News

Huawei P20 Lite becomes official in Europe, named Nova 3E in China

Launches before the flagship P20 phones

Published

March 21, 2018

Marvin Velasco

After seeing that early — and we mean early — unboxing the other day, it was only a matter of time before Huawei’s P20 Lite became official. It finally came, and we have all the features and pricing you need to know.

In case you’re wondering: No, the P20 and P20 Pro haven’t been launched yet — those are coming on March 27. What we have here is the Lite variant with a similar design, yet positioned in the midrange segment.

After all the leaks we’ve seen recently, there aren’t that many surprises. The 5.84-inch 1080p IPS LCD is still in place with a 19:9 aspect ratio and noticeable notch on top to hold the selfie camera and earpiece. On the back is another sheet of glass that’s bound by the sturdy metal frame.

This being a midrange device, there’s a homemade Kirin 659 chipset inside, which is the same one found in the highly popular Nova 2i from last year. It’s coupled with 4GB of memory and 64GB of expandable storage through a microSD card.

The dual-camera setup at the back — housing a 16-megapixel sensor and another 2-megapixel unit — is expected to offer the usual bokeh-rich photos we’ve grown accustomed to, while the 16-megapixel front-facing shooter will handle high-resolution selfies and face scanning (although there’s a fingerprint sensor at the back as an alternative).

As for the battery, it has an adequate 3000mAh capacity, but you’ll be happy to know that there’s fast charging on board and enough space for the 3.5mm audio port. As expected, Android 8.0 Oreo is available out of the box and is skinned by Huawei’s own EMUI 8.0 interface.

At the moment, the available colors are black, pink, blue, and gold. The P20 Lite will retail in Europe for EUR 369 (US$ 450) and will experience a gradual rollout throughout the continent.

Not to be outdone, China will have their own version, and it’s slightly better and more affordable.

Their model is called the Huawei Nova 3E, which looks identical to the P20 Lite, but comes with an additional 128GB storage variant and a more impressive 24-megapixel front camera. It can be bought for CNY 1,999 (US$ 315) for 64GB of storage or CNY 2,199 (US$ 350) for 128GB of storage — both have the same amount of memory at 4GB.

Apps

Netflix expands its cheaper ad-supported tier to Southeast Asia

This also includes more countries in Europe and South America.

Published

May 15, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

If you don’t care about seeing a deluge of ads on your platforms, you’re an incredibly rare breed these days. That same skill will come in handy for those nicely priced subscription tiers that comes with ads. Netflix, for one, has one of those tiers, and it’s now coming out in more countries.

As is prevalent in other platforms today, an ad-supported subscription tier lowers the price you have to pay every month. The catch, however, is that there will be an occasional sprinkling of ads here and there.

Netflix offers this service, which allows subscribers to get the service for cheap at the expense of their time. Currently, it is limited to only a few major markets in the world. However, the platform is expanding the tier’s reach to more countries in Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia.

Starting in 2027, Netflix’s ad-supported tier will expand to 15 countries: Austria, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Indonesia, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Thailand.

Netflix says that the ad-supported tier is a popular option for subscribers. Currently, the tier has around 250 million subscribers worldwide. Since some of the new countries have a more budget-conscious attitude when it comes to purchasing services, this number will likely go up after the expansion in 2027.

Apps

Google might limit free storage to only 5GB

The change will affect new users.

Published

May 15, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Google One is a monthly subscription that gives you at least 200GB of cloud storage for your files and photos. For most people, a Google One subscription starts when Google inevitably tells them that their free storage space is running out and will soon stop backing up files. Starting today, new users might get that warning sooner rather than later as Google tests a lower limit to free storage.

Historically, Google offers users 15GB of free storage as a start. However, especially these days, 15GB can run out rapidly, prompting a Google One upgrade. Still, despite how “little” it is, Google’s free storage is generous compared to its contemporaries.

Now, Google is reportedly going to be more at par with the rest. As spotted on Reddit (via 9to5Google), new users will receive only 5GB of free storage. Based on Wayback Machine, the company changed its policy sometime between February to March.

Notably, 15GB is still available as an option, but users have to link their phone numbers to their accounts first.

According to Google, the policy change is meant to encourage users to upgrade their security. However, critics will point out that it just enables the company to collect more data about their users. Of note, the platform is already pushy about linking phone numbers before the change, but this adds another layer to entice people.

Also, Google confirms that the new policy is only a regional test for now. They have not announced when (or if) the change comes out for real.

Gaming

The Steam Controller literally screams when you throw it

Please throw it at padded surfaces only.

Published

May 14, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

We love harmless Easter eggs. Think of Chrome’s jumping dino or Android’s yearly quirk. It’s always fun when a device or app hides a special surprise for those in the know. Today, Valve is keeping the tradition alive by putting a screaming Easter egg in its new Steam Controller.

The first of its trio of new hardware, the Steam Controller converts the iconic layout of the Steam Deck into controller form. Besides offering an accessible controller, it also connects seamlessly to Steam, offering an easy doorway to plug and, literally, play.

Since it launched on May 4, users have already been playing around with their Steam Controllers. Presumably, this also includes a few rage moments that involve throwing the controller over a frustrating game.

If you threw your controller already, you might have heard an interesting surprise. As spotted by users online, the Steam Controller lets out a Wilhelm scream whenever it’s thrown.

For the unaware, the Wilhelm scream is the world’s most iconic scream. If you’ve watched a few movies, there’s a high chance that you’ve heard it before, as it’s often used as a background scream in many, many movies.

Notably, this has a cooldown of approximately one minute, so you can’t spam it over and over again. This also works on padded surfaces, so you don’t need to throw your controller at a hard wall. It’s just one of those nice Easter eggs that add a little spice to a favorite controller.

All that said, please don’t throw your Steam Controller at hard surfaces.