Good samaritan: Police Appreciates OYO’s Law-Abiding Indian Corporate Stance

OYO Hotels and Homes, one of the world’s leading hotel chains today revealed that it has been maintaining the highest standards of corporate governance and compliance across the country and has been frequently assisting the law enforcement authorities in their investigations, as part of its duties towards being a good corporate citizen.

Recently, the Bengaluru city police appreciated the efforts of the company for providing timely information regarding the travel details of a suspect, on receipt of relevant legal request under section 91 crpc that helped in nabbing the alleged criminal.

With over 18000 hotels across 400+ cities in India SA, the company places safety and security of its guests above all else and has built a dedicated Emergency Responses Assistance team to respond to any emergencies on the ground. The company maintains a strong record of cooperation with law enforcement authorities towards ensuring that all neighbourhoods where it operates, become increasingly safer and secure.

Over the past year, pursuant to receipt of requests under 91 crpc for any information that can assist the police, the company has prioritised mobilising the necessary support and in turn, received appreciation from many police departments across the country, including but not limited to Dwarka, Palwal, Vasant Vihar in Delhi and Biddhannagar in West Bengal.

Speaking on the matter, Rakesh Prusti, General Counsel (Global), said, “Safety of our guests and strengthening a culture of compliance is critical to OYO. As a law abiding corporate citizen, we are committed to engaging with all stakeholders of civil society towards creating a culture of safety and cooperation. Safety is a shared responsibility and we are happy to provide assistance to law enforcement as and when required.”

The company encourages a culture of compliance and as a law-abiding corporate citizen, is committed to being the eyes and ears of the local police. 

Kodak HD LED TV Launches India’s Most Affordable Dolby Vision Android Certified 4K TVs

India’s leading manufacturer of TVs and electronics, Super Plastronics Pvt. Ltd. (SPPL), today announced the launch of Kodak CA Series, its first ever range of Android TVs on Flipkart, India’s home-grown e-commerce marketplace to cater to the growing demand for smart televisions in the country.

SPPL, which is Kodak’s brand licensee in India, has expanded its range of smart televisions in India by launching Android powered televisions. These bezel-less TVs are equipped with impressive array of features such as Dolby Vision, 4k HDR10, Android 9.0 interface, Dolby Digital plus with DTS TruSurround, multiple connectivity options with USB 3.0, HDMI ARC/CEC and Bluetooth v.5.0 (latest version) with user friendly remote. The remote has dedicated hotkeys for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube and Google Play Store that will bring unlimited entertainment at your fingertips. It is also equipped with Google Assistant for smooth navigation.

SPPL is the only brand licensee in India that has partnered with Google, to make in India.

According to Acumen Research and consulting, the global android TV market size is expected to reach around $231 Billion by 2026 with a CAGR of around 20% during the forecast period of 2019-2026. The growing integration and extension of multi-media coverage is a natural progression for android TV.

Taking about the partnership with Google, Mr. Avneet Singh Marwah, Director and CEO, Super Plastronics Pvt Ltd, a Kodak brand licensee said, “It gives us immense pleasure to announce the launch of our official android televisions in partnership with Google. Our aim is to reach every household in the country, and we are committed to achieve the goal with our strong channel network and competitive pricing. In the past 4 years, Kodak HD LED TVs have witnessed a phenomenal growth. This year, we are targeting to achieve 8% share in the Indian television market”

“As a homegrown e-commerce marketplace, Flipkart has a deep understanding of its consumers who are looking for the best-in class technology and smart product solutions. We are pleased to bring Kodak's first ever range of Android TVs in India to millions of Flipkart consumers. With our industry-first affordability payment constructs such as Debit Card EMI, Buy Now Pay Later etc., we will help take the Kodak brand to the deepest corners of the country,” Hari Kumar, Senior Director – Large Appliances, Flipkart.

“Kodak is pleased to have completed four years with SPPL and excited to add android technology to the Smart Tv space with this valuable licensee.” Clara Fort, VP- Global Brand Licensing

SPPL is targeting to launch new TV models throughout the year. In 2020, SPPL is targeting a turnover of 700 cr for FY 2020-21. With the launch of official android televisions, SPPL aims to witness 100% growth in volume sales in 2020 as compared to 60 % growth in 2019. The current market share of Kodak HD LED TVs in Indian television market is 4%

About SPPL:

SPPL is a manufacturing concern established in 1990 with its Head Office in Noida. Its initial business was plastic injection moulding which then graduated to manufacturing of CRT TV’s and to LED TV’s on date. We were one of the largest manufacturers of CRT TV cabinets in the 90’s and early 00’s. Today we are one of India’s foremost OEM’s in CRT and LED Television. We have 3 manufacturing plants in India located in Noida, Una and Jammu. We have employee strength of over 1000 across India and are expanding as we grow. For additional information on Kodak TV India, visit us at www.kodaktv.in, follow us on Twitter @kodaktvindia, or like us on Facebook at Kodak TV India.

