A Metro Manila-based ride hailing startup got the attention of Cebuanos last week in announcing that it is expanding its active coverage area to include Cebu.

Amidst the LTFRB’s ongoing re-regulation of the ride hailing services Grab and Uber, startup Angkas announced on Facebook and Twitter that it was coming to Cebu.

The app-and-service suite is practically no different from the likes of Grab and Uber – only that passengers get to ride on motorcycles.

The app’s online distribution pages indicates that it only deals with “professional bikers,” and that an Angkas ride comes with personal safety equipment (helmets, masks and raincoats) and personal safety insurance coverage.

The announcement doesn’t indicate when the service will actually be available in Cebu, but its reception among Cebuanos has generally been favorable, though not without concerns pertaining to hygiene (in relation to the helmets provided) and personal safety.

“YouTube TV”

Over the weekend, YouTube launched of its new streaming service in the United States, heralding the online giant’s entry into the subscription-based video streaming segment.

The service allows subscribers to watch TV channels outside traditional TV conventions, along with options to subscribe to popular cable TV channels and other premium video offerings. The service delivers content from local broadcast networks to subscribers, making TV content available on multiple online channels, both web and mobile.

The new service is practically no different from other subscription-based services, save in one aspect: it consolidates content that’s been broadcasted by local TV stations or affiliate stations.

This means that broadcasts covered by a subscription, live or otherwise, can be viewed by subscribers on a smartphone, tablet or compatible internet-capable TV or streaming device.

It is still unclear if the service will be made available in the Philippines, but the positive reception it has garnered so far fuels hope of a local rollout of the service.

“In-chat shopping” feature

Viber, one of the world’s leading instant messaging suites, recently rolled out a new feature that integrates the services of online shopping within its keyboard application.

The rollout came after Viber’s acquisition of Chatter Commerce, a startup that integrates online shopping links within a keyboard application. The new feature allows users of the messaging suite to share items on sale on-the-fly to whoever they are chatting with, no need to go “outside” of the app.

Named “Instant Shopping,” the service has been gaining a following overseas. Reports say that 30 percent of Viber’s United States users have been using the service since its launch – which figure tech pundits foresee to grow as the service expands its online retailer portfolio.

In a time when synthesis and synergy are becoming the kingmakers in the internet-of-things arena, the concept of social media platforms extending their reach to cover solutions for various real-life concerns is already a reality, as Viber’s “Instant Shopping” seem to prove.