Business Leaders Encourage Filipinos to Embrace Digital Commerce as ECOMEX 2026 Launches

The Philippines continues to strengthen its position in the digital economy as industry leaders officially launched E-Commerce Expo Philippines (ECOMEX) 2026, a nationwide platform designed to empower entrepreneurs, online sellers, and digital innovators. During the July 9 media and ecosystem launch, experts emphasized that success in today's business landscape depends on embracing digital commerce, continuous learning, and personal branding.

Powered by PHILSME and organized by MediaTrix Solutions Inc., ECOMEX 2026 will take place on November 20–21, 2026, at the SMX Convention Center Aura in Taguig City. The event aims to connect entrepreneurs with industry experts, technology providers, investors, and government agencies to help businesses thrive in an increasingly digital marketplace.

The virtual launch gathered more than 40 international, regional, and local media organizations through Zoom and social media livestreams. Speakers shared valuable insights on entrepreneurship, branding, innovation, and the importance of building strong business communities.

Financial educator and entrepreneur Coach Chinkee Tan encouraged aspiring business owners to overcome their fear of technology and focus on creating value.

"Everybody starts with one follower," Tan reminded participants, emphasizing that every successful digital business begins with small but consistent steps. He stressed that consumers invest in trusted brands rather than products alone, making credibility, lifelong learning, and adaptability essential qualities for entrepreneurs. He also encouraged business owners to attend industry events where they can gain practical knowledge, build meaningful relationships, and discover new growth opportunities.

Digital entrepreneur and content strategist Reymond "Boss RDR" Delos Santos described ECOMEX as more than just another business conference.

According to Delos Santos, ECOMEX represents a movement that celebrates Filipino entrepreneurs who are transforming their lives through digital commerce. He noted that online businesses continue to generate employment, strengthen local communities, and inspire more Filipinos to pursue entrepreneurship. Through ECOMEX, participants can learn directly from experienced professionals while discovering emerging technologies and best practices.

Meanwhile, Trixie Esguerra-Abrenilla, Founder and Organizer of ECOMEX and CEO and Managing Director of PHILSME, highlighted that modern e-commerce requires much more than simply selling products online. She explained that entrepreneurs must understand the complete customer journey—from attracting customers and increasing conversions to fulfillment, customer retention, and long-term brand development.

The initiative also received support from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) through E-Commerce Bureau Director Eryl Royce Nagtalon, who emphasized the importance of collaboration in building a secure and trusted digital economy.

With exhibitor, sponsorship, speaking, and partnership opportunities now open, ECOMEX 2026 aims to become a long-term platform where entrepreneurs, educators, technology companies, investors, and government organizations can collaborate to shape the future of Philippine digital commerce.

Vivo X300 FE Brings Professional Street Photography to Everyday Smartphone Users

MANILA, Philippines – Street photography has always been admired for its ability to capture authentic moments as they naturally unfold. Traditionally, photographers relied on dedicated cameras for their manual controls, creative flexibility, and distinct imaging styles. Today, smartphone technology is rapidly closing that gap, and Vivo is making professional-style street photography more accessible with the Vivo X300 FE and its dedicated Street Photography Mode.

Designed for users who enjoy capturing spontaneous moments, the Vivo X300 FE combines camera-inspired controls with creative imaging features that make everyday photography more intuitive. Whether it's a bustling city street, a fleeting interaction between strangers, or the warm glow of sunlight filtering through buildings, the smartphone allows users to preserve these moments without carrying bulky camera equipment.

Street photography is about discovering beauty in ordinary scenes. Rather than focusing on famous landmarks, photographers often seek emotion, timing, and composition in everyday life. A brief smile, an unexpected reflection, or the movement of people during rush hour can tell powerful stories through a single frame. Since these moments often disappear within seconds, the Vivo X300 FE's Street Photography Mode is designed for fast, responsive shooting, ensuring users never miss an opportunity.

To recreate the charm of classic street photography, Vivo partnered with ZEISS to include imaging styles that deliver timeless photographic aesthetics. Users can choose ZEISS Natural, which adds subtle grain and texture reminiscent of traditional film photography, or switch to Black & White mode to emphasize contrast, light, and emotion. These built-in profiles allow photographers to create expressive images straight from the camera while reducing the need for extensive editing.

The Vivo X300 FE also caters to different photography styles through its Auto and Pro shooting modes. Auto mode features a dedicated Exposure Value (EV) adjustment dial that enables users to quickly brighten or darken scenes without disrupting the shooting process. Meanwhile, Pro mode offers greater creative freedom by allowing manual adjustments to EV, ISO, Auto White Balance (AWB), shutter speed, and simulated bokeh effects. These controls help users adapt to changing lighting conditions, freeze motion, or create artistic depth with ease.

By blending professional photography features with the convenience of a smartphone, the Vivo X300 FE delivers a compelling experience for photography enthusiasts and casual users alike. The device is available for Php 54,999 at Vivo stores nationwide and through authorized online retailers. For a limited time, every purchase also includes a free Vivo Photography Bag and Vivo Buds Pro, while supplies last.

