News
Mate 50 Pro, MatePad SE set for Nov 26 release in Singapore
Huawei’s latest flagship photography phone, the Huawei Mate 50 Pro, has been announced for a late November release in Singapore.
The cutting-edge smartphone will be the first Huawei phone to be equipped with EMUI 13. It puts premium on one-touch controls for everyday interactions. The phone is powered by a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor and an Adreno GPU.
The display is a 6.74-inch OLED (2616 x 1212) screen with up to 120Hz refresh rate and up to 300Hz touch sampling rate.
The Mate 50 Pro comes with a SuperEnergy Boosting feature. It activates when the battery level falls to 1%, extending the device’s standby time by up to three hours.
Next-level mobile photography
The Mate 50 Pro is set to usher a new era in smartphone photography with its 50MP Ultra Aperture XMAGE camera (F1.4, RYYB sensor) that has a 10-size adjustable physical aperture.
There’s a 64MP periscope telephoto lens capable of up to a 200x zoom, while completing the phone’s game-changing camera setup is the 13MP ultra-wide-angle macro camera.
In front is a 13MP ultra-wide-angle camera as well, coupled with a 3D depth sensing camera.
Complementing all these is the phone’s IP68 water-resistance rating to ensure users can take photos in just about any condition.
MatePad SE also announced
Joining the Mate 50 Pro for its release later this month is the all-around MatePad SE tablet.
The 440-gram device has as 10.4-inch display that is certified for eye care. It has two speakers on the left and right for an immersive listening experience.
The MatePad SE supports the new Multi-Window feature and an improved App Multiplier which can handle up to four concurrent tasks.
It also comes with Harmony OS 3 for users to be able to manage connections across other devices.
Pricing, availability
The Huawei Mate 50 Pro and MatePad SE will be available starting at SG$ 1,548 and SG$ 298, respectively, from November 26 at the following online and physical channels:
- Huawei Experience Stores (313@Somerset, Westgate)
- Huawei Authorized Stores (NEX, Sim Lim Square)
- M1, StarHub, Best Denki, Challenger, Courts, Gain City, MetaPod, SprintCass
- Huawei official Lazada and Shopee stores
Ahead of its release, customers can register for the Mate 50 Pro here from November 12 to 25 to get exclusive free gifts depending on which store they avail from.
Freebies include a Huawei umbrella, WATCH 3 Active, in-car wireless charger, and more.
Meanwhile, customers can also get a free Bluetooth speaker with every purchase of the MatePad SE until December 31.
Apps
Netflix expands its cheaper ad-supported tier to Southeast Asia
This also includes more countries in Europe and South America.
If you don’t care about seeing a deluge of ads on your platforms, you’re an incredibly rare breed these days. That same skill will come in handy for those nicely priced subscription tiers that comes with ads. Netflix, for one, has one of those tiers, and it’s now coming out in more countries.
As is prevalent in other platforms today, an ad-supported subscription tier lowers the price you have to pay every month. The catch, however, is that there will be an occasional sprinkling of ads here and there.
Netflix offers this service, which allows subscribers to get the service for cheap at the expense of their time. Currently, it is limited to only a few major markets in the world. However, the platform is expanding the tier’s reach to more countries in Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia.
Starting in 2027, Netflix’s ad-supported tier will expand to 15 countries: Austria, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Indonesia, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Thailand.
Netflix says that the ad-supported tier is a popular option for subscribers. Currently, the tier has around 250 million subscribers worldwide. Since some of the new countries have a more budget-conscious attitude when it comes to purchasing services, this number will likely go up after the expansion in 2027.
SEE ALSO: Netflix does the unthinkable: Mayweather-Pacquiao II set for September
Google One is a monthly subscription that gives you at least 200GB of cloud storage for your files and photos. For most people, a Google One subscription starts when Google inevitably tells them that their free storage space is running out and will soon stop backing up files. Starting today, new users might get that warning sooner rather than later as Google tests a lower limit to free storage.
Historically, Google offers users 15GB of free storage as a start. However, especially these days, 15GB can run out rapidly, prompting a Google One upgrade. Still, despite how “little” it is, Google’s free storage is generous compared to its contemporaries.
Now, Google is reportedly going to be more at par with the rest. As spotted on Reddit (via 9to5Google), new users will receive only 5GB of free storage. Based on Wayback Machine, the company changed its policy sometime between February to March.
Notably, 15GB is still available as an option, but users have to link their phone numbers to their accounts first.
According to Google, the policy change is meant to encourage users to upgrade their security. However, critics will point out that it just enables the company to collect more data about their users. Of note, the platform is already pushy about linking phone numbers before the change, but this adds another layer to entice people.
Also, Google confirms that the new policy is only a regional test for now. They have not announced when (or if) the change comes out for real.
SEE ALSO: Gmail now makes it easy to unsubscribe from all marketing emails
Gaming
The Steam Controller literally screams when you throw it
Please throw it at padded surfaces only.
We love harmless Easter eggs. Think of Chrome’s jumping dino or Android’s yearly quirk. It’s always fun when a device or app hides a special surprise for those in the know. Today, Valve is keeping the tradition alive by putting a screaming Easter egg in its new Steam Controller.
The first of its trio of new hardware, the Steam Controller converts the iconic layout of the Steam Deck into controller form. Besides offering an accessible controller, it also connects seamlessly to Steam, offering an easy doorway to plug and, literally, play.
Since it launched on May 4, users have already been playing around with their Steam Controllers. Presumably, this also includes a few rage moments that involve throwing the controller over a frustrating game.
If you threw your controller already, you might have heard an interesting surprise. As spotted by users online, the Steam Controller lets out a Wilhelm scream whenever it’s thrown.
For the unaware, the Wilhelm scream is the world’s most iconic scream. If you’ve watched a few movies, there’s a high chance that you’ve heard it before, as it’s often used as a background scream in many, many movies.
Notably, this has a cooldown of approximately one minute, so you can’t spam it over and over again. This also works on padded surfaces, so you don’t need to throw your controller at a hard wall. It’s just one of those nice Easter eggs that add a little spice to a favorite controller.
All that said, please don’t throw your Steam Controller at hard surfaces.
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