FoodPanda Holds 1st PANDA LEGENDS ULTIMATE BATTLE

Super fun to have witnessed the finals of PANDA LEGENDS Ultimate Battle, a tournament made for FoodPanda Riders courtesy of popular food delivery app FoodPanda. It was held at Le Reve Pool and Events Place in Quezon City and was witnessed by several FoodPanda executives, the media (including us) and FoodPanda riders from Metro Manila and nearby cities. This is just one of the many activities that FoodPanda has put up in order to give back to their riders and certainly, a lot of them probably play MOBA games and this event would promote camaraderie as they see who's going to get the coveted championship.

Initially there were 128 teams vying for the crown but now, there are only 4 of them left. The last two teams are called "The General Panda" from Davao, and  "Panda Heist ML" from Marikina, and of course, all of them are certified FoodPanda Riders.

The Championship prize is a whopping 250,000 pesos so surely, they won't be taking this lightly. It was a best of 3 series and the first game went to Panda Heist, they have taken advantage of meta heroes and finished with Moskov on the late game. The General Panda made adjustments on their lineup and attacks but the Second Game still went to Panda Heist, they have officially won the tournament. That was really a Moskov difference.

Congratulations too to 3rd Runner Up Elbi Panda (from Los Banos Laguna) and 2nd Runner Up Batang Malate from Manila. I can't wait to see more of what FoodPanda has in store not just for customers, their partners and riders too!

ACER Continues Sustainable Path: Puts More Power to Devices and Use Less Energy

Just got off the ACER Global Press conference this evening.

A few things were discussed, one of them is the power of AI and how it could power things that are done today. From security, power, safety, medical use and new innovations like eKinekt and sustainability. They plan to use 100 percent sustainable materials in their supply chain in making and packaging their products.

Acer's Robin Wu introduced "ebii", an AI driven bike that is both safe and smart. With it's minimalistic design, flat free tires, and smart device that can provide real time data, and also help to make your ride efficient. It's got a fast charging battery, and can be monitored when you park your bike. It also has a rear collision alert, handlebar bag, an all day bike with less carbon footprint.

Maki Nakamura on the other hand started on their Vero lineup. The Acerpure Pro Vero is packaged in eco friendly materials, and can improve air quality with decreased power consumption over time. Aside from that, they also have Acer Vero Laptops like the Aspire Vero 15 which has 40 percent PCR on chasis, reducing CO2 emissions using 30 percent used plastic on its body. With the 13th Gen Intel Core processor, Intel Evo certified, 12 hours battery life, and a 15.6 inch display. It's also equipped with a 1440p webcam, so you won't look digitized on those Zoom meetings. It's also got Eco Mode to save on batteries, sufficient and fast ports, plus available in different colorways, it looked good from where we saw it.Packaging was made from 90 percent recycled material, 53 percent less water used on it, and still tough by undergoing rigorous tests. They also have the ACER Vero projector PL3510ATV, has a DLP chip, 50% energy saving capability and is brighter than most videos. You can also use an android TV dongle so you can use Google Play apps, the usual            smart projectors need not be expensive with it. They also said this can work 24/7, must be magic!

On their ACER Predator gaming products, they want to push the envelope. The Predator Helios 3D 15 SpatialLabs Edition has a 13th Gen Intel Core i9, runs on Win11, and Game Pass from XBox. Those games can be played right away. It will be part of the Predator lineup out of the box, plus the titles they have which can take advantage of the resolution their machines can do. You can also use profiles for your 3D settings, so you can immerse yourself in that game like never before. They still have the classics don't worry, and have new titles published fast every time. Even game devs of Octopath Traveler 2 was there to swear by it.

There's also the Helios Neo 16, with a well designed aluminum cover, GeForce RTX40 graphics card, NVIDIA knows this is their largest jump so far in technology. Those rendering, graphic design would be more detailed with what they have, so imagine what they can do in gaming while keeping it cool and quite still. It's custom cooling solutions keep your laptop in best temperature even in high performance games. Not only that, it can turn heads.

There's also Triton 17X that carries a GeForce RTX 4090 and the latest gen i9 intel processor, it's powered by the most advanced core enabling the ultimate experience in laptop gaming. It's been used in a pro gaming tourney already and plans to push boundaries in the next few years. It's also got a CNC milled body, grills on the side, triple fan and a vapor chamber, heat won't be much of a problem. It's portable, well designed and can perform well. There's lslo a Nitro XZ452CU V which is a ultra-wide monitor, so those multiple windows can just loiter around and still look fancy in it. It deserves its own spot on your office or living room, it's that good. There's also the Predator Orion X that has a LOT of power, we're talking about 24 cores, gaming, multi tasking, streaming, DDR5 RAM and swappable drives, imaging the things you can do with games and work. No compromise on performance, has it's own cooling system and a well designed tower that fit everything on top of your table. That's power, performance and design. I want it personally.

