Retail News CRM

Tag: vod

  • Disney+ goes up for pre-order in the US with no special discounts

    Disney+ goes up for pre-order in the US with no special discounts

    If you remain undecided between retaining your Netflix and chill rights and giving a newcomer to the increasingly crowded video streaming market a shot to impress you, it might be a good idea to think and act fast. At least if you’re considering becoming an early Disney+ adopter.

    While the high-profile service owned by The Walt Disney Company is still scheduled to start streaming for the masses on November 12, you can already pre-order either a monthly or yearly subscription in the US. Unfortunately, both options appear to be available at their regular prices, so it’s unclear why one would want to rush and pay $6.99 or $69.99 in advance… apart from scoring bragging rights.

    Then again, those are already significantly lower rates than what Netflix is typically charging for a similar albeit richer product. As reported in a European pilot program, the Disney+ library is far from impressive for the time being, including a limited number of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic titles.

    ut the list is expected to grow at a solid pace with new original feature films like “Lady and the Tramp” and “Noelle” this holiday season, highly anticipated series like “WandaVision”, “Loki”, and “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” in the next couple of years, as well as various exclusive documentaries and “short-form content.”

    Ultimately, you’ll have to decide for yourselves if a decent start and a bunch of big promises will be enough to make you turn your back on the likes of Netflix, HBO, and Hulu. Of course, you can also bundle Disney+ with Hulu and ESPN+ for the insanely affordable monthly rate of $12.99, but that special offer is actually not available during the pre-order period of the new streaming service Apple will try to challenge at an even lower price point.

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  • BSNL to offer carrier billing for Amazon Prime

    BSNL to offer carrier billing for Amazon Prime

    Mobile technology company Fortumo is providing its Trident Bundling Platform for India’s BSNL to help the state-owned operator distribute Amazon consumer services in the market.

    With the integration, BSNL is offering subscribers one years’ subscription to the Amazon Prime shopping and entertainment platform on certain of its plans.

    The Trident Bundling Platform is designed to allow operators to establish and expand partnerships with OTT service providers by allowing the delivery of digital products packaged with mobile services to support carrier billing.

    OTT companies need only integrate with the platform once, and can then establish multiple bundle partnerships across a variety of potential commercial scenarios.

    Fortumo VP of global business development Andrea Boetti said such operator partnerships are ideal for markets such as India, where smartphone penetration in the country is above 35% but only 3% of the adult population owns a credit card.

    “Interest towards VOD services is today growing the fastest in South-East Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Local telecommunication companies and their marketing capabilities offer the best way for VOD providers to engage this audience,” he said.

    “Fortumo’s Trident supports VOD providers in getting these new users on board as quickly as possible.”

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  • Singtel launches Hooq OTT movie and TV services

    Singtel launches Hooq OTT movie and TV services

    Singtel has launched over-the-top (OTT) movie and TV service Hooq to its customers in Singapore, 22 months after the company announced the joint venture with Sony and Warner Bros.

    Hooq has been available for some time as a rival to Netflix via Singtel associates in the Philippines, Thailand, India and Indonesia, but it is now being launched in Singapore to Singtel’s prepaid, postpaid and broadband customers as part of bundled service packages.

    Hooq CEO Peter Bithos said that the service would provide an “ad-free freemium video-on-demand service with the largest catalogue of Hollywood, Asian and kids’ content”. The service has over 20,000 titles in its catalogue, available in Singapore for S$8.98 (US $6.29) a month, “the price of a movie ticket”, said Bithos.

    This is about twice the rate that Hooq charges customers of Globe Telecom in the Philippines, Telkomsel in Indonesia, AIS in Thailand or Airtel in India, where prices range from the local equivalent of $2.99 a month to $3.63.

    Hooq announced in March 2016, the first anniversary of its service launch in the Philippines, that it then reached 100,000 customers. No further figures are available. The five countries where the service is available now have a combined population of 1.6 billion, though the service can only be bought via packages through Airtel, AIS, Globe, Singtel and Telkomsel.