About Kodak:

Kodak is a technology company focused on imaging. We provide – directly and through partnerships with other innovative companies – hardware, software, consumables and services to customers in graphic arts, commercial print, publishing, packaging, entertainment and commercial films, and consumer products markets. With our world-class R&D capabilities, innovative solutions portfolio and highly trusted brand, Kodak is helping customers around the globe to sustainably grow their own businesses and enjoy their lives. For additional information on Kodak, visit us at kodak.com, follow us on Twitter @KodakPrint, or like us on Facebook at Kodak.

Xiaomi launches 10000mAh Mi Wireless Power Bank in India Priced at Rs 2,499 on Flipkart

Xiaomi, India’s number one smartphone and smart TV brand, today expanded its portfolio of Mi Power Banks and launched its first wireless power bank. 10000mAh Mi Wireless Power Bank provides reliability and convenience to use wireless charging on the go.10000mAh Mi Wireless Power Bank is certified by Qi enabling seamless compatibility through its magnetic inductive technology. The power bank provides a 10W wireless charging speed with all Qi compatible devices.

Designed to be the most reliable travel companion, Mi Wireless Power Bank comes with two way 18W fast charging on both USB Type A output port and USB Type C input port. It also enables simultaneous charge on two mobile devices. Mi 10000mAH Wireless Power Bank uses high-quality lithium polymer batteries that ensure longevity and higher standard of safety. The power bank also comes with a non-skid wireless charging surface/pad.

Mi 10000mAh Wireless Power Bank features best in class 12 layers of circuit chip protection across voltage, temperature, current and electrostatic anomalies.

Raghu Reddy, Chief Business Officer, Xiaomi India said, ““We are very excited to launch our very first wireless power bank in India. Today, as the world and our consumers become more aware of possibilities of wireless technologies, we believe that a wireless power bank is a perfect example of the convenience it can offer. Wireless technology not only promises a tangle free experience but also unlocks the potential of what mobility and ease of use can actually mean in the future. We hope that our 10000mAh Mi Wireless Power Bank is that innovation that everyone can enjoy.”

Availability

Mi 10000mAh Wireless Power Bank is priced at INR 2,499 and will be available in Black colour. It will be available on sale starting 16 March 12 noon across Mi.com, Mi Homes and Mi Studios. 

Singapore Airlines Offers Fee Waiver and Flexible Re-booking for all Customers

Singapore Airlines is waiving all rebooking fees for tickets issued on or before 15 March 2020, for travel up to 31 May 2020, with immediate effect. Customers can cancel their existing flight itineraries, retain the value of their tickets and rebook their travel at a later date, when they are able to firm up their new travel plans. The new flight itinerary should be completed by 31 March 2021. 

This new policy will allow customers the flexibility to defer their travel plans and applies to all bookings for travel up to 31 May 2020. All rebooking fees will be waived, although a fare difference may apply for the new itinerary.

SIA will continue to review its waiver policy and retains the flexibility to extend the cut-off date of 31 May 2020 as it assesses the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on global air travel in the coming weeks. For all new SIA and SilkAir tickets issued from now to 31 March 2020, SIA will also waive change fees.

Customers may contact us through our online form. Customers who booked their tickets directly through Singapore Airlines may also contact their local Singapore Airlines reservations teams. Customers who booked their tickets through travel agencies are advised to contact their agents for assistance.

Due to the high volume of incoming requests, we seek our customers’ understanding that it may take longer than usual for our service agents to respond. Customers are encouraged to only contact us if their flight is departing in next 72 hours in order for our agents to focus on and assist those with urgent flight changes. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Updates on Covid-19 travel restrictions and waiver policy can be found on the Singapore Airlines website.

As Fitness Becomes Mainstream in India, Airtel to Power Youth-First Digital Platform for Fitness Content

Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), India’s largest integrated telco, has acquired a strategic stake in Spectacom Global Pvt Ltd (“Spectacom”) under the Airtel Start-up Accelerator Program, which focuses on supporting growth of early stage Indian start-ups.

