Xiaomi Rolls Out PatchWall 3.0 for Mi TV Users in Indian Market

Xiaomi, India’s number one smartphone and smart TV brand, today, announced the release of PatchWall 3.0, the latest version of Mi TV’s intelligent content-first software. Sticking to Mi TV’s content first philosophy, the new update features a deeper integration with Disney+ Hotstar and addition of new content partners, Mi List along with other UI enhancements. Cleaner animations, a new Mi Lanting Pro font, horizontal scrolling are some of the key features and improvements in PatchWall 3.0

Introduced in 2018 for Xiaomi’s Mi TVs, PatchWall amplifies the content and user experience of viewers with its AI powered capabilities. One of the most comprehensive content platforms, PatchWall helps users discover content in over 13 languages categorised over 9 categories.

Raghu Reddy, Chief Business Officer, Xiaomi India said, “At Xiaomi, we are always exploring and innovating to improve the technology experience of our customers. PatchWall has not only been a key differentiator for us but has also fueled an overwhelming response and popularity for Mi TVs in India. Since the launch of PatchWall in India in 2018, 4.5 billion minutes of content has been streamed on the platform.  With the latest Patchwall 3.0 we are strengthening on our "Content first" philosophy with improved curation & discoverability while also making it more convenient with 1 click play experience. We sincerely hope that these innovations elevate our Mi TV user’s overall entertainment experience.”

Content First Philosophy

Keeping in view the rising popularity of OTT based content in India, Xiaomi has partnered with Disney+ Hotstar , to introduce a first-of-its-kind dedicated sports channel in PatchWall 3.0. The channel not only helps discover content with ease but also gives a one-click play option for various sports content. Content related to ongoing tournaments spanning across different sports such as Kabaddi, Tennis, Cricket and more can be streamed seamlessly on the channel.

With the new addition of Docubay and Lattu Kids, Xiaomi's PatchWall 3.0 now has 20+ content partners, which will provide an eclectic mix of high quality content to the Mi TV users in India. Docubay will stream international documentaries across various topics, and Lattu Kids will provide over 1,500 hours of content suitable for children.

The new Mi List features curated lists of movies and TV shows from different genres. It is a contextually-aware list, which means it recommends specific content that users may want to see during specific occasions like festivals, days of national importance and more.

Next Gen User Experience

The zero-screen in PatchWall 3.0 places content higher than the input tab and also enables horizontal scrolling through different lists. The horizontal design language is also deeply integrated into the show details page. The animations for browsing through carousels have been redesigned to give more focus on the current selection. The Mi Lanting Pro font which was introduced in MIUI 11, has been added to PatchWall 3.0. The update will also feature a set of under the hood animations that further enable content discoverability and a cleaner TV experience.

Availability

PatchWall 3.0 will be rolled out on Mi TVs with the latest software update from April 06, 2020 to Mi TV 4A, Mi TV 4C Pro, Mi TV 4A Pro, Mi TV 4 Pro, Mi TV 4X, and Mi TV 4X Pro.

CODE19 Online Hackathon Against Coronavirus in India to Begin on April 10, 2020

Highlights

The event is being organized by Motwani Jadeja Foundation (MJF) and its think tank, The Motwani Institute for Thought Leadership in Innovation (MITLI)
More than 3,000 participants are expected to take part in the online hackathon that will run for 72 hours.
The outcome would be qualitative, open-source prototypes to help tackle various challenges facing India during or after the COVID19 crisis
Mentors and guides would help participants sharpen their product ideas and convert them to successful real-world products that will aid the fight against Coronavirus
Prize money worth US$ 10,000 on offer
Registration open to all at www.code19.in till 6 pm IST on April 10th

The Silicon-Valley-based Motwani Jadeja Foundation is bringing together the best minds in a 72-hour online hackathon called “CODE19” to find solutions to India’s challenges against the Coronavirus outbreak.

The contest, which begins on April 10th, 2020 (Good Friday), is expected to see over 3,000 participants across nationalities, ethnicities and gender. Working online from the comfort of their homes while India is on a 21-day lockdown, they will collaborate with mentors, subject-matter specialists, data sources and a network of collaborators in the quest for solutions against COVID-19. The online hackathon is open to everyone as individuals and teams, without any criteria or age limit. Those wishing to participate can sign up on www.code19.in till 6 pm IST on April 10.