    Goh Seow Eng, Singtel’s managing director of home, consumer, said: “Singtel is always keen to expand our content offerings to enhance our customers’ entertainment experience. They will be pleased with Hooq’s vast selection of Hollywood hits, as well as ethnic movies and TV dramas. As an OTT video service, Hooq is a good complement to our pay TV product, as it allows us to offer an even wider breadth of content over multiple screens – mobile devices, computers and televisions.”

    Hooq does not offer live streaming TV services. At launch, Hooq said that it planned to offer movies such as Spider-Man and Harry Potter and TV series such as Friends and Gossip Girl, as well as Indian, Chinese, Thai, Filipino, Indonesian, Korean and Japanese movies and TV series.

    Singtel is a significant shareholder in Airtel, AIS, Globe and Telkomsel. Hooq is not available via Singtel’s Optus subsidiary in Australia, nor via Airtel’s African operations. Singtel and Airtel are increasingly working together on enterprise services.

     

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  • Huawei demos 5G-LTE dual connectivity for 4K VOD

    Huawei demos 5G-LTE dual connectivity for 4K VOD

    Huawei has conducted a live demonstration involving 5G and LTE dual connectivity for a 4K video-on-demand service, achieving single user peak throughput of 21.1Gbps.

    At last week’s Global Mobile Broadband Forum, Huawei conducted a demonstration based on its CloudRAN architecture.

    With the development of new high-bandwidth services such as AR/VR and 4K video streaming and cloud-based services, Huawei said 5G new radio technologies will need to be deployed in central hotspots first to deliver the required capacity.

    LTE networks are meanwhile continuing to evolve with the introduction of new technologies including 3D Massive MIMO.

    Combining 5G and 4G networks has the potential to help operators protect their existing investments while improving network capacity, spectrum efficiency and coverage in urban areas.

    “It is of vital importance to guarantee end users with a ubiquitous high data rate experience in densely populated urban city areas with high buildings and complex roadways,” Huawei CMO of wireless network products Dr Yuefeng Zhou said.

    “Recently, 3GPP standardization has made significant progress in 5G and LTE dual connectivity. We expect to strengthen our cooperation with industry partners on 5G innovations based on these real application scenarios.”

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  • Turner, Globe launch Cartoon Network on mobile

    Turner, Globe launch Cartoon Network on mobile

    Turner Asia Pacific and Globe Telecom in the Philippines are making available to Globe customers two upgraded Cartoon Network apps.

    An authenticated version of the Cartoon Network Watch and Play app unlocks its full functionality, including a live stream of the channel and additional video-on-demand content. Cartoon Network Anything will also be bundled, showcasing the network’s best short-form content on mobile devices.

    “Offered to Globe customers, these products provide a convenient avenue for Filipinos to enjoy the most popular kids’ content wherever they are, and in a safe and flexible way,” said Phil Nelson, Turner’s managing director for Southeast Asia.

    This year, Cartoon Network also ranks as a top-5 channel across all genres, showing the local appetite for cartoons and a brand of entertainment that the whole family enjoys.

    “Globe strives to provide the best service that includes premium entertainment from strong international partnerships like Turner’s Cartoon Network,” said Globe chief commercial officer, Albert De Larrazabal.

    “We look forward to the many possibilities this partnership offers as both companies are committed to provide valued customers with a unique digital entertainment experience,” said de Larrazabal. “Moving forward, customers can also expect more good news from Globe and Cartoon Network.”

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  • CatchPlay Launches Streaming Service in Indonesia Amid Land Grab

    CatchPlay Launches Streaming Service in Indonesia Amid Land Grab

    Taiwanese film distribution and production company CatchPlay group has launched a streaming video-on-demand service in Indonesia with the country’s state-owned telecommunications giant Telkom Indonesia after offering such a service in Taiwan in March.

    The cost of the service is $1.42 for local or Hollywood library titles, $2.15 for new releases, or a paid subscription of $4.81 per month.

    With a population of 260 million people, Indonesia is a logical market to expand outside of Taiwan, said Daphne Yang, CEO of CatchPlay, which will provide the latest Hollywood movies, as well as local films to subscribers. “It’s the biggest market in Southeast Asia. Also, not just in population, it’s a very vibrant market in terms of social networks,” Yang tells. “It’s the number four Twitter country in the whole world [and] number four in terms of user base on Facebook as well. We think that level of involvement in social networking would definitely help entertainment content consumption. We see a lot of potential in this country.”

