Manila city vendors go cashless with PayMaya QR

To promote safe and convenient cashless transactions around the capital, the City of Manila has partnered with PayMaya to deploy contactless payments via PayMaya QR to the newly launched vendor stalls provided by the city government.

Buyers at the “cashless stalls” located near the Manila City Hall and in Divisoria may soon pay using their PayMaya app and without having to hand out cash to vendors.

By using contactless payments, consumers and merchants can help in preventing the spread of virus given the current COVID-19 crisis and promote public safety on the streets.

“We want to give vendors around Manila a dignified way to sell their goods, which is why we built these upgraded stalls for them, free of charge. And to further improve the way they run their business, we are equipping them with contactless payments with the help of PayMaya,” said Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso during the PayMaya and USAID E-PESO Project webinar on “Effective Delivery of Government Aid through Digital Disbursements” on Thursday, July 2.

The City of Manila is at the forefront of transforming the nation’s capital into one of the first “cashless cities” around the country as it earlier partnered with PayMaya in disbursing benefits to senior citizens, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and solo parents through their PayMaya cards even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

To further strengthen its cashless ecosystem, the city has launched around 90 of these new vendor stalls that will be equipped with PayMaya QR as it prepares to restart the local economy following the continuing quarantine in the city.

“Manila City is one of the LGUs that are leading the way in digitalization. Citizens can receive their financial assistance directly to their own PayMaya accounts linked to their Manila City ID cards, and now vendors can easily and safely accept cashless payments via PayMaya. We are proud to be a partner in the city’s digitalization efforts,” said PayMaya Founder and CEO Orlando Vea.

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LGUs leading digital transformation

To help more local governments around the country quickly adapt to the rising digital wave, PayMaya recently launched its LEAD or LGUs Embracing and Accelerating Digitalization Program, which seeks to empower local governments with the right digital financial services tools in the pursuit of better service to the public.

Other local governments around the country can take inspiration from Caloocan City, Mandaluyong City, Manila City, Pasig City, Quezon City, and Valenzuela City, which have adopted PayMaya’s end-to-end digital payment solutions to better serve their constituents and at the same time, improve ease of doing business.

To date, PayMaya has helped disburse over PhP 1.4 billion to beneficiaries as part of various social amelioration programs of the government to give financial aid to those severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, it has also equipped around 50 national government agencies and local governments with various digital payment acceptance tools to help promote online transactions in government.

To know more about how to fast-track the groundwork towards a more progressive and digital LGU, visit their website or send an email to gov@paymaya.com for further details.

PayMaya is the only end-to-end digital payments ecosystem enabler in the Philippines with platforms and services that cut across consumers, merchants, and government. Aside from providing payment acceptance for the largest e-Commerce, food, retail, and gas merchants in the Philippines, PayMaya enables national and social services agencies as well as local government units with digital payments and disbursement services.

Through its app and wallet, PayMaya provides millions of Filipinos with the fastest way to own a financial account with over 40,000 Add Money touchpoints nationwide, more than double the total number of traditional bank branches in the Philippines combined.

Its Smart Padala by PayMaya network of over 30,000 partner touchpoints nationwide serves as last-mile digital financial hubs in communities, providing the unbanked and underserved with access to services.

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Huawei FreeLace Pro review: Sporty and comfy with serious ANC

01/17/2021

Finding an audio solution that fits your needs could sometimes be difficult especially if you have above-average standards for your devices. Some might be particular with sound quality, others favor design and comfort, while others simply want useful features.

Huawei’s FreeLace Pro is a fashionable neckband earphones that aims to deliver all the above-mentioned characteristics. Is it successful in its attempt? Read our full review and find out.

Design

Our unit comes in Graphite Black which is very subtle and elegant, but there are Spruce Green and Dawn White as alternatives.

There are two metallic cases on each side of the neckband that seem to serve two purposes. One is to add a little extra weight so the bands will drop down when worn and the other is for controls.

Found on the right side are play and volume controls, microphones, and a built-in USB Type-C connector which is revealed by uncapping the end of the band. There’s also a power/pairing button that’s tucked away right under the controls for volume.

