Applications
BBC launches a second-screen app for ‘Top Gear’
MUMBAI; When the new series of ‘Top Gear UK‘ returns to TV screens on BBC channels across the world next month – just days after UK transmission – a new second-screen app from BBC Worldwide will accompany the international broadcasts for the first time in the show‘s history.
Top Gear Bingo! was developed using UK-based Monterosa‘s LViS platform, and encourages viewers to look out for well known phrases, cars and items synonymous with the hit motoring entertainment programme, ticking them off on their screens in a similar style to a traditional bingo game. The free-to-play web app is accessed by logging into the local BBC channel‘s site where viewers can invite friends to join them through Facebook, comparing scores while playing along with the live broadcast. A new game is available with every episode.
BBC Worldwide commercial director of ‘Top Gear‘ Duncan Gray said, “We wanted to create a free Top Gear game that enhances our international viewers‘ enjoyment of the show‘s premiere broadcast. Top Gear Bingo! does just that, allowing fans to look out for words, phrases and items that appear, competing with their friends to see who can get the highest score each week via a leaderboard if you log in with Facebook. And we hope that the unique way we‘ve been able to integrate advertisers into the proposition will be well received.”
Monterosa commercial director Tom McDonnell said, “LViS is our versatile platform that allows us to quickly and economically develop fantastic second-screen apps that can live anywhere and scale globally. Working with BBC Worldwide, we‘re giving fans a way to enhance their viewing experience and broadcasters a new way to activate sponsorships and to create additional advertising opportunities through the second-screen. It‘s an exciting time for second-screen and we‘re proud that LViS is becoming the best way to make and deploy global apps for mainstream TV shows.”
Applications
Canva acquires animation and AI startups Cavalry and MangoAI
The deals strengthen Canva’s push into enterprise and AI-led design workflows
AUSTRALIA: Global visual communication platform Canva has stepped up its acquisition drive, buying UK-based 2D animation platform Cavalry and US-based AI startup MangoAI to deepen its AI-powered creative stack.
Cavalry, whose tools are used by brands including Amazon, Meta, Google and Netflix, will strengthen Canva’s motion design capabilities. The deal builds on Canva’s 2024 acquisition of Affinity, which has crossed four million downloads since launch. With Cavalry, Canva now counts seven Europe-based acquisitions, underscoring its global expansion strategy.
MangoAI, an early-stage startup focused on video advertising optimisation, will integrate its reinforcement learning systems into Canva AI. The move aims to enable brands to generate personalised marketing content in real time, cutting production cycles while improving campaign performance. MangoAI co-founder Vinith Misra will join Canva as reinforcement learning lead in its research lab.
Canva co-founder and chief operating officer Cliff Obrecht said the acquisitions reflect the company’s ambition to make professional-grade creative tools more accessible without sidelining human creativity. The goal, he said, is to bring everything from vector to motion design into a single, integrated suite.
The company now reports 265 million active users, including 31 million paid subscribers, and $4 billion in annualised revenue, up 36 per cent year on year. The latest buys further position Canva against rivals such as Adobe and Apple’s Creator Studio as it pushes deeper into enterprise workflows.
Canva head of pro design marketing Liam Fisher, said AI is intended to act as a creative assistant rather than a replacement, reinforcing the primacy of craft and individual design judgement.
