Hotstar Introduces Premium Subscription; HBO Original Shows Available for Streaming

hotstar-premium

Hotstar — Star India’s video streaming service that debuted in early 2015 has now introduced paid subscriptions on the service for watching “Premium” content. Called Hotstar Premium and available for ₹199 per month, it gets you access to a host of new “premium” movies and TV shows, including a bunch of HBO Originals such as Game of Thrones, Silicon Valley, Veep & True Detective as well as movies such as X-Men: Days of the Future Past and Kingsman: The Secret Service.

The subscription gives you access to not just the premium content available today, but also the new content that Hotstar will add in the future. You can access this either via the website or via the Android and iOS app. Non-Premium content on Hotstar will continue to be available for Free. The Premium service is only available in India right now and you can only sign up using your Credit Card. There’s a 30-Day trial to get your started, and the company puts a ₹5 authorization charge to verify your card details, which it says will be refunded to you. Hotstar does not currently offer support for Chromecast or AirPlay, so you can’t actually watch any content on your big screen TV. Video quality is decent and you can manually select up to 720p.

Let’s face it, the only real reason you’d consider signing up for Hotstar Premium is because you get access to Game of Thrones and other HBO shows. Not only can you start watching the episode as soon as it airs in the US, but you also get to watch is completely uncensored. That’s right, you get to watch Game of Thrones exactly how David Benioff & D. B. Weiss want you to watch it. Most other content is either already available on other streaming services or is old enough that you’ve seen it already.

I just finished watching the latest episodes of the Game of Thrones and Silicon Valley on the service and am fairly content with the experience. Am I going to continue my subscription beyond the trial? I’m not sure yet.

April 25, 2016 ✚ Permalink

Apple Gets Closer to Opening Its Own Stores in India

If you’ve been waiting for Apple to open their own stores in India, your wait might have just gotten shorter, according to The Times of India:

On Tuesday, the iPhone and iPad maker made a presentation before a committee headed by industrial policy and promotion secretary Ramesh Abhishek where it made a case for use of the special provision. Sources told TOI that Apple was a fit case for relaxing the norms. “Their products certainly meet the requirement for waiving the local sourcing clause,” said a source, adding that a final decision will be announced in a few days.

There have been reports that the Indian government was considering relaxing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) since November last year, which were quickly followed by the government’s official announcement later that week. Following that, Apple had submitted their request for approval in January this year, but had to re-submit because “certain gaps [were] found in the initial proposal”.

After Tuesday’s presentation, I don’t think an announcement is all that far away.

April 23, 2016 ✚ Permalink

On the 9.7-inch iPad Pro’s Wider Color Gamut

The Iconfactory’s Craig Hockenberry has an insightful take on the 9.7-inch iPad Pro’s wider color gamut and DCI-P3 standard, seen also in the latest 5K iMacs.

After using this iPad for a couple of weeks, I’ve realized it’s like the advances of Retina in an important way: I never want to use a lesser display again. And as with higher density, I think it’s obvious that Apple will eventually update all its products to use this improved screen technology. I can’t wait!

We’re quickly reaching a point where more pixels don’t make better photos. Think about how much Apple likes to tout the camera and how better saturation improves photos. These new displays are the first step in a process were wider gamuts become a part of the entire iOS photography workflow. The number of places where your code assumes everything is sRGB will be both surprising and painful.

I haven’t been able to decide if I should be shelling out INR 49,900 on a new iPad, especially considering I’m still using the iPad Mini 2 (without Touch ID) and so far, it seems like Apple’s winning.

April 22, 2016 ✚ Permalink

Apple Updates MacBook with Latest Processors & New Rose Gold Option [with India Pricing]

new-macbook-lineup-2016

Apple has today announced that it has updated the MacBook lineup, bringing along faster processors, improved graphics performance, faster flash storage and one hour longer battery life. Today’s refresh also introduces a new “Rose Gold” color option, taking the lineup to four color variants.

“MacBook is the thinnest and lightest Mac we have ever made and it’s our vision for the future of the notebook,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Customers are going to love this update to MacBook, with the latest processors, faster graphics, faster flash storage, longer battery life and a beautiful rose gold finish.”

The new MacBook now features the latest sixth-generation dual-core Intel Core M processors that go up to 1.3 GHz, with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.1 GHz. You also get faster 1866MHz onboard memory, Intel HD 515 Graphics that are up to 25 percent faster than previous generation as well as longer battery life that can take you up to 10 hours of usage.

Apple has also increased the pricing for MacBook in India. Previously, the 12″ MacBook was launched at ₹99,900, with the second model coming in at ₹1,19,900. The new lineup is priced at ₹1,06,900 and ₹1,29,900 respectively, which means India Pricing has gone up by ₹7000 for the base model and ₹10,000 for the top model.

