Apps

Airbnb sets aside $250 million for hosts affected due to cancellations

Protecting the hosts, the real assets

Published

March 31, 2020

Shivam Vahia

Airbnb announced it has set aside US$ 250 million to help hosts recoup some of the income they lost as a result of the company’s Coronavirus policy, which lets travelers cancel trips and get a full refund.

The hosts weren’t particularly elevated with the idea of full refunds and sought to social media to show their disappointment and frustration. Many relied on business from Airbnb as their primary source of income and were now suddenly running out of cash flow.

While Airbnb’s decision greatly helped the guests (their users), it put all the financial burden on the hosts. Many have posted videos explaining how the company’s decision has been one-sided and the hosts are the only assets Airbnb has.

The company usually gets a 12 percent cut from the amount guests pay. But when guests cancel, the company refunds those fees to them. Ultimately, about 88 percent of the returned amount to travelers comes out of the hosts’ pockets.

As the world economy faces plunging stock markets and unprecedented unemployment claims, short-term rental hosts are assessing their own sudden loss of revenue. To help them recover and get through these tough times. Airbnb has set aside $250 million and its spokesperson said the company expects that sum will be enough to cover any losses that are made.

There’s no doubt that every industry across the world has taken a hit due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. But, the travel industry is has come to a sudden halt worldwide. With countries blocking off their border for foreigners, travelers or backpackers are non-existent right now. The aviation industry alone is bound to receive a humungous $50 billion bailout package from the U.S. government.

Apps

ChatGPT Go now available in the Philippines, more Asian countries

Access to more popular ChatGPT features for an affordable subscription plan

Published

October 9, 2025

GadgetMatch

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

OpenAI has officially launched ChatGPT Go in 16 Asian countries, including the Philippines. This is the most cost-friendly subscription option yet at just PhP 300 (~ US$ 5.15).

This development gives users in the serviced regions greater access to ChatGPT’s advanced capabilities at a more affordable price.

To get started, simply visit chat.openai.com or download the ChatGPT mobile app, then create an account and select ChatGPT Go as your plan. The payment process is simple.

On the other hand, those who already have accounts may simply upgrade to Go.

The launch comes amid strong growth adoption of OpenAI’s tools in the Philippines. In fact, the country ranks among the top five countries for weekly ChatGPT users in Asia.

In addition, the top five use cases locally are tutoring, editing, personal writing, “how to” advice, and creative ideation.

At PhP 300 a month, ChatGPT Go subscribers will gain access to ChatGPT’s most popular features, including higher message limits, image generation, file uploads, and memory.

These are all powered by GPT-5, OpenAI’s most-advanced model.

Specifically, here’s the perks for the Go plan compared to free:

10x higher message limits
10x more image generations per day
10x more file or image uploads per day
2x longer memory for personalized responses

ChatGPT Go will join existing subscription options Plus (PhP 1,100) and Pro (PhP 9,900).

Plus is for subscribers who need more advanced thinking models and features like deep research, agent mode, and Sora video creation.

Meanwhile, Pro is for professionals, researchers, or organizations who need enterprise-grade scale, pro-level reasoning, and the most advanced features.

16 countries in Asia get ChatGPT Go

The Go rollout builds on strong momentum for cost-friendly subscriptions in the region.

Since launching first in India, the number of paid subscribers has more than doubled in a month.

Other countries to get the Go tier subscription are:

Afghanistan
India
Myanmar
Sri Lanka
Bangladesh
Indonesia
Nepal
Thailand
Bhutan
Laos
Pakistan
Timor-Leste (East Timor)
Brunei Darussalam
Malaysia
Vietnam
Cambodia
Maldives

Apps

You can now connect your Spotify account to ChatGPT

Seamless integration for personalized picks, more

Published

October 8, 2025

GadgetMatch

Spotify is now available on ChatGPT, with users in 145 countries already able access the live feature. This gives listeners a new way to discover and enjoy music and podcasts.

With the integration, both Free and Premium users can bring Spotify into their ChatGPT chats to get personalized recommendations. That goes from playlists that match your mood to podcasts based on your interests.

To get started, simply mention Spotify in your ChatGPT prompt, connect your account, and start discovering.

From there, simply ask for songs, artists, playlists, or podcast episodes. ChatGPT will automatically bring up the Spotify app in your chat and use relevant context to accomplish the task.

Alternatively, ask for recommendations based on a mood, theme, or topic, and Spotify will surface personalized picks seamlessly within the flow of your conversation.

Tapping a track will open the Spotify app, allowing you to listen and watch directly from there.

Furthermore, you can also extend an existing ChatGPT conversation, like planning a weekend road trip, by asking Spotify to create the perfect soundtrack.

For best results, add details like genre, mood, or artist for music, or a topic, host, or guest for podcasts.

Save steps

The way it all looks, the integration saves mobile users a few taps and switching from one app to the other. That’s if they’ve initially opened the ChatGPT app and decided to listen to music or podcasts via Spotify.

And like the aforementioned example, it saves users thinking about a curated playlist.

Or, when people are driving, they can just talk to ChatGPT for specific commands. It’s about the Spotify account access. You can start connecting by opting in; and you can disconnect at any time.

Throughout the experience, artists and creators’ work stays protected. Spotify will not share music, podcasts, or any other audio or video content for OpenAI training purposes.

The feature is now live for all ChatGPT Free, Plus, and Pro users on web and mobile.

It’s in early days, and both parties will continue to build, refine, and improve the experience over the coming weeks and months.

It’s intriguing if Gemini will come up with its own version for the music streaming app’s Google counterpart, YouTube Music.

Apps

Strava is suing Garmin over alleged patent infringements

They want Garmin to stop selling its watches.

Published

October 3, 2025

Luigi Leonardo

It’s always awkward when two of your close friends start to fight. For the fitness-minded, Strava and Garmin are what you might call close friends. And yes, they just got into a fight. In an odd change of heart, Strava is suing Garmin for alleged patent infringement.

The fitness segment in tech has one of the most tight-knit collections of companies. Despite how many of them there are, it’s highly likely that one will work with the other. Strava, for example, works well with Garmin’s smartwatches. The two giants were formerly adamant about working together.

Now, the situation has mysteriously changed. Strava is suing Garmin over patent infringements involving the latter’s segments and heatmaps features. The case also alleges that Garmin violated a Master Cooperation Agreement when the company developed its own heatmap technology.

For compensation, Strava is asking the courts to stop Garmin from selling any of its smartwatches which include the infringing features. That’s pretty concerning when most of Garmin’s devices have those features.

According to an official post on Reddit, the proverbial straw the broke the camel’s back is Garmin’s new policies. Partnered software must now include Garmin’s logo in activity posts. Otherwise, Garmin will reportedly revoke access to its API.

Curiously, as some commenters pointed out, Strava has done the same thing in the past. And, according to DC Rainmaker, who first spotted the case, Garmin doesn’t, in fact, require the logo.

It’s still up in the air whether the litigation will result into anything substantial. However, speculation says that Strava might eventually drop the case since Garmin can definitely retaliate.