Category Archives: Blog

Even if you have a very capable smartphone and a nice laptop, tablets are still a worthwhile hunk of tech to add to your arsenal.

The touchscreen that can be carried anywhere makes for a portable studio for creatives, a crucial sidekick for commuters and frequent travelers, and a mini TV for people who aren’t missing the newest episode of Loki just because they’re on vacation.

A simple question kicks off the process of narrowing down your options: Are you an Apple person? Whether that’s yes, no, or an “I have no idea,” the buying guide below lays out the pros and cons of the main picks from Apple, Amazon, Samsung, and Microsoft.

Are refurbished tablets worth buying?

Taking a refurbished device off the market is a great way to save money — and save that device from going where e-waste goes to die. Refurbished or renewed tablets are often next to impossible to tell apart from a brand new one. Cosmetic dings are a possibility (the retailer will mention this) but unless stated otherwise, the devices have been reworked and tested to run like new. iPads are probably the easiest tablet to find refurbished, both at Amazon and Apple’s website.

What about a tablet for you kid?

Most tablets made specifically for kids will already be equipped with built-in parental accounts, timers, and pre-selected websites or apps that are strictly for kids.

General-purpose tablets aren’t a bad choice, either — many sites name the iPad as one of the best tablets for kids even though it’s an everyone tablet. These won’t have any parental guardrails baked in, so you’ll need to get creative if you’d rather your kid not have unlimited access to the internet. Apple and Android have features that can filter or block content and prevent purchases, but the closest thing you’ll be able to get to close monitoring is by installing parental control software. Such monitoring features are easy to toggle off or uninstall as your kid gets older or if the family is sharing the device. In the latter case, Osmo is a neat snap-on kit that connects to iPads and Fire tablets for augmented reality-ish learning exercises and games. When your kid moves a physical piece in real life, the same piece moves on the screen.

Here are the best tablets you can buy in 2021:

For those who might have missed it, Activision Blizzard is the video game industry’s latest out-of-control dumpster fire.

The Call of Duty and World of Warcraft publisher is the focus of a new lawsuit spearheaded by California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH). It caps off a two-year investigation which found, according to the filing, that female employees — who make up roughly one-fifth of the company’s workforce — operate in a toxic, hostile working environment.

We’ve been here before. Ubisoft and League of Legends publisher Riot Games have both been outed as havens for harmful workplace behavior — including sexual misconduct — in the past. Rockstar Games basically bullied Red Dead Redemption 2 into existence. It’s not only corporate blunders that hurt a game’s reputation. J.K. Rowling’s overt displays of transphobia have already tarnished Warner Bros. Games’ upcoming Hogwarts Legacy. The list goes on.

Every time reports of bad behavior shake loose the facades around a high-profile industry personality or business, those of us on the outside who just want to play some good video games are left to navigate the tricky landscape of how to process the news. Do we boycott? Make a public disavowal? Accept that each business employs a veritable army of people, and so punishing the bad behavior of one person or a smaller piece of the whole inadvertently punishes everyone?

There are no easy answers here. But before we even dare to try finding some, let’s start from the beginning. What did Activision Blizzard allegedly do?

The facts of the case

The July 20 complaint, first reported by Bloomberg, portrays a workplace where women — and women of color especially, though not exclusively — receive lower pay and fewer opportunities than their male co-workers. The company’s leadership is “exclusively male and white,” to the point that no woman has ever been named president or CEO. Those few women who have reached the C-suite allegedly “earn less salary, incentive pay and total compensation than their male peers.”

The complaint also paints the picture of a “‘frat boy’ workplace culture” where female employees are subjected to sexual harassment. In one depressingly vivid allegation, the court filing describes “‘cube crawls’ in which male employees drink copious amounts of alcohol as they ‘crawl’ their way through various cubicles in the office and often engage in inappropriate behavior toward female employees.”

The bad behavior allegedly extends as far up the corporate ladder as “high-ranking executives and creatives,” too. The complaint accuses former World of Warcraft Senior Creative Director Alex Afrasiabi of attempting to kiss female employees and telling them he wanted to marry them at the annual BlizzCon fan convention.

In another heartbreaking accusation, the complaint recounts how male employees at a holiday party distributed nude photos of a female co-worker, who was having a sexual relationship with a male supervisor. She later died by suicide during a work trip; suicide is complex and may have multiple causes.

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Activision Blizzard has denounced the lawsuit, describing it as a “distorted” and “inaccurate” picture of the circumstances. The company claims state officials acted in haste, and that these issues could have been resolved outside the court system, according to a statement shared with Kotaku.

