Superior technology and content diversity is VOOT's backbone, says Viacom18 MD Sudhanshu Vats
From new shows to expansion plans, the top boss shares what’s in the pipeline for VOOT.
By ET Bureau |
Agencies
Sudhanshu Vats, MD, Viacom18
During the recent strategic announcement on the future roadmap of Viacom18’s over-the-top content (OTT) platform VOOT, Sudhanshu Vats, MD, Viacom18, discussed the new content and technology offerings that will be launched in the immediate future and an overview of the Indian OTT landscape.
Excerpts from the interview:
What is your take on the OTT market in India? Affordable smartphones, along with cheap data, has resulted in an increase in consumption of content on the go. In 2015, mobile data being consumed by video streaming services was 40 per cent. This number is expected to catapult to 72 per cent by 2020. India is expected to have 500 million online viewers by the same time, and VOOT, with its distinguished genre of content across languages, is poised to utilise this growth phase in the Indian media and entertainment ecosystem.
What is new with VOOT?
VOOT is India’s second most viewed premium advertising-led video-on-demand platform, with a library of more than 50,000 hours of content curated from across Viacom18 network. We recently announced 18 VOOT Originals which will include multiple genres like psychology, mystery, sports biopic, comedy, drama, thriller, politics, history, crime, suspense, etc. The diversity of the VOOT Originals slate will be brought to life through driving synergies within the network.
While we see many new launches at trade shows like CES and IFA, it’s the crowdfunding platforms and tech breakthroughs that actually keep innovation alive through the year.
Here's a round up some of the unique products we’re betting on.
(Text: Karan Bajaj)
While we see many new launches at trade shows like CES and IFA, it’s the crowdfunding platforms and tech breakthroughs that actually keep innovation alive through the year.
Here's a round up some of..
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NEX is Vivo’s latest all-screen smartphone design.
They’ve announced two in the range already: NEX A and NEX S. NEX A has a Snapdragon 710 processor with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage while the NEX S has a Snapdragon 845, 8GB RAM and 128/256GB storage.
The other big difference is the fingerprint scanner: NEX A has a conventional one on the rear while NEX S has one under the display.
Both have a 6.59-inch super amoled displays with a screen to body ratio of 91.2% and 4,000mAh battery.
Since the front is dominated by the screen, Vivo has placed the 8MP front camera in a unique (motorised) pop-up mechanism.
On the back is a 12MP + 5MP dual camera setup with 4-axis optical image stabilisation.
(Image: www.vivo.com)
NEX is Vivo’s latest all-screen smartphone design.
They’ve announced two in the range already: NEX A and NEX S. NEX A has a Snapdragon 710 processor with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage while the NEX S ha..
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This amazing design from Oppo has an allscreen design — it has a 6.4-inch curved OLED screen with a screen-to-body ratio of 92.2%. Look around the phone and you won’t see a camera module or any sensors anywhere.
So where are the cameras? Everything is hidden in a motorised pop-up system that comes up when you’re unlocking the phone (face unlock) or when you launch the camera app.
Up front is a 25MP camera with iPhone X-style 3D facial scanning systems (dot projector, flood illuminator etc) while the rear has a dual 16 + 20MP camera setup.
Specifications include a Snapdragon 845 processor, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage and a 3,770mAh battery.
(Image: www.oppo.com)
This amazing design from Oppo has an allscreen design — it has a 6.4-inch curved OLED screen with a screen-to-body ratio of 92.2%. Look around the phone and you won’t see a camera module or any senso..
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This is the world’s first, professional-grade, 360-degree, 3D, 8K, VR camera. It records true 3D video and captures still photos at 12k resolution. It’s also capable of automatically stitching images together for a 360 degree photo.
In terms of features, you get six-axis image stabilisation, HDR image/video capture, RAW format support, dual SD card slots for storage, HDMI output, Ethernet and WiFi.
