Monthly Archives: July 2020

The first Filipino phone brand launched its Buy 1 Take Care promo on July 27, wherein its customers can get a free face mask for every purchase of myA18 at participating MyPhone stores nationwide.

myA18 was released last year and it came in 5 colors, Pink, Turquoise, Blue, Black and White, highlighting the pastel edition of the phone.

Categorized as an entry-level phone, myA18 features Android™ 9 Pie (Go edition), 8GB ROM + 1GB RAM, and 1.3GHz Quad-Core Processor that is truly beginner-friendly.

Other features of myA18 include 4.0″ Display, 2MP Main Camera, Front Camera with Face Beauty

1500mAh Battery, 3G, GPS, and Dual SIM.

MyPhone Buy 1 Take Care promo will run from July 27 until supplies last. For more information and the list of participating MyPhone stores, visit https://www.myphone.com.ph/buy-myphone-mya18-get-free-face-mask/ or like and follow MyPhone’s official social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for promo updates.

As people adopt new habits apt for the changing times, businesses are also compelled to innovate and deliver new ways for everyone to experience the activities they have always enjoyed. One of these is recapturing the essence and joy of watching a film inside the halls of a cinema.

While movie theaters still have yet to open, SM Cinema gives its patrons the perfect opportunity to see upcoming films through its newest out-of-home entertainment experience, the “SM Cinema Drive-in: Movies at Sundown”.

A throwback to the good old days of drive-in theaters, SM Cinema relives this experience for a new generation to enjoy, bringing them a fresh avenue for a #SafeAndFunMovieWatching crusade from the comfort of their cars.

Opening at SM City Pampanga Amphitheater, SM Cinema’s “Movies at Sundown” allows guests to watch movies on the big screen while observing social distancing rules set by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF). Starting today, Friday, July 31, 2020, it will open to the general public featuring the movies’ “Train to Busan 2: Peninsula” and “My Spy.

The “SM Cinema Drive-in: Movies at Sundown” experience

A first in the Philippines, SM Cinema’s drive-in theater takes Filipino viewers to a new horizon of movie-watching.

Guests will be assigned their own parking spots to be guided by traffic marshalls. Once settled, spectators can see the film of their choice on a 20m x 8m screen raised 3-feet above the ground, and will be asked to tune in to a specific frequency on their car’s FM radio to broadcast the audio straight into their vehicles.

Guests can also choose the 6:30PM or 8:50PM schedules from July 31 to August 2. In the succeeding weeks, schedules will be every Thursday to Sundays at 6:45PM. And what’s a drive-in cinema without movie snacks? For a ticket price of only P400 per person, this gives viewers the chance to relish in a new cinematic experience paired with a free Regular Popcorn, Bottled Water, and Beef Franks from SnackTime.

A #SafeAndFunMovieWatching for Filipinos

Optimizing the best view for all guests, two (2) persons can be inside the car and a maximum of four (4) guests will be allowed. Attendees must also be between the ages 21 and 59, pursuant to the safety guidelines set by the IATF. For added safety, viewers will also be asked to stay inside their vehicles with their masks on and practice social distancing all throughout the duration of the movie.

Tickets for SM Cinema’s “Movies at Sundown” must be purchased online in advance at www.smtickets.com to ensure an uninterrupted viewing experience. No tickets will be sold at the venue, and viewers are advised to arrive at least 30 minutes before their scheduled screening.

“At SM Cinema, we have always explored new dimensions in film screenings to give our viewers the best movie-watching experience they deserve. Now that new norms have come to us, we do our best to meet our audience where they’re at, all while presenting a safe and innovative movie entertainment setup that’s a first in the country,” said Ruby Ann Reyes, SM Cinema’s Vice President for Marketing.

As a household name in film screening, SM Cinema brings back to its audience the joy of seeing movies on screen as they introduce a new way for people to catch their blockbuster favorites. Now available at SM City Pampanga—and soon in five other branches nationwide— catch the next big titles at the “SM Cinema Drive-in: Movies at Sundown” starting today, Friday, July 31, 2020 at SM City Pampanga. Purchase your tickets online via www.smtickets.com.

The milk tea craze in San Jose del Monte City has become stronger than ever with the newest addition of milk tea stores in SM, the most awaited Coco Fresh Tea and Juice!