“They were required by law to adequately investigate and to have good faith discussions with us to better understand and to resolve any claims or concerns before going to litigation, but they failed to do so. Instead, they rushed to file an inaccurate complaint, as we will demonstrate in court,” the statement reads. The state’s lawyers have said they attempted to resolve the matter out of the courtroom, but were unsuccessful.

Activision Blizzard also took the state to task for referencing the employee’s suicide, calling the move “disgraceful and unprofessional.” Though the company undercuts its own objection by manipulating the suicide to politicize the complaint as a whole.

“We are sickened by the reprehensible conduct of the DFEH to drag into the complaint the tragic suicide of an employee whose passing has no bearing whatsoever on this case and with no regard for her grieving family,” the statement reads. “While we find this behavior to be disgraceful and unprofessional, it is unfortunately an example of how they have conducted themselves throughout the course of their investigation. It is this type of irresponsible behavior from unaccountable State bureaucrats that are driving many of the State’s best businesses out of California.”

What’s a gamer to do?

The conduct and workplace environment described in the DFEH complaint has prompted an uproar inside and outside the communities that rally around Activision Blizzard games.

“My brothers deleted all [Activision] games we have after they told me, [and I] will be leaving the community now,” one commenter wrote in response to an r/CallofDuty subreddit post about the lawsuit.

In the time since the complaint surfaced, some employees, former and otherwise, have spoken up about their own experiences on the job and shared their thoughts. More than 2,000 current and former employees signed a petition denouncing Activision Blizzard’s “abhorrent and insulting” response to the lawsuit, and calling for more thoughtful statements. It doesn’t take more than a few moments of searching on Twitter to find streamer personalities and even media outlets swearing off Activision Blizzard.

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GameXplain, a games-focused YouTube channel that’s discontinuing coverage of Activision Blizzard, isn’t extending the same treatment to the likes of Ubisoft. The rationale, as laid out in a statement to Kotaku, contends that Activision Blizzard’s response to the lawsuit “stands in stark contrast to Ubisoft’s promise of meaningful action they laid out in response.” The channel wants to see “a clear plan” from the Call of Duty publisher for addressing its issues before coverage resumes.

Clear plans only go so far though; they need to be acted upon. The tightrope that GameXplain is attempting to walk here is a shaky one in light of a recent report that Ubisoft’s statements haven’t necessarily been accompanied by meaningful actions.

What’s the right call there? Is GameXplain approaching this thoughtfully and responsibly? Or does that statement read to you like a weak rationalization that lets past offenders off the hook while only holding the latest bad actor accountable? The answers to these questions are complex, nuanced, and impossible to answer in a way that satisfies everyone.

That’s why there’s no one-size-fits-all solution in a situation like this. Even if we set aside the people who embrace a “separate the art from the artist” mentality — as in they simply don’t care one way or another — there’s still tons of room for disagreement over the appropriate response. We can’t ethically consume when we live in an environment where any creator is always potentially one harrowing Medium post or lawsuit away from being revealed as a monster.

The honking elephant in the room

Sexism and racism are so deeply ingrained into every facet of society that, on a long enough timeline, all your faves are at risk of suddenly becoming problematic. Individual monsters shoulder plenty of blame, but in a very real sense all of us are victims of systems that have been built over decades and centuries to empower some groups at the expense of others.

It’s not as simple as blaming systemic inequity and how it constructs society, though. We’ve stared into the eyes of many influential accused sexual abusers over the past decade, from Kevin Spacey to R. Kelly to Dr. Luke to Louis C.K. They’ve had an undeniably massive impact on culture, to the point that it’s impossible to completely unwind those positive impacts they’re attached to from the harms they’ve caused. They all should take responsibility for their alleged actions, regardless of the societal factors that may have helped shape such behavior. But that doesn’t always happen. Even so, the comebacks continue.

Deleting an installed copy of Call of Duty might feel good, but it’s a purely symbolic act.

So it is in games. Red Dead Redemption 2 is still a widely played game and the subject of regular updates. Assassin’s Creed, the franchise, still enjoys global renown and a supportive fanbase. And yes, in any honest consideration of the big picture, it’s clear that a juggernaut like Call of Duty — one of the most popular and highest-selling games in the world — will persevere as well, and in spite of any hits it may take in the short-term.

None of those games faced boycott efforts that gained enough traction to have an impact, even though there’s a deep history of such actions leading to change. I’d like to be optimistic and say things will be different this time. The scale and volume of the backlash Activision Blizzard has faced since the lawsuit first surfaced suggests that maybe this one will break through and turn an ethically-minded mainstream against the company until change occurs.

