Netflix is raising its U.S. prices by 13% to 18%, its biggest increase since the company launched its streaming service 12 years ago. Its most popular plan will see the largest hike, to $13 per month from $11. That option offers high-definition streaming on up to two different internet-connected devices simultaneously. Even at the higher […]
Archives for January 2019
Facebook commits $300M to support local news initiatives
Facebook will invest $300 million over three years in local news globally as it faces blistering criticism over its role in the erosion of the news business worldwide. The investment in time and money is a significant expansion of a plan to help newsrooms in the U.S. and abroad create and sustain viable business models […]
Microsoft to end all support for ‘Windows 7’ in 2020
Image credit: Ted S. Warren Even though Microsoft ended mainstream support for “Windows 7” in January 2015, the software giant has now decided to put a final halt on the roll-out of free security patches also for the operating system next year. “After January 14, 2020, Microsoft will no longer provide security updates or support […]
Salesforce boosts Commerce Cloud with smart feature suite
Salesforce has updated its Commerce Cloud platform, adding AI integration, visual search, and inventory availability services to businesses in the retail sector. Through these new additions to the company’s e-commerce marketing platform, businesses can connect with customers throughout their entire buying journey and not just when they reach the company’s site. For example, the Einstein […]
AWS will be harnessed by SSE Enterprise and Tigerspike to drive smart city IoT platform
SSE is teaming up with Tigerspike and AWS to deliver smart city services to the masses via its Internet of Things (IoT) platform. Part of the threesome’s strategy is to develop SSE’s Mayflower smart lighting solution, which is comprised of the entire infrastructure for smart lighting in cities, including sensors and devices to light up […]
NBCUniversal to launch video streaming service in 2020
Comcast‘s NBCUniversal will launch a streaming media service in early 2020 under a pricing model that seeks to mollify traditional pay TV providers while going after a market dominated by Netflix and Amazon. The advertising-supported service, announced on Monday, will be available at no cost to NBCUniversal’s pay TV subscribers in the United States and […]
Etail may lose Rs 40,000 crore, retail to get a 3rd of it
Online retailers could take a Rs 35,000-40,000-crore hit on their FY20 revenues to comply with the revised foreign investment policy, according to Crisil. Brick-and-mortar stores, as a result, may see a 150-200-bps spike in sales with an additional Rs 12,000-crore-plus mop-up. “The fact that there will be a level playing field, which will create a […]
SC issues notices to govt on pleas challenging snooping order
The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Indian government seeking its response on multiple petitions challenging the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) order authorising security and intelligence agencies to snoop on all computers. Hearing the petitions filed by advocate M.L. Sharma among others, a bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justices Ashok Bhushan […]
Amazon food biz to log off if new rules remain on menu
Amazon’s food-only retail business will stop selling on Amazon.in if the government’s latest foreign direct investment (FDI) guidelines remain unchanged by next month. This would be a blow for the initiative as Amazon was the only foreign retailer to have committed investment — to the tune of $500 million — in the food retail segment […]
Hotstar to invest Rs 120 Cr to ramp up its original content
Feeling the pressure from rivals such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, which are investing heavily into local and original content in India, Hotstar, the video-on-demand service from Star India, has decided to step on the gas with a war chest of Rs 120 crore. Hotstar, which has the highest number of downloads (over 350 […]