The earbuds come in a matte finish and are paired with silicone ear tips shaped to provide a secure and ergonomic fit. Indeed, they stayed on even while doing activities like jogging or skipping rope.

On the side of each bud is a round metal magnet that is used to clip the earbuds together and keep them from accidentally falling off.

Huawei says the neckband is made of flexible and skin-friendly memory metal and it’s indeed soft, flexible, and feels comfortable when worn around the neck.

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The material also effectively repels liquids so whether you’re drenched in sweat or jogging under light rain, you’d still feel confident to continue your activity thanks to its IPX5 water resistance.

Huawei has worked to upgrade the sound of the FreeLace Pro by including large 14.2mm dynamic drivers, an independent bass tube for louder and stronger lows, and an aluminum-magnesium alloy diaphragm that’s designed to improve mids and highs. But let’s talk more about its sound performance later on.

Features

The FreeLace Pro is also equipped with a number of other features including Huawei HiPair which basically carries a two-fold function — one is to instantly pair devices and the other for short but fast charging time.

Using Huawei HiPair, you can simply remove the protective cap from the FreeLace Pro’s right metallic case and connect its USB-C port into a device for instant pairing. Do keep in mind, though, that the device should be running EMUI 10.0 or higher.

For other devices, the usual Bluetooth pairing works with no hassle.

Quick Switch also works well by pressing the power button twice and is useful for multitasking, for example, as it seamlessly jumps from one connected device to another.

The left earbud also has a touch sensor that lets you cycle through three different listening modes — ANC on, ANC off, and Awareness. Awareness and ANC off modes let you hear external audio but Awareness mode amplifies sound from around you so you’re more aware of your surroundings.

During my experience, I was able to hear other people talking to me but my music volume still needs to be lowered down to less than half or around 1/3 of the entire bar. If the volume is at my personal listening level, I still wouldn’t be able to hear if someone is calling my attention using a normal talking voice.

So if you’re planning to use this for jogging out on the street, it’s still best to turn your music volume down to make sure you’re still fully aware of your surroundings.

Performance

There a total of three mics on this device that work together to provide triple-mic noise cancelation for calls. We got on a few mobile calls and even video calls while we were outdoors and could say that audio clarity from the other line is commendable and effectively minimizes noise coming from around me.

Active noise cancelation, on the other hand, utilizes two mics for better noise capture and a more effective cancelation overall. We found this super helpful while outdoors and strong winds are blowing.

Without ANC, wind noise is really noticeable as it hits the device in our ears. But toggle ANC and the ‘whooshing’ disappears almost entirely, and with music playing, is gone completely.

In terms of audio quality, I found its bass to be lacking at first, but after giving its drivers time to settle, they were able to deliver bass kicks that are solid and whole. Mids are warm and natural-sounding while highs are decent but nothing outstanding.

RELATED: Huawei FreeBuds 3i review

There are small things to nitpick about its audio performance but as a whole, sound quality is great and more than enough for your everyday wireless audio needs

Low Latency Gaming Mode also proved effective in minimizing audio lag when sound is delivered to your ears. Playing games like Asphalt 9: Legends or Genshin Impact proved that there was still a bit of lag, but easily forgivable.

Battery

Huawei claims a 24-hour battery life and though we weren’t able to fully test this, it was able to last two entire days from morning till night time of interval usage for exercising, playing games, voice calls, and just listening to music while working.

Plus, using its Huawei HiPair technology makes quick charging convenient by simply removing the cap and connecting the FreeLace Pro to a device like smartphones or laptops to refill power using its fast-charge technology.

The company claims that five minutes of charging this way should be able to provide five hours of music playback with ANC turned off. We did that but stayed at Ambient Mode and it was able to last for a little over three hours. Still not bad.

Pricing and final thoughts

At the beginning of this review, we mentioned that some go for sound quality, others look at design and comfort, while others prefer useful features. Interestingly, the Huawei FreeLace Pro delivered in these aspects and added something on top of those — an affordable price.

With a price tag of just PhP 4,499, it’s hard to find faults in the FreeLace Pro. It was simply able to determine what its customers need and focused on them to be able to deliver a product that works and doesn’t break the bank at the same time.

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