Enterprise

These are the best cities for women entrepreneurs to thrive

Singapore ranks third in Asia Pacific, behind Sydney and Melbourne

Published

July 19, 2019

Chay Lazaro

At the 10th annual Dell Women Entrepreneur Network Summit in Singapore, Dell announced findings of the 2019 Women Entrepreneur Cities (WE Cities) Index, ranking 50 global cities on their ability to foster growth for women entrepreneurs. Dell ranks cities based on the impact of local policies, programs, and characteristics in addition to national laws and customs to help improve support for women entrepreneurs and the overall economy.

Building on 10 years of research on women entrepreneurs, Dell partnered with IHS Markit to research and rank 50 cities on five important characteristics, including access to Capital, Technology, Talent, Culture and Markets.

The San Francisco Bay Area outranked New York for the No. 1 spot this year, mostly due to the city being one of the best places for women to gain access to capital. It also moved from 6th place to 2nd place in Culture, showing that the number of role models and public dialogue around eliminating the “bro culture” is making an impact.

Lack of funding, high cost of living, low representation of women in leadership roles and the lack of government-led policies that support women entrepreneurs were among the barriers globally.

Cities in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region are improving alongside all other cities globally, but still have a long way to go. Singapore, one of the only three cities from Southeast Asia to make it to the top 50, saw the highest improvement in the Talent pillar, as it benefitted from increasing its top school and business school rankings, as well as its pool of professionals needed to help scale businesses.

APAC cities mainly fell behind in the pillars for Culture and Markets. Despite making the top 50, Singapore’s Culture score was relatively low due to fewer female role models or leaders, although it’s still more advanced than majority of its neighbors in addressing gender parity issues.

Singapore ranks only No. 47 globally for the Markets pillar, because of the high cost of living in the city despite the lack of accelerators and relatively few female board members.

The WE Cities Index serves as a diagnostic tool to advise policy-makers on how to better support women in business.

“By arming city leaders and policymakers with actionable, data-driven research on the landscape for women entrepreneurs, we can collectively accelerate the success of women-owned businesses by removing financial, cultural and political barriers,” says Karen Quintos, EVP and chief customer officer at Dell Technologies.

The same way US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg argued in her landmark cases that gender discrimination hurts men and women alike, Singapore Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu also emphasized at the summit that it’s not only women who want a better work life balance; men also want to be able to spend more time with their families.

This is where technology comes in. Technology, as a gender-neutral enabler, helps drive progress in gender equality by creating a level playing field, says Amit Midha, President of Asia Pacific & Japan, Global Digital Cities at Dell Technologies. It’s important to empower and invest in women not just because it’s been proven time and again that women help economies grow, but also because doing so benefits men and society as a whole.

Enterprise

New US-China ban might affect 75% of phones, laptops

Companies can no longer use Chinese labs to test their products.

Published

May 5, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

The United States is continuing its crusade against Chinese technology today. However, the target now isn’t a company from China but a method important to a lot of non-Chinese brands.

Today, via Reuters, the Federal Communications Commission (or FCC) has unanimously voted to prohibit companies from using Chinese labs to test their electronic devices if they are to be sold for use in the United States. Naturally, this includes smartphones and computers.

Notably, the prohibition doesn’t directly target Chinese brands. However, it will still affect a huge swath of the industry. The FCC estimates that around 75 percent of the entire market are devices tested in labs based in China.

This means that companies who wish to sell future products in the country must move their testing to labs in the United States or other countries that it deems secure. At its current iteration, the prohibition will not affect devices that already earned their certification prior. However, it might prevent them from getting recertified once their current one expires.

Now, the prohibition isn’t an absolute lock just yet. The FCC will allow the industry to submit comments about the proposal. But, with a unanimous vote from the FCC, companies might have to start looking for alternative testing sites if they want to stay operation in the United States.

Enterprise

OnePlus has reportedly merged with realme

Both brands were previously rumored for restructuring early this year.

Published

April 30, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

OnePlus has a problem. For a while now, rumors have swirled about the company’s dissolution. For their part, the company has continued to deny the reports, citing business as usual. Likely to their dismay, the reports just keep coming. Today, sources have hinted that OnePlus has merged with realme.

Back in January, it was rumored that OnePlus would be closing up shop this year. Since the company very quickly denied the rumors, the report hardly made waves. However, a suspected merger with realme is more difficult to debunk.

For one, realme is itself in a very interesting position. Also back in January, realme was reportedly moving back into being a sub-brand of OPPO. Coupled together with the OnePlus debacle, all this internal restructuring seems par for the course.

According to Digital Chat Station on Weibo, OnePlus and realme have already concluded the merger. The two brands have reportedly united their Chinese and international operations under one roof. Likewise, their marketing will be the same. Pete Lau will still be the main head for this new division.

As with anything of this nature, take this with a grain of salt. OPPO, OnePlus, and realme have not issued any official statements concerning a merger or a shutdown for any brand.

Enterprise

AGIBOT is turning robots into companions for our everyday routines

The era of robots performing cool tricks is over!

Published

April 17, 2026

GadgetMatch

The era of robots performing “cool tricks” is over.

At its 2026 Partner Conference, AGIBOT moved embodied AI out of the lab and into the real world.

y using a “One Robotic Body, Three Intelligences” architecture, the company launched five new robot platforms and eight AI models to make physical AI a normal part of how we live and work.

Engineering for human environments

AGIBOT believes that for a robot to be a good partner, it first needs a body you can actually rely on.

Take the AGIBOT A3, for example. This 173 cm tall humanoid weighs 55 kg, about the same as a teenager. It uses a magnesium and titanium build to stay strong yet light.

It moves smoothly for 10 hours straight, and if the battery runs low, you can swap it out in just 10 seconds to keep the momentum of your day going.

In the workplace, the AGIBOT G2 Air acts as a single-arm helper that works right alongside people. It navigates narrow doorways and tight office spaces with ease.

This robot actually learns while it works; it records its environment and actions in real-time to help its AI get smarter every single day.

Then there is the D2 Max, the world’s first Level 3 autonomous four-legged robot. It isn’t a toy you control with a remote; it is a partner that explores tough terrain and handles security patrols entirely on its own.

Finally, the OmniHand 3 series brings a human-like touch to these machines. The flagship Ultra-T model mimics almost any hand movement, while the OmniPicker 3 and OmniHand 3 Lite handle the heavy-duty, high-impact jobs that require extra muscle.

8 models driving autonomy

The “brain” of these machines is a closed-loop system that helps them move, think, and talk.

To master movement, the Behavioral Foundation Model (BFM) allows a robot to copy human actions just by watching a short video.

Another model, the GCFM, lets the robot react to your voice or actions in real-time, which makes its movements feel natural instead of stiff.

To tackle complex tasks, AGIBOT uses a massive dataset called AGIBOT WORLD 2026, a library of real-life situations from homes and factories.

This library helps robots plan out long lists of chores without getting confused. They even use a “digital twin” system called Genie Sim 3.0, where robots practice new skills in a virtual world before trying them in the real one.

On top of that, the WITA Omni model helps the robot understand your feelings, allowing it to talk and move like it’s having a true conversation

Scalable deployment

The robots are becoming a part of our daily lives. By using the MEgo system to collect data easily, AGIBOT is making it simpler for these machines to learn how to help us in shops, warehouses, and our own homes.

As these robots start showing up in our lives, the technology feels less like a complicated machine and more like a companion that helps us grow.