Update April 19th, 2016 20:29: It should be noted that the price increase happened last year, not particularly with today’s announcement.

April 19, 2016 ✚ Permalink

Sony’s New FE 50mm F/1.8 Prime and FE 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS Zoom Full Frame E-Mount Lenses

I completely missed Sony’s recent announcement 15 days ago about the launch of their new Full Frame Lenses — the 50mm f/1.8 Prime and the 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS Zoom.

50mm f/1.8 aka SEL50F18F

This new Prime is designed as a lightweight (192 grams) and cheaper alternative to the the 55mm f/1.8 Zeiss lens that Sony has been selling so far. The lens features a plastic body with a solid metal mount.

sony-50mm-18-prime

Compared to the $900 price tag for the Zeiss, Sony plans to sell this new lens at just $250 starting in May. You can pre-order it today on B&H.

70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS aka SEL70300G

This is Sony’s “longest reaching E-mount lens to date”. With a minimum focussing distance of just 3 feet and maximum magnification of 0.31x, the 70-300 makes for an ideal telephoto lens, especially considering the built in Optical SteadyShot (Sony’s term for Image Stabilization).

sony-70mm-300mm-45-56-zoom

This too will be available in the US starting May at $1200. You can pre-order it today on B&H.

Details about the India release for both these lenses are still not known.

April 16, 2016 ✚ Permalink

OLA: Clearing the Air

Yesterday, a report was published by DNA that quoted “sources” claiming that Uber was looking to buy a controlling stake in rival OLA by buying out all of its stake holders, including promoters Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, except for SoftBank.

“Uber is buying a controlling stake in Ola, where all the shareholders, except SoftBank, is being bought out. The enterprise valuation is being estimated at $4billion,” said the source.

OLA rebuffed this report as baseless and today, has clarified on the official blog:

We would like to state that the article, attributed to an ‘unnamed source’ is completely false, misleading, malicious and planted in the said newspaper with the intent of causing harm to the Ola brand and creating confusion among our stakeholders.

We are shocked and dismayed at the lack of journalistic ethics in carrying the story, despite our repeated denial to the reporter and the publication’s editorial representatives. We also had received a verbal confirmation that the report shall not be carried given the company’s denial.

We will initiate appropriate legal action and seek redressal and compensation for the damage caused to us by this irresponsible reporting from DNA.

Yikes!

April 16, 2016 ✚ Permalink

Vodafone to Acquire YOU Broadband for ₹400 Crores

Baiju Kalesh & Deepali Gupta, reporting for The Economic Times:

Vodafone India has signed a pact to buy YOU Broadband for around Rs 400 crore and has sought approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, said two people familiar with the transaction.

YOU Broadband has been an interesting ISP available in Mumbai, but they’ve stayed away from my area for years now, with no immediate plans to lay fibre here anytime soon.

I don’t expect Vodafone to change that either.

March 30, 2016 ✚ Permalink

Apple is Hiring a Country Manager for App Store, Apple Music & iTunes Stores for India

I have a habit of keeping an eye on Apple’s job listings for India, hoping to come across something relevant that I can apply for. Over the last few months, it seems Apple has been on a hiring spree as I’ve seen all kinds of roles being listed, especially for Apple’s new tech development centre coming up in Hyderabad. All of the roles listed for Hyderabad are related to the Maps team, while other cities have had roles ranging from Sales, Marketing, PR, Business Strategy and even Big Data Frameworks.

Today, I came across a certain listing that really caught my attention. Apple is hiring a Country Manager, India — App Store, Apple Music, iTunes.

Apple is seeking a dynamic business leader with an impeccable track record in the entertainment and technology industries to drive its growth in India.

The role is interesting to me due to a lot of factors, most notably because the role is based in Dubai. Apple says,

The candidate will be responsible for the App Store, Apple Music and iTunes business, personnel and strategy implementation for this key market, as well as fortifying exceptional relations with the developer, music, movies, technology and media sectors in the region. The candidate will have strong and established relationships within the Indian technology, music, movies, entertainment and media industries in India, and will be able to lead Apple’s relationships with the Bollywood and regional movie studios, record labels and artistic talent communities.

The mandate is to deliver high revenue growth from premium content services as the Indian population connects to faster and cheaper data connections. He or she will also help to build a strategy for the distribution of Indian apps and content globally.

Apple’s recent hires have indicated that the company is pushing for a stronger focus towards the Indian market and this role only strengthens that belief.

Some other interesting roles Apple has listed in the past include Affordability Program Manager, Thermal Architect and Business Manager — Online Channel. As of this writing, Apple has 34 open positions listed on its job site.

March 2, 2016 ✚ Permalink