo and Uncharted, it has produced TV shows based on Twisted Metal and The Last of Us; the second season of the latter will premiere on HBO in April. A God of War show is being developed for Amazon Prime Video by Ronald D. Moore, Ghost of Tsushima has both a live-action movie and an anime spinoff in the works, there are reportedly Gravity Rush and Days Gone movies in development, and an Until Dawn movie will hit theaters in April.

Civilization 7, one of the most highly anticipated games of 2025, will include a slew of significant changes, perhaps most notably the new Ages mechanic. A game of Civ 7 will span three different Ages Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern but players will maintain the same leader throughout. In 2024, Polygon had a hands-on preview of the game at Gamescom as well as the opportunity to talk to some of the team at Firaxis Games, such as executive producer Dennis Shirk. According to Shirk, Civ 7 creative director Ed Beach didnt want to make a Civ 6.5; he wanted to do something that would make our fans have to start over. The old strategies arent gonna work. They have to open up and look at it with fresh eyes to understand how to play this game.Now, we have an interview with Ed Beach about those decisions, as well as how the process of designing Civilization games has changed over the years. A lot has changed since Civ 6 came out in 2016, and Civ 7 is going to be a whole new experience. Polygon: How do you choose the civs? And the leaders? Has that process changed over the years?Ed Beach: As the Civ franchise has grown over the years, so too has the process of selecting which civs and leaders to include in the game.Early on, if a designer thought a civ could be fun or interesting to play as, that might have been enough to add them. However, as the Civ community has grown and more players from around the world become Civ fans, we have both the desire and opportunity to be more thoughtful about who gets represented on the world stage.Generally, civs and leaders are selected when they have the right combination of a few things: their prominence in history, how well they represent our playerbase, and the gameplay opportunities they offer.For Civilization VII, this process has evolved further. Civs and leaders can now be selected separately from each other, and your choice of civ no longer persists across the entire game but instead is tied to a specific Age.For leaders, being able to select them independently means that we can actually explore figures from history beyond traditional heads-of-states. We still have kings and queens and emperors, but we now have renowned figures such as Harriet Tubman or Machiavelli, neither of whom led a nation but both left lasting impacts in history.For civs, because they are tied to specific Ages, were able to dig deeper into historical time periods and select empires that may not be as well-known overall but were incredibly important and powerful during these periods in history. And with multiple Ages, were even able to represent the evolution of some empires such as India, from Maurya to Chola to Mughal.What is the research process like when integrating new civs? Are there cultural consultants and/or historian teams you work with to ensure the information is accurate?The research process for integrating civs is a lot of fun and a good amount of work. Many developers at Firaxis Games are as you might guess naturally interested in history, and we do our best to authentically represent cultures, whether its the language they speak, to the clothing they wear, and more.During the development of Civilization VII, we had two resident historians at Firaxis Games one specializing in East Asian history and the other specializing in Scandinavian and Medieval Studies. Both were essential in not just helping us represent cultures with care, but also crafting the Age experience and figuring out which civilizations were good candidates to explore.As some might be aware, we also did directly consult with the Shawnee for their inclusion in Civilization VII. Its been a really wonderful partnership.In terms of researching these civs, have you discovered anything unexpected about any of them that proved to be challenging to adapt?We have always had huge problems representing cultures without any written records. Weve always wanted to include an early North American native culture such as the Mississippians, but never had any idea how to create a leader for such a civilization that left no documentation on specific people. Thankfully, our new Civ VII approach to loosely couple leaders with civs has solved that problem. Now any leader can be paired with the Mississippians, though other indigenous North American leaders such as Tecumseh and Pachacuti are especially recommended.Are there civilizations/leaders/time periods youve always wanted to include but havent had the chance yet or perhaps havent because they would be too difficult to adapt?Because of the original structure of Civ, where you play as the same civilization from start to finish, weve always had a creative challenge of trying to figure out which version of an empire to choose as representative throughout all of history. This gets further complicated when you have civilizations who werent around in 4000 BC, such as America.This is what Ages helps us solve by splitting history into distinct playable chapters and making each Age rooted in particular parts of history, we can select civilizations that exist during the Age and show how empires rise, fall, grow and evolve. A civilization such as Songhai, who may not be as well-known in popular culture today, was enormously influential during its time and fits perfectly for the Exploration Age as a representative then from West Africa.Did the team ever consider the reverse of what they settled on with the new leader mechanic change? (This would entail playing as multiple leaders but with the same civilization.)We did consider this approach, but quickly ran into a few issues. If we were to have different leaders across Ages but you keep the same civilization, we would be limiting ourselves to only selecting civs who have clear representation across all three Ages like China or India. If you were to select America, for example, which leader would lead America in 4000 BC? Or the Inca today?Were also conscious that with so many things changing from Age to Age, its important for you to have a cohesive experience. Weve found that most players understanding of what goes on in a game of Civ tends to focus on the leaders Gilgamesh was your friend, as opposed to the Sumerians. Having the leader stay the same across Ages lets you develop a narrative about your opponents since they remain constant.Will there be any mechanics tied to ideology? Or will that be relegated to civics like in Civ 6?Yes! We recently revealed in our Modern Age livestream that Ideologies play a critical role during that Age. Essentially, after you study the Political Theory civic, you can choose an ideology to pursue which youll be locked into for the rest of the game. This has a major impact on how diplomatic relationships with other leaders proceed; shared ideologies strengthen alliances, while conflicting ones create friction. Ideology also plays a big role in the Modern Ages Military legacy path, one of the routes you can pursue to unlock the final victory conditions for the game.Since the launch of Civ 6, weve seen a pair of games attempt to challenge that 4X mantle (Humanity and Millennia). Is there anything specific the Civ team may have learned from those titles, or perhaps from other titles over the years that have taken inspiration from Civ?Its been very interesting to see how other games in the 4X space tackle some of the same questions we look at, and see how players react to their solutions. For Civilization VII, we have the unique benefit of having a very long history of games within our own franchise, and thus our efforts in Civilization VII are really focused on finding ways we can improve on some of the weaknesses we identified with our own titles. Hopefully, we create another Civ game that can stand the test of time.Is there anything you wish someone would ask about, but no one ever does?I think maybe the question Whats the regular part of your work week that is the most fun while developing a Civ game? And Id have to answer with our Tuesday afternoon multiplayer sessions. Weve been holding those regularly throughout the project and with our new Ages system, multiplayer matches can be wrapped up within a 2-3 hour period. Thats made these sessions even more interesting as you can imagine!Civilization 7 will be released on Feb. 11 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Windows PC .

