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Xiaomi Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus now official with 18:9 displays

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Finally, Xiaomi officially announced its latest budget devices. As the year nears its end, we finally have decent near-borderless phones which don’t break the bank.

The Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus bring the 18:9 display trend to Xiaomi’s budget line of smartphones. While they’re not as edge-to-edge as the Mi Mix 2, near-borderless displays are much welcomed to the Redmi line. The phones also have an aluminum body making them feel premium despite being affordable.

The main differences between the two are their display size and battery. The Redmi 5 has a 5.7-inch HD+ display and a 3300mAh battery, while the Plus has a bigger and sharper 5.99-inch Full HD+ display and 4000mAh unit.

Specs-wise, both have the latest midrange internals Xiaomi could throw in. The Redmi 5 has a Snapdragon 450 processor with up to 3GB of memory and 32GB of storage. On the other hand, the Redmi 5 Plus packs the good old Snapdragon 625 with up to 4GB of memory and 64GB of storage.

As for their cameras, both have a single 12-megapixel rear sensor and a 5-megapixel selfie shooter with LED flashes of their own. Xiaomi also has their own beautification mode for portrait shooting called Beautify 3.0.

The Redmi 5 starts at CNY 799 (US$ 120) for the cheapest 2GB/16GB model while the 3GB/32GB model goes for CNY 899 (US$ 135). The Redmi 5 Plus starts at CNY 999 (US$ 150) for the base 3GB/32GB model, with the top-of-the-line 4GB/64GB variant selling for CNY 1299 (US$ 180).

The new Xiaomi phones have only been announced for China and will be available on December 12. Official availability outside China will definitely follow soon.

SEE ALSO: Xiaomi Mi A1 users can now sign up for Android Oreo beta testing

[irp posts=”25497″ name=”Xiaomi Mi A1 users can now sign up for Android Oreo beta testing”]

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

Campaign lets fans access assets, editable templates, more

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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.

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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.

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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.

SEE ALSO: Did Tim Cook just confirm that iPhone prices are going up?

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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.

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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.

SEE ALSO: New York becomes first state to ban smart glasses

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