The built-in artificial intelligence (AI) chip does object detection to ensure that your subject is always in focus. It also supports 3D VR live streaming on Facebook and YouTube.
The 4,800mAh battery inside gives you up to 60 minutes of continuous shooting. A companion app lets you preview and control the camera.
(Image: www.en.detu.com)
This is the world’s first, professional-grade, 360-degree, 3D, 8K, VR camera. It records true 3D video and captures still photos at 12k resolution. It’s also capable of automatically stitching images..
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TicPods Free are a new generation of wireless earbuds. To start, TicPods feature automatic in-ear detection — music pauses when you remove them and it resumes when you put them back. Next, it has intuitive touch controls for various actions.
With the TicPods, you don’t need to take out your smartphone — you can hear who’s calling and accept/reject the call, control music playback as well as activate your voice assistant. There is active noise cancellation plus noise isolation too. They’re IPX5 water resistant and come blue, orange or white.
Like most wireless earbuds, it comes with a charging carry case and total battery life is about 18 hours. These are also the only wireless earbuds that give you the option to buy a single earbud if you lose one of them.
(Image: www.indiegogo.com)
TicPods Free are a new generation of wireless earbuds. To start, TicPods feature automatic in-ear detection — music pauses when you remove them and it resumes when you put them back. Next, it has int..
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GoSho is an ultra-compact (just 3.5-inches square), cube-shaped DLP projector capable of a showing a 200-inch wide-screen display. It offers a brightness of 180 ANSI lumens, an 8,000:1 contrast ratio and can display up to 2k resolution.
For wired connectivity, it has HDMI input and a USB port. It also has built-in WiFi for streaming and support for Apple Airplay.
The 11,000mAh battery inside can deliver up to 4 hours of continuous play. What’s more, you can even pair it with Google Assistant or Alexa and control it via voice.
(Image: www.gosho-1byone.com)
GoSho is an ultra-compact (just 3.5-inches square), cube-shaped DLP projector capable of a showing a 200-inch wide-screen display. It offers a brightness of 180 ANSI lumens, an 8,000:1 contrast ratio..
We will also leverage the prowess of Viacom18 Motion Pictures and will begin producing web-series for VOOT under the banner of Tipping Point Films. Catering to the multi-language audience, we will produce multi-lingual VOOT Originals. We have also added the news genre, with the inclusion of 16 live news channels across 11 languages from the TV18 bouquet.
Are you planning to expand VOOT for the international audience? VOOT currently has 35 million+ monthly users in India, and we are excited that it is all set to become an international platform, starting with the UK in November 2018. The UK market consists of over a million people of Indian origin.
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Over the past two years, VOOT has become a destination of choice for Indian viewers wishing to consume content on the go. Now, our aim is to make it popular with audiences outside the country. In addition to reaching out to the Indian diaspora, our international foray will open additional revenue streams through the subscription route, which we will replicate in the Indian market as well.
From the tech standpoint, what is it that sets VOOT apart? Superior technology and content diversity is the backbone of VOOT. As an industry first in APAC for OTT players, VOOT will facilitate easy discoverability with the integration of Google Watch Action — enhancing the overall user search experience. We are also introducing Dolby surround sound for all our originals, a first amongst Indian OTT players.
GPU Turbo, Superfast Charging, & More: Smartphone Technologies Due This Year
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By Karan Bajaj
Phones will keep getting upgraded with newer processors, larger screens, more RAM and more storage. But there are a host of improvements due this year that not many are talking about.
Here are some of the interesting features that should go mainstream soon.
By Karan Bajaj
Phones will keep getting upgraded with newer processors, larger screens, more RAM and more storage. But there are a host of improvements due this year that not many are talking about...
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Vivo has already showcased this technology on two of its devices now, X21 and NEX. They’re currently the only ones offering it, and the scanners use technology from Synaptics. Huwaei sells a phone in China with similar technology called the Porsche Design Huawei Mate RS.
