Displaying items by tag: user experience

Emirates has announced a collaboration with Huawei to promote the Emirates app to Huawei phone users and build a more convenient and rewarding experience for passengers as travel demand recovers in the post-pandemic era.

Since January 2020, Emirates passengers have been downloading the Emirates app (Android version) at AppGallery and benefiting from its rich range of functions. The recent enhanced collaboration between the two parties extends the shared platform to include SmartCard Integration, providing a quick booking option for Emirates app users in the Chinese mainland and the UAE, as well as the ability to easily access their travel and flight information. Emirates-themed wallpapers, icons and fonts will also be created for travel enthusiasts to download and inspire their next travel plans and to customize their mobile experience.

Commenting on the partnership with Huawei, an Emirates spokesperson said: "It's our pleasure to build a collaboration with Huawei in order to provide the best possible customer experience, not only onboard and on the ground, but also online. Considering Huawei's strong market position in the Chinese mainland and the UAE, we are proud to collaborate with them on promoting our app. The engaging tools that are available on the Huawei AppGallery can help us create closer bonds and experiences with more customers, especially in China, which is a significant market for us. The next phase of our collaboration will roll out soon and is aimed at benefitting passengers at every step of their journey, from trip planning to arriving at their destination."

Subsequent phases of the joint cooperation will see Emirates and Huawei planning to expand features available to the airline's customers by integrating the Emirates app with the Huawei Wallet platform. The new features will enable Skywards members to store membership details and loyalty points, in addition to boarding passes and vouchers in the Huawei Wallet. Furthermore, Emirates customers will also soon be able to enter any of its worldwide lounges by simply tapping their Huawei device at the door.

The collaboration may also extend in the near future to include payment options and rewarding experiences, allowing easy redemptions of Skywards Miles and the ability to earn Huawei points. Users can also earn rewards points from designated banks in the UAE, to be used for the purchase of Emirates tickets or Huawei phones and accessories. The shared platform will also allow redemptions with car rental companies, telecommunication providers as well as airport taxi partners to bring more benefits to Emirates passengers and Huawei users.

Mr. Lu Geng, Director, Middle East and Africa Partnerships and Eco-Development at Huawei Consumer Business Group, added: "Innovation is part of our DNA and in Emirates we have found a like-minded partner whose desire and ability to continuously be at the forefront is integrated into their culture. In this era, where consumer behaviors have changed as we emerge from the pandemic, people rely more than ever on their smartphones to make decisions, including travel-related ones. This encouraging collaboration paves the way for us to explore future solutions and bringing even more inspiration to travelers and making their travel more convenient and rewarding."

Facebook and Ericsson, in conjunction with Thailand’s Total Access Communication PLC (dtac), have joined forces to measure and improve the user app experience on the dtac network. Using a methodology developed by Ericsson and Facebook, typical Facebook interactions were triggered from Facebook test accounts and measured on different mobile test devices in central Bangkok. After adjustments to the dtac network, results showed big improvements to the Facebook app experience such as 60 percent improvement in Facebook uploads and downloads time.

Nadine Allen, Head of Ericsson Thailand says: "2016 marks 110 years of Ericsson in Thailand and over the years Ericsson has been working with customers, partners, and government to revolutionize the way Thai people live, work and communicate with each other. Through our long term partnership with dtac and established collaboration with Facebook, we are proud to participate in this unique project to help bring positive app experience for smartphone users. The resultant whitepaper detailing the methodology and findings from the project provides operators and developers a deeper understanding on many network variables that can impact user adoption, which is particularly critical as we work to connect the unconnected to the internet."

In Thailand, almost half of smartphone users access social media on a daily basis, according to Ericsson Mobility Report June, 2016 and Facebook is among the most commonly used social media app in the country. More than half of dtac's 25 million subscribers are data users and Facebook is the most commonly accessed app on the network.

Prathet Tankuranun, Chief Technology Officer, dtac says: "dtac has a clear standpoint and a long-term target of giving the benefits to consumers and Thailand. We have planned to invest on network development and expansion. We rather give our customers better experience in using our service than make up some numbers on speed test apps and then forget all users' needs. Our strength is our 4G service on 1800 MHz band that occupies the widest band of 20 MHz abundant for all dtac customers to sense smooth experience on digital services."

Markku Makelainen, Director of Global Operator Partnerships, Facebook says: "Our goal is to bring affordable internet access and connectivity to the two-thirds of the world that don't have it. As part of this effort, we work with operators and our partners to help optimize their networks to provide a more robust experience on the Facebook app and other services. We are excited to share learnings from our work with Ericsson and dtac in the hopes that it may help others enhance mobile networks around the world."

The success of the study meant that Facebook users were not only able to get content from their friends faster, but could also share their experiences within a quicker time period. In addition, Facebook users could be served from the same mobile network node, without having to build additional infrastructure and hardware. This provides benefits to operators like dtac, in terms of delivering a superior customer experience through an optimized network.