News

Samsung muscles into midrange market with Galaxy A5, A7 smartphones

Published

April 28, 2016

Monch Lopez

Midrange phones are growing in popularity these days, as more and more consumers are looking for better and feature-rich devices to upgrade to.

In the Philippines, the midrange is where the excitement is now, and it’s about to get more crowded, with the local unveiling of two additions to Samsung’s upper-midrange Galaxy A series of smartphones.

Sporting sleek glass-and-metal builds with sheets of ever-so-slightly curved Gorilla Glass on top of their front and back panels, the new Galaxy A5 and A7 offer a premium experience with the price to match: P19,990 ($430) for the Galaxy A5; P22,990 ($490) for the larger and more capable Galaxy A7.

Samsung Galaxy A5 (right), Galaxy A7 (left)

Not including the Galaxy S7, S7 Edge, and Note 5, these are the best-looking smartphones the Korean phone maker has on offer in the Philippines today.

And like Samsung’s higher-end devices, both come with a physical home button that also functions as a fingerprint scanner, fast-charging capabilities (the batteries can be cycled from 0 to 100 percent in about 100 minutes), and rear-facing cameras that allow more light to pass through.

Here’s a bunch of photos taken with the Galaxy A7’s 13-megapixel rear camera.

Samsung also included the convenience of microSD expansion (up to 128GB). An octa-core Exynos processor powers the Samsung phones, though opting for the A7 gets you more RAM, with 3GB to run your apps in.

As for the display, you’re looking at a 5.2-inch screen with full-HD resolution on the Galaxy A5, a 5.5-incher on the A7. Both use AMOLED technology for brighter colors and deeper blacks and less power consumption.

Samsung’s Galaxy A5 and A7 are now available in various retail locations across the Philippines. If you’re willing to pay a premium for more advanced phones that are gorgeous to look at, they might be worth the money.

Alternatively, you could get last year’s Galaxy S6 for much less than its price at launch, which, frankly, is a better, albeit a tad more expensive, option.

[irp posts=”9122″ name=”Samsung’s new Galaxy A series doesn’t feel midrange”]

Related Topics:Galaxy A5 Galaxy A7 Samsung

Apps

Canva teams up with SB19 to turn A’TIN’s passion into creativity

Campaign lets fans access assets, editable templates, more

Published

August 8, 2026

GadgetMatch

Canva Philippines has joined forces with SB19 and Sony Music Entertainment to launch the “Kaya sa Canva” campaign.

This first-of-its-kind initiative is aimed at transforming the popular Filipino boy band’s fanbase into creators by giving them access to official design assets, exclusive templates, and powerful creative tools.

That’s of course as fans have a way of creating artwork, banners, and more outputs to honor their idols.

As such, the partnership enables the A’TIN (SB19’s fanbase) to access the Canva-exclusive SB19’s Creative Hub.

This dedicated space lets fans access assets, including SB19-inspired sticker packs, custom typography, and editable templates inspired by the group.

Fans around the world will initially have access to templates for photo-booth strips, wallpapers, posters, and videos.

The campaign will then expand with Canva-exclusive assets celebrating the group’s New Era, as well as their latest single, “Lawless”.

Meanwhile, the original song “KAYA” is accompanied with an upbeat music video, doubling as a love letter to A’TIN and a masterclass in Canva’s tools.

Every visual and animation is fan-inspired, a celebration of the creativity, passion, and dedication that’s defined in the community from day one.

News

The iPhone 18 might sell out for an unexpected reason

The ongoing shortage might play a part in the phone selling out earlier than expected.

Published

August 7, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

An iPhone selling out is not news. Because of how popular the phones are, it’s within the realm of probability that Apple runs out of stock at some point. According to a new report, this year won’t be any different… but it’s for an entirely different reason.

First reported by analyst Tim Culpan, Apple is reportedly struggling to meet its demand for semiconductors for the iPhone 18 and the foldable iPhone. The ongoing memory shortage is cutting off Apple’s ability to deliver the required supply of smartphones in a timely fashion. The report even claims that TSMC, which helps produce the iPhone, is sitting on a shipment of processors, worth US$ 1 billion, that don’t have memory chips.

Now, Apple is still confident that it can weather the launch. However, if the shortage persists, the iPhone 18 generation will likely sell out much more quickly than expected.

It’s an interesting time for Apple to experience such a shortage. It’s been heavily rumored that the company will launch its very first foldable phone next month, creating a new market for the brand. Apple definitely wants this attempt to succeed after the tepid response to its last new product, the Vision Pro.

News

These “smart” glasses just sold out in under a week

DuckDuckGo touts that these glasses have zero AI, zero cameras, and an infinite battery life.

Published

August 7, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Smart glasses are in a weird place right now. While a chunk of the population views them as cool and innovative, another significant chunk sees them as a privacy nightmare. If you’re in the latter group but want to see what life is like on the former, DuckDuckGo has a new product: a pair of anti-surveillance glasses with no camera or AI, otherwise known as just normal sunglasses.

If it’s not obvious, yes, it’s a troll product. DuckDuckGo is a search engine famously known for pushing privacy as a priority, opposing Google’s penchant for advertising and AI. Now, the search engine is taking on the smart glasses market.

Partnering with Knockaround, DuckDuckGo released the Paso Robles, a pair of sunglasses touted as having zero cameras, an always-offline mode, and a battery life of infinity.

It’s a statement piece. The rims have a logo mark, similar to the Meta’s glasses. The packaging also states that the glasses are “designed to block the sun, not send data to the cloud.”

Now, if you want a pair, they cost only US$ 35, as opposed to Meta’s US$ 299 price tag, but they are already sold out.

Which says quite a bit about today’s sentiment against AI and for privacy. Of course, to be fair, DuckDuckGo’s supply is certainly less than Meta’s stock for their smart glasses. It does, however, prove that the sentiment is there.

As of now, the world is slowly realizing that unimpeded smart glasses aren’t such a good idea, leading to people concerned about their privacy. In fact, some states have already started banning the technology in certain public spaces.