Yield Guild Games Launches vibecode.game, Partners With Minds by Animoca Brands for First Game Jam

Yield Guild Games (YGG) has officially announced the launch of vibecode.game, a premier editorial and discovery destination for vibe-coded games, the fastest-growing category in browser gaming. To celebrate the launch, YGG is partnering with Minds by Animoca Brands (“Minds”) to host the vibecode.game X Minds by Animoca Brands Game Jam. Kicking off on July 13, 2026, the global, virtual four-week competition serves as the inaugural event of VibeBlitz, a game jam series hosted by vibecode.game. This first installment marks the public release of Minds’ specialized "Game Designer Mind," a personal AI agent that helps game creators overcome game design hurdles and rapidly ship playable titles.

Vibe coding has unlocked an era of frictionless creation, enabling anyone (regardless of coding skills) to build games, with agents assisting in critical decision-making. According to a 2026 report by MarketsandMarkets, the AI code assistant market is projected to surge from $8.14 billion in 2025 to $127.05 billion by 2032. However, a 2026 Naavik Digest study highlighted that despite agentic AI fueling a 77% surge in mobile game releases, commercial success rates have remained flat. While the production time, costs, and skills required to create a game have plummeted, discoverability, player attention, and customer acquisition remain the primary obstacles to growth.

vibecode.game directly addresses these obstacles, acting as a permissionless launchpad where any creator can publish a game, find an audience, and build a community. It features curated rankings, reviews, developer profiles, guides, and game discovery, allowing community validation to determine what rises to the top. Together, vibecode.game and YGG’s community-driven infrastructure own the vibe-coded games category, from a creator’s first build to a player’s discovery.

“vibecode.game is the ultimate discovery portal for vibe-coded games, and game jams are the perfect way to bring content, creators, and the community together,” said Gabby Dizon, co-founder of YGG. “Partnering with Minds by Animoca Brands will make sure that anyone can learn, experiment, and publish a game, no matter their level of experience.”

Animoca Brands became an early seed-round investor in YGG in 2021, and the two companies share a history of lowering barriers to entry in digital economies. This partnership brings that shared vision directly into the AI era. While vibe coding tools greatly simplify code generation, many creators still struggle with core game design decisions, mechanics, and balance. To bridge this gap, Animoca Brands developed the Game Designer Mind, a type of specialized persistent AI agent that acts as a co-creator, turning a user’s one-line prompt into a fully designed, balanced game concept. Users can design game systems using their Game Designer Mind on its own or combined with other AI tools.

“The synergy between Minds and YGG centers on digital empowerment and making game creation fun and accessible to all,” said Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands. “Vibe coding has democratized coding, but great games still require great design. By putting the Game Designer Mind in front of YGG’s builder community, we are removing the final creative hurdle. Creators can now instantly brainstorm, refine, and balance their games using our persistent AI agents, then publish them on vibecode.game to tap into an immediate player base.”

vibecode.game x Minds by Animoca Brands Game Jam

The global, virtual game jam is designed to showcase the ability and opportunity to create games by combining AI agents with rapid game development and permissionless web publishing. It features a prize pool of $2,500 in Minds platform credits and $2,500 in $YGG tokens.

The event will run from July 13 to August 10, 2026:

• July 13 to July 27, Build Phase: Creators sign up, use the Game Designer Mind AI agent alone or in conjunction with any other AI coding tools of their choice, and submit their completed games on vibecode.game.
• July 27 to August 2, Community Voting: The global player community plays the submitted titles on vibecode.game and votes for their favorites.
• August 3 to August 9, Judging Period: Final evaluations will be conducted by an expert judging panel consisting of Gabby Dizon, co-founder of YGG, and Mo Ezeldin, VP of Animoca Labs. Winners will be announced on August 10, 2026.

To support builders during the game jam, a live Game Design Masterclass workshop will be held on the official YGG Discord server on July 16, 2026, at 21:00-22:00 GMT+8. Hosted by the game jam judges themselves, this practical session will demonstrate how builders can use the Game Designer Mind to streamline their creation workflows, refine their economics, and maximize their chances of winning the competition.

How to Participate:

• Register: Sign up for the game jam from July 13 to July 27 via the official event page at vibecode.game.
• Access the Tools: Visit the Minds website at hellominds.ai to activate your personalized Game Designer Mind companion (select “Game Designer” in “One-Click Minds”).
• Build and Submit: Use the Game Designer Mind to design your game mechanics and code the game using your preferred prompt-based pipeline. Upload your entry by July 27 via the event page.

Information about the vibecode.game X Minds by Animoca Brands Game Jam is available at https://vibecode.game/game-jams/vibeblitz-x-minds-by-animoca-minds-hackathon.

Ragnarok Origin Classic Releases Its Update today! Glast Heim and New Job Gunslinger Arrive!

Ragnarok Origin Classic, published by Gravity Game Vision, has launched the major "Shadows over Glast Heim" expansion today (July 9th), leading adventurers deep into the Glast Heim ruins to begin a brand-new chapter of adventure across time and space.

