Enterprise
Huawei in talks with Swiss-based ProtonMail for Gmail substitute
The Swiss firm also offers a VPN service
Huawei and Google have finally split ways. After months of uncertainty, Huawei has finally confirmed the first Google-less smartphone. Unlike its predecessors, the Huawei Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro will ship without Google’s officially licensed products. That said, a pressing question remains: what will replace Google in Huawei’s devices?
The Chinese company has already discussed several alternatives including an open-source version of Android. Huawei’s most compelling alternative is its in-house software, Harmony OS. Currently, Harmony OS is in development in preparation for an eventual application for mobile devices. However, despite the seemingly positive developments, Huawei has lacked something critical: a new ally.
So far, Huawei’s potential solutions are either developed in-house or still clinging on to the Android ecosystem. Fortunately, Huawei’s lone battles are coming to an end.
The company is now discussing a potential partnership with an unlikely ally: the Switzerland-based ProtonMail. Notably, Switzerland is a neutral territory, allowing Swiss companies like ProtonMail to do business with Huawei.
In an official blog post, the Swiss company has extended support for Huawei’s official app store, AppGallery. According to a Bloomberg interview with the company’s founder, “what [Huawei sees] from [ProtonMail] is having an alternative to Google in case they can’t offer Google anymore.”
“As Huawei devices are especially popular in developing countries where Proton has many users, publishing on the Huawei AppGallery could become essential to continue supporting these user communities,” according to the blog post.
Additionally, ProtonMail has commented on Google’s shadier practices. “Google doesn’t respect users’ privacy,” the post further said. The company has notoriously gone off against Google in the past.
In contrast, ProtonMail offers an email service with end-to-end encryption and open-source cryptography. The company also offers an accessible VPN service called ProtonVPN. The company’s founder, Dr. Andy Yen, has continuously advocated for stricter privacy in digital communication. His team aims to add ProtonCalendar and ProtonDrive to their products in the future.
UPDATE [09/10/19]: ProtonMail has posted a follow-up blog post explaining the situation. Despite the emailing service’s support for Huawei’s AppGallery, both companies are not currently pursuing an official partnership with each other.
Enterprise
Cebu Pacific becomes 1st SEA low-cost carrier with Starlink Wi-Fi
Rollout expected to begin in 2027
Cebu Pacific has introduced Starlink, making it the first low-cost airline in Southeast Asia to bring Wi-Fi in the sky for passengers.
The rollout is expected to begin in 2027. Starlink delivers an unparalleled broadband experience inflight, with high-speed, low-latency Wi-Fi capable of HD streaming, online gaming, productivity and more.
Beyond enhancing the passenger experience, Starlink will also support improved operational connectivity for Cebu Pacific’s flight crews and operational teams. This enables better operational efficiency.
The collaboration is a significant milestone for Philippine aviation. The rollout forms part of Cebu Pacific’s continued investment in customer experience and digital innovation.
As part of the partnership, Cebu Pacific and Indigo Partners portfolio airlines, Wizz Air, and JetSMART expect to install Starlink on over 1,000 aircraft.
Enterprise
Google ordered to pay EUR 4.1 billion in fines
The EU alleges that Google uses its apps to establish an unfair dominance.
European fines have unintentionally become a normal part of doing business in the American technology space. For too long have American companies paid paltry fines to prevent harsher regulation in the European Union. Now, for the first time, Google is about to pay a record-breaking fine that goes beyond “paltry.”
Today, via CNBC, Google has been ordered to pay an astonishing EUR 4.1 billion (or approximately US$ 4.67 billion) in fines. The fine is in response to an anti-competition case.
This has been a long time coming for Google. The original case started in 2018. At the time, the European Union accused the brand of using anti-competitive practices to ensure its dominance in the smartphone market. According to the courts, the company’s bundling of first-party apps for every Android smartphone gives them an unfair advantage in the market and lessens the user’s choice in selecting apps.
For years, Google has fought the fine to seemingly no avail. Now, the company has lost its final attempt, which means that the fine still stands. On the bright side, they did get it reduced from the original EUR 4.34 billion fine.
The European Union is the scourge of every American tech company (and a godsend to consumers). Most notably, the continent’s government forced Apple to adopt USB-C, leading to a more universal experience across brands.
Google’s hefty fine aims to do the same. And it is quite hefty. Whereas previous fines were in the millions (and hence, negligible for most companies), a fine in the billions is more tangible.
Apps
foodpanda relaunches cult-favorite roast chicken brand after 8 years of persistent search queries
Heritage chain Andok’s returns to the platform, driven entirely by long-term user analytics.
In the world of e-commerce and food delivery, platform algorithms usually dictate what consumers see. But occasionally, consumer behavior is so relentless that it shapes the platform’s strategy.
In a move driven entirely by long-term user analytics, foodpanda has officially relaunched Andok’s, one of the Philippines’ most iconic heritage rotisserie chains, back onto its platform after an eight-year absence.
The search bar as a digital wishlist
The decision to ink the partnership wasn’t just a marketing play. It was a response to an ongoing data anomaly. Despite being offline from the foodpanda platform for eight years, Andok’s consistently ranked as one of the most-searched merchants on the app.
Year after year, users treated the empty search results page as an unofficial wishlist. This persistent search intent gave foodpanda a clear, data-backed signal of pent-up demand.
Prior to the official digital rollout, teaser campaigns on social media validated this demand, generating thousands of organic interactions from users anticipating the return.
Bridging heritage flavor with digital infrastructure
For foodpanda, onboarding a merchant with this level of built-in demand fits its broader strategy of marketplace optimization and hyper-local network expansion, turning a heritage brand into another data point for how legacy retail plugs into delivery infrastructure.
For Andok’s, the integration works as a fast track to digital scale. A legacy quick-service chain skips years of independent app development and reaches customers already using foodpanda’s existing logistics network, on a platform they already check daily.
Andok’s built its following on charcoal spit-roasted chicken, a slow-cooked technique that’s stayed largely unchanged since the brand’s early days, alongside seasoned grilled pork belly.
More recently, the Dokito line extended that following into crispy fried chicken and chicken burgers, broadening the brand’s appeal beyond its original rotisserie format and giving foodpanda a menu with both heritage pull and everyday fast-food convenience.
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