Tech Sabado

Power Mac Center has launched its official store on LazMall, expanding its online retail presence and giving customers nationwide another channel to purchase Apple devices, accessories and services. The launch adds Power Mac Center to Lazada’s growing roster of Apple retail partners on its LazMall platform, which is positioned as a marketplace for established retailers and high-value products.

Smart Communications Inc. has secured GSMA certification for its SIM Swap and Device Swap application programming interfaces (APIs), adding network-based identity verification capabilities to its enterprise security services. The certifications enable SmartSafe NetIdentity, a solution under PLDT Enterprise’s SmartSafe suite designed to help businesses identify recent changes involving a customer’s SIM card or mobile device.

The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has made Google Pay available to its Debit Mastercard holders using NFC-enabled Android devices, giving customers another option for contactless payments. The service, rolled out April 15, allows BPI Debit Mastercard holders to add their cards to Google Wallet and use their Android devices to make payments at contactless terminals, as well as through participating mobile apps and websites.

Filipino communities with strong ties to overseas workers will gain access to another physical channel for international money transfers as Western Union and JuanPay begin rolling out remittance services through JuanPay locations across the Philippines. The companies announced the partnership Wednesday during an event at Western Union’s office at Vertis North Corporate Center Tower 1 in Quezon City.

Chinese artificial intelligence mobility company XPENG has raised more than $900 million for its robotics business at a valuation exceeding $6.3 billion, as the company prepares to enter the Philippine market in September. The funding round was led by IDG Capital, with participation from Gaorong Ventures and strategic support from Tencent and Alibaba. XPENG said the transaction is the largest single-round private financing to date in China’s embodied AI industry.

PLDT Enterprise, together with PLDT Inc. and Smart Communications Inc., deployed Starlink satellite connectivity and emergency communications support in parts of Mindanao following a powerful earthquake, helping communities, responders and local governments maintain communications during recovery efforts. PLDT and Smart field and operations teams assessed network facilities in affected areas, including General Santos City and municipalities in South Cotabato.

NVIDIA researchers are highlighting the role of agent architecture and infrastructure security as artificial intelligence systems take on longer, more complex autonomous tasks, following research that achieved a 100.00 score on the ARC-AGI-3 benchmark. The company’s Agentic Variation Operators (AVO) architecture completed all 183 levels across the 25 environments in the ARC-AGI-3 public set, using Claude Opus 5.

The Department of Education (DepEd) and Microsoft are expanding their partnership to provide 1 million public school teachers access to Microsoft Copilot and strengthen the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in Philippine classrooms. The renewed partnership builds on existing programs in teacher development, digital learning and literacy, with AI tools intended to help educators plan lessons, develop assessments, personalize learning and reduce administrative work.

GAC Motor has launched the GS4 Max HEV in the Philippines, adding a hybrid SUV to its local lineup with an introductory price of P1.218 million and a claimed driving range of up to 1,250 kilometers. The GS4 Max HEV uses a 2.0-liter Atkinson-cycle hybrid engine, a two-speed Dedicated Hybrid Transmission (DHT) and a 2.1-kilowatt-hour nickel cobalt manganese battery. Its hybrid system can operate in Pure Electric, Hybrid, Direct Engine Drive and Energy Recuperation modes.

Smart Communications Inc. is expanding its mobile network in La Trinidad, Benguet, through additional infrastructure intended to improve connectivity in the municipality, a commercial and agricultural center in the Cordillera region. Smart recently signed an agreement with the La Trinidad local government to build additional network infrastructure in strategic areas of the municipality.