News

ASUS ZenFone 3 Max 5.5 gets official price

Published

November 11, 2016

Marvin Velasco

About that 5.5-inch ASUS ZenFone 3 Max that got us all excited last month: It now has an official price, which was revealed during the phone’s recent launch in India.

That and the release date were the only pieces of information missing, so there’s no more guessing this time around. Although there’s no mention of availability beyond India, we do know the 5.5-inch ZenFone 3 Max variant will cost INR 17,999, which is close to $270.

[irp posts=”6741″ name=”5 reasons to get excited about the 5.5-inch ASUS ZenFone 3 Max”]

This version fits right in between the ZenFone 3 Laser and original ZenFone 3

While it may seem a little expensive, you have to consider its feature set first. As mentioned in our previous article, this smartphone is a mashup of the smaller 5.2-inch ZenFone 3 Max and 5.5-inch ZenFone 3 Laser, mixing the battery of the former with the camera capabilities of the latter.

This naturally places the larger Max above the two lower-end handsets, but still below the original ZenFone 3. For comparison, the 5.2-inch Max costs PhP 8,995 ($183), the Laser is PhP 11,995 ($244), and the plain 5.2-inch ZenFone 3 retails for PhP 16,995 ($346). The 5.5-inch Max would cost around PhP 13,250 ($270) if it lands in the Philippines.

So, what do you get out of it? A Full HD display, Qualcomm’s lower-end Snapdragon 430 processor, 32GB of native storage (expandable via microSD), and 3GB of RAM, but the amount of memory might increase or decrease depending on where you purchase the handset.

You have four colors to choose from

The bigger story lies in the battery capacity and cameras: a generous 4100mAh capacity for the former, and a pair of 16- and 8-megapixel cameras for the back and front, respectively. The primary shooter is assisted by both laser and phase detection autofocus.

Does the pricing announcement taper our fondness for the 5.5-inch ZenFone 3 Max? Not really. It just happens to be the most expensive ZenFone Max to date, and it’s priced as much as last year’s powerful ZenFone 2; hence, we can’t get that false sense of “empowering luxury” out of our heads.

We still hope more countries will receive the larger ZenFone 3 Max. It would help broaden the number of quality choices at this price point; the OPPO F1s, Vivo V3 Max, Moto G4 Plus, and Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime are all waiting.

[irp posts=”3915″ name=”ASUS ZenFone 3 PH prices are expensive compared to a year ago”]

Source: GSMArena

Apps

Canva teams up with SB19 to turn A’TIN’s passion into creativity

Campaign lets fans access assets, editable templates, more

Published

August 8, 2026

GadgetMatch

Canva Philippines has joined forces with SB19 and Sony Music Entertainment to launch the “Kaya sa Canva” campaign.

This first-of-its-kind initiative is aimed at transforming the popular Filipino boy band’s fanbase into creators by giving them access to official design assets, exclusive templates, and powerful creative tools.

That’s of course as fans have a way of creating artwork, banners, and more outputs to honor their idols.

As such, the partnership enables the A’TIN (SB19’s fanbase) to access the Canva-exclusive SB19’s Creative Hub.

This dedicated space lets fans access assets, including SB19-inspired sticker packs, custom typography, and editable templates inspired by the group.

Fans around the world will initially have access to templates for photo-booth strips, wallpapers, posters, and videos.

The campaign will then expand with Canva-exclusive assets celebrating the group’s New Era, as well as their latest single, “Lawless”.

Meanwhile, the original song “KAYA” is accompanied with an upbeat music video, doubling as a love letter to A’TIN and a masterclass in Canva’s tools.

Every visual and animation is fan-inspired, a celebration of the creativity, passion, and dedication that’s defined in the community from day one.

News

The iPhone 18 might sell out for an unexpected reason

The ongoing shortage might play a part in the phone selling out earlier than expected.

Published

August 7, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

An iPhone selling out is not news. Because of how popular the phones are, it’s within the realm of probability that Apple runs out of stock at some point. According to a new report, this year won’t be any different… but it’s for an entirely different reason.

First reported by analyst Tim Culpan, Apple is reportedly struggling to meet its demand for semiconductors for the iPhone 18 and the foldable iPhone. The ongoing memory shortage is cutting off Apple’s ability to deliver the required supply of smartphones in a timely fashion. The report even claims that TSMC, which helps produce the iPhone, is sitting on a shipment of processors, worth US$ 1 billion, that don’t have memory chips.

Now, Apple is still confident that it can weather the launch. However, if the shortage persists, the iPhone 18 generation will likely sell out much more quickly than expected.

It’s an interesting time for Apple to experience such a shortage. It’s been heavily rumored that the company will launch its very first foldable phone next month, creating a new market for the brand. Apple definitely wants this attempt to succeed after the tepid response to its last new product, the Vision Pro.

News

These “smart” glasses just sold out in under a week

DuckDuckGo touts that these glasses have zero AI, zero cameras, and an infinite battery life.

Published

August 7, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Smart glasses are in a weird place right now. While a chunk of the population views them as cool and innovative, another significant chunk sees them as a privacy nightmare. If you’re in the latter group but want to see what life is like on the former, DuckDuckGo has a new product: a pair of anti-surveillance glasses with no camera or AI, otherwise known as just normal sunglasses.

If it’s not obvious, yes, it’s a troll product. DuckDuckGo is a search engine famously known for pushing privacy as a priority, opposing Google’s penchant for advertising and AI. Now, the search engine is taking on the smart glasses market.

Partnering with Knockaround, DuckDuckGo released the Paso Robles, a pair of sunglasses touted as having zero cameras, an always-offline mode, and a battery life of infinity.

It’s a statement piece. The rims have a logo mark, similar to the Meta’s glasses. The packaging also states that the glasses are “designed to block the sun, not send data to the cloud.”

Now, if you want a pair, they cost only US$ 35, as opposed to Meta’s US$ 299 price tag, but they are already sold out.

Which says quite a bit about today’s sentiment against AI and for privacy. Of course, to be fair, DuckDuckGo’s supply is certainly less than Meta’s stock for their smart glasses. It does, however, prove that the sentiment is there.

As of now, the world is slowly realizing that unimpeded smart glasses aren’t such a good idea, leading to people concerned about their privacy. In fact, some states have already started banning the technology in certain public spaces.