News

vivo X50 series now official, employs Gimbal Camera System

Placing heavy emphasis on camera performance

Published

July 16, 2020

Rodneil Quiteles

vivo’s been pretty quiet since the launch of the vivo NEX 3. Today, the company breaks its silence with the launch of the vivo X50 series. It consists of three phones: the X50, X50 Pro, and X50 Pro+.

The series is putting a strong emphasis on camera performance. Specifically, vivo is touting its Gimbal Camera System and its zoom capabilities. We’ll get to that more later.

The X50 series also promises a futuristic and user-centric design along with flagship grade performance. The company says it’s the first X-series to be released globally, so there’s a lot riding on these devices.

Gimbal Camera System

Gimbals are primarily used for stabilization. By adding what they call the Gimbal Camera System, vivo says they’ve unlocked the capability to take clear photos and videos while in motion. This applies, they claim, even at night.

Here’s how it works: the gimbal module, which was modeled from a full-size professional gimbal, moves in the opposite direction of shaking motion to provide stability. It also widens the rotation angle and anti-shake area — wider than the usual smartphone stabilization methods — to produce super clear images.

There’s a gimbal radar that lets users know when the frame is stable. It appears as an on-screen animated ball that reflects the gimbal’s movement. This works in concert with vivo’s motion-deblur algorithm, customized sensors and continuous focus tracking to improve the clarity even more.

If that seemed like it’s a lot to take in, that’s because it is. For our part, we’re excited how it actually works both in demo and in the real world.

Zoom and other camera features

There’s more to the X50 series than the gimbal camera system. vivo says all three are equipped with the cameras you expect from flagship smartphones. Both the X50 Pro and the X50 Pro+ have a periscope lens that supports up to 60x Hyper Zoom.

The X50 Pro has a quad-camera setup with a single selfie camera. Meanwhile, the X50 Pro+ sports a main camera that has a 1/1.3 inch ISOCELL GN1 sensor. This should result in photos with “breathtaking detail.”

The series also has a super wide-angle lens and a super macro lens, giving you versatility in various shooting situations. There’s also Super Night Mode for low light scenarios, and an Astro Mode for stunning nightscape images whether in a city or open field setting.

Lastly, there’s Portrait Mode. vivo says it’s now more refined thanks to a four-layer masking algorithm that not only separates the subject from the background, it’ll also let you apply separate effects for even better results.

A truly flagship series

All the phones in the X50 series will support 5G connectivity — which seems to be something we should expect from all flagship phones from here on out. The series will also have a high screen refresh rate — a choice between 90Hz/120Hz depending on the model.

Those screens, vivo claims, are now even better. They’re more flexible, slimmer, lighter, but also more durable than anything they’ve ever made before.

The X50 Pro+ is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+X55 processor. The Gimbal Camera System on the rear of the X50 Pro is in the shape of an eye for a unique design element. And lastly, the X50 is the slimmest 5G phone so far measuring at only 7.49mm

Pricing and availability

It will be available over the next three months in the following markets: Asia (specifically India, Indonesia, and more), Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe.

In India, pricing are as follows:

vivo X50 (8GB+128GB): Rs 34,990
vivo X50 (8GB+256GB): INR 37,990
vivo X50 Pro (8GB+256GB): INR49,999

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on June 1, 2020. It has been updated to with our video review, new images and to reflect pricing and availability.

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.