Said MsAsha Jadeja Motwani, the well-known entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist who is the Founder of Motwani Jadeja Foundation: “Coronavirus is a huge health challenge facing India. Any new crisis requires a new set of ideas and mitigation strategies. Hence, it is our collective responsibility to put our heads together to come up with new ideas and solutions to fight the virus. CODE19 is a platform to bring such bright minds together. By harnessing the power of collaborative computer programming, it aims to create qualitative, open-source projects that would help solve the most pressing problems of the Coronavirus crisis in the country.”

She further added: “The focus of CODE19 is on developing solutions quickly and applying them in everyday life. The participants would be tasked with decoding the Coronavirus outbreak and its impact on India, encoding smart solutions to mitigate the impending Corona-inflicted challenges, and winning prizes worth US$10,000 to realize their solutions. The ideas and innovations they create would readily be available for scaling and implementation across the country.”

Projects are divided into eight specific themes:Medical treatment and testing; Travel and Tourism; Mitigation - Isolation, protection/masks, and social distancing in India; Social life, welfare, and awareness; Research and development; Open innovation for COVID-19; Education and awareness; and Industry.

The participants would work on solutions through ideations, wireframes, designs, developments and testing the prototype they are creating. Mentors and guides will help them sharpen their product ideas and convert them to sure-shot successful products that will aid India’s fight against Coronavirus. Under the Open Innovation category, participants would be free to propose their own ideas, technologies and innovative solutions, bioinformatics, datasets, apps for diagnosis, and the likes, which can be leveraged for strengthening the fight against Coronavirus.

CODE19 will also have a few online sessions including talks with business leaders as well as Yoga and Meditation, to keep the participants inspired. Prize money worth US$ 10,000 is on offer for the winners. There will be public voting at the end of the event to assess the most exciting projects. The winners would be announced at 9 pm on April 14.

Code19India is being held in collaboration with Bengaluru-based HackerEarth. The Association of Designers in India (ADI) is also on board and shall assist in providing mentors through its network.

Amazon Prime Video Marks the Digital Premiere of Prakash Raj Starrer Kannada Blockbuster Maya Bazaar 2016

Highlights

* Prime members across 200 countries and territories can stream the comedy feature film shortly after its theatrical release.
* Directed by Radhakrishna Reddy, the film comprises a stellar cast including Prakash Raj, Raj B. Shetty, Vasishta N. Simha, among others.
* Prime offers incredible value with unlimited streaming of the latest and exclusive movies, TV shows, stand-up comedy, Amazon Originals, ad free music listening through Amazon Prime Music, free fast delivery on India’s largest selection of products, early access to top deals, unlimited reading with Prime Reading, all available only for Rs 129 a month

Amazon Prime Video today announced the digital premiere of the recently-released Kannada crime-comedy Maya Bazaar 2016. Directed by Radhakrishna Reddy, the film features Prakash Raj, Raj B. Shetty, Vasishta N. Simha playing an honest cop, a conman and a hopeless romantic who form an unusual team to pull off a huge scam in the times of demonetization. Starting April 3, Prime members across 200 countries and territories can stream this hilarious comedy feature, shortly after its theatrical release.

Maya Bazaar 2016 will join the thousands of TV shows and movies from Hollywood and Bollywood in the Prime Video catalogue. These include Indian-produced Amazon Original series like The Family Man, Mirzapur, Inside Edge and Made In Heaven, and award-winning and critically acclaimed global Amazon Original series, including Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, The Boys, Hunters, Fleabag and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, all on Prime Video, which is available at no extra cost for Amazon Prime members. The service includes titles available in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi and Bengali.

Prime members will be able to watch Maya Bazaar 2016 anywhere and anytime on the Prime Video app for smart TVs, mobile devices, Fire TV, Fire TV stick, Fire tablets, Apple TV, etc. In the Prime Video app, Prime members can download episodes on their mobile devices and tablets and watch anywhere offline at no additional cost. Prime Video is available in India to Prime members for just ₹999 annually or ₹129 monthly, new customers can find out more at www.amazon.in/prime and subscribe to a free 30-day trial.

Synopsis:

Maya Bazaar 2016 touches upon the subject of demonetization, and revolves around an honest police officer and a small-time conman who end up crossing paths at a time when the two are in dire need of money. Directed by Radhakrishna Reddy, the film comprises a stellar cast including Prakash Raj, Raj B. Shetty, Vasishta N. Simha, among others.

