Heena Sharma Blog

Accelerating its efforts to increase access to high-quality entertainment for every Indian, Amazon on Wednesday introduced Prime Video Mobile Edition - a mobile-only plan at an introductory price of Rs 89. Prime Video Mobile Edition is a single-user mobile-only plan, providing SD quality streaming to customers which is created especially for a mobile-first country like India. Prime Video is collaborating with Bharti Airtel ("Airtel"), India's premier communications solutions provider, for the first roll-out of Prime Video Mobile Edition. "Given high mobile broadband penetration in the country, the mobile phone has become one of the most widely used streaming devices. With the launch of Prime Video Mobile Edition we look forward to entertaining every Indian with our Exclusive and Original content," Jay Marine, Vice President, Amazon Prime Video Worldwide, said in a statement. Read More  

  Digital current affairs and news portals along with online content providers such as Netflix and Hotstar have been brought under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the Central government said in an order. Presently, India does not have an autonomous body that governs online content. The notification, which was signed by President Ram Nath Kovind, detailed that films, audio-visual programmes, news and current affairs content online platforms be brought under the ministry of information and broadcasting, presently headed by Prakash Javadekar. The print media is currently overlooked by the Press Council of India and the News Broadcasters Association represents television news channels in the country. Films are monitored by the Central Board of Film Certification. Read More

Netflix is offering a HD subscription at Rs 349 per month, as a part of its new test plan. The new subscription plan supports smartphone, tablet or even computer but can be used one device at a time. Since the plan is currently in testing so everyone may not see it. The new test plan spotted by Android Pure is much affordable than the Netflix's basic plan. At Rs 499 per month, the basic plan offers Standard Definition streaming on any phone, tablet, computer or TV at a time. Its rivals including Prime videos by Amazon and Disney Hotstar offer subscriptions at different prices.   Prime videos provide monthly subscription at Rs 129 per month. Disney Hotsar, on the other hand, offers its premium non-refundable plan at Rs 299 per month. However, some shows are free to watch. Read More

Amazon has announced that its customers in India can now access Prime Video through a dedicated app available on the Microsoft Store on Windows 10 devices. Using the new Amazon Prime Video for Windows app, customers are now able to stream Prime Video content online or download Prime Video content for offline viewing on their device. This feature only works through the app on the Windows 10 operating system and includes desktop PCs, laptops, and tablets. The online streaming experience will be the same as the current experience on the Prime Video website. Customers can find the new Amazon Prime Video for PC app through the Microsoft Store on their Windows 10 device. Read More

Amazon is considering including television channels to its Prime Video service, according to a news report in technology portal Protocol. Some publicly available job listings from the technology giant also point to the same intention. The new channels in Prime Video may bring live news, music, sports, award shows and special events besides movies and TV shows. Amazon is "actively pursuing" deals to license live and linear programming, said the report, citing an unnamed industry insider. "Linear TV enables customers to watch 24/7 streams of their favourite TV stations airing programmes including sports, news, movies, award shows, special events and TV shows," said one of the job listings which is seeking application for a Principal Product Manager, Technical for Prime Video Linear TV. Read More

With the penetration of mobile phones, the reliance on the device has increased many folds. Be it shopping, gaming or banking, there has been an immense growth in the hours people spend on their mobile phones. According to App Annie's latest report, TikTok and PUBG Mobile continued to dominate the mobile space in India. TikTok was the breakout social app of 2019 in the Indian market, while PUBG Mobile saw the highest consumer spend in games in the country. PUBG Mobile remained a distant third in breakout games of 2019 in terms of downloads as Carrom Pool clinched the top spot, followed by Free Fire. However, it bagged the top spot in the same category from consumer spend point of view. The rankings are based on year-on-year growth in both Apple’s iOS and Google Play downloads. While TikTok was ahead of all social media apps in India, according to AppAnnie, the larger trend was that hyper-local social apps grew in demand with consumers looking for smaller circles rath...

The recently announced changes in regulations for e-commerce firms with foreign investment may have sent Amazon into a tizzy, but it certainly did not stop the e-commerce giant from stepping up its hiring efforts in the country. With 1,300 job openings in India, Amazon has the highest number of listings for Asia-pacific region on its website, reported The Times of India. This is way ahead than China (467 job openings), Japan (381) and Singapore (174). Barring the United States, only Germany has as many openings as India. Most of the hiring is expected to be in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai. It is not yet clear whether the openings are only for Amazon.com or also for Amazon Prime video, its voice assistant Alexa and the firm's other horizons as well. The government's move to tighten norms has hit Amazon and Flipkart the hardest as the new regulations bar online marketplaces with foreign investment to sell products of companies where they hold stakes as well ...