Xiaomi released the brand-new Redmi Smart Band 2 this week. Achieving fitness in a BIG way, the brand-new smart band aims to keep users motivated and encouraged to stay fit and healthy.

 

BIG Display, BIG Fun

Featuring the 1.47” vibrant TFT display, it offers a 10.5% larger viewing area, making it easier to read the information displayed on the screen. Whether you are checking your heart rate on the run or messages on the way to work, you can have everything under your view with the flick of your wrist.

 

It also features more than 100+ band faces to match your mood and outfit of the day. Whether it’s a sports session or a romantic dinner, you have a range of stylish, cool and sleek band faces to choose from.

 

Fitness in a BIG way

Weighing at only 14.9 grams, it features an ultra-slim body at only 9.99mm, making it not just look good, but it feels good to wear on the wrist. Installed with over 30 fitness modes, such as outdoor running, yoga, and hiking, it can help you achieve your fitness goals easily. Exercise duration, calories burned and heart rate are clearly visible at a glance.

 

Fancy a swimming session? Fret not, Redmi Smart Band 2 features the 5ATM water resistance rating down to 50 meters, which means you do not need to take off your smart band in any wet environment. Its built-in high-precision PPG sensor is enabled to track your heart rate 24 hours a day. It even sends an alert when it detects an abnormal heart rate so that you can always stay on top of your health conditions.

 

For health-conscious users, Redmi Smart Band 2 features the blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) level, which will show you the amount of oxygen in the blood. Not to forget it monitors your extended sleep quality as well as naps, and it provides detailed reports on your sleep patterns to help you understand your sleeping patterns and how to improve your sleep quality.

 

For the convenience of our users, it is equipped with magnetic charging technology with 14 days of extra-long battery life on typical use. For heavy users, it can last more than 6 days.

 

Pricing and Availability

Redmi Smart Band 2 retails at only Php 1,499 and is available for purchase at Shopee and Lazada as well as Xiaomi Authorized stores, Xiaomi Official Store on Shopee and Lazada, and participating dealers across the country.

Samsung’s Epic House unveiled the new Galaxy S23 series at The Fifth in Rockwell with a spectacular launch party, bringing to life the brand’s promise of outstanding Nightography, the  pursuit of passion and the brand's continued commitment to sustainability in an immersive and interactive event.

In a program hosted by content creator Nicole Andersson, Samsung shared a rundown of the S23 Series’ latest innovations, marking a new era of ultimate premium phone experiences - from truly cinematic Nightography videos with transformative AI, the “Snapdragon® 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy” for powerful performance, an embedded S Pen that offers more possibilities for productivity, all housed within a striking design that advances the company’s sustainability commitment, this latest series from Samsung is truly set to redefine experiences and push one’s creativity to epic proportions. 

Actress Liza Soberano, iconic photographer BJ Pascual, and famed artist Leeroy New then took guests on a tour of the Epic Rooms, experiential installations that brought to life exactly what makes the Samsung new Galaxy S23 series so exciting. 

Epic Nightography

As part of the evening’s interactive experiences, guests were able to witness the most advanced camera system in the Galaxy through the Epic Nightography room. The room features different stations where guests were invited to take photos, with stunning neon décor to accentuate the retro, nightlife aesthetic.  Iconic photographer BJ Pascual led them throughout the room to showcase the series’ enhanced camera features, sharing that his favorite is the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s 200MP camera. 

“As photographers, we love data, and that’s a lot of data. And it has more megapixels than my work camera. It’s so crazy!” BJ exclaimed. “I’m actually excited to try it at an actual photoshoot. I just wanna try it again. Maybe it might be a billboard.” 

The Epic Nightography room featured three stations: Night Selfie, Night Video, and Night Portrait. The Night Selfie station allows guests to take a selfie in the dark, surrounded by neon lights, as Nightography is also available in selfie mode. 

Night Video, on the other hand, allows guests to record themselves in the dark surrounded by reflective panels to boost the Galaxy S23’s ability to capture motion while light conditions are low. The station also showcased the Slow Video feature, which BJ Pascual attested is perfect for Instagram reels as it adds a dramatic slow-motion effect to your videos that give a look of elegance. 

Finally, the Night Portrait room allows guests to take a portrait of themselves surrounded by colored lights to show the Galaxy S23’s enhanced Nightography feature in portrait mode.

The Epic Nightography room highlighted the very best of Samsung Galaxy S23’s enhanced Nightography feature, which includes a new AI-powered image signal processing (ISP) algorithm that enhances object details and color tone under low-light conditions, which makes images at night crisper and more detailed. One can also take pro-grade photos with The Expert RAW app, which is exclusive to Samsung Galaxy. 

The series also has the most stable video capture yet with a doubled optical image stabilizer (OIS), so taking videos at night do not have to look blurry. The video quality has also improved with the new series, with enhanced 8K video at 30fps with a wider angle for the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. 

Epic Passions

Guests were given the chance to be their most epic selves with the Epic Passions room, which features larger-than-life installation and three epic stations: Productivity, Gaming and Self Expression Zones.  Beloved actress Liza Soberano introduced the guests to the Epic Passions room, sharing how the Galaxy Series has helped her juggle her busy schedule, her secret love of gaming and how the Galaxy S23 series is perfect for mobile gamers like her. 

“One of my favorite things about the Galaxy S23 Ultra is that it seamlessly integrates with the Samsung ecosystem. I’m a busy girl, always on the go, and I love that I can easily pair it with my Galaxy Watch5,” Liza expressed. 