    Indonesia has seen such online video players coming into the market as Neftlix, Hooq and iFlix in the past six months. “The market’s at a very early stage of development and it’s a land grab – it’s all about driving up consumption and then converting that to payment and using the telecommunications integration and carrier billing model as the way forward for that,” said Vivek Couto, executive director of research and consulting firm Media Partners Asia.

    However, there are only 5.5 million fixed broadband users in the country, and the infrastructure is insufficient to provide for the growth of the OTT market, he said. But the number of mobile broadband users will be close to 90 million by the end of 2016, according to Couto. “While Indonesia lags Singapore and Hong Kong and is also trailing Thailand and Malaysia, there is growing investment in next-generation fixed and mobile infrastructure, but progress is slow, especially outside Jakarta,” said Couto.

    “There has been an increasing trend of OTT adoption in Indonesia,” says Harsh Upadhyay, analyst at Singapore’s Analysys Mason. “This growth suggests that interest from end users has been high.” But he also highlights that fixed and wireless high-speed coverage “is not entirely available even in big cities of Indonesia.”

    CatchPlay thinks the key to entering the Indonesian market is to find the right partner, in their case the telecommunications giant Telkom, which is the top IPTV service provider in Indonesia. Over the past nine months, it has reached 1.6 million subscribers for its IPTV service, explains Yang. As was evident in the blocking of Netflix at the beginning of the year in Indonesia due to content deemed inappropriate by Telkom, the telecommunications giant holds the power in the bargain. Yang said its new service would be provided only to adults who have a password to the Telkom’s Indihome IPTV service.

    The Indonesian government has also brought out suggested regulations in the past few months regarding OTT services. Foreign companies should set up permanent business establishments, pay taxes and evaluate joint ventures with local OTT players, they suggest. In the recent draft regulation, the government is also trying to restrict access to certain content and services.

    Said Upadhyay: “The regulation also specifically mentions the objective of protecting Indonesian telecom operators, and hence raises important questions around net neutrality and competition. The regulation threatens the openness of the Indonesian OTT market and is likely to discourage international OTT providers from offering services to Indonesians.”

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  • PCCW’s Viu debuts in Indonesia

    PCCW’s Viu debuts in Indonesia

    Vuclip, a PCCW Media company launched in Indonesia the over-the-top (OTT) video-on-demand (VOD) service Viu, which has already rolled out in Malaysia, India, Hong Kong and Singapore.

    To amplify its efforts to deliver throughout Indonesia, Vuclip has entered into strategic partnerships with IndiHome Fiber, Telkomsel and Samsung.

    These partnerships enable Viu subscribers to experience content that is delivered “at the fastest speeds, through the most reliable networks, on a variety of devices, at the most competitive rates available.”

    For IndiHome Fiber-to-the-Home (FTH) subscribers, Viu content will be delivered through Telkom’s bundled speed plans on the FTH network.

    Telkomsel and Vuclip have strategically partnered for Indonesians to enjoy Viu content through Telkomsel broadband networks, and special bundled data package pricing for consumers.

    Through Viu’s exclusive device partnership with Samsung, Samsung Galaxy users with select smartphones and tablets can access all Viu content when they activate the “Viu partner offer” via their Samsung Galaxy devices.

    “Mobile devices have driven internet growth in Indonesia. The number of Samsung Galaxy users who enjoy video streaming has also shown significant growth,” said Denny Galant, head of product marketing at Samsung Electronics Indonesia.

    Through our partnership, our Samsung Galaxy users with selected Samsung Galaxy models will be pampered with the latest Asian serials and other unlimited contents for 12 months,” said Galant.

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  • StarHub TV features short-form content, telemovies

    StarHub TV features short-form content, telemovies

    Singaporean audiences can soon look forward to more exciting “Made in Singapore” content from as early as the third quarter of this year.

    StarHub’s new wave of Public Service Broadcast (PSB) lineup includes of travelogues shot in “the most exotic” corners of the world, kids infotainment shows and sports programs that shine the spotlight on the everyday superhuman athletes.