Spectacom, which has been conceptualised to produce path breaking digital content that allows people across languages, geographies and fitness levels to connect with each other and explore innovative health & fitness training programmes, is the brainchild of Adnan Adeeb and Zeba Zaidi, the creators of the highly popular Devils Circuit military-style obstacle races.

Spectacom will also carry the exclusive digital rights for the promotion of all content for brand Devils Circuit, including the new seasons of its popular shows – The College Frenzy & The Corporate Challenge.

A digitally connected world is witnessing increased awareness around Health & Fitness, with a growing tribe of young Indians taking up physically demanding X sports such as obstacle racing. Devils Circuit, which pioneered obstacle racing in India, has already built a community of two million followers. It is India’s largest sports property of its kind with presence in eight cities. And given India’s vast young population of appx. 600 mn under the age of 25 years, there is a massive opportunity to make available Health & Fitness based platforms that connect fitness enthusiasts deeper and wider across the country.

Airtel will work closely with Spectacom to help increase awareness and adoption of its cutting age Health & Fitness platform and encourage individuals to overcome mental barriers and achieve their full potential.  Spectacom will cater to India’s growing interest in staying fitter and healthier by creating training and nutrition videos along with live extreme sporting events.

Airtel will help Spectacom to deliver this exciting exclusive digital content through its platforms Airtel Xstream and Wynk Music directly into the homes and smartphones of hundreds of millions of Indians. This deep digital distribution reach will allow Airtel customers, including youth in small towns and villages, to discover this high octane content and make the fitness movement a part of the mainstream.

Says Adarsh Nair, Chief Product Officer, Bharti Airtel: “We believe that X Sports, which are all about fitness, aligns beautifully with our brand. Thanks to the deep penetration of mobile internet in India, the potential to grow the adoption of Devils Circuit style X Sports amongst India’s youth is immense. This also fits into Airtel’s strong focus on connecting with the youth and providing them digital platforms to fulfil their aspirations. We look forward to collaborating with Spectacom on this exciting journey.”     

Adnan Adeeb, co-founder, Spectacom, echoed this thought and added that “As India is becoming a younger nation, it is also becoming a fitter one. Through our collaboration with Airtel, we aim at not just reaching millions with bespoke offerings around Health & Fitness but also give the fitness enthusiasts from around the country, a platform to shine! We have always believed that the real hero is the ordinary guy who overcomes   extraordinary challenges and this will be reflected in all our offerings. We are very excited at partnering with Airtel and look forward to bringing innovative content to life”

Spectacom is the second company to join the Airtel Start-up Accelerator Program. It allows start-ups to leverage Airtel’s robust ecosystem, including its core strengths in data, distribution, networks and payments. This includes access to a vast online and offline distribution network that touches 300m+ customers, deep market understanding and platform of global strategic partners. Further, start-ups also get access to advisory services from Airtel’s executive team.

Devils Circuit is now India’s biggest X sports platform with two million strong community, including young people from smaller towns who are breaking barriers and taking up X Sports professionally and participating in international competitions. Apart from international participants from over 16 countries, the editions also include army pros, blade runners, and even cancer survivors.

About Bharti Airtel

Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 18 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 3 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India, the company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce, fixed line services, high speed home broadband, DTH, enterprise services including national & international long distance services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G, 4G wireless services and mobile commerce. Bharti Airtel had over 418 million customers across its operations at the end of December 2019. 

Binge-Playing, Mobile Video Gaming on the Rise According to New Limelight Networks Research Report

Indians are binge-gaming longer than ever, increasing over 10 percent from 2019 to an average of 4 hours and 8 minutes. That’s according to the latest “State of Online Gaming” research report on worldwide consumers’ gaming behaviors and expectations from Limelight Networks Inc., (Nasdaq: LLNW), a leading provider of edge cloud services.

The rise of binge-gaming is an even bigger trend among young gamers. This report showed global respondents ages 18 to 25 binge-play for an average of 6 hours and 34 minutes, 11 percent longer than one year ago. Also, nearly one in ten Indians (9 percent) say they’ve played for more than 10 hours at a time.

