ICYME (July 25 – 31, 2016): PH to host Miss Universe, the dangers of internet justice, bidding farewell to the VCR

ICYME a.k.a. In Case You Missed Everything is our way of sharing big and sometimes important yet not highlighted moments posted on the internet from the past week. Read on and enjoy!

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• No more VCRs. We lose another iconic piece of technology to this fast-paced world. The last maker of VHS-compatible video cassette recorders, Japanese manufacturer Funai Electric, has announced that they stopped production of VCRs at the end of July. They attribute it to declining sales. And while we are sure people are still buying VCRs, it’s still sad to see it go.

• Infinity War won’t be split into two. If you’re like us that gets miffed over this whole two-part movie trend, then this news from Marvel is something you’d like to hear. (We love Harry Potter but it’s their fault this started.) The upcoming Avengers: Infinity War movie was set to get a two-part film released on May 2018 and May 2019. But Marvel has confirmed they will no longer split this story into two films. There will still be two Avengers films but it will be a different story, or at least that’s what the directors of both movies, Joe and Anthony Russo, say about it.

• The 2016 Miss Universe pageant to be held in the PH. Now more than ever seems to be the best time for it. With the 2015 Miss Universe title held by our very own Pia Wurtzbach, the upcoming 2016 pageant will be held in the country on January 30, 2017. The last time the Philippines hosted the pageant was back in 1994.

• Be careful what you share. One of the biggest news items in the past week is the arrest of the road rage suspect Vhon Martin Tanto who killed a cyclist he got into an road altercation with. But aside from that horrible crime, there was also a big case of mistaken identity that got an innocent man accused of being the suspect. And in this day and age of online anonymity and well-intentioned yet misplaced sense of justice, Nestor Punzalan was suddenly named the suspect. Punzalan got his reputation ruined along with death threats he doesn’t deserve. Unbox wrote a great editorial piece on this issue and the dangers of internet justice.

• Back to (virtual) reality. PlayStation has officially announced that its much-awaited virtual reality headset, dubbed the PSVR, will be heading to the Philippines on October 13 for the oh-so-painful price of P22,900. The set will arrive with a list of available games including Resident Evil and Eagle Flight. Meanwhile, Lenovo is pushing its virtual reality sets more immediately than its Sony counterparts with the release of the theater-quality VIBE K5 series, featuring an all-new controller for its ANTVR.

• Winter will last for two years. It’s all coming to an end! Game of Thrones producers have set a finale in two seasons. George R. R. Martin’s epic fantasy tale comes to a close after its eighth season, at least on the silver screen. Who knows when Martin will finally finish penning it on paper?

• Yes, we’ll save you… for a price. At the start of President Duterte’s tenure in the boss’s chair, he announced the launch of the country’s own dedicated 911 hotline. At the time of this writing, the hotline is set to launch this August. Our two major telcos have already pledged their support for the hotline. While Smart has promised free connectivity to the emergency service, Globe has claimed that they will charge an additional P5 per connect to 911, much to the dismay of netizens.

• Onwards for a fresher airspace. After its Singaporean launch some time ago, Dyson is releasing its air purifying fan, the Dyson Pure Cool Link, to the Philippine market. The desk version will retail for P29,900, while the tower version costs a whopping P42,500.