Day: May 5, 2015

Beware of Scammers Selling ZenFone 2

Ronnie Bulaong Leave a comment

There are a lot of reasons to be excited for the ASUS ZenFone 2, but hopefully that enthusiasm don’t lead you into one of the fraudulent online sellers who are selling ZenFone 2 smartphones at a lower price.

We found out about the alleged seller’s MO in one of the local ASUS ZenFone 2 Facebook Groups. One of the members of the group posted the SMS exchange (screenshot below) that he had with the seller who claims to be part of the ASUS Philippines staff.

zenfone 2 scam

The seller claims that consumers can go directly to the ASUS factory/warehouse located in Batangas to pick up the item or they can deposit their payment to the “marketing department” after which the item will be delivered to them within 24 hours if they’re living in Luzon (2-3 days for Visayas/Mindanao customers).

The seller also claims that the item he is selling is covered by 1 year warranty and 7 days replacement.

ze551ml-23ghz

The amount of information on the alleged seller’s messages will easily sway any unknowing consumer into thinking that he, and whatever he’s saying, is credible. So in order to clarify if there’s any truth to any of the seller’s claims, we reached out to ASUS Philippines for a statement.

An official statement from ASUS Philippines was not readily available at the time of writing, but we were told by one of their representatives that ASUS does not have a factory in Batangas, and that they are not allowed to sell products directly to end users. He added that all ASUS products locally are sold through official distributors and re-sellers in the country. If we’re going to take that into consideration, the seller is not legitimate and is very likely to be running a scam.

To conclude, be extra careful in dealing with online sellers, or better yet, just wait for the official launch of the Asus ZenFone 2 in the Philippines which is slated to take place on May 16.

ALSO READ: DOJ issues advisory on online shopping fraud

The post Beware of Scammers Selling ZenFone 2 appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

Sentosa and MasterCard ink first exclusive partnership

PRNEWS Admin Leave a comment

Sentosa and MasterCard will join hands for the first time to offer exclusive deals to MasterCard cardholders from all over the world when they visit the State of Fun. Cardholders of the 2.1 billion MasterCard and Maestro-branded cards in circulation worldwide can expect to receive special privileges at Sentosa Island’s exciting array of themed attractions, award-winning spa retreats, golden sandy beaches, resort accommodations and world-renowned golf courses with the new tie-up.

The two-year partnership will see the island resort’s businesses collaborate with MasterCard to provide attractive deals for guests to enjoy on the island. Whether they choose to escape with a staycation, indulge in good food, gear up for adrenaline-pumping activities or party the nights away, there will be a deal for everyone holding a MasterCard card.

“We know that our consumers have come to expect the best deals when they pay with their cards. In addition to fantastic discounts offered by MasterCard at establishments across the island, our collaboration with Sentosa will provide novel experiences to both domestic and visiting cardholders,” said Deborah Heng, group head and general manager, MasterCard Singapore.

“With over 30 attractions and 120 F&B establishments on the island, Sentosa receives more than 18 million local and foreign visitors annually. We believe that this partnership is a step in the right direction towards expanding our reach and connecting with even more prospective visitors. We are very encouraged by our business partners’ warm reception towards this collaboration and are confident that this will further enhance the Sentosa experience for each and every single one of our visitors,” said Mr Addison Goh, Director, Island Investment, Sentosa Development Corporation.

Most of the businesses on Sentosa have jumped onboard this partnership programme with attractions offering up to 20% off their published rates and all island hotels having committed discounts either on hotel stays or at their food and beverage and spa outlets.

Huawei Honor 4C Now Available PH, Priced at Php6,990

Ronnie Bulaong Leave a comment

It was only last week when Huawei announced their latest mid-range smartphone – the Honor 4C – but it has already reached out shore, carrying a Php6,990 price tag.

huawei honor 4c philippines

The Honor 4C runs on the Huawei’s new homebrewed 64-bit processor called the Kirin 620 which is backed by a Mali450-MP4 graphics processing unit and 2GB of RAM.

It also feature a 5-inch IPS display with 720p resolution, dual-SIM and USB On-The-Go support.