While the report shows gamers worldwide spend less time playing video games each week than last year -- averaging 6 hours and 20 minutes-- their longer binge-gaming sessions can be attributed in part to the rise of anywhere, anytime gaming. Mobile phones are the primary gaming device for Indians and global gamers with the preference for smartphone gaming increasing 15 percent in India from 2019. In addition, this year’s report identified strong interest in console-less gaming services with 44 percent of respondents saying they’re interested in subscribing. Demand for console-less gaming is highest in India where 83 percent of gamers express interest in these services.

Additional insights from the report include:

* Price and performance could limit adoption of console-less gaming. Interest in new console-less gaming platforms is especially high among those who define themselves as experts (71 percent), and among aspiring professional gamers (77 percent). However, concerns with high price points (52.6 percent) and performance issues such as latency (28 percent) are cited by Indians as the top reasons they wouldn’t subscribe. Price sensitivities are highest in the United States (67 percent) and performance concerns are highest in India.

* Watching others play video games increased in popularity for younger gamers, sparking the desire to go pro. Gamers ages 18 to 25 watch others play video games online (via platforms such as Twitch or YouTube Gaming) for more than four hours each week and are the most likely to want to turn this hobby into a profession (53 percent).

* Gamers prioritize playing over many daily activities. Around half of Indian gamers (49.2 percent) have missed sleep to keep playing. Singaporeans are the most likely to choose playing video games over sleeping (60 percent). Many Indians have also skipped meals (30 percent) and showers (29 percent). Younger gamers are the most likely to miss a meal (39 percent) or shower (35 percent) to continue playing.

* Download speed is a top frustration especially for hardcore gamers. The vast majority of Indian gamers (94 percent) find the process of downloading games frustrating. Two-fifths (40 percent) of Indians note slow download speed is their primary concern. Frustrations with download speed are the highest with expert gamers (41 percent) and aspiring professionals (58 percent).

“Players are excited about the flexibility of console-less gaming,” said Michael Milligan, Senior Director at Limelight Networks. “As the world of gaming is being redefined, wide adoption depends on low latency solutions that eliminate frustrating performance disruptions and delays. Keeping gamers engaged requires innovative technology that powers real-time, interactive gaming at the edge.”

The State of Online Gaming report is based on responses from 4,500 consumers in France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States age 18 and older who play video games at least once a week.

Discovery Launches ‘Discovery Plus’, India’s First Aggregated Real-Life Entertainment Streaming App

Highlights

* Discovery Plus will offer never-seen-before premium shows in 40+ genres including Science, Adventure, Food, Lifestyle & many more
* Superstar Rajinikanth’s TV debut show – ‘Into The Wild With Bear Grylls’ will be launched first on Discovery Plus
* Priced at Rs. 299 p.a., Discovery Plus will reach out to core infotainment consumers in the initial phase
* Launches with one-of-its-kind rewards in association with Google Pay

Discovery, India’s leading and most trusted real-life entertainment network, is set to disrupt the OTT landscape in the country with the launch of ‘Discovery Plus’, an exciting new D2C streaming app, to satiate the unmet need of a differentiated product offering premium real-life entertainment. Priced competitively with an introductory offer of INR 299 per annum, the app has been developed and curated specifically for India. In the initial phase, the company will reach out to 25 million strong base of core TV infotainment consumers across Tier I and Tier II towns (defined as those who watch over 3 hours of infotainment every month).

Furthermore, in order to drive engagement, Discovery Plus is launching with one-of-a-kind rewards with India’s leading mobile payments app, Google Pay.  Google Pay users who tune-in to the premiere of Into the Wild with Bear Grylls featuring Rajinikanth on March 23rd at 8:00 PM on Discovery can match  the audio for the first four minutes of the show or  the promos leading up to the show with Google Pay’s ‘On-Air’ feature, and get a reward upto 100% off on Discovery Plus annual  subscription price*.

The newly launched OTT service will offer thousands of hours of exclusive content across 40+ genres, including Science, Adventure, Food and Lifestyle, in 8 languages including Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali & Marathi. Discovery Plus will offer Premium subscribers a large selection of never-seen-before Premium Discovery titles, must-watch documentaries, India originals and exclusive acquisitions. Free users of the app will have access to all-time favorites from the Discovery library.  Additionally, a unique destination titled ‘Shorts’ will feature hundreds of free short-form videos that will satisfy the new and emerging Indian mobile user looking for infotainment on the go.

The much-anticipated Superstar Rajinikanth’s TV debut show –‘Into The Wild With Bear Grylls’ will be launched first on Discovery Plus at 6:00 am on March 23 much before the television premiere which is at 8:00 pm. Discovery Plus will also exclusive videos including Behind The Scenes for Thalaiva’ s fans.

