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Something that I think a lot of people hold in high regard when it comes to Chrono Trigger is the game’s cast of characters. It’s small - you only get a total of seven party members over the course of the game - but I think that somewhat limited focus allows for better characterization on the whole. Since you’re traveling through different time periods as you play the game, naturally your party members come from all the eras you visit.

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Story is, of course, the cornerstone of any role playing game, and that was as true 25 years ago as it is today. The less-capable hardware of the Super Nintendo didn’t diminish the storytelling capabilities of Yuji Horii, Masato Kato, and their team of writers when it came to crafting Chrono Trigger's plot, and I would argue that they wound up penning one of the best stories gaming has ever seen.

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Here in the United States, Chrono Trigger turned 25 years old this month. The game first released in the US on August 11th, 1995, five months to the day after its launch in Japan. Chrono Trigger was released smack in the middle of what could be considered a golden age for Square, as the company released Final Fantasy VI and the Capcom-developed Breath of Fire the year before, while Super Mario RPG and Final Fantasy VII were just a year and two years off, respectively. Each of those games can be considered behemoths in the world of RPGs all their own, but somehow, Chrono Trigger still demands attention.

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Buying a mid-range phone that hits all the right notes can be a mind-bending tasks these days, given the amount of competition in the segment. The stakes are high in this particular smartphone market that ranges anywhere between $300 - $600 depending on a device and variants, if any.

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Motorola failed to impress the foldable display phone takers in its first attempt. The Lenovo-owned company is now slated to redo it, better this time, by flipping the smartphone experience again at the virtual hardware event lined up for September 9, 2020. The Chicago-based phone maker is expected to release the successor to the 2019’s most anticipated foldable phone – Motorola Razr in Motorola Razr 2 or Motorola Razr 5G, as it is likely to be called.

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There's no denying that Microsoft's new Surface Duo has the wow-factor. A waif-like clamshell of soft-touch metal, that smoothly hinges open to reveal not one but two touchscreens - complete with Surface Pen support - it's hard not to look at it and think of a sci-fi movie prop. Yet Microsoft aims to put its futuristic gizmo on sale next month.

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2020 is not like any other year in the past. The global pandemic we are reeling under has changed the way we perceive life. In all the gloom, technology has been a ray of hope for connectivity, entertainment, and more. 2020 is the year when remote working and learning have really kicked off and medicine is touching new highs. We cannot predict how the world will change hereafter, for what we can do is, find the new normal and rebound back.

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Google has been trying to hit the right balance between form and function with its Pixel phones ever since the debut of Pixel and Pixel XL. While they excel in certain dimensions, a few shortcomings have let them down. Recently, Google has made certain moves that has stirred the internet and put experts into thinking about the company’s loss of faith in Pixel 4. Though Pixel 5 is on the charts - retiring the Pixel 4 and 4 XL even before the 2020 flagship has put a foot in the door - there has to be some kind of strategic brilliance or probably a move to rectify the bad decisions made in the past.

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The Cadillac Lyriq wasn't quite a bait-and-switch but, as the dust settles on the delayed unveil of the automaker's new electric flagship, you'd be forgiven for feeling like the EV was a tad premature. Two years premature, in fact: the luxury crossover Caddy revealed this week is actually a show car, the automaker conceded.

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For the longest time, Samsung has been accused of being an Apple copycat. In fact, there was a years-long court case revolving exactly around that. It's not a one-way street, though, and there are definitely ways in which Samsung paved the road that Apple would later tread. Large screens and the S Pen immediately come to mind, with something like the iPad Pro combining both in the most extreme way. Unfortunately, Apple has since surpassed Samsung and the latter's newest Galaxy Tab S7+, while an impressive upgrade, still fails to regain its lost ground.

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Samsung just dumped a number of new mobile products this week, all of them premium, which you can easily tell by their price tag. That Galaxy Note 20 Ultra alone carries some of the best specs you'll see in the smartphone market, along with one of the highest prices as well. There is probably no doubt that these features, on their own, will deliver as advertised, perhaps save for the still questionable performance of Samsung's camera systems, but smartphones and their specs cannot and do not exist in isolation. For all the high-end and exceptional features its boasts of, the Galaxy Note 20 and especially the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra might come off as a bit tone-deaf to the world they've been born into.

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Galaxy unpacked 2020 is just around the corner and the main attractions at Samsung’s yearly event are going to be the Galaxy Note 20 and the Galaxy Z Fold 2. Even the invitation page and the teaser trailer for the event have the liquid splash in copper color which apparently is one of the hues of Note series device and most likely one of the colors of Galaxy Z Fold 2.

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