News

How Globe, Smart, and PLDT are responding to COVID-19’s threat

From free speed boost to extended bills payment

Published

March 17, 2020

Kenrick Buduan

Due to the rising cases of COVID-19 in the Philippines, the whole island of Luzon has been placed on a lockdown or what the government prefers to call “enhanced community quarantine.” Public utility companies, for their part, have already limited physical transactions. However, they are reassuring the public that they will continue to provide services during these difficult times.

Telecommunications operators like Globe, Smart, and PLDT have released their own advisory to meet the guidelines for enhanced quarantine on the whole island. Here’s how they are responding to the public heath crisis brought by COVID-19 outbreak:

Advisories are subject to change. We will update this article for new developments. Hit refresh from time to time to see these updates.

Bill payment extension

Globe, Smart, and PLDT are extending their payment period again for 30 days soon after the lockdown period was extended until April 30. However, this extension doesn’t mean that the operators will give a free one-month service to its customers. The billing cycle of each operator will continue. So, you will still pay a hefty amount for using their service for the duration of the lockdown.

Free speed and data boost from PLDT and Smart

PLDT customers are entitled to a free speed boost during the lockdown. But that comes with a big “if”. If you’re not a PLDT Fibr customer nor a resident from Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal, then you’re out of luck. Still, those within the speed boost criteria gets a decent 25 Mbps boost, irrespective of the Fibr plan that the customers have.

Smart Signature Plan subscribers are also getting a boost on their mobile data for the next 30 days. Every postpaid plan gets an increase in consumable data. To know the new mobile data limits for every plan, head over to Smart’s website.

Free, unlimited WiFi on critical areas

It is important for the medical workers to stay connected with their friends and families during these crucial moments. Battling an outbreak that has the potential to spread to more people is a risky and important task. Smart and Globe recognizes this fact, and they are offering free and unlimited Internet access to select areas via their WiFi stations.

Adjusted store operating hours

PLDT and Smart are also adjusting their store hours to comply with the enhanced quarantine guidelines. Meanwhile, Globe announced that they are closing all of their physical stores from March 16 to 22. Globe customers must resort to their online store or hotline support during these days.

As general rules, the CDC or The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention listed these to help with preventing the spread of COVID-19:

Stay home when sick
Cover coughs and sneezes
Frequently wash hands with soap and water
Clean frequently touched surfaces

Related Topics:coronavirus Covid-19 Globe Globe Telecom PLDT Smart Smart Communications

News

nubia joins durability competition with launch of V80 Max

Budget smartphone introduces durability-related upgrades

Published

January 24, 2026

GadgetMatch

Not to be left behind in the budget smartphone durability and waterproofness competition, nubia has launched nubia V80 Max in the Philippines.

The latest device starts at just PhP 6,499 via ecommerce platforms like Lazada, Shopee, and TikTok Shop. It has a regular retail price of PhP 9,999.

Unarguably, the most significant upgrades from the V70 Max are the 1.8-meter drop resistance and IP64 water and dust resistance.

The phone features 360-degree all-round protection for impacts, ensuring they keep up with most competitors offering the similar durability-laden features.

Everywhere else, the improvements are incremental. The budget handset is powered by an octa-core processor with up to 1.8GHz clock speed.

The phone houses a 6,000mAh battery with support for Bypass Charging and even reverse charging.

In front is a 6.9-inch 720p display with up to 780 nits of brightness, which is 41.8% brighter than the previous generation. On paper, the panel is also capable of up to 120Hz refresh rate.

For its cameras, the nubia V80 Max has a 50MP main camera coupled with a 16MP front camera.

Additional OS features include AI Scam Alert, AI Social Publisher, and more. The V80 Max also introduces weak signal optimization for challenging areas.

It even has a network-free communication capability of its own, called nubia LinkFree.

Customers can get the new budget device in five colorways: Stardust Purple, Stellar Silver, Aurellia Gold, Sky Cyan, and Space Black.

Gaming

Nintendo’s latest toy is Super Mario Wonder’s Talking Flower

It tells the time and jokes around randomly throughout the day.

Published

January 23, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Late in 2024, Nintendo announced the Alarmo, the quirkiest alarm clock we would’ve grabbed immediately if alarm clocks were still a big thing. Today, the company has announced its next clock-like toy: the Talking Flower from Super Mario Wonder.

To me, the Talking Flower was a welcome addition to the franchise’s burgeoning cast of characters. The occasionally appearing character delivered timely quips that broke the monotony of the level’s music or provided meaningful tips.

However, there is a good number of players who find the flower irritating and mute the character altogether. If you’re part of this group, then Nintendo’s latest clock isn’t for you.

The new Talking Flower doesn’t have its own clock display. It only has a speaker, but it can announce the hour “mostly accurately,” according to Nintendo.

It’s an odd product. The brand wants the flower to be glitchy. Besides being “mostly accurate” with the time, it can also randomly blurt out alerts in one of its handful of available languages, outside of what the user set.

Further, it can comment on the weather and play music. It can also say “words of encouragement and silly quips” randomly throughout the day. The Talking Flower certainly has the spirit of the character it’s modeled after.

As for input buttons, it only has a single button. One press makes it say something outside of its scheduled prompts. Holding the button for two seconds silences the thing.

The Talking Flower will ship out on March 12. It will sell for US$ 34.99.

Gaming

You can now race as teams in Mario Kart World’s Knockout Tour

The free update is rolling out now.

Published

January 23, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Mario Kart World needs little to no improvements. The latest entry in the legendary racing franchise introduced players to the open-world format. Taking advantage of that new format, the game also has a unique new mode called the Knockout Tour. Today, Mario Kart World is getting a surprising-but-welcome update which adds a team option to the survival mode.

In stark contrast to Mario Kart’s usual gameplay, Knockout Tour introduces a battle royale element to the game. The mode strings together a series of races seamlessly leading from on to the next via the open-world format. Players are eliminated for placing at or near the bottom after every leg, eventually leading to a three-way race to finish first.

Prior to today’s announcement, players race for themselves. But now, via a free update, players can now compete in two teams of twelve, three teams of eight, or four teams of six. They must still survive individually, but points are now collated based on teams.

The number of points derives from finishing position. Finishing in P1, for example, will bag the player a total of 50 points for that leg. Meanwhile, eliminated players get only a single point. At the end of the entire tour, everyone’s points are tallied up, and the win is awarded to the team with the most points.

The new mode can be raced locally or online. If the pool lacks players to round out the teams, the game will provide AI opponents.

The update is rolling out now and is for free.