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Disney Star India’s StarLab partners with Aussie firm STWS for innovations
MUMBAI: StarLab – part of Disney Star India – has partnered with the Aussie sports tech consulting and services firm Sports World Tech Series and will be participating in its STWS event from 22 to 25 October 2024 in Melbourne.
The purpose: providing guidance and scouting startups that can play a future role in addressing problem statements around fan engagement, new audience development, immersive sports viewing, and AI-driven production workflow improvements in sports media as a partner with STWS.
StarLab will be participating in the Sports Tech Academic Day, Sports Tech Startup & Investor Day, and ANZ Sports Technology Awards at Australia Sports Innovation Week (ASIW), which is rated as the southern Hemisphere’s largest and most respected sports technology event.
For the Academic and Startups & Investor Day, StarLab will help shortlist candidates and potentially enable the shortlists to secure their first contract with Star Sports.
For the ANZ Sports Technology Awards, the Star Sports leadership will assist in evaluating candidates and selecting the winners.
“We stay committed to deepening our understanding of our consumer and what elevates their experience during sporting events. By actively engaging with the talent from Sports Tech Academic Day, Sports Tech Startup & Investor Day, and the ANZ Sports Technology Awards, we gain greater awareness of the latest innovations and emerging trends,” said Disney Star head of production excellence & R&D Prashant Khanna.
HiG Sports founder & CEO Abhishek Padwal (the agency that facilitated this alliance), further added, “This collaboration is a win-win for both parties, as StarLab enhances and adds value to the startup assessments at ASIW, while gaining access to talent, innovations, and intelligence aimed at solving their problem statements.”
Disney StarLab drives the adoption of enhanced production technology and workflows, delivering next-gen consumer experiences alongside executing special fan engagement initiatives such as AI language translation, MaxView for AI-enabled vertical viewing on mobile devices, sign language for the deaf sports fans, StarVerse – Star Sports Metaverse for sports fans, optical fielders tracking and more, while also building intellectual property that enhances fan delight.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