(CoCo Fresh Tea and Juice is located at the lower ground floor of SM City San Jose del Monte, near the mall’s main atrium.)

Anyone who has been to any of CoCo’s branches in Metro Manila knows that their juices are real fresh and their milk teas are worth it. With over 4,000 stores worldwide, the Taiwan-based bubble tea shop is now closer to its customers in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan. San Joseños don’t have to cross the metro or spend much on delivery fees just get refreshed with their favorites from CoCo.

Coco has a lot to offer from milk tea, to fruit and fresh teas, juices, chocolate, coffee, to cream and latte, and slush. For toppings, customers can choose from coconut jelly, pearls, pudding, and salty creams.

Ordering can be overwhelming especially for a CoCo newbie, but if you’re looking for a fresh tea, Passion Fruit Tea Burst is a must try for it has an intense fruity and tart flavor. Winter melon milk tea is a popular choice in all milk tea chains, so it is no surprise that CoCo has their own version too, the Salty Cream Winter Melon Tea. Coco’s signature salty cream just gives the winter melon tea a nice frothy texture and salty notes that balance its sweetness.

To best appreciate CoCo milk tea, there’s no better drink to order than their signature CoCo Milk Tea and CoCo Chocolate. Panda Milk Tea and White Pearl Milk Tea are also recommended. For slush, the Matcha Slush with Salty Cream is a great refresher.

Coco Fresh Tea and Juice is located at the lower ground floor of SM City San Jose del Monte.

As we still are in the midst of a pandemic, SM continue to find ways to innovate shopping experience. Like and follow SM City San Jose del Monte’s official Facebook at https:www.facebook.com/SMCitySanJoseDelMonte and on Instagram at https://instagram.com/smcitysanjose.

Incoming students may now avail of a convenient and affordable gadget bundle to help them participate in their online classes this school year, through a new partnership of Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) and Acer Philippines (Acer).

Under this partnership, parents can avail of the Smart School Bundle, which consists of an Acer Aspire 5 laptop, and a Smart Bro LTE Pocket WiFi.

The 14-inch Aspire 5 laptop comes with an Intel® Core™ i3 -813OU 2.2 GHz Base Speed with Turbo Boost up to 3.4 GHz, am 8GB DDR4 memory, 128 SSD + 1TB HDD. The bundle also already includes a Windows 10 Home OS, and other features that can help students cope with their school requirements.

From July 29 to August 7, Shopee Live viewers can look forward to exciting games, raffles, and exclusive discounts on fashion items

MANILA, JULY 29, 2020 – Calling all shoppers and fashionistas! Shopee, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, is giving away over ₱450,000 worth of prizes at Shopee Live’s 8.8 Fashionista Comeback. From July 29 to August 7, viewers can tune in to the following fashion challenges, trivial games, and fashion quizzes to win brand giveaways, ShopeePay credits, brand vouchers, and Shopee coins.

Users can join in the fun with these following Shopee Live activities:

• 8.8 Sulit OOTDs: Users can score amazing deals and participate in two featured live stream segments to win cash prizes. For Style on a Budget, viewers have to create a full outfit based on the budget given while Shopee Fashion Icon Day encourages users to post a side-by-side photo of their OOTDs inspired by their favorite fashion icon.
• 8.8 Fashion Challenge: On August 7, users can participate in three games, namely Guess Who, Fashion Truth or Dare, Who Wore it Better, for a chance to win up to ₱30,000. To win in these games, viewers should guess the personality based on their iconic looks, answer trivia questions correctly, and vote for the live streamer with the best outfit.
• Daily Suki Shopper: From August 1 to 7, there will be one winner of ₱2,000 worth of ShopeePay credits daily. On August 8, two winners can win ₱8,000 worth of ShopeePay credits each. Daily Suki Shopper segment chooses the winners via raffle draw*. To join, viewers must purchase any product during a live streamers’ episode. One check-out is equivalent to one raffle entry.
• Deals and Promos: Aside from discount vouchers and featured brand deals, users can also enjoy exclusive discounts from fashion brands such as:
  • Jeiky Jeans apparels up to 75% off
  • Shoe King footwears up to 66% off
  • Perfect On bags and Vivibag products up to 80%

Shopee 8.8 Fashion Sale

The Shopee 8.8 Fashion Sale is happening from July 23 to August 8. Shoppers can look forward to free shipping for selected stores, deals as low as ₱8, mix-and-match bundle deals, and ShopeePay fashion vouchers. Users can also enjoy exclusive offers from leading brands such as Silver Kingdom, Hanford, Maybelline, Primer Group, Penshoppe, and iTrends.