The new job "Gunslinger" and the high-difficulty dungeon "Draconic Cataclysm" are now available, and a series of official celebration events have also been launched. Featuring a numerically balanced and competitive environment, paired with solid progression systems, every adventurer can write their own epic adventure in this legendary Glast Heim.

Break the Gunner Stereotype! New Melee Build Arrives

The highly anticipated new job "Gunslinger" has arrived at Ragnarok Origin Classic. The Gunslinger revamp introduces a brand-new melee combat style, delivering fast and satisfying close-range combo control. With diverse skill combinations, it is set to completely reshape the PvP meta and bring a totally new battlefield experience.

Ragnarok Origin Classic’s Gunslinger design continues to uphold ROOC's long-standing philosophy of fairness. Every build has a very low progression barrier, allowing both casual players and hardcore players to fully enjoy the unique fun of the job.

Explore the Glast Heim with a Massive New Server Reward Giveaway

Glast Heim, the long-abandoned old royal capital, has once again become the focus of exploration with this update. The new version introduces an all-new main storyline, where players can witness firsthand the downfall of the Knights and uncover the thousand-year-old truth buried within Glast Heim.

In addition to the main storyline, the map also features hidden Adventure Quests waiting for players to discover even more secret stories. Complete all exploration challenges to receive limited commemorative headwear and exclusive Glast Heim furniture to preserve your unique adventure memories.

Coinciding with the launch of the Glast Heim update on July 9, Ragnarok Origin Classic will also roll out multiple celebration events, including a limited-time Triple Card Drop Chance event packed with surprises for players.

In addition, the Glast Heim update will open the new "Glast Heim" server. Exclusive new server rewards will help players rapidly increase their combat power and easily embark on the adventure in the old city. The new Glast Heim server also comes with a new milestone achievement reward: when the number of max-level players on the server reaches 30,000, all players can claim the highly popular cosmetic "Spooky Nyan Suit" for free. Daily login rewards will also include the "Violet Oath" gift box, as well as high-value items such as the red MVP Card "Moonlight Flower" and the gold Illusion Card "Angeling"; accelerated guild growth will also help guilds in the new server develop rapidly.

"Tyr Cup Global" Is Set to Begin, the Million-Dollar Prize Pool Returning

On July 11, the Tyr Cup Grand Final will kick off in Bangkok, where the first-ever Tyr Cup champion will be crowned. On the evening of July 12, the entire server will celebrate Championship Night together, inviting all players to join in honoring this glorious victory moment.

And this is only the beginning. The developers have officially announced that the "Tyr Cup" tournament will be fully upgraded to a global scale - "Tyr Cup Global" is about to begin, with the million-dollar prize pool returning once again.

"Tyr Cup Global" will launch simultaneously on the ROOC Asia and Americas servers, with both regions sharing a $1 million cash prize pool. Guilds from around the world will gather on the stage with absolute fairness to compete head-to-head for their own glory and a place at the pinnacle.

In addition to the million-dollar cash prize pool, "Tyr Cup Global" will also introduce even more prestigious rewards, offering top guilds and legendary adventurers one-of-a-kind recognition.

Ragnarok Origin Classic centers its monetization around the Monthly Pass system, creating a fair competitive environment and restoring the pure fun of MMORPGs. For more update details and event news, stay tuned to the official website and official Discord, and download the game now to begin a brand-new adventure!

Hyperscaler Demand Lifts PLDT Global Q1 Revenue 26%

PLDT Global Corporation (PLDT Global), the international business unit of PLDT, reported a strong start to 2026, with total first-quarter net service revenues rising 26% year-on-year.

The company’s performance reflects sustained momentum in its enterprise segment, underpinned by strong demand from hyperscalers, strategic partnerships with global digital platforms, and the continued operational resilience of its carrier voice business—collectively reinforcing the overall enterprise performance of the PLDT Group.

Enterprise growth led by hyperscaler demand

Growth in the first quarter was anchored on PLDT Global’s expanding enterprise business, particularly within the hyperscaler segment, where demand for scalable, high-capacity connectivity continues to accelerate.

The company recorded sustained uptake of its International Private Leased Circuit Services (IPLCS) and colocation solutions, as global technology players scale operations across Asia and other key markets.

PLDT Global also strengthened its growth pipeline with strategic contracts from hyperscalers, content providers, and global enterprises. These partnerships are expected to contribute to revenues within 2026, providing further upside for the business.

“Our continued growth in serving hyperscalers and global digital platforms reflects not only the strength of PLDT Global’s network infrastructure and strategic geographic positioning, but also our unwavering commitment to delivering world-class, reliable connectivity solutions,” said Albert V. Villa-Real, President and CEO of PLDT Global.

“We remain focused on scaling our enterprise business, deepening strategic partnerships, and driving operational excellence—ensuring we deliver sustainable growth and long-term value for our stakeholders while enabling the next wave of global digital innovation,” he added.