Huawei Launches Honor 4C in China

Huawei Honor 4C specs:
5-inch HD IPS display @ 1280×720 pixels, 293ppi
1.2Ghz HiSilicon Kirin 620 64-bit octa-core processor
Mali450-MP4 GPU
2GB RAM
Expandable 8GB internal storage
Supports up to 32GB via microSD
13 megapixel rear camera w/ LED flash
5 megapixel front camera
Dual-SIM, Dual Standby (MicroSIM)
HSPA+, 3G
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0
FM Radio
GPS, A-GPS
USB OTG
Android 4.4.2 KitKat with Emotion UI 3.0
Li-Ion 2,550mAh battery
Dimension: 143.3 x 71.9 x 8.8 mm
Weight: 162g

Unsurprisingly, the local SRP of the new Huawei Honor 4C, which is currently pegged at Php6,990 (see listing here), is a considerably higher than its price tag in China (CNY799 or estimated Php5,700).

Apart from the difference in price, the lack of support for LTE connectivity may also be a deal breaker for some consumers, which begs the question if it’s worth the Php6,990 asking price.

[VillMan]

The post Huawei Honor 4C Now Available PH, Priced at Php6,990 appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

Lenovo TAB S8-50 Lands Locally, 8-inch LTE Tablet for Php13,499

Ronnie Bulaong Leave a comment

Villman has added a slew of new devices in to their portfolio, one of which is the tablet that supports LTE connectivity called the Lenovo TAB S8-50.

lenovo tab s8 philippines

Not to be confused with the Lenovo S850, the company’s mid-range smartphone with a 5-inch screen from last year, the Lenovo TAB S8-50 packs an 8-inch IPS display with a 1920 x 1200 resolution.

Lenovo TAB S8-50 specs:

8-inch Full-HD IPS display, 1920 x 1200 @283ppi
1.33Ghz Intel Atom Z3745 64-bit quad-core processor, 1.86GHz boost clock
Intel Gen 7 GPU
2GB RAM
Expandable 16GB of internal storage
Supports up to 32GB Micro-SD card
8-megapixel rear camera w/ LED flash
1.6MP front camera
Single-SIM
4G/LTE
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0
FM Radio
GPS, GLONASS
Removable 4,290mAh battery
Android 4.4 Kitkat
Dimension: 209.8 x 123.8 x 7.9 mm
Weight: 299g
Color: Ebony and Yellow

The new Lenovo TAB S8-50 is available locally through Villman and can be had for Php13,499. You can check out their listing in the link below.

[VillMan]

The post Lenovo TAB S8-50 Lands Locally, 8-inch LTE Tablet for Php13,499 appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

UnionBank bullish about further growth well into 2020

PRNEWS Admin Leave a comment

Union Bank of the Philippines is on a roll as it marks its 33rd anniversary this year. The bank is positive about further growth – up to 11.7% in 2015 alone as forecast in a recent report by Maybank – while its Unit Investment Trust Funds (UITF) clocked in a striking performance early this year.

“We are on a journey together to build a bank of enduring greatness, and to do this we need to bring to life our purpose as unique individuals. Our purpose is to fulfill dreams and to enable communities through Smart Banking in the spirit of Ubuntu,” said Justo A. Ortiz, UnionBank’s Chairman & CEO, at the company’s recent anniversary party.

“Ubuntu” means serving not only the bank’s clients but also the communities their clients affect.

UnionBank’s UITF performance during the first quarter of the year is notable. The UnionBank Tax Exempt Portfolio ranked first in year-to-date (YTD) returns, as of April 8, 2015. Its Net Asset Value per Unit (NAVPU) registered 178.575312 with a return on investment (ROI) of 2.0252%.

As for long term funds, UnionBank’s Long Term Fixed Income Portfolio ranked second with a NAVPU of 129.954827 and ROI of 1.8293%. The bank’s Infinity Prime Fund for intermediate funds also ranked second with a NAVPU of 153.444873 and ROI of 1.7228%

As for its Equity Funds, two are included in the Top-10 rankings. These are UnionBank’s Philippine Equity Index Tracker Fund Portfolio which has a NAVPU of 116.379366 and ROI of 11.0555%; and the UnionBank Dividend Play Equity Portfolio with a NAVPU of 111.942779 and ROI of 9.1351%.

“We believe that the interest in the Philippine stock market highlights an opportunity to perform better than our peers in Southeast Asia,” said Robert Ramos, Head of UnionBank’s Trust and Investment Services.