Year: 2021

OnePlus 9 Series Fast Charging

March 20, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Dear OnePlus,

There is a diminishing return beyond a certain point when it comes to how fast we can charge our phones. My OnePlus 8 Pro recharges fast enough using its stock cable and adapter for my taste. I’m sure everyone feels the same way. Please focus your energy in improving other features instead.

Thank you,
From a OnePlus fan

The Smart Magic Data is how Smart alienates postpaid subscribers in favor of prepaid

March 19, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Smart is not so sure whether to actually offer their Smart Magic Data or not. For one, the addon mechanics cannot be found in any page of Smart. You can only avail from the Giga Life app. And it’s available only to prepaid subscribers. There have been instances where users reported that the Magic Data disappeared from available upgrade options in the Giga Life app.

One thing is for sure, that Smart is not sure whether to continue with this offering. With the Magic Data addons, Smart is encouraging its postpaid subscribers to switch to prepaid instead.

As a response to GOMO, Smart now has MAGIC DATA

March 13, 2021 / / 0 Comments

With the coming of DITO and introduction of Globe’s GOMO, it’s Smart’s move. And they come up with: Smart MAGIC DATA:

The Magic Data appears for now to be available only to Smart’s prepaid subscribers, and it seems to be not so competitive compared to GOMO, but this development is welcome anyway, especially if you frequent an area where you find Globe’s network connection to be spotty.

You can subscribe to Smart’s Magic Data by going to their Gigalife mobile app.

Philippine Banks and Their Technology

February 17, 2021 / / 1 Comment

Banks should be in the bleeding edge of technology. But in the Philippines, they might not be as advanced as we’d like them to be.

Take for example the experience I had while managing my account with BDO Online Banking. Every so often, their system requires password change.

Their password change page details the valid password that the system can accept. The third item says passwords must contain uppercase, lowercase, number and special characters. But then, special characters such as [!#$%^&';"] are not allowed.

My questions:

  • Why not allow the characters: [!#$%^&';"]?
  • Wouldn’t it have been more helpful if you enumerated the set of special characters I can choose from to use in my password instead?
  • I use a password manager. After copying my password from my password manager, why don’t you allow pasting into these fields from my clipboard?

My concerns may seem so trivial, but trivial things like these make or break a great online banking experience.