Yet, you can’t simply shake these things loose from the public consciousness. We all have to decide for ourselves if it’s still OK to play Call of Duty, still OK to watch The Usual Suspects, still OK to show our kids The Secret Life of Pets. These decisions ultimately fall to you, and all they really do is establish your personal comfort level with financially supporting something that may benefit one or more monsters or their enablers.

Don’t fall into the trap of putting too much thought into calibrating your own comfort level. Harmful systems are upheld when we look at these situations in terms of how they apply to our own lives. Deleting an installed Call of Duty game that you already purchased might feel good, but it’s a purely symbolic act. Think: What does a choice like that really do beyond making you feel like you’ve done your part in some way?

If ridding your life of all Activision Blizzard products feels right, then do that. Same goes for not spending money on the company’s products anymore. Actions like these go much further when they’re part of an organized effort, but small, individual acts can add up. A widespread boycott isn’t necessarily going to happen, though, and even if it does success is hardly guaranteed.

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Despite the bleak prospects for hitting a billion-dollar business square in its bottom line, there are steps to take that can make a larger impact. Unequal pay is one of many accusations thrown at the video game industry, including in this new Activision lawsuit. Fight for it in your own workplace. Encourage colleagues, friends, and families to do the same. And when you take the fight to social media to call out an alleged bad actor like Activision Blizzard, be specific. Let them know exactly what’s so troubling.

Embrace a similar strategy in the fight to reduce (and hopefully, eventually eliminate) sexual misconduct in the workplace. Training programs that educate the workforce on topics like sexual harassment and bystander intervention are proven to work. So again, push your employer to consider these tactics, convince the people you know to do the same, and apply social media pressure only after you’ve armed yourself with facts and data.

Also, consider throwing your support behind efforts to unionize game industry workers. Union protections and a strong, clear contract can address unequal pay directly, and create a concrete path to dealing with harmful behavior in the workplace when it occurs. Many of the unionization efforts across the industry are still in their infancy, but efforts like the Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE), led by the Communication Workers of America, are well-positioned to have an impact.

Taking steps to make yourself feel better, personally, is an understandable first instinct. But the question of whether or not it’s OK to keep on liking one thing or another is a distraction. All that bad shit still happened, and it can’t be erased. So while it’s fine to work toward squaring your own thoughts and feelings whenever these awful stories surface, make a point of thinking bigger, too.

Ask yourself how you can help unravel the systems that allowed these injustices to occur in the first place.

A new laptop is always a big investment, one that you’ll likely need to make every few years to keep up with ever-changing technology. You might even put it off after an initial browse when you start to see how pricey a new laptop can get, and the sheer volume of how many options are out there.

But you don’t always need to break the bank to get a suitable laptop. You’ll still have a huge range of products to choose from if you’re only looking to spend a few hundred bucks. And if you just need another device to check email on, browse YouTube, or pull up recipes, maybe a budget laptop is all you need.

Cheaper laptops may not have all the features of top-of-the-line computers, but you can still get reliability and the basic features that you’ll be using every day.

Each individual will find different specs to be their priority. Depending on what kinds of tasks you’re hoping to accomplish with your new laptop, maybe a larger screen display is what you’re looking for. Perhaps if you’re the kind of worker who enjoys taking your laptop to the corner cafe, battery life is super important. Maybe you’re looking for a place to store all your photos and documents, in which case, more storage space is what you’ll have in mind. A commuter may value a lighter laptop over a heavier machine, for ease of transport. It’s all up to the individual, and just because you’re looking at a lower price point doesn’t mean you don’t have all of these options available.

What size laptop should you get?

This really comes down to two things: Personal preference and lifestyle. Personal preference is self-explanatory, really — do you like having a huge display, or do you prefer something more compact? Lifestyle is where practicality comes into play. If you’re traveling often and usually have your computer on your back in some way, you’re going to want to go with something more light and compact (thin, 11-inch models will most likely be the best). But, if you’re a huge movie buff who doesn’t normally take their laptop on the road with them, spring for a 15-inch (and higher) screen with a bulky construction so you can have sweet Netflix and chill sessions. If you’re getting a gaming laptop, you should probably “go big or go home,” as well.  

What am I losing by getting a cheap laptop?

Laptops in the $300-or-below price range are not going to be good for PC gaming. You won’t get a 4K resolution display or a refresh rate higher than 60Hz. RAM is going to max out around 8GB, which isn’t bad but also isn’t spectacular. You’re also unlikely to get more than 500GB of storage space.

In this price range, laptops are going to be best for web browsing, word processing, Zoom calls, and streaming. As long as you don’t expect more than that, you’ll be fine.

But are cheap laptops worth it?