For more information about the Shopee 8.8 Fashion Sale, visit https://shopee.ph/m/double-double.

Download the Shopee app for free on Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

GCash for Business, the enterprise arm of GCash, the country’s undisputed top and preferred mobile wallet, is providing businesses of varying sizes with cashless solutions that empower them to do more with less. GCash for Business offers fast and easy salary disbursement, a customizable and flexible platform manager, and financial services for the everyday needs of their employees.

As the country slowly adjusts to the new normal, business owners can stay ahead of the game by getting a suitable partner that can provide them with seamless and safe digital business solutions that enable them to adapt to the new normal.

“With more and more people migrating to digital, cash-heavy sectors should embrace this new technology to adapt and mitigate the impact of pandemic. GCash for Business will not only make this easier for enterprises by providing them with concrete business solutions, but this will also help consumers with their transactions in the new normal,” Luigi Reyes, VP for Enterprise and Head of GCash For Business, said.

Aside from promoting a healthy merchant-customer relationship, GCash for Business also helps businesses in streamlining disbursement processes. GCash enables businesses to distribute payroll and allowances to employees through their GCash e-wallets, which can be linked to a GCash MasterCard. Employers may even use the GCash platform to provide rewards and incentives to their employees and customers.

Likewise, GCash for Business allows employers to capitalize on a platform manager that allows them to use digitalized solutions for timekeeping, business expense management, and payroll processing, among others.

Through the GCash platform, employees may also unlock the potential of digital finance, as various financial tools and services are made available to them. With their GCash wallets, they may transact with over 75,000 merchants, pay bills to over 400 billers, and send money to over 40 banks. They may also use the platform for savings, credit, insurance, and even investments.

The coronavirus pandemic resulted in a booming community of online businesses in a span of three months, paving the way for a cashless future for the Philippine economy. But even as lockdown restrictions begin to ease, digital payments are still expected to be a part of the new normal as safety and hygiene remain to be top priorities of enterprises to avoid a major spike in COVID-19 cases in the country.

Now, merchants are required to step up their game by integrating modern technology into their enterprise. This is where GCash for Business enters the picture. No matter the size of the business, from big corporates to microentrepreneurs, the country’s leading mobile wallet provides unique solutions to ensure a safe and secure cashless experience for both business owners and their customers.

“GCash has a very diverse community of business partners. GCash for Business makes sure that businesses of all types can maximize their partnership with us by giving them the best we can officer,” Reyes said.

Aside from upgrades in the digital front, partnership with GCash for Business also comes with a financial literacy program and a self-service expense management system. Merchants no longer have to worry about losing track of their business expenses because GCash will make sure that everything is in check.

“Anyone business that wants to thrive in the post-pandemic scene knows that GCash is the way to go. Not only do we have the largest user base in the country, we also have the widest range of services offered in the market. By tapping GCash for Business, enterprises may maximize their potential even during a national health crisis,” Reyes said.

Globe Fintech Innovations Inc. (Mynt), which operates GCash, is part of the portfolio companies of 917Ventures, the largest corporate incubator in the Philippines wholly-owned by Globe Telecom Inc.

Interested businesses may schedule an appointment with a GCash Sales representative through https://www.gcash.com/business.

Sponge Cola has officially signed to Sony Music—the record label that released their debut album, Palabas.

To mark this return, the award-winning band drops a new song entitled “Lumipas Ang Tag-araw,” out today on all digital platforms worldwide.

Capturing the essence of a belated summer anthem in less than four minutes, Sponge Cola’s latest single soars into the fast lane with verses that turn romantic yearning into an inescapable sing-along, and a power pop surge that packs a ton of punch.

