News

Qualcomm launches a phone for Snapdragon Insiders, costs $1500

It’s literally called Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders

Published

July 9, 2021

Shivam Vahia

In the world of Android, Qualcomm is infamous for its Snapdragon-branded processors. Instead of launching a new chip, the American giant has surprised us with a phone called Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders.

Snapdragon Insiders is a community of Qualcomm enthusiasts who get a closer look at the workings of the chipset giant. It currently comprises 1.6 million members, and the company wanted to provide cutting-edge performance to its inner circle.

Obviously, it sports a Snapdragon 888 processor that can be clocked up to 2.84 GHz and consists of eight cores. It also includes Adreno 660 GPU, 5G support, and WiFi 6. It’s quite disappointing that it doesn’t get the Snapdragon 888+ because it takes away the fad of being on the cutting-edge of technology.

Although it makes up for the slightly mature processor by providing 16GB RAM and 512GB internal storage. On the front is a 6.78-inch AMOLED screen that’s made by Samsung and supports a 144Hz refresh rate. Qualcomm claims 800 nits of brightness with HDR10+ certification and Gorilla Glass Victus protection.

Coming to the cameras, the Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders has a triple-camera array with a 64-megapixel primary sensor, a 12-megapixel wide-angle lens, and an 8-megapixel telephoto sensor with 3x magnification.

There’s a 4000mAh battery inside with support for 65W Quick Charge 5 charging speeds. But you only get a 35W power adapter inside the box. It’ll run on stock Android 11 out-of-the-box, with 4 years of guaranteed security updates and OS upgrades.

The phone has been made in partnership with ASUS, who’ll also be responsible for pushing out four years of guaranteed security and software updates.

Snapdragon sound

It may look like an exclusive offering for the Snapdragon Insiders community, but sales shall be open-ended. Meaning, anyone can buy it if they want to. It’ll only be available in Midnight Blue color and carries a price tag of US$ 1,499 (PHP 75,000). For that heavy price, you’ll get the phone, a Quick Charge 5 charger and cable, a bumper case, and a pair of TWS earbuds from Master & Dynamic (MW0851).

Keep in mind, it isn’t a gaming phone. Much of the specs are already available on the ROG Phone 5, which also supports airtags for seamless gaming. The phone will initially go on sale in China, Germany, Japan, Korea, the US, and the UK. Release in other markets like India will be done in the second wave.

Finance

HONOR, Fidesmo partner for contactless payments across Europe, Middle East

Enabling contactless payments on the HONOR Watch 6

Published

September 16, 2026

GadgetMatch

HONOR and Fidesmo have partnered to launch contactless payments across Europe and the Middle East on the HONOR Watch 6.

Powered by Fidesmo Pay, the integration enables users to connect an existing Mastercard or Visa card to their watch and complete contactless transactions directly from the wearable device.

This brings Fidesmo’s network of over 900 banks and financial institutions to HONOR’s customers. Users can connect an existing card to the HONOR Watch 6 instantly through the HONOR Health App, which installs a unique token directly onto the watch.

Acting as a secure reference to the payment method, this token allows customers to pay without storing their actual payment details on the device. Once installed, users can tap the watch at any
contactless terminal to pay, just as they would with a card or phone.

HONOR joins a group of device partners that already includes Swatch, Polar, and Mondaine as Fidesmo continues to build momentum across categories.

Entertainment

Max vs 100 will feature Max Verstappen race against 100 go-karters

The live event will stream at midnight on September 17.

Published

September 15, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

As a child, one of my favorite thought experiments is to imagine who would win in a fight between my favorite characters at the time and a number of other random beings. For example, will Superman prevail against 100 Magnetos? Those are the ways I kept my young mind occupied. Now, as a former child, I still do the same thing but with more realistic people, like imagining if Steph Curry can win against 100 high schoolers. This week, ESPN and Disney+ are making one of those imaginary fights real: Formula 1 legend Max Verstappen versus 100 go-karters.

In an upcoming live event streaming exclusively on Disney+, Max vs 100 will pit the four-time world champion against 100 go-karters from everywhere in pop culture. This gaggle of 100 will include popular content creators such as Twitch streamer ExtraEmily, car photographer Larry Chen, and NBA shooting coach Chris Matthews.

All 101 drivers will race around one of the most iconic tracks in Formula 1 history, Silverstone in England. The track will be reconfigured to match the special race.

Of course, this is more than just a parade of go-karts. Max Verstappen will start at the back of the grid, meaning he has to overtake all 100 racers to win. Now, the Dutch driver is no stranger to winning from the back. In 2024, he won the Sao Paulo Grand Prix despite starting from P17 (out of 20 racers). Max vs 100, though familiar for the driver, presents a different challenge. Can he overtake 100 times to win the race?

Max vs 100 will stream live through Disney+ on September 17, 12:00am PHT.

Apps

Apple’s best feature to cure motion sickness is finally on Android

Google copies a good page from Apple’s playbook.

Published

September 15, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

As an Android user, I’ve been jealous of iPhone users for a while now, but it’s not for the reason you might think. See, I’m ridiculously prone to motion sickness when I’m not driving. So, when I discovered that Apple has a software-based cure called Vehicle Motion Cues, I wanted it immediately. Now, Android does have third-party apps that do the same thing, but they’re not as good as a fully native version. Well, those dark, nauseating days are about to come to an end. Android 17 is finally getting a similar tool called Motion assist.

Before that, let’s rewind for a bit. What do these features do? How can they cure motion sickness?

Whenever you open Vehicle Motion Cues or Motion assist, the interface spawns a series of dots on the screen. These dots respond to movement. For example, if the vehicle turns to the left, the dots also go to the left, mimicking the movement. Without cues like this, the stationary nature of the screen clashes with our brain’s perception of movement. The disparity creates that feeling of nausea. Basically, our eyes are desperately trying to focus on the static screen, but our brains are telling us that we should be seeing motion. Having moving dots reorients our brain and places the phone inside our perception of movement.

Now, you can enable the same feature on your Android 17 device through Settings > All services > Motion assist under Personal & device safety. You can also set it so that the feature turns on automatically when the phone detects that you’re in a moving vehicle. Finally, you can also tweak the shape, color, and opacity of these dots.

Android 17’s Motion assist is rolling out now to compatible devices.