You know the old saying: You get what you pay for. But thanks to the technology boom of the last few decades, a cheap laptop can actually take you pretty far and won’t break down immediately. It’s all about knowing which one to select.

Rather than just making a few purchase suggestions and sending you on your way, we’re going to equip you with some knowledge that’ll help you be a more informed laptop shopper. You know all that computer jargon of processor-this and gigahertz-that — we’ll explain it all in terms that anyone can understand.

Whether you’re looking for a machine for school, work, or fun, you can find a laptop that can handle the basics for less than $300. It may sound impossible in today’s world, and that’s why we’ve listed our favorites for you below. Here are our favorite models at that price point.

Slow cookers are a must-have appliance for anyone with a kitchen. Also known as a rite of passage to being a grown-ass adult who has their life together — or at the very least, makes you look like you do.

Whether you’ve been on your own for 20 years and have kids, just graduated college, or hell, are still in college, you know the struggle of being too busy to cook a nice meal. (If you’re a parent, this struggle is multiplied.) “Mmm, another frozen meal,” said no one ever. Don’t you just wish someone could have dinner ready at your beck and call? Is that really too much to ask?

Nope — not with a slow cooker. These workhorses can save you some serious stress about what to make every night, not to mention cut back on the amount of time you spend in the kitchen, as they require about five minutes of prep from you while they do the rest. Plus, whether you’re meal prepping or saving leftovers, it’s a lot less expensive than eating out all the time.

We especially love our slow cooker during the winter, when the chilly (negative degree) air outside makes us crave a toasty meal like chili or soup. We also love them in the fall, as they’re especially handy to take tailgating and showing off your famous pulled pork recipe. They’re also also great for summer BBQs for staples like ribs or macaroni and cheese. So actually, they’re just clutch year round.

Slow cookers have been around for generations, and we wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve already been through a few in your adult life. (Or had your heart broken by one on TV — ahem This is Us.) New ones are constantly hitting the market (you are literally older than the Instant Pot), and it’s agonizing trying to find the stand-out features other than, you know, cooking slowly.

We scoured the internet to find the best slow cookers for any situation or skill level, and here’s what we found:

At what may have been Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s final quarterly check-in, the electric vehicle evangelist delved into the details about eventually sharing Tesla’s Supercharger network.

Last week Musk tweeted about opening up the exclusive Supercharger network to other electric vehicles. Supercharging has only been available to Tesla owners. During Monday’s second quarter earnings call he spelled out what this change would look like in the near-future.

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It’ll be a matter of just downloading the Tesla app and heading to a Tesla charger and plugging in, even if you’re riding in a Nissan Leaf instead of a Tesla Model 3.

For cars that charge at a slower rate than Teslas (Tesla vehicles are all capable of fast charging, while some older non-Teslas can’t take in electricity at that quick of a rate), the longer charge time will cost drivers more.

“The biggest constraint is time,” Musk said.

Tesla will also introduce dynamic pricing, charging more for electricity at rush hour, for example. When a station is empty it’ll be cheaper than when it’s “jam-packed,” as Musk put it.

Tesla vehicles have a different connector in North America (which Musk hailed as “the best connector”) to the charging port, so non-Teslas will need to use an adapter. Tesla will provide those at the Supercharger stations unless there’s a theft problem, Musk said.

You’ll need a Tesla adapter for non-Tesla Supercharging.
Credit: Tesla

In the California car company’s latest earning report there were a reported 2,966 Supercharger stations worldwide, which is up 46 percent from a year before.

But that number needs to keep growing, especially as Tesla sold a record number of vehicles (mostly Model Y and 3 vehicles) in the most recent quarter, and plans to open up access to any and all vehicles with a plug-in battery.

“For the Superchargers to be useful to other cars, we need to grow the network faster than vehicle output,” he said in Monday’s call.

Since last week’s tweet there’s been a lot of groaning from Tesla owners, especially about longer wait times and crowded stations. But Musk summed up why this will be a good move for the greater EV movement.

“Our goal is to support the advent of sustainable energy,” he said. “It’s not to create a walled garden and bludgeon our competitors.”

Have you ever been scared and horny at the same time? That’s how I felt looking at The Thruster, a handheld thrusting dildo.

Yes, as the name implies, this dildo does the thrusting for you.

The Thruster is a less expensive, more petite take on “fucking machines” like the Cowgirl Machine, which can run you $2,000.

Velvet Thruster cofounders and couple Danyell and Alex Fima began the company in 2017 after working at Boeing, Airbus, and NASA as aerospace engineers. (Yes. That’s right.) The work was stressful and carried major liabilities, they explain in Velvet Thruster’s about page so they channeled their passion and expertise in advanced engineering into… what else? Sex toys.