When it comes down between choosing a seat thats hard and a seat thats cushioned, the answer is pretty obvious lifes too hard to sit on something thats just as hard. Oftentimes though, we dont have that choice, but with the Slim collection by Madrid-based interior and product design studio Stone Designs for Bln, we can defer uncomfortable seating to another day. Designed to function as an individual cushion or attached to different bases, Slim makes uncomfortable seats a thing of the past.Slim is made out of Flexyskin, Blns proprietary technology that uses plant waste to create soft, plush polyurethane foam. Certified by REDcert, this innovative material is eco-friendly, recyclable, and energy-efficient in manufacturing. Slims most basic form is a simple, ergonomic seat that can be used wherever a cushion would be appropriate, such as bleachers, benches, or hard ground. Because of the lightweight material, Slim is effortlessly portable.For spaces that need more of an installation, Slim can be modularly configured and attached to various bases: a stool, a two-seater bench, a two-seater bench with a table surface attached at seat level, a two-seater with an elevated table surface, a three-seater bench, and a three-seater curved bench. These structures are ideal in public settings like waiting rooms, auditoriums, and work lounges. With 14 colors available, Slim can be customized in a monochromatic version or multi-colored mosaics.The beauty of Slim is in its minimalist design, which embraces the essence of simplicity while offering maximum versatility. Using only a small number of structural elements and a single Flexyskin mold, Slim enables endless customization. Its a testament to the power of simplicity, showing that great design doesnt need embellishment to leave a lasting impression. Whether you need just a single seat or a full room of seating, Slim makes it easy to sit in comfort wherever you are.To learn more about the Slim collection by Bln, visit boln.eu.

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Klipsch, a company more known for shelf speakers, towers and soundbars, is adding three more portable speakers to its Music City Party Speaker lineup. The original three speakers are the Austin, Nashville and Detroit models. At CES 2025, Klipsch is adding the Vegas, Miami and New York models.The Vegas is the smallest model among the three and has a single 5.25-inch woofer, while the Miami is larger and has two 5.25-inch woofers for more bass. The New York is the biggest one and has dual eight-inch woofers. Other differences include the Vegas and Miamis pole mounts for easy setup, which the New York doesnt have. However, the New York and Miami have trolley wheels due to their larger size and heavier weight. These wheels make it easier to take the speakers on the road.The new speakers all come with a karaoke microphone, handles for portability and some sound effects like audience cheering and an airhorn, along with RGB lighting for outdoor enjoyment. They also support Bluetooth 5.2 connections and have a Bass Boost mode if you think there isnt enough low end. Additionally, if you have more than one of these speakers, Party Mode can link them up for a more immersive experience.For sound customization, all three speakers work with the Klipsch Connect Plus app. The app supports EQ adjustments, RGB and light pattern changes and more. Klipsch says that the Vegas can last for eight hours of playing, while the Miami can reach 18 hours. The New York, despite being the largest of the trio, has a maximum battery life of 12 hours. Turning the lights on reduces battery life.All three speakers will be available in Spring 2025. The Vegas will cost $299, the Miami goes for $549 and the New York can be yours for $699. You may pre-order them starting January 7, 2025.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/speakers/klipsch-introduces-the-newest-music-city-party-karaoke-focused-speakers-140018483.html?src=rss

Netgear just announced a new Wi-Fi 7 mesh router system called the Orbi 870, joining the pre-existing 970 and 770. The company says that the latest system offers the perfect balance of performance, coverage, and security. To that end, the Orbi 870 offers tri-band speeds up to 21Gbps and all kinds of modern bells and whistles. These include enhancements like support for the latest 320MHz bandwidth and 4K QAM, which squeezes more data into traditional transmissions. This looks to be a fairly future-proof router system. Netgear also touts the reliability of this device, thanks to an enhanced backhaul that combines 5GHz and 6GHz into a single band. Of course, there are plenty of wired connectivity options here. Theres a 10 gigabit internet port and four 2.5Gbps Ethernet ports on the router. Additionally, each satellite includes four Ethernet ports. Netgear Like most Netgear mesh systems, adjustments can be made via the Orbi app. This lets users pause the internet, run speed tests, track usage and set up separate networks for guests. This app also allows access to parental controls. The Netgear Orbi 870 system is available in black or white. A three-pack that includes the router and two satellites costs $1,300, while a two-pack costs $1,000. Additional satellites can be purchased for $550 each. This is expensive, to be sure, but an actual bargain when compared to the slightly higher-end Orbi 970 system. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/netgears-orbi-870-mesh-router-system-is-a-great-way-to-join-the-wi-fi-7-bandwagon-133031270.html?src=rss