This week, new gaming laptops from Dell, robot lawn mowers from Husqvarna, MLB The Show 21 debuts on Xbox, and Outriders pushes players into combat. But first, LG is exiting the smartphone business.

LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

LG revealed on Monday that it’s closing its mobile phone business.

In a release, the South Korean tech company said the move would enable it to “focus resources in growth areas such as electric vehicle components, connected devices, smart homes, robotics, artificial intelligence and business-to-business solutions, as well as platforms and services.”

The company will honour all warranties and support Android upgrades through Android OS 12, and security and software updates for “at least” two years.

In 2013, LG was only behind Apple and Samsung, Reuters reported.

Dell’s updating its gaming laptops, including a new look Alienware

Today, Dell unveiled two new gaming laptops that are both built with AMD Ryzen processors and Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 30-series graphics cards.

The Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 is a 15-inch delight that has more going on than the new paint job (although it’s a nice paint job). The new m15 sports a new cooling technology to keep the system running smooth, and it’s available with an optional mechanical keyboard.

Specific Canadian pricing is not yet known, but the laptop will likely start around $2,400 CAN. It becomes available here on May 4.

The Dell G15 Ryzen Edition is inspired by the Alienware cousin, but with a few changes to keep the price down a bit (expect it to be about $1,200 CAN). It also ships to Canada on May 4.

Dell’s also releasing four new gaming monitors with fast refresh rates, support for variable refresh rate (VRR) output, and ranging in size from 25- to 34-inches. The Dell 34 curved gaming monitor is a stunner.

Let a robot mow your lawn this summer

We’ve got robots vacuuming and mopping our floors, and now you can have a robot mow your lawn.

Power tools manufacturer Husqvarna has seven different models of residential automowers that are capable of covering more than an acre of turf.

And with the Husqvarna Connect app for iPhones, you can start your robot mower, adjust settings, and park it when it’s all done.

MLB The Show 21 will be playable on Xbox consoles for the first time ever

The singular baseball simulation is coming to Xbox for the first time.

MLB The Show 21, which releases on April 20, will be available on PS4 and PS5, as well as Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S as part of the Xbox Game Pass.

The franchise, which is developed by San Diego Studio, a Sony subsidiary, has been exclusive to the Playstation platform since the first games in 1997. San Diego Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr is the cover athlete this year.

MLB The Show 21 will also support cross-platform play and progress, so Playstation gamers can play against Xbox owners, and if you’ve got both systems you can pick up on either system at any time.

Outriders forces players into the combat they love

Outriders, a new third-person shooter published by Square Enix, has the makings of something interesting.

It was developed by People Can Fly and the game shows the influence of earlier titles including Bulletstorm and Gears of War: Judgment.

Outriders is a mission- and arena-based game, where your particular Outrider goes into a combat situation that is always against-all-odds. You can set the difficulty of the missions before you start and you’re rewarded with better rewards for taking greater risks.

You can play solo or in three-person squads that you can form with friends or with matchmaking. Outriders is available for PS4, PS5, Stadia, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S and it supports cross-platform play.

There are four classes to choose from and you have control over the gender and appearance of your Outrider, and while outwardly the game looks like it’s designed for cover as is Gears of War, that’s not really how you’re meant to play.

Whether you’re playing a Devastator, a Pyromancer, a Technomancer, or a Trickster, your health regenerates when you damage and kill enemies. It’s a mechanic that forces players to be aggressive, which is exactly the kind of rambunctious chaos the People Can Fly want in its game.

Unfortunately, the surrounding elements of the game, from the excruciating long and pedantic cut scenes to the stuttering character movement to the banal characters and narrative, sink the experience.

Some may find the arena battles with friends to be fun for a time, but there’s not really enough in Outriders to make it last.