While HMD has slowly but steadily moved itself away from the Nokia brand with each new phone launch, it's now reported that the company is planning to continue the latter's "XR" range of rugged smartphones, which officially made their debuted under the Nokia brand.

An online post claims lists several hardware specifications of an upcoming "HMD XR22" which succeeds the Nokia XR21 (which itself was later rebranded as the HMD XR21). The specs include an OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and Gorilla Glass 2 Victus protection, and a Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 alongside 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage.

The XR22 is also predicted to feature a triple-camera setup with a 64MP main camera in addition to 8MP ultra-wide and night cameras, as well as a 50MP selfie shooter. The phone will be powered by a 5,520 mAh battery with 33W charging speeds, as well as IP69K rating and MIL-STD-810H certification for durability. Other details include dual speakers and an infrared sensor onboard.

Of course it's important to remember that nothing is "official" at the moment, but we wouldn't exactly be surprised if the leak more or less turns out to be accurate.

HMD is a company that most of us know for helping keep the Nokia phone brand alive. The company has released a ton of Nokia-branded phones in the past, but it looks like they're slowly stepping out of the Nokia shadow and launching their own devices. This includes the brand new HMD Fusion.

The HMD Fusion is the company's latest smartphone that they have unveiled at IFA 2024. It is also probably one of their most innovative handsets to date. This is thanks to features like Smart Outfits, allowing users to change the look of their phones quickly and easily. They have also included thoughtful features like a built-in ring light, helping users snap clear selfies with proper lighting.

But before you get too excited, note that the new HMD Fusion is not a flagship device meant to compete with phones like the Samsung Galaxy S24, Google Pixel 9, and so on. It's more like a budget device. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 chipset. It also comes with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

It also packs a dual camera setup on the back that consists of a 108MP main shooter and a 2MP depth camera. There is also a 50MP selfie cam on the front. The handset comes with a 5,000mAh battery with 33W charging speeds, and it runs on Android 14 with a promised 2 years of OS upgrades and 3 years of security updates.

It sounds kind of boring, but that's where you might be wrong. Like we mentioned previously, the HMD Fusion features what the company calls Smart Outfits. These are basically some kind of case/attachment that you can put on your phone. It's not just about looks as each Smart Outfit comes with its own set of features.

For example, the Flashy Outfit has a built-in ring light. There is also the Rugged Outfit that offers enhanced protection. There's also the Wireless Outfit that offers wireless charging capabilities. The new HMD Fusion will be priced starting at $299 and the Fusion Outfits will be sold separately.

Following Microsoft ditching the Nokia brand, it was later picked up by HMD who started to churn out Nokia-branded smartphones for a few years. Earlier this year, HMD announced that they would start producing smartphones under its own brand, but it seems that they won't be so quick to ditch the Nokia Lumia design just yet.

According to the latest reports, it seems that HMD is working on a new smartphone that will apparently be called the HMD Skyline G2. This handset is said to take some design inspiration from the Nokia Lumia series, which is interesting. The Nokia Lumia lineup, while a bit of a failure, was kind of iconic.

In a sea of smartphones with somewhat dull and somber colors, the Lumia series stood out with its bright and colorful designs. Adding more information to this leak is @smashx_60 on X. They claim that the handset will feature a triple camera setup with some serious hardware. Apparently HMD wants this phone to appeal to photographers.

Not much else was revealed about the Skyline G2. One thing to note is that this is actually the second Skyline phone by HMD that we're hearing about. We're not sure if they will be released separately, or if one model will be the designated flagship and the other a more budget-friendly handset. Either way, hopefully we'll have that information soon enough.

While Finnish company HMD Global is slowly moving towards its branding for new (and old) smartphones, it looks like it's still committed to using the Nokia brand for more basic feature phones, as seen with the launch of the new 2024 edition of the Nokia 3210.

Similar to the modernized 3310 model from a few years back, the new 3210 features the same overall form factor as seen on the original, although it does come with newer features such as a larger 2.4-inch color display, a 2MP camera with LED flash, Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C connectivity, and a 1450 mAh battery.

Additionally, the handset supports 4G connectivity, up to 32GB of micro SD card storage, and there's even a 3.5mm headphone jack for users who prefer wired audio solutions.

For software, the phone runs on the S30+ platform, and comes with the bare essentials - with that said though, Nokia promises that it comes with the popular Snake mobile game onboard. Available in Scuba Blue, Y2K Gold, and Grunge Black, the phone is priced starting at around $95.

The onslaught of 5G-enabled hardware during the start of the 2020s was certainly something to remember. At the time there was a bit of uncertainty as to how 5G technology will progress (remember the memes?), although at this point in time, it's clear that it's become a staple of modern consumer electronics, smart homes, and more.

With that in mind though, Finnish telecommunication giant Nokia believes it's time to start investing in the next generation of internet connectivity. For those unaware, the company invests a considerable amount of funding and R&D into its networking hardware, and it recently announced that it was working towards the development of 6G technology.

In a lengthy post, Nokia states that it's been busy with its Bell Labs research division in collaborating with various partner institutions for 6G testing, including companies such as NTT, Docomo, and SKT. Part of its official post from Chief Strategy and Technology Officer (CSTO) Nishant Batra reads:

"We are partnering with industry powerhouses and enterprise-solutions makers to examine how new wireless technologies will redefine the workplace. With Bosch, Nokia Bell Labs is evaluating industrial use cases for 6G joint communication and sensing. And with Hololight, we are investigating how new wireless technologies will allow networks to support multiple simultaneous XR sessions without sacrificing quality of experience."

"Nokia aims to create a broad 6G ecosystem. To that end, we are working closely with Qualcomm to explore the potential interoperability challenges between 6G networks and devices - then innovating ways to overcome those challenges. And just last week, Nokia and Nvidia announced we are investigating how the power of a digital twin could be used to simulate the entirety of a 6G network without ever venturing outside of a lab."

It's clear that 6G technology still has a long way to go before becoming readily available for both manufacturers and consumers, but given how fast the modern consumer electronics industry adapts and evolves, it shouldn't be too long now before we see 6G sail into view.