Connection in separation

The captivating and relatable lyrics echo the collective frustration of not being with the people we deeply care about and love. But on the other side of the narrative, the song presents an opportunity to weather the insurmountable odds through perseverance and resilience to get through life—thanks to the support and kindness of friends and family. “It’s a story of connection in separation, and how we can be a source of comfort for each other during difficult times,” guitarist Armo Armovit adds.

Vocalist and guitarist Yael Yuzon fondly recalls the inspiration behind “Lumipas Ang Tag-araw” after driving his wife to work one morning under the new normal. He remembers becoming intensely emotional out of nowhere. “It was a strange feeling: a realization about everything that has or hasn’t happened since Covid-19, which yanked us away from our usual. And at that moment, this bright and happy melody just came to me, then some words and harmonies. When I got home, I fleshed everything out and recorded a demo within a few minutes. I guess I just needed to uplift myself, so I wrote something uplifting– something that doesn’t highlight the struggle everyone has been trying to deal with during the pandemic and the lockdown.” The creative and emotional surge led to writing the initial draft of “Lumipas Ang Tag-araw”—a love song that deals with the struggles of physical connection in the time of pandemic.

“Virtual” recording

The upbeat pop-rock tune is the first song that the band arranged and recorded in the comforts of their home, without being together in the same place. Armovit shares the challenging process that transpired during the preliminary stages of the recording. “We sent demos and voice memos to each other back and forth, tweaking parts, creating variations, until we all agreed on a final arrangement. Everyone then had to record their own parts at home and send it to a communal online drive for the producer, Angee Rozul, to bring everything together for the final track.”

Under normal circumstances, Sponge Cola would usually write the song, arrange it in a rehearsal space, and record it together in a studio. But due to the nationwide lockdown imposed in the previous months, the alternative rock quartet decided to use the time and resources available at their disposal to record individually at their own place. “There was a lot of self-editing because you’re not being policed by your bandmates or a producer constantly keeping tabs on possible mistakes or improvements, at least in person,” says Yael Yuzon. “It was all about laying in your parts when the song was passed on to you, and you had the responsibility to keep things right and easy for the next guy to add on to.”

Music video

According to Armovit, the lockdown-inspired music video of “Lumipas ang Tag-Araw” takes an intimate look into the fictional and real-life character’s personal worlds—their bedrooms, living spaces, confined homes—and the routine that they’re up to, in hopes of coping with the situation under quarantine. “It was also our first time working under special conditions, where we had to film all the scenes ourselves with our own phones and cameras. I’m very thankful for the help and guidance from King Palisoc, our director, and the creative ideas from his team.”

The music video will be released on August 1, Saturday via the band’s official YouTube page.

PRESS RELEASE

Our way of life have been change by the pandemic. Many pre-pandemic activities seem to be a thing of the past. Work-from-home and home study culture have been the new norm as people are taking more precautions when it comes to health. While the ongoing pandemic change the way we work, travel and learn; it also teaches us to find ways to navigate the new normal with technology.

This August, SM Malls in Marilao, Baliwag, Pulilan and San Jose Del Monte will feature the latest tech innovations to help shoppers adapt to change and to simplify tools for host of activities such work, shopping, banking, socializing, learning and entertainment.

Because classes are about to start soon and work-from-home would likely persists, SM Bulacan Malls make gadget search convenient and easy with SM’s Cyber Craze. Shoppers can take hold of best gadget deals as promos and freebies are up for grabs until August 31. SM’s Cyber craze will feature curated guide and extensive selection of top-of-the-line devices to help shoppers discover gadgets, equipment and tools that suit their needs and lifestyle.

Bringing the SM experience online, SM also brings the fun in online shopping by hosting live unboxing for the whole month of August. SM will take shoppers through an interactive virtual world, unveiling new products and demonstrating how the 2020 lineup provides entertainment, creativity and efficiency for today’s digitally connected lifestyles.

While most shoppers are physically isolated, SM is rediscovering social connection through online tournament. Shoppers can join the e-sports tournament from August 7- 9 and August 28-30. Tournaments will be announced on Official Facebook page of your favorite SM mall.

As the pandemic spark new habits, SM Malls in Marilao, Baliwag, Pulilan and San Jose Del Monte are continuing to find ways to serve you better. For more exciting happenings, visit SM’s facebook page and follow us on instagram account.