The company’s goal, according to Danyell Fima, was to replace those bulky, ultra-pricey handheld toys. In previous decades, smaller batteries weren’t powerful enough to make it happen. Now, the technology is there.

That being said, these self-pumping dildos aren’t cheap: The most affordable option, the Thruster Mini (“Teddy”), retails at $166, while the Thruster Prime will run you $234 before any additional add-ons.

There are fucking machines cheaper than the Thruster on the market (for instance, this jackhammer-looking thing on Amazon), but the Thruster is hand-controllable and more compact, thus easier to store.

The Thruster and its website look intimidating at first glance, the latter due to the many customization options for the Prime. Choose from four colors (lilac, mint, black, and red), and, in the case of the Prime, different head styles ranging from standard dildos to heads made specifically for the G-spot or prostate. Each head has its own page — such as the Walter for anal penetration — to help you decide.

The nitty-gritty on the Thruster

The Prime has an insertable length of seven inches and a total length of 11. I’m not a complete dildo novice, but I am certainly a sex machine novice, so I figured the Prime would be a bit much for me.

Instead, I tried two of Thruster’s other offerings: Teddy and Teddy XL ($182). These are both smaller than the Prime: Teddy is the company’s smallest at an insertable length of five inches and extending to nine in total. For Teddy XL, it’s six inches and ten inches respectively.

The thrusters are made of platinum-cured, body-safe silicone. The Teddy models have realistic dildo attachments, and while the lengths are different, the circumferences are the same, at 4.5 inches in the middle of the shaft.

The bottom of the toy has an accordion-like structure that extends and retracts the toy to create the thrusting motion. Both Teddys have 2.5 inches of vibrating thrust (it extends and retracts 2.5 inches when thrusting), according to Thruster, and six adjustable speeds. They differ slightly in that the Teddy speeds up to 125 strokes per minute, while Teddy XL speeds up to 128 strokes per minute. For comparison, the average dick owner thrusts 48 times per minute.

All Thrusters are cordless and come with their own chargers. You can use Teddy for up to two hours of battery life, and 2.5 hours with the Teddy XL. They can also be used while charging, but I recommend waiting for a wireless experience.

Mini Thruster – Teddy – in Lilac.

Credit: velvet thruster

Teddy XL in Mint.

Credit: velvet thruster

What using the Thruster is like

Many dildos are made of body-safe silicone, but there was something special about the Thrusters. The top of the shaft is bendable while the bottom half is sturdy, probably due to the motor. While the dildo doesn’t feel exactly like skin — how can it? And would you even want it to? — it’s soft, fitting the “velvet” in the company’s name.

The part-bendable, part-stiff dildo of the Teddys made maneuvering and inserting easier than with a standard dildo (though, as with all sex toys, I recommend using lots of lube). The Thruster comes with three standard buttons: On/off, plus, and minus to increase/decrease the speed; they’re big and easy to handle when using the Thruster.

Watching the Thruster in action is pretty remarkable. I noticed that after a few minutes and at higher speeds, the accordion pumps out air and sounds like a queef. Not a bad thing, but it did make me laugh.

The sensations weren’t dissimilar from penetration from a strap-on, only this time I was alone and controlling the speed of the thrusts myself.

I found the Teddys easy to use when lying down — and especially less rigorous than using a standard dildo because the thruster does the work for me — but if you don’t want to reach that far, Thruster offers a long-reach handle for solo play and a partner play handle for use in couples. The Teddys have a suction-cup base, which is also clutch for hands-free, doggy-style thrusting as you can stick it on your wall (or your floor, or any hard surface).

Thruster claims these toys will help achieve vaginal orgasms. I’ve never had the pleasure of experiencing a vaginal orgasm, but along with clit stimulation these toys led to some stellar masturbation sessions.

“Vaginal orgasms aren’t the easiest to achieve considering a perfect amount of repetitive stroking, rubbing, and rhythm is needed,” Fima noted. While people with penises or strap-ons may not have the stamina for their partner to reach a vaginal orgasm, Thrusters can go for hours.

Needless to say, I’ll keep experimenting.

Thruster aftercare and logistics

These toys are water-resistant, meaning that they can’t be submerged in water, but they can be washed without having to worry about destroying them. This makes cleaning the dildos much easier.

Since the bottom of the Thrusters has “accordion” grooves (seen in the photos), Velvet Thruster created a way to easily turn the toy off when extended in order to clean them: While the toy is in use, press the on/off button twice within three seconds. The thruster will stop with the accordion extended and can be thoroughly washed.

