Apps
MAX, Smart partner for 3-month mobile subscription
Movies, shows on the go
Having a hard time managing your subscriptions? Well, Smart Communications, Inc. is trying to help. The company has partnered with Warner Bros. Discovery to make subscribing to the newly available streaming service in the Philippines, Max, easier to get to.
Smart Postpaid Plans 999 and above can enjoy a three-month subscription to the Max Mobile plan included in their Postpaid plan. Fans can enjoy blockbusters, groundbreaking series, iconic hits, real-life stories and more from HBO, Harry Potter, the DC Universe, Cartoon Network, Warner Bros. and Discovery.
How to redeem your Max subscription with Smart
Smart Postpaid customers subscribing to Smart Postpaid Plans 999 and up can enjoy a three-month subscription to the Max Mobile plan included with their Postpaid plan (worth a total of PhP 447).
To redeem their three-month subscription to the Max Mobile plan, eligible Smart Postpaid subscribers will receive an official message from Smart Postpaid.
This will guide them to create or log into their Max account and input a voucher code via Max.com/redeem.
A final confirmation screen will be shown with information on their account and plan. There will also be a prompt that they can start streaming.
Smart subscribers may stream Max on their mobile device (smartphone, tablet) while on the go. They also have the option to save up to 15 downloads with Standard HD video resolution.
Max replaces HBO GO
Max, formerly HBO GO in some parts of the region, is now available on desktops, smartphones, and tablets. Additionally, it is already available on streaming devices (such as Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Google Chromecast) and TV platforms (including Samsung, LG, and Android TV). Users can also avail of promos through select distribution platforms, including PLDT Home, Cignal TV, and Smart.
The streaming service’s Philippine launched was graced by the Weasley twins from Harry Potter.
@gadgetmatch Fred and George Weasley flew in to welcome Max to the Philippines! 🪄✨ James and Oliver Phelps made a surprise appearance at Max’s launch event at BGC. The duo shared tales of trying adobo and sisig before teasing their upcoming show, Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking, on Max. #MAX ♬ original sound – GadgetMatch
Currently, the platform hosts popular titles from the Harry Potter franchise, the DC Universe, and other original titles from Max. Most notably, subscribers can catch House of the Dragon, Euphoria, and The Penguin. It will also hold the streaming premieres of blockbuster films including Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, The Fall Guy, and A Quiet Place: Day One.
The Max mobile app is available for download on the Apple Store and Google Play Store.
Apps
Honor, Xiaomi are working on their own Privacy Displays
Samsung’s Privacy Display is apparently very popular.
Normally, a smartphone brand’s blatant copying of another brand’s feature is not a good practice. Today, however, there is a new feature that we wish other brands would copy: Samsung’s Privacy Display. Thankfully, some brands, like Honor, have finally gotten the message and are working on version of the feature.
As reported by Digital Chat Station on Weibo, Honor is reportedly working on a privacy screen for its smartphones. Likewise, Xiaomi is working on the same thing, potentially launching the feature for the Xiaomi 18 Pro.
For the uninitiated, the Samsung Privacy Display is a built-in feature that blocks visibility of the screen at certain angles. If you’re not looking at the screen from the front, all you’ll see is a black void. It’s a built-in version of those protective screens that you can buy separately. Besides adding a nice layer of protection against scratches, it’s also meant to prevent snooping from your shoulder.
Samsung’s take was widely acclaimed for being insanely useful. When it arrives, this feature will be a godsend to more brands. Even better, users will no longer need to rely on third-party screen just to enjoy the privacy.
That said, there’s still no indication as to when these features will arrive on either Honor or Xiaomi.
SEE ALSO: LE SSERAFIM Chaewon flexes Galaxy S26 Ultra Privacy Display
Meta does not have the most stellar of reputations. Despite offering the world’s most popular social media platforms, the company, through its various experiments throughout the years, continuously proves that it has other priorities than just providing the best for its users. Today, another reported experiment wants to take Meta to a new market that its users might fall into: the prediction market.
If you haven’t heard of the prediction market, consider yourself lucky. These apps, such as Kalshi, are basically just gambling platforms without the glitz of playing cards or the rigor of the stock market. Users gamble on mundane circumstances like the weather and more serious ones like war.
Today, as reported by The New York Times, Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly asking Meta to develop a prediction app of its own. Interestingly, the experimental app, supposedly called Arena, will use virtual points, rather than real money. However, Meta has not ruled out real money — and hence, real gambling — in the future.
Meta is entering the industry at an extremely volatile time. The world is starting to crack down on prediction markets. Some users, for example, have been accused of using insider information to get easy wins on these platforms. Some markets have also accused these platforms of subverting anti-gambling laws.
SEE ALSO: Meta adds subscriptions for Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp
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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