Huawei will provide several thousand custom in-cab tablets to taxi-hailing platform Micab. This is result of a partnership between Micab, which was recently accredited by the LTFRB (Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board), and Huawei, a Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturer. The custom Huawei tablets will seamlessly handle both ecosystems of Micab, the driver side (which lets drivers find passengers) and the display ads side (which targets Micab users). The tablets will run custom software.
“Ultimately, they’ve [Huawei] created a tablet that I like to think is very similar to our drivers: they’re reliable, hard-working, and efficient,” said Eddie Ybanez, Micab Co-Founder and CEO. Huawei deployed engineers from China to the Philippines earlier this year. The engineers rode Micab partner cabs everyday to gather data eventually used to create a tablet that would endure the Philippine heat.
Two Ecosystems, One Tablet
The driver-side app of Micab allows driver to locate and talk to the now 25,000 passengers booking cabs on their smartphone (Micab is available for both iOS and Android). Once, the passenger enters the Micab partner cab, the custom Huawei tablets will display ads courtesy of MiAds, Micabs’s ad platform in partnership with Hallohallo Business. MiAds can help brands tap into the tech-savvy and affluent Filipino demographic that’s forms the majority of Micab’s user base.
Taxi 2.0 will not be easy
Ybanez said that they need global partners like Huawei to address the operational and technical challenges of Micab’s vision – Taxi 2.0 – where Filipinos can book a modern and clean cab, driven by a friendly, kind, and polite driver.
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