A downside to the Thrusters is that they don’t come with a travel pouch or case. According to the website, the cardboard box it comes in acts as storage. A cardboard box doesn’t strike me as the best place to keep a dildo, but it’s not the end of the world.

The toy comes with a one-sheeter that teaches the user how to charge and clean the toy, but I wish there were a bit more details about the mechanics. I had to find the charge time (2 hours for Teddy and 2.5 for Teddy XL), for example, on the Thrusters website.

None of these snags are terrible and they don’t disrupt my enjoyment of the toys, but they stuck out to me. There’s always room for improvement.

Is the Thruster worth the price?

The Thruster is by no means a beginner toy, or even a beginner dildo. If you want to explore penetrative toys, I’d recommend starting out with a stationary dildo (many of which come with suction-cup ends as well).

I also wouldn’t recommend the Thruster to novice users or to users that prefer clitoral stimulation over vaginal or anal stimulation.

For experienced dildo users who love penetration, however, the Thruster may be perfect for you, if it’s in your price range. The self-thrusting action is a marvel, and for those who want powerful movements without having to put in any effort yourself, you can’t go wrong with this.

I had the most fun with the smallest Thruster, the Teddy, because the size worked the best for me. It also happens to be under $200.

The Thruster gives you the power of a sex machine in your hand. If that sounds scary, this isn’t for you! If it’s enticing, however, I’d highly consider purchasing one.

There was a point in history, at least in my mind, when Nokia 6310 was the best phone you could get. More advanced than the 3xxx series and yet not as bulky as the Communicator, the Nokia 6310 was the phone to get in the early aughts if money was no object, and getting things done was the priority.

Now, HMD Global, which owns the Nokia brand, has launched a remake of the Nokia 6310 under the same name. As is typical of Nokia’s remakes, it’s a cheap, little, basic phone that sort of looks like the original (more on that later) but has been updated to be more usable today.

In terms of specs, this means the Nokia 6310 has a 2.8-inch display with curvy edges, a numerical keypad, 8MB of RAM, 16MB of storage (expandable to 32GB via microSD cards), a rear 0.3-megapixel camera, and FM radio. Yes, it’s very, very basic.

One good thing about a phone as simple as this one is that its 1,150mAh battery can last for “weeks” between charges — just like the one on the original 6310.

Whip up this baby out of pocket, and literally no one will know that it’s a remake of the old Nokia 6310.
Credit: NOKIA

The design, unfortunately, has little to do with the original Nokia 6310. That phone had a three-tone look (it came in a couple of flavors; my favorite was the light grey/dark grey/gold combo) which, while obviously outdated, still seems to say “I’m a flagship device for serious businessmen,” or something like that.

The new 6310 bears almost no likeness to the old one — the shape of the device is different, the buttons are different, even the color schemes are different (the new phone comes in four colors: dark green, yellow, black, and (only in India) light blue).

The new Nokia 6310 and the old Nokia 6310 (pictured; technically, it’s a 6310i but they’re very similar) aren’t exactly peas in a pod.
Credit: Shutterstock

The new Nokia has revived several of its old, famous phones like this. I liked the Nokia 3310, which was fairly similar to the original, but was underwhelmed with the Nokia 8110, also known as the Matrix phone. Those two devices, however, at least bore some resemblance to their forefathers; the new Nokia 6310 is similar to the old one only in name. OK, there is one other thing: The new phone also has Snake.

Alongside the new 6310, Nokia also launched a couple of new smartphones.

The Nokia C30 is an entry-level device running Android Go with a 6.82-inch display, a 13-megapixel camera on the back, a 5-megapixel selfie camera on the front, 2GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage (expandable up to 256GB via a microSD card). The phone’s highlight is its 6,000mAh battery, which should keep the phone running for “up to three days.”

Nokia C30 is a cheap smartphone with a massive battery.
Credit: NOKIA

The Nokia XR20 is a rugged smartphone made to MIL-STD-810H standard and with IP68 water and dust resistance, meaning it shouldn’t break when you drop it or submerge it underwater.

Nokia XR20 is the brand’s most durable smartphone yet.
Credit: NOKIA

It has a 6.67-inch display, a 48/13-megapixel camera, an 8-megapixel selfie camera, 4/6GB of RAM, 64/128GB of storage (expandable up to 512GB via a microSD card), and a 4,630mAh battery.

Availability dates for these devices haven’t been announced yet, but we know the prices in the UK and Europe. The Nokia 6310 will cost £49.99 ($69) in the UK and 40 EUR in Europe, the Nokia C30 will be available for £99 ($136) in the UK and 99 EUR in Europe. The Nokia XR20 will cost £399 ($549) in the UK for the 4/64GB version, and £449 ($618) for the 6/128GB version. The average price for this model will be 499 EUR in Europe, Nokia says.