In-screen scanners are not as fast as a (conventional) capacitive fingerprint scanners, so what’s the benefit you may ask. It’s mostly about aesthetics right now — no finger scanner to break up the back panel or take up bezel space on the front panel.
Besides, even traditional capacitive scanners were slow when they first arrived on the scene. It looks like many brands will switch to this kind of scanner soon, at least for the premium models.
Apart from Synaptics, Qualcomm also has a similar in-screen fingerprint scanning technology that uses ultrasonic scanning (it works under both glass and metal, clearly differentiating it from Synaptics).
Vivo has already showcased this technology on two of its devices now, X21 and NEX. They’re currently the only ones offering it, and the scanners use technology from Synaptics. Huwaei sells a phone in..
Read More
Thin and light devices typically have lower battery life — this continues to be one of the major smartphone pain-points.
Granted, there are many fast charging solutions available (OnePlus’ Dash Charging, Oppo’s VOOC charging and Qualcomm’s Quick Charge) but we’re still talking about a charge time of 2 hours to charge a phone fully.
Oppo recently demonstrated a new fast-charging technology called Super VOOC on the limited edition Find X. Super VOOC is capable of charging at 10 volts at 5 Amps (50 watts) and Oppo says it will be able to fully charge a phone battery in under 35 minutes.
We expect to see this fast charging technology in other Oppo devices soon and since OnePlus and Oppo have close ties, you might even see ‘Super DashCharge’ on the next OnePlus smartphone.
Thin and light devices typically have lower battery life — this continues to be one of the major smartphone pain-points.
Granted, there are many fast charging solutions available (OnePlus’ Dash Cha..
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An innovative feature we first saw on the Vivo NEX is soundcasting. This technology uses actuators to vibrate the entire display of the phone, effectively turning it into a speaker and eliminating the need for a conventional earpiece.
Sony has offered similar technology on Bravia OLED TVs but Vivo has managed to miniaturise this to smartphone levels. Removing the earpiece speaker is an important step in being able to remove the notch and bringing in an all-screen design like we now see on the Vivo NEX and Oppo Find X.
There are a few shortcomings of the technology (lower volumes, expensive to implement, doesn’t work well with hearing aids) but there should be solutions to these issues too, letting the tech filter down to mid-range devices.
An innovative feature we first saw on the Vivo NEX is soundcasting. This technology uses actuators to vibrate the entire display of the phone, effectively turning it into a speaker and eliminating t..
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You may have heard of WiFi ac — the current fastest WiFi protocol available on devices. WiFi mc is the next generation of wireless connectivity that enables indoor positioning on handheld devices.
It does this by measuring the time taken for a signal to travel from the access point to your handheld device and back to pinpoint your location. This means that once devices supporting this new protocol are available, you will be able to navigate the insides of a building just like you navigate outside using GPS.
However, for it to work effectively, one needs to install access points throughout the building to properly triangulate location. It could be a game changer for museums, large format stores, malls, hospitals and so on. Google has already announced support for WiFi mc in their next version of Android: Android P.
You may have heard of WiFi ac — the current fastest WiFi protocol available on devices. WiFi mc is the next generation of wireless connectivity that enables indoor positioning on handheld devices.
..
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Both Huawei and Honor have been talking about an upcoming feature called GPU Turbo.
Available later this year on compatible devices via software update, GPU Turbo should do what the name suggests: boost the graphics performance by using hardware+software acceleration.
The company claims that it will improve graphics processing efficiency up to 60% while power consumption is reduced by up to 30%.
What this essentially means that gamers will be able to get smoother frame rates and improved graphics on existing devices while giving you improved battery life at the same time.
The improvements will also help with augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) experiences. For now, GPU Turbo is available only on Huawei/Honor smartphones, but we expect other brands to follow up with similar innovations soon.
Both Huawei and Honor have been talking about an upcoming feature called GPU Turbo.
Available later this year on compatible devices via software update, GPU Turbo should do what the name suggests: ..
