News

Nokia XR20: Rugged smartphone with 4 years of updates

Launched alongside the budget C30 and a 6310 remake

Published

August 2, 2021

Kenrick Buduan

Fancy a smartphone that could withstand extreme conditions? Well, Nokia now has one — and with guaranteed four years of updates too. The Nokia XR20 is the company’s first rugged smartphone, complete with a host of features.

The design, for a start, is something that you would expect from a rugged smartphone. It’s a bit chunky and for a good reason: the phone is MIL-STD certified, surviving drops from 1.8 meters. The ruggedized casing also helps in shock-proofing the phone. For a peace of mind, the phone also has an IP68 water and dust resistance along with Gorilla Glass Victus on the front.

Now, some people would equate rugged smartphones with outdated specs. This is not the case for the Nokia XR20, as it rocks features on par for the mid-range market.

First up, it has a sizable 6.67-inch IPS FHD+ display with a 20:9 aspect ratio. One unique thing about this display is that it has a maximum brightness of 550 nits, and it can even operate with gloves. It’s also worth mentioning that the front bezels here don’t have any “Nokia” branding at all — a first for the company’s recent smartphone lineup.

The camera on this phone is also par for the course. Up front, there is an 8MP selfie camera located on a centered punch hole. Meanwhile, the rear cameras are made of a main 48MP wide-angle lens and a 13MP ultra-wide-angle lens.

On the performance front, there is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 chipset powering the device. It is a mid-range chipset at its best, and fortunately, it has 5G built-in for future-proofing. By default, it comes with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. It also has plenty of support — four years of security updates, plus three years of major OS updates.

For connectivity, it has a lone USB 3.0 Type-C port with Bluetooth 5.1 built in. There’s even a 3.5 mm headphone jack included into the mix. However, Nokia also integrated dual speakers on this device if listening out loud is your jam. Finally, the device can keep up for two days thanks to its 4,630mAh battery.

The device will retail on August 24 for a price of US$ 549. Buyers can get it in two color configurations: Ultra Blue or Granite Grey.

Nokia C30 and 6310: budget and nostalgic pairs

Aside from the rugged XR20, the company also announced two new devices — the Nokia C30 and 6310. The former is a budget device that adds to the fledgling Nokia C-series line-up. It has a big 6.82 HD+ display, complete with a V-notch housing the 5MP selfie camera. The back houses the two rear cameras with a 13 MP wide-angle lens and a 2 MP depth sensor. Nokia is using an Unisoc processor here, along with the trimmed-down Android 11 Go. Furthermore, it comes with a 6,000mAh battery which is humongous for its class.

Image from Nokia

Meanwhile, the Nokia 6310 is revived and modernized 6310 that many people know from the past. Just like you would expect, it features the classic design of the long-gone feature phone but with a twist. It has a curved 2.8-inch display, a rear-facing 0.3MP camera, and Series 30+ OS. Strangely enough, there is Bluetooth 5.0 here yet 4G is nowhere to be found.

Image from Nokia

The Nokia C30 will retail for EUR 99 while the 6310 will go for EUR 40.

Via: GSMArena.com (1) (2)

Enterprise

TikTok finally gets a buyer in the United States

The deal targets a closing date in late January.

Published

December 19, 2025

Luigi Leonardo

The year started with a ban. A day before Donald Trump started his second term, TikTok went dark, in anticipation of an impending ban. The platform quickly went back online, leading to an ultimatum that saw TikTok hunt for an American buyer to full stave off a definitive ban in the United States. Now, as the year ends, a buyer is finally here.

Via CNBC, TikTok has reportedly inked a deal to finalize a deal in the United States, as stated in an internal memo from CEO Shou Zi Chew. The memo, which was sent just this week, details a plan that will see the deal close by January 26, 2026.

Fifty percent of TikTok’s newly restructured U.S. arm will be held by a collection of American investors including Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX. Meanwhile, already existing investors of TikTok will hold 30.1 percent. Finally, ByteDance will retain 19.9 percent.

Additionally, TikTok’s algorithm in the United States will be retrained with American data. The American arm will also handle the country’s “data protection, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurance.” Oracle will be the “trusted security partner” in charge of making sure the company keeps within regulations in the country.

With a deal pushing through, the long-running TikTok saga in the United States might finally come to a close.

Gaming

Silksong is getting its first major expansion next year

The expansion is called Sea of Sorrow.

Published

December 16, 2025

Luigi Leonardo

I still can’t believe that Hollow Knight: Silksong came out this year. After years of just waiting for the mythical title, it’s surreal to have it in my library. Now, barely waiting to catch their breath, Team Cherry is already working hard towards the next content drop, starting with Silksong DLC.

Just like the original Hollow Knight, Silksong is getting free DLCs to expand its story. The upcoming Sea of Sorrow DLC will be the game’s “first big expansion.”

The expansion’s trailer barely shows anything about the new content, besides vague allusions to what’s coming. At the very least, Team Cherry has confirmed, both via the announcement and the accompanying poster, that Sea of Sorrow will be nautical-themed.

It will feature new locations, new tools, and new enemies. By itself, Silksong is already a huge game. Adding more content then is a massive undertaking. Plus, Team Cherry says that this is just the first expansion, hinting at more coming in the future.

Sea of Sorrow will launch in 2026.

Besides the new expansion, the studio is also working on a Nintendo Switch 2 update for the original Hollow Knight. It will add higher framerates, resolutions, and more graphical effects. PC players will also get some upgrades to support larger screens.

The Switch 2 update, which will be free for those who already own the original game, will also launch next year.

Entertainment

Supergirl gets its first teaser trailer

Milly Alcock stars as the titular character.

Published

December 12, 2025

Luigi Leonardo

Before the new year starts, it’s already fair to assume that Supergirl might be one of the most anticipated movies of 2026. Premiering a year after the globally successful Superman, Supergirl will see the adventures of Clark Kent’s superpowered cousin, Kara Zor-El. Now, the next film in the sage finally has a teaser trailer.

As James Gunn mentioned previously, Supergirl will be based on Tom King’s Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. Off traveling to other planets to party, Kara finds herself thrust back into the role of being a hero after a young girl named Ruthye Mary Knoll asks her for help.

Though the teaser trailer is mostly a montage of scenes, we already know what we can expect. According to Gunn, Supergirl will be tonally different from Superman, and we see this in the trailer.

However, we can still see influences from Gunn including the usage of “Call Me” by Blondie for the trailer. Also, the film’s space scenes look like they can fit right in with Guardians of the Galaxy.

Still, that’s what we have, and we’re excited. Supergirl will premiere on June 26, 2026.

The film will be directed by Craig Gillespie (Cruella). Milly Alcock plays the titular character. Meanwhile, she will star alongside Eve Ridley as Ruthye Mary Knoll.