ABOUT AMAZON PRIME VIDEO

Prime Video is a premium streaming service that offers Prime members a collection of award winning Amazon Original series, thousands of movies and TV shows—all with the ease of finding what they love to watch in one place.  Find out more at PrimeVideo.com.

●        Included with Prime Video: Maya Bazaar 2016 joins thousands of TV shows and movies from Hollywood and Bollywood, including Indian produced Amazon Original series such as The Family Man, Mirzapur, Inside Edge and Made In Heaven, and award-winning and critically acclaimed global Amazon Original series including Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, The Boys, Hunters, Fleabag and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel available for unlimited streaming as part of a Prime membership. Prime Video includes titles available in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi and Bengali.

●        Instant Access: Members can watch anywhere, anytime on the Prime Video app for smart TVs, mobile devices, Fire TV, Fire TV stick, Fire tablets, Apple TV and multiple gaming devices. Prime Video is also available to consumers through Airtel and Vodafone pre-paid and post-paid subscription plans. In the Prime Video app, Prime members can download episodes on their mobile devices and tablets and watch anywhere offline at no additional cost.

●        Enhanced experiences: Make the most of every viewing with 4K Ultra HD- and High Dynamic Range (HDR)-compatible content. Go behind the scenes of your favorite movies and TV shows with exclusive X-Ray access, powered by IMDb. Save it for later with select mobile downloads for offline viewing.

●        Included with Prime: Prime Video is available in India at no extra cost to a Prime members for just ₹999 annually or ₹129 monthly, new customers can find out more at  www.amazon.in/prime and subscribe to a free 30-day trial.

Xiaomi Announces ‘Redmi Creator Academy’ in India Aimed at Promoting High Quality Content Creation Practices

Xiaomi, India’s number one smartphone and smart TV brand today announced Redmi Creator Academy (RCA) for millions of aspiring content creators. RCA is Xiaomi’s first series of virtual masterclasses aimed at providing industry’s best learning practices to aspiring content creators.

Redmi Creator Academy kick starts its first phase with virtual YouTube Video masterclasses with several media, YouTube and in-house experts from Xiaomi India. All sessions start from Monday, 6th April 2020 across Redmi India YouTube channel and will be conducted daily throughout the week absolutely free of cost.

One week of virtual masterclasses will be spread across the entire journey of building high quality YouTube videos and all experts will cover all important aspects of creating content along with marketing it. Here are the details of each session which can be attended

Monday, 6th April 2020
Creative Writing
Tuesday, 7th April 2020
Legal Aspects
Wednesday, 8th April 2020
Production Workflow
Thursday, 9th April 2020
Publishing & SEO Best Practices
Friday, 10th April 2020
Social Media Marketing

List of Speakers and moderator:

Sandeep Sarma, RevAtlas
Megha Vishwanath, CNBC TV 18
Bharat Nagpal, iGyaan
Ruhez Amrelia, Techno Ruhez
Ershad Kalebullah, Mr. Phone
Harshitha Thammaiah, Xiaomi India
Sandeep Kumar Raju, Xiaomi India
Shree Das, Xiaomi India
Sumit Sonal, Xiaomi India
Sivakumar Ramamoorthy, Xiaomi India
Moderator: Ankit Vengurlekar, Xiaomi India

Anuj Sharma, Chief Marketing Officer, Xiaomi India commented, “India has one of the world’s biggest and most vibrant content creator communities. Redmi has always stood strong as an enabler of the creator community. With so many different aspects that go into becoming a successful creator and the lack of a credible platform to share all the dos and don’ts, we feel this gap needs to be addressed. Redmi Creator Academy aims to change that by providing a platform for all the budding creators across various disciplines and thus enabling their creativity. We are extremely excited for the launch of the first series of RCA and hope that it helps millions of creators to achieve their dreams.”

The Best of Entertainment by the NCPA Starts from April 3 to April 9, 2020 at 6:00 pm

Don’t let the lockdown dull you spirits. While we get used to the new normal, India’s premier cultural institution, the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), will showcase the best of events from its archives on YouTube to lift your spirits in these challenging times. The showcase will include exclusive videos specially curated from NCPA's extensive library. Starting from Friday, 3rd April, you can log on to NCPA's YouTube channel and watch performances across genres from the archives. Here is the list of top 8 shows, so you can block your calendar.

Enjoy the best of the arts from from the comfort of your home!

YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/TheNCPAMumbai1

Speaking about this initiative, Mr. K N Suntook, Chairman and SOI founder NCPA,said“The NCPA is a repository of great artistic treasures. Our genre heads and the NCPA team have worked hard to put this together. As a cultural organisation, we felt this treasure must be shared in these difficult times in the safest way possible. The best of concerts, lecture-demonstrations and workshops presented at the NCPA can now be viewed online on our YouTube channel. We are grateful for the support that we have received from the artistes”. 

Sportz Village Launches ‘Play At Home’ Program During the COVID-19 Quarantine

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic is dominating headlines and has drastically changed our daily lives. Keeping the children engaged and away from devices is the primary concern for parents, especially during this time of the national lockdown. All schools in India have closed and at present, both parents and children have time that could be fruitfully utilized by doing a few physical activities to stay fit. Keeping this in mind, Sportz Village Schools, India's No. 1 sports education organization, has launched the ‘Play At Home’ program.

The ‘Play At Home’ program is designed in a manner that will help the children to be active, healthy and happy while they are at home. The program contains age-appropriate activities and tasks that are helpful to maintain the physical, emotional as well as mental well-being of the children.

The program, which is accessible on the Sportz Village website, is a 30-day long calendar of activities with fitness charts and instructional videos that the children can follow to remain fit and more importantly have fun. The parents can also be a part of this program by observing/monitoring their child during the activities as well as performing a few of the activities along with them. Additionally, the program also includes activities to keep the children mentally active with sports quizzes (SLAM), puzzles (Brain Games) as well as provides recommendations for sports-specific inspirational movies that the children can watch and enjoy.

Commenting on this initiative, Saumil Majmudar, Co-founder, CEO and Managing Director of Sportz Village said “It is extremely important to keep our children fit and happy during this trying time. Through the ‘Play At Home’ program, children will not only be fit, active, healthy and happy but also would get an opportunity to do fun activities along with their parents.” 

Sportz Village’s ‘Play At Home’ initiative has also been applauded and supported by many of its partner schools as well.

About Sportz Village Schools:  Sportz Village Schools, formerly known as EduSports, is India's No. 1 sports education organization working with over 1,200 schools across 250 locations impacting 7,00,000 children. The organization believes in making sports an integral part of the education of a child and is working towards developing a healthier and fitter generation by using a Structured Sports and Physical Education (P.E) curriculum. The curriculum has been developed based on NASPE (National Association for Sports and Physical Education, USA) standards.

Neighbourhood Supply: An App that Helps Locate Essentials Supplies with Your Locality

Amidst the CoVID-19 lockdown in the country and subsequent failure of supply chain management, a Bangalore based techie, Kiran Anto, has come up with an app that can help your neighborhood get supplies in a safe and efficient way. The app, Neighbourhood Supply, alerts the locality on available essentials in the neighborhood, thus, helping people reach the exact location and minimizing the impulse to panic buy.

The Neighbourhood Supply app works as a platform where citizens can sign up as contributors and list the shops, vendors or individuals in their locality who have a supply of essentials such as food, medicines and healthcare supplies like masks, sanitizers etc. Once they are listed, the contributors can give an update on a daily basis regarding their status of supplies. The app helps to form a network in the locality and lets people know exactly where essentials are available.

“Since the beginning of March, we have been noticing trends of panic buying and hoarding in the markets. The situation only became worse as the month progressed, and when the lockdown was announced, people went into a panic buying spree. I believe the only way to face these fears is with knowledge. If people are aware of where they can get supplies, I feel they will be a little calmer during this period. We came up with this initiative to help ease people’s lives and help them locate essentials within their localities and neighborhoods. As the country stands united during this time, contributors on the app are doing a great job serving their community in this time.” said Kiran Anto, founder of Neighbourhood Supply.

Kiran Anto is an employee of Esper who works out of the Bangalore office. Esper is a cloud platform that automates application deployment and management for the entire Android device and application lifecycle. Shiv Sundar, Co-founder and COO of Esper said, “We are very proud of Kiran for coming up with this novel initiative. Neighbourhood Supply is an effective and efficient way to locate essentials within one’s own locality. This initiative is also a reflection of Esper’s values of “Leadership is Ownership”. Esper believes in long-term thinking and does not sacrifice future value for short-term results. People working together toward a shared goal is a powerful force for good. Esper was founded to streamline Android innovation with the hope of serving a greater purpose.”

Neighbourhood Supply is active across 100 locations in India, including Karnataka, Kerala and New Delhi. So far the app has over 3000 unique users. The app can be accessed on supply.netlify.com.