Stadia controllers could become e-waste unless Google releases a Bluetooth update

Google’s Stadia game streaming service Die almost inevitable death early next year. Google will refund players the cost of all purchases of hardware and games. But, for now, Google is also leaving Stadia players with controllers that previously cost $70, but will soon run for less than $20 for a Bluetooth game.

Stadia consoles are specifically designed to connect directly to the Internet, which reduces delays and allows for instant firmware updates and Connections (sometimes painful) to smart TVs. Bluetooth is inside the Stadia console, but it’s only used when Stadia is set up, either with a TV or computer with Chrome browser or a Chromecast Ultra.

The Google Store page for the Stadia console In a footnote it states: “The product contains a Bluetooth Classic radio. The Bluetooth Classic function is not enabled at this time. Bluetooth Classic may be implemented at a later time.” (Bluetooth Classic It is a more traditional version of Bluetooth than modern low-power or network versions.)

This potential date couldn’t be too late for Stadia console fans. Many cite the hand feel of the console and claim it to be their favorite. They would like to see Google open up Bluetooth to make their favorite thing more than just a USB controller and avoid a lot of plastic trash and electrical panels.

“Now if you just enable Bluetooth on the console, we can help the environment by not letting it become e-waste,” Writes Roadrunner571 on one of many console related threads on r / Stadia subreddit. Another wrote: “They made garbage and they owe it to me at least to do their best within reason to prevent millions of perfectly good controllers from filling up the landfills.”

Many have called on Google, if they won’t push the firmware update themselves to unlock the functionality, to open access to the devices themselves, so the community can do it for them. This is often a challenging scenario for large companies that rely on a series of subcontracted manufacturers to produce devices. Some have suggested that full refunds give Google more freedom to ignore the limited functionality of their devices after the shutdown.

You can still connect the Stadia console to a USB port on a smart TV, computer or game console and use it as a console through a standard HID (Human Interface Device) connection. How-To Geek تقارير Reports It works well on PC and Android devices but not great on Xbox or Playstation. At least one GitHub project has been reported Improves the Windows functionality of the Stadia console (as an Xbox console). One daring Stadia fan, Parth Shah, had already gotten together”Stadia WirelessPython hack to make the Stadia console work ‘wireless’: Connected to a phone, then that phone connects to a Windows PC via Wi-Fi, emulating a standard Xbox console.

However, Shah is also active on the Stadia subreddit, Asks To make his creation ancient: “Not having to go through all this trouble would be very amazing. Hopefully [G]oogle is doing something about it.”

There is some precedent for pushing new firmware into old business ideas. Valve, makers of the Steam game store for PC and various related devices, Enabling Bluetooth Low Energy on Steam Controllers right before him steam box And the Steam Link Hardware’s ambitions faded. Valve had another thing in mind for them, which was Steam Link software on other platforms. But Valve has made vapor control devices viable for many other platforms and has prevented them from accessing, at best, e-waste sorting facilities.

E-waste from abandoned devices is an area where Google, along with many other big tech companies, are much more quiet about carbon emissions, water or even food waste. The company’s pledge to createpopularization googleIt states that the company believes that by “incorporating recycling into our designs from the start, things created today can become tomorrow’s resources and enable reuse, repair and recovery.” “

In this case, the circular, in the form of a standard Bluetooth controller, appears to be inside the Stadia controllers. Reuse and refund will be highly appreciated by customers.