Galaxy Unpacked may be just a few weeks away, but Samsung isn’t leaving much to the imagination.

On Monday, the company’s president and head of mobile communications business, Tae Moon Roh, confirmed in a recent blog post that two foldable phones are on the way.

Oh, and that the Galaxy Note is dead.

Well, those weren’t his words exactly. Towards the bottom of the post, Roh writes:

“I hope you’ll join us as we debut our next Galaxy Z family and share some foldable surprises — including the first-ever S Pen designed specifically for foldable phones. Instead of unveiling a new Galaxy Note this time around, we will further broaden beloved Note features to more Samsung Galaxy devices.”

Historically speaking, Samsung has always saved the second half of the year for its Galaxy Note lineup. But considering Roh began to temper expectations for a new model as far back as last year, the news isn’t shocking.

In a blog post published in December of 2020, he wrote that Samsung has “been paying attention to people’s favorite aspects of the Galaxy Note experience and [is] excited to add some of its most well-loved features to other devices in our lineup.”

A month later, Samsung announced its Galaxy S21 lineup with S-Pen compatibility on the S21 Ultra — another hint that the company was preparing to let go of the Galaxy Note. And now, its upcoming foldable phones are also receiving the S-Pen treatment.

Samsung’s post doesn’t go into detail regarding what the stylus will look like or how it will function, but a recent leak gives us some insight.

According to leaked renders from 91mobile, a Galaxy Z Fold 3 folio case features a slot for the S-Pen. That leads us to believe the new foldable phone won’t have its own dedicated S-Pen slot. And seeing as how Samsung offered a similar case for the S21 Ultra, this latest S-Pen will probably act as an optional accessory.

Speaking of the Z Fold 3, it’s still unclear whether that will be the foldable’s official name. Throughout the blog post, Roh consistently refers to the company’s third-generation foldables as the “upcoming” Z Fold and Z Flip.

It remains to be seen whether the company will decide to tack on extra monikers like “21,” or “5G,” or perhaps even both — you know, to make it sound extra confusing.

As for what we can expect for the upcoming foldable phones? Other than a more durable display and some recycled camera specs, the leaks don’t point to all that much. Of course, we won’t have to wait long to find out as all will be revealed on August 11.

The German gymnastics team is attracting attention for more than its gravity-defying moves at this year’s Olympic games in Tokyo.

In an effort to prevent the sexualization of their bodies and the sport (and just feel comfortable while competing), the gymnasts traded in standard bikini-cut leotards for full-body unitards on Sunday during an Olympics qualifying round.

“We wanted to show that every woman, everybody, should decide what to wear,” said Elisabeth Seitz, a 27-year-old German Olympics gymnast, before the qualifying event, according to Reuters.

Elizabeth Seitz, German gymnast, competes in the Tokyo Olympics in a unitard.
Credit: IRIS VAN DEN BROEK / Getty Images

German gymnast Pauline Schaefer-Betz wears a unitard as she flips upside down during the artistic gymnastics balance beam event during the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Credit: IONEL BONAVENTURE / Getty Images

While bucking tradition, this is not the first time the German team has worn these full-body outfits, which reach their ankles. In April, they donned the bodysuits during the European championships, the Washington Post reported.

That move garnered the team widespread praise from other female gymnasts, according to Reuters.

The International Gymnastics Federation, the governing body of competitive gymnastics, allows gymnasts to compete in uniforms that cover or semi-cover their arms and fully obscure their legs, as long as the color matches their leotards, CNN reported. However, gymnasts have usually covered their legs in competition because of religious reasons, per Reuters.

Back in June, American gold medalist Simone Biles said she supported athletes being able to wear their preferred uniform, even if she’ll be sticking to the traditional leotard. “I stand with their decision to wear whatever they please and whatever makes them feel comfortable,” Biles said of the German gymnasts, according to the Associated Press. “So if anyone out there wants to wear a unitard or leotard, it’s totally up to you.”

Germany’s Kim Bui shows off her moves in a unitard in a qualifying round of the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Credit: AFP via Getty Images

The unitards shouldn’t affect the athletes’ ability to perform at their peak condition.

“We also train in tights so we are used to the feeling,” said Kim Bui, a 32-year-old German Olympics gymnast, according to Reuters. “It is not that different between competition or training. It is comfortable and that is the most important thing.”

While the German gymnasts’ bodysuits didn’t break any regulations, the same can’t be said for the women’s beach handball team from Norway when they played in a separate competition. On Monday, the European Handball Federation fined each Norwegian female athlete on the team 150 euros ($177) each for wearing shorts rather than bikini bottoms during a game, the New York Times reported.