The content will be curated from the world’s most trusted content brands such as Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, BBC, TLC, Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo, ID, Food Network, HGTV, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel, DIY Network, Motortrend and VICE.

Discovery officials on the launch

Speaking on the occasion, Simon Robinson, President APAC & CFO International, Discovery, Inc., said, “Globally, we are observing healthy trends from direct-to-consumer businesses and Discovery Plus, with its India focused strategy, is a valued addition. The launch of Discovery Plus is a significant development for our business in India and reflects our commitment to this critical market.”

“The consumer is spoilt for choice in the scripted content space but doesn’t have a dedicated offering in the unscripted space – a place we intend to fill with the launch of Discovery Plus,” said, Megha Tata, Managing Director – South Asia, Discovery,  “Our large global library of 300,000 hours of premium content and expertise in owning passionate communities will give us a huge competitive advantage in the digital domain.”

“In a digital world that’s laden with hours and hours of scripted content, Discovery Plus offers a unique and untapped opportunity for us to build on the trust of the flagship brand and offer content that truly powers people’s passions across verticals as varied as Adventure, Science and Lifestyle to name a few,” said, Issac John, Business Head – Digital (South Asia), Discovery, “Over the next 12 months, the lineup includes premium content across all our key genres such as Into the Wild with Rajnikanth, Expedition Unknown, Coronavirus: The Silent Killer, Food Factory, Mythbusters, Wild Karnataka and Project Runway among many others.”

Developed, curated and priced for India market

Discovery India has conducted multiple consumer researches to find cues to develop a truly diffrentiated product. In a nationwide research conducted across 10 cities, 62% of consumers indicated that they are keen to subscribe to a product that will offer interesting knowledge about the world. Additionally, research from Vidooly, indicated that interest in core categories of factual and lifestyle entertainment on YT, the world’s largest streaming platform went up by 36% contributing to an overall 70 bn views in 2020. This growth and increase in infotainment consumption has been proven in the consumption pattern of the Discovery Plus destination on Daily Hunt App where over the last 12 months, over 40 million consumers have viewed Discovery short-form videos.

It’s interesting to be rare but rare to be interesting

Discovery’s research clearly shows that even though consumers are happy with their current entertainment products, there is still a need for a trusted product that helps them stand out among their peers and that will teach them interesting things about the world. They expressed the need that in various situations in life, knowing something interesting about the world makes them seem smarter and helps them progress in life.  This specific need combined with the trust of the Discovery was a strong reason for consumers to prefer Discovery Plus as an app of choice on their mobiles.

App Interesting toh AAP interesting

Discovery has launched a targeted marketing campaign ‘App Interesting toh AAP interesting’ to connect with consumers across the country.  Discovery’s network of channels including Discovery, Animal Planet, TLC, DSPORT, Discovery Kids DTamil, Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo, Discovery ID reaches 164** million consumers on a monthly basis and all will promote the newly launched service. In addition, Discovery has planned a strong and targeted digital campaign to reach out to infotainment genre seekers.

*About  Google Pay’s On-Air feature:

* On-Air is a feature on Google Pay which lets users scan audio within GPay and earn rewards if their scan matches a target audio. New to Google Pay users can simply download the app to enjoy different types of rewards.

Content

* Thousands of hours of marquee programs featuring our top talent like Bear Grylls (Running Wild with Bear Grylls, Man vs Wild), Josh Gates (Expedition Unknown), Jeremy Wade (River Monsters, Mighty Rivers), Ed Stafford (Into the Unknown), Buddy Valastro (Cake Boss) and many more

* 4,000+ hours of content at launch spanning across 40+ genres in the language of your choice

* Kids-friendly shows like Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman, Crikey! It’s The Irwins, Kids Baking Championship, The Cute Ones, How Do They Do It? The Great Indian Factory & more

* Hundreds of blue-chip documentaries and specials – Racing Extinction, First In Human, The Great Migration, Terra, Sherpa, India Emerges: A Visual History, Apollo: The Forgotten Films

* Exclusives and all-time favorites like Body Hack, Say Yes to the Dress, Food Paradise, Cake Boss, Gold Rush, Savage Family Diggers, Chopped, American Chopper, Deadliest Catch and more

* #MindBlown – a curated destination featuring learning focused collections of kids-friendly science and wildlife content

**Source : BARC India (2+ , Jan 2020)