Heena Sharma Blog

  Apple has yet again extended the free trial membership for the Apple TV+ service to customers till July 2021. With the latest announcement, anybody with an Apple TV+ subscription that was set to expire from now until June will instead expire in July 2021, according to a report in 9to5mac. "This means customers who took advantage of the 'year free' deal back when the service first launched will now be getting an additional 9 months of free access to Apple original shows and movies," the report mentioned on Friday. The first TV+ extension was announced in October and pushed the first wave of free trial renewals out to February. The new extension means that anyone who didn't already cancel their subscription will now be able to use it for free for six additional months, the report said. Read More

  GoPro has refreshed its Hero Black-series action camera line-up with the launch of Hero 9 Black . The action camera features a new imaging sensor capable of recording videos of up to 5K resolution. Besides, it can capture photos at 20-megapixel resolution, and boasts HyperSmooth 3.0 video stabilisation with in-camera horizon leveling, dual-display, and a big capacity battery. The camera has modular lens, and the Hero 9 Black is compatible with a newly announced Max Lens Mod accessory for Max HyperSmooth video stabilisation and Max SuperView ultra wide-angle photo and video. Priced at Rs 49,500, the Hero 9 Black will be available in India from late October. Its media mod with removable foam windscreen and display mod will be available at Rs 8,400 and Rs 6,900, respecitively. There is a light mod too and it will be available at Rs 4,700. 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

Short-video sharing platform TikTok , owned by Chinese firm ByteDance , is facing a huge backlash in India after an internet war broke out between its influencers and YouTube content creators. The app's rating on Google Play Store reduced to 1.3 stars on May 20 from more than 4.5 stars only a few days earlier. Moreover, there has been a growing demand for a ban on the platform in India owing to alleged distribution of insensitive and hateful content on TikTok . Recently, the National Commission for Women (NCW) wrote to the video-sharing social networking service TikTok over a video in which one of its users allegedly glorified acid attack and crime against women. The video has been taken down since, and the user's account has been suspended. Read More

The much-hyped mobile streaming service Quibi that offers " quick-bite " original content of 10 minutes or less for smartphone users has arrived in India, offering users a new entertainment platform starting Monday amid the COVID-19 lockdown. Led by longtime Hollywood executive Jeffrey Katzenberg and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, the service is now available for a 90-day free trial for users. After the free trial is over, it will charge Indian users Rs 669 per month. While Katzenberg is Quibi's Founder and Chairman of the Board, Whitman is the platform's CEO. Quibi aims to bring you new content --ranging from drama, comedy, documentaries, news, and sports -- that is quick enough for any in-between moment, like coffee time, your daily skincare routine, even bathroom breaks. Read More

Netflix Inc missed Wall Street subscriber forecasts for the first quarter Tuesday, amid pressure from lower-cost services from Walt Disney Co and Apple Inc in the streaming video wars. The streaming giant added more paying subscribers than Wall Street expected in the fourth quarter, beating international subscriber estimates but missing estimates for U.S. subscriber growth. Netflix shares were up 1.5 per cent in volatile after-hours trading on Tuesday. The company acknowledged that competitive pressure and a recent price hike impacted its US business, where subscriber growth fell short of analyst estimates. Competition had a more muted impact on its viewership in Canada, Australia and the Netherlands, the company wrote in a letter to investors. The Disney+ and Apple TV+ streaming services both launched in the United States in November. Disney+, which is also live in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, will launch in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Austri

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