They promise that the best is still yet to come. I can't wait for that!

Meet New Gen Artists from SPARKLE TEENS

I was excited to see what Sparkle Artist Management would have up their sleeves when they invited us to see the SPARKLE TEENS, a new group of promising teenagers set to conquer the TV and movie landscape in the coming years. After successfully launching Sparkle Next Brightest Stars, Sparkle Love Teams and Sparkada, this one is composed of former child stars (with tons of acting experience) and new breed of talents that have been under workshops and training since last year, under the GMA Talent Management arm. 

We met Waynona Collings, Charlie Fleming, Keisha Serna, Gaea Mischa, Selina Griffin, Ashley Sarmiento, Naomi Park, Liana Mae, Aya Domingo,Princess Aliyah, John Clifford, Lee Victor, James Graham, Roi David, Aidan Veneracion, Josh Ford, Bryce Eusebio, Marco Masa and Zyren Dela Cruz during the launch a few days ago and sure enough, they had us glued to our seats when we got to talk to them during interviews.

We also got to talk to Sparkle Assistant Vice President Joy Marcelo who gave us a short preview on what's going to happen with the 19 individuals they have on their roster. She says they are ready to face the challenges that would be given to them after intense language, acting, singing and dance training.

Their workshops and training has been done by Ms. Ana Feleo, and she's so happy about how the teens turned out. They have certainly discovered a lot of other talents aside from singing and dancing, and she wants to see them flourish in different GMA shows, series and movies. Senior AVP Ms. Annette Gozon is also excited about their plans for the SPARKLE TEENS as they slowly showcase their talent and take their spot in the industry.

This is definitely just the start for these teens, and once you see their stars shine on GMA's different shows, you will surely appreciate them even more!

Xiaomi Launches Redmi Note 12 Series, AIoT Devices to Live Vivid!

Took the trip down south to see what Xiaomi has up their sleeves as they launch the new Redmi Note Series and a couple of AIoT devices that's designed for the modern, smart home.

They did have us tinker around with the devices on their experience kiosks at the Grand Ballroom of Mariott Hotel in Pasay City and here's what happened!

Their call for this launch is to #LiveVivid which stems from the launched phone which has got a 200MP primary camera. It's already available for Pre-Order from 15th to the 21st. It's got a Flow AMOLED screen (a debut on the Redmi Note Pro 5G), Dolby vision Atmos, which makes your videos vividly amazing. It is also equipped with an IMX 766 which can capture more light, usually it is seen on flagship camera systems but now is available on this phone. You get vivid shots day or night, also has OIS so you don't have blurry shots. You can also use the proprietary imaging software and camera filters so your photos look good on any occasion. With a battery of 5000mAh, turbo charging, you can last using it all day.

The Redmi Note 12 5G Pro + on the other hand has a 200 MP resolution camera, a wide aperture, makes your photos stunning, with true to life colors. Even if it's dark, it can still capture details. It retains light and lose noise. It also has OIS for shaky hands when taking videos, plus the 200 MP can make you compose better shots by framing other parts of the photo to see more things captured by it. Xiaomi Pro Cut is also a great tool to fix your output, things that you can make with a  few clicks, with the long battery capacity, faster and safe charging.

The Redmi Note 12 on the other hand has fun colors, pro level display, flagship 120Hz AMOLED display (so you can smoothly see videos on fast refresh rate. It has a Snapdragon 685 processor and triple camera system that also has AI.

The AIoT devices on the other hand include a couple more wearables. The Redmi Watch 3 can do Bluetooth Calls, modified with different strap colors, does health metrics, and last up to 12 days (so no annoying charging probs!). It's best for fitness enthusiasts since to has different functions to check vital data to those who need it. There's also new cameras like the C200 that takes 1080p videos, a 360 panorama view, IR and motion enabled recording so it doesn't miss security issues in your home. If you prefer a cam with 2K quality, the C300 could do that instead whilst the C400 can do 1440p, relatively cheap as everything is under 3000 pesos. If you want to install something outdoors, the AW300 has dust proof and waterproof features, and still is as affordable like the others. Xiaomi had Air Fryers, Smart Door Locks and a throng of Mi devices which you can use to make your home a smart one.