    For the first time, viewers who enjoy consuming content on the go, will also be able to view short-form content―each ranging from five to 15 minutes in duration.

    Local movie fans will also be treated to an array of locally produced telemovies centered on the kaleidoscopic facets of Singaporeans’ lives.

    PSB content is produced under the Media Development Authority of Singapore’s (MDA) Public Service Broadcast Contestable Funds Scheme (PCFS). The PCFS aims to extend the reach of PSB content to multiple broadcast platforms, as well as to bring more opportunities to local production houses to deliver creative, high-quality PSB content.

    Viewers will be able to catch StarHub’s exciting lineup of PSB content on its self-packaged channels, E City (StarHub TV Channel 111/825) and SuperSports Arena (StarHub TV Channel 112/205), as well as via its online streaming service, StarHub Go.

    In total, StarHub will be commissioning about 110 hours of original productions. These productions will incorporate PSB values, such as celebration of the Singapore’s culture and heritage, and promotion of the Singaporean identity, through innovative storytelling.

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  • Muvi Studio announces the Launch of its Roku App

    Muvi Studio announces the Launch of its Roku App

    Muvi Studio, a leading Cloud based Video Streaming Platform solution backed by New York-based tech firm Muvi LLC, has announced the release of a new Roku App for its clients. After the launch of this new feature and the recent launches of Apple TV and Chromecast apps, VOD businesses can now go multi-screen in a very short launch window, delivering a multi-platform performance via one screen.

    With the development of this new app, it has finally become a possibility for a video streaming business to launch their Roku app directly with Muvi Studio in a matter of couple of days! Apart from the stunning turnaround time, the opportunity of transcending beyond Apple TV to reach out directly to a huge subscriber base that Roku enjoys is a dream come true for many online video startups today. It may also be noted that Muvi Studio is one of a kind cloud-based self service platform that offers a video streaming solution and bundle of this scale and with such a TAT, it’s worth the attention.

    There is a reason why a Roku app has become so critical for online video. We break it down in to a set here:

    1. Engagement : In between April 2013 – September 2014, viewer engagement rose from an average of 35 hours per month to 48 hours per Roku per month; both numbers were higher than the average number of hours people spent watching any form of TV in the United States.
    2. Active User Volume: There are over 8 million Roku devices in active use currently. While this represents only 3 percent of total Internet users in the United States, it points toward a dramatic growth trajectory.
    3. Content: Roku is no ordinary streaming box. While availing you VOD services like Netflix and HBO GO, Roku also gives you local TV channels too. In case of an internet outage, you revert to TV and in case of a TV outage, you revert to the web. This leads to higher customer engagement and higher box sales as well, which implies a steadily growing customer base.

    A Roku app today is as crucial as an iOS or an Android app because it has an enormous reach and telecasts directly to the TV. At the time of publishing, ISKCON’s VOD Service has become the first platform to launch its Roku App with Muvi Studio.

    ISKCON’s VOD service has become the first Muvi Studio powered service to publish their own Roku app and seem confident on a wide audience reach.

    Not just ISKCON VOD, but online video startup launching today has to publish his apps across different platforms in short timeframe and Muvi Studio makes it possible for them to launch those multi-platform apps in 2 days. Yes, just, 2 days! Normally, this would take months of time and a staggeringly high budget but both of them don’t seem to be an issue onboard the Muvi Studio platform with a 2-day window and minimal app pricing.

    It would not be too soon to believe that Muvi Studio has stirred the cup very well here without spilling the content and raised the bar for others to come.

    Muvi Studio take care of all the streaming needs, live or on-demand allowing a content owner to launch a live IPTV channel to a catch-up TV or on-demand site like Netflix or Hulu at a click of a button in matter of few minutes and with Zero CapEx Cost!

    Muvi Studio handles everything from provisioning of the IT Infrastructure to build, deploy and management of front end applications like Website, Mobile Apps for iOS and Android, Apps for Media boxes like Amazon Fire, Roku, Apple TV to apps for Gaming Consoles like PlayStation and Xbox. All out-of-the-box at a click of a button without incurring any upfront CapEx cost.

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