iWorld
MX Player set to launch 5 new original series
MUMBAI: MX Player, the local video player and entertainment platform with 70 million daily active users, has announced the launch of its first five MX Original Series that will go live starting 20 February.
Streaming premium content for free, this ad-supported video on demand platform hosts a large repository of over 1,00,000 hours of licensed content from leading content creators and partner platforms such as ALTBalaji, TVF, Arre and SonyLIV amongst others. MX Player integrates all forms of entertainment on one app – top grade offline video playing capabilities, online streaming and music streaming powered by Gaana, as offerings for its viewers.
MX Player CEO Karan Bedi said, “Our vision is to build a platform that caters to every entertainment need of the discerning viewer starting from playing a video in any format, to watching stories across every genre and even listening to music for every mood! As more people move towards consuming content online, we want to create digital-first stories that appeal not only to the urban audiences but also much beyond. We have collaborated with some of the best talent in the industry to create our slate of MX Originals that will bring us a step closer to becoming the go-to destination for entertainment in India.”
Driving synergies with this vision is the new brand ideology wherein MX Player defines ‘Everytainment’ – a promise to deliver entertainment for every mood. Elaborating on the