The federation requires female players to wear bikini bottoms with “with a close fit and cut on an upward angle toward the top of the leg.” However, male handball athletes can wear shorts.

The Norwegian Handball Federation offered to pay the fines, as has singer Pink.

“The European handball federation should be fined for sexism. Good on ya, ladies,” Pink wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

For the German gymnasts at the Olympics, they wanted to look good without feeling uncomfortable.

Tweet may have been deleted

The team decided as a group to wear the bodysuit before the meet.

“We sat together today and said, OK, we want to have a big competition,” said Sarah Voss, a 21-year-old gymnast, reported the Associated Press. “We want to feel amazing, we want to show everyone that we look amazing.”

The assumption that Chromebooks are kids’ laptops makes sense. They’re typically smaller and lighter than traditional laptops, and often hold up better against drops or spills. They usually don’t have fast processors, 4K screens, or many other high-end specs that kids just don’t need, which slashes the price big time.

For budget-conscious families, it’s also noteworthy that many beloved Chromebooks are rarely at their full price — especially near shopping holidays like Prime Day or Black Friday. Price cuts of 25% or more drop some models to near or below the $200 price point.

But there’s a more serious facet to Chromebooks that makes them appealing to cautious parents: They’re some of the most secure devices on the market. On top of the usual “stranger danger” apprehension, parents are likely concerned about their family’s data getting into the wrong hands.

But actually, parent or not, every paranoid internet user should have a Chromebook. Don’t @ us.

The main reason is that Chromebooks are cloud-based. Almost anything you do is automatically backed up on Google Drive, so you won’t lose all of your files if your Chromebook breaks — or if your kid forgets to save a school paper. Updates are automatic as well.

SEE ALSO: Which tablet to buy for your kid: These are the best right now

Google’s Chrome OS is a hardcore bodyguard in itself. Every web page or Chrome app runs its own sandbox, essentially ensuring that other parts of the computer won’t be compromised even if that page gets hacked or “infected.” However, a Chromebook probably won’t get a virus: Most malware is designed for Windows or Mac and ignore Google’s OS (for now). If something sketchy were to happen, the threat can be wiped out by closing the page or reverting to factory settings. These security features are a huge part of why nearly three out of every five machines in schools use Chrome OS.

Monitoring kids’ usage on the cloud can’t be done with downloadable parental control software. The easiest way to set limits is to take advantage of your router’s parental control features (Google Nest and Eero are great) or invest in a filter for your home network, like Circle with Disney. These let you manage things like screen time and blocked sites on every device connected to your home WiFi. Upon setup, it’s suggested that parents be the first person to create an account. The first account to log in is seen as the “owner” of the Chromebook, and the owner is who gets to control the settings on other accounts.

Choosing the right Chromebook for your kid

Some Chromebooks are lightweight and some are bricks. Younger kids will probably do better with compact laptops with military-grade durability that can handle a drop from the table.

Storage isn’t a huge deal when most everything is stored in the cloud. (Google Drive comes with 15GB for free.) However, if your kid will be downloading something like textbooks, you might consider a Chromebook with more storage or with an SD card slot to expand storage. Most have 32GB, basic models have 16GB, and nicer models stretch to 64GB.

If your kid uses Microsoft Office for school, you’ll need a Chromebook that can run Android apps from the Google Play Store. Most are Android-compatible, but some fumble with non-Chrome apps.

Chromebooks for entertainment versus actual work

No one is buying a Chromebook to use power-sucking software like Photoshop. That means that Chromebooks don’t need a lot of RAM, which is what determines how many tasks your computer can keep track of at once. But even with the draining apps reserved for MacBooks out of the picture, Chromebooks still aren’t one-size-fits-all when it comes to daily tasks. When is it time to bypass the average Chromebook 4GB RAM for 8GB or 16GB?

Kids using a Chromebook primarily for media consumption — streaming Disney+ or Youtube, playing games, or using light educational programs — could easily scoot by with 4GB, which is more than capable enough to handle anything that’s not super involved when it comes to data or graphics.

Bumping up to a beast like the Google Pixelbook Go or Slate and their 8 or 16GB RAM is the wise move if your kid is regularly using the Chromebook for more than entertainment purposes. We’re talking demanding programs like statistics software or storage of huge textbooks — any heavy-duty stuff outside of the Microsoft Word or Google Docs realm. Bigger workloads require more RAM to allow the computer to operate smoothly and avoid the ominous frozen screen. Such desktop-esque models are also more likely to have juicier displays and processors, more versatile ports and memory card slots, and backlit keyboards.

Here are the best Chromebooks for kids in 2021: