News

Xiaomi and Realme are Lazada’s best tech brands in 11.11 sale

The competition is getting intense

Published

November 15, 2019

Kenrick Buduan

The competition between Xiaomi and Realme is heating up. Realme, a relatively new brand in the market, is going toe-to-toe with Xiaomi for value smartphones in the Philippines. And if Lazada’s 11.11 sale is an indicator, the two are competing for the best in the country.

Xiaomi is still king

In the recently held 11.11 sale on Lazada, Xiaomi reigned supreme as the best-selling brand overall across all categories in the Philippines. They’re also the number one brand in Southeast Asia and the number one mobile brand overall.

The company’s best-selling products are the Mi Smart Scale and the recently launched Redmi Note 8 and Note 8 Pro.

Both midrange phones are priced competitively while offering quad cameras, decent performance, and huge battery life. In particular, the Redmi Note 8 has a Snapdragon 665 processor, 6.3″ HD display, a 4,000mAh battery, and a quad-camera setup. It is priced at PhP 7,990 for the base 3 + 32GB model.

…but Realme is catching up

However, Xiaomi’s reign might be short-lived if Realme continues its strong, fast growth in the country. It placed no. 2 under the mobile phone and tablet category during its first Lazada 11.11 sale. The company witnessed a 966% growth from its September 9 sale.

Realme 5 took the spot for the best-selling smartphone, with competitive specifications of a Snapdragon 665 Processor, 6.5” HD display, 5,000mAh battery, quad-camera setup, and a price of PhP 7,990.

The Realme 5 makes a good alternative to the Redmi Note 8, which has almost the same specs and pricing. However, Realme 5 takes the edge slightly with bigger battery capacity and higher storage for the base variant at 64GB.

It is no wonder that Xiaomi’s intention behind the Redmi Note 8 and Note 8 Pro is to offer competitive phones that match Realme’s offering. Surely, their rivalry is in full swing in the country. But Realme has a lot to go before beating Xiaomi globally — it’s the “sales volume king” in China’s Singles’ Day sales event.

Editor’s Note: This article earlier noted that Xiaomi was the best-selling tech brand only in the mobile phone and tablet category. This has been updated.

Gaming

Nreal can project an ultrawide monitor using AR tech

Will soon support Windows

Published

March 23, 2023

Luigi Leonardo

For a good number of PC users, there just isn’t enough space for a huge monitor. An emerging category of devices is making things easier for those with problems of space. Nreal, a company that makes augmented-reality glasses, can project an ultra-wide image straight onto the lenses of its wearables for the user. Now, the company has announced that it will support Windows in the coming future.

Announced during the Game Developers Conference 2023, Nreal announced Nebula for Windows. Complementing the company’s wearables, Nebula for Windows will allow users to connect their glasses to their PC. Users can project a virtual ultra-wide screen right in front of them. They can upgrade their 16:9 screen into a curved 21:9 screen.

Additionally, users can take advantage of enhanced 3-DoF (or three degrees of freedom) tracking, which can make virtual cockpit games much more immersive than with standard monitors. To showcase this capability and more, Nreal is presenting two sample AR games during the conference. These two games, Nreal Tower and In Wonder will maximize what the company’s products — especially the Light and the Air — can do.

Currently, Nreal has not announced when Nebula for Windows will launch. However, it is still a big boon for gamers who want to upgrade their setup but don’t have the funds or the space to do so.

Apps

Bard is now available to try for Google One users

Join the waitlist now

Published

March 22, 2023

Luigi Leonardo

The race for artificial intelligence is a hot trail. Amid the unbridled popularity of ChatGPT, several companies have started pushing their own language models out the gate. Google, eager to compete in the emerging industry, has now opened Bard to users.

Today, Google has started issuing invitations to Google One subscribers for a chance to try the new chatbot. Subscribers can enter a waitlist to test the technology for themselves.

In essence, Bard acts the same as ChatGPT. Users can talk to the bot conversationally, and it will respond perfectly, as if you were talking to another human being. It’s a language learning model. By talking to so many users, the model can learn the best way to reply to certain prompts.

Although Google has access to its search engine, Bard is currently meant to complement it. The company warns users that the chatbot is still prone to occasional mistakes. As an example, it gave the wrong scientific name for a plant. While this example is innocuous, there can be more nefarious errors that the developers are still trying to fix. With a wider test now open to the public, Google hopes to fix more egregious mistakes ahead of a wider launch.

For now, if you subscribe to Google’s premium subscription service, you can wait in line to try out the new technology.

Gaming

EA is delisting classic Battlefield games

And Mirror’s Edge

Published

March 22, 2023

Luigi Leonardo

EA is a mixed bag nowadays. Formerly one of the biggest names in gaming, the company’s public reception is more varied these days. However, no one can argue against the studio’s earlier eras with more notable titles. Unfortunately, that era is coming to a more definitive close. EA is officially delisting a few notable Battlefield titles and the original Mirror’s Edge from digital stores.

In an official statement from the company, EA has announced the retirement of four online titles this year. Starting April 28, users will no longer be able to buy Battlefield 1943, Battlefield: Bad Company, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and Mirror’s Edge online. Additionally, the online services for these games will cease on December 8.

Still going strong today, the Battlefield franchise is EA’s answer to the Call of Duty franchise. While the latter focuses on more arcade-like shooting, Battlefield tries to infuse more strategic gameplay into historical and modern-day shooting.

On the other hand, Mirror’s Edge is a classic first-person parkour adventure. At the time, the title was notable for its fluid movement and easy-to-read visuals. It even spawned a sequel, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst.

Anyone who owns these titles can still play through them after April. However, come December, players can only go through the offline single-player campaigns of these games.

SEE ALSO: Blumhouse is getting into gaming