The new Galaxy S23 series has also become the answer for the multi-passionate individual, as it allows one to connect with other devices in the Samsung line creating an ecosystem where you could multitask with your different passions at the same time. 

The Samsung Multi Control feature connects the Samsung S23 to the Samsung PC and tablet with mouse and keyboard functionality. The embedded S-Pen on the Samsung S23 Ultra allows users to collaborate with other people in making projects through the co-editing feature in Google Meets live sharing, made possible by the collaboration of Samsung Notes and Google Meet. This makes the S23 series the most functionally flexible series yet.

In the Gaming station, guests were given the chance to use the Samsung Galaxy S23 series for mobile gaming, with a fun installation of their favorite video game characters. The station spotlights the Galaxy S23 series’ premium performance and improved battery life.

Further pushing the envelope in gaming, the Galaxy S23 series provides the best mobile gaming experience yet. Samsung and Qualcomm have launched the new “Snapdragon® 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy”, the most powerful and efficient processor ever in a Samsung Galaxy smartphone and the fastest Snapdragon available today, which allows for smooth gaming graphics and an overall enjoyable gaming experience. Meanwhile, on the Galaxy S23 Ultra, a 5000mAh battery13 powers a larger camera than Galaxy S22 Ultra without increasing the device’s size.

Rounding up the Epic Passions Room is the Self-Expression Zone-perfect for those who love to customize their phones. From aesthetic phone cases to the home screen, one can add favorite apps, widgets and folders to make one’s Galaxy S23 truly one’s own. 

Epic Sustainability

The Epic Sustainability room allowed guests to be introduced to the importance of sustainability and how the Galaxy S23 Series was designed with the planet in mind. An awe-inspiring Flotilla installation created by renowned sustainable artist, Leeroy New, was the room’s showpiece, made with recycled materials and other sustainable products. 

Sharing the inspiration behind the piece, Leeroy explained that “it speaks about how a lot of our plastics, and microplastics, end up in our ocean. Having done large-scale works, I learned to think about the life cycles of the materials I use and I have taken it on as a personal challenge to strictly use materials that are already available.” 

Himself an environmental advocate, New was among the first to make a promise at the Pledge Wall, a digital display where guests can use the S-Pen to write pledges on the wall in real time. Asking everyone “What can you do for the planet?”, the display served as an invitation for guests to make their own commitments for sustainability. 

The Galaxy S23 series is Samsung’s most sustainable line of mobile devices yet from Samsung, made from pre-consumer recycled aluminum and glass and post-consumer recycled plastics sourced from discarded fishing nets, PET bottles and water barrels. It is also the first S series to market their screens made of Corning® Gorilla® Glass Victus 2, the most durable glass yet made with 22% pre-consumed recycled material. 

The Samsung Galaxy S23 series is now available for pre-order, and by pre-ordering, customers can enjoy promos and bundles exclusively in the Samsung Online store, mobile network plans and select online retailers. For the Samsung Online store, customers can enjoy free mobile upgrades, discounted Samsung wearables, trade-in deals, free Samsung Care+, and e-vouchers, available until February 23, 2023.

To pre-order the Samsung Galaxy S23 series, visit  https://www.samsung.com/ph/offer/online/2023/galaxy-s23-pre-order/. 

 Acer’s sustainability efforts and choice of brand ambassadors also got the public’s attention

Acer continued to dominate the PC notebook category in the Philippines for 2022 and was the No. 1 consumer notebook brand for the 16th consecutive year. The brand topped the category with a 35.2% market share, according to a third-party research firm. Acer was also No. 1 in the gaming notebook category with a 40.4% market share.

For 2022, market share peaked for Acer in October at 48.2% as post-pandemic hybrid work made notebooks even more of a necessity. In 2021, Acer had an overall market share of 33% - 30% in consumer notebooks and 34% in gaming notebooks.

Online learning was among the drivers for growth. It was in the education sector that Acer truly showed its strength with multiple product offerings across all market segments and the brand’s value-for-money proposition.

Acer’s sustainability efforts, particularly with the Green PC, Acer Vero, also helped push laptop sales. Other green activities that helped gain consumer attention were the #MakeYourGreenMark 21-Day Challenge and the Green Mark Concert, where Acer fans helped raise Php1.38 million for the GreenEarth Heritage Foundation and 20 metric tons of plastic waste compensation for The Plaf. Acer ambassadors like Sarah Geronimo, SB19, Kathryn Bernardo, and Daniel Padilla also helped to get the brand’s messages across to consumers.

Meanwhile, Acer Predator's choice of ambassadors – Alodia Gosiengfiao, Team Payaman, Een Mercado, Kang Dupet, Blacklist International Dota 2 Team, Team Secret Valorant, Polaris Esports, and Boom Esports among others – for its gaming laptops also resonated with the gaming community. The brand’s support for esports, by holding grassroots tournaments for up-and-coming players, also gained fans for gaming devices. There was also a lot of buzz as the Asia Pacific Predator League 2022 Grand Finals was finally staged offline after two years of being online.

Another growth driver was the brand’s strong presence nationwide. Consumers can shop for Acer products in Acer Concept Stores and through authorized dealers. Online, Acer is available on its website and on Shopee and Lazada.

“In the last two years, there was an unprecedented demand for computers because of online work and education. As things slowly but surely return to normal, Acer’ goal is to optimally perform within core business competencies as we prepare for areas of future growth. Our consumers can only expect the best of what we can give them,” said Sue Ong-Lim, Acer Philippines General Manager.

Visit Acer’s official social media pages for more details - Facebook (@acerPH), Instagram (@acerph), Twitter (@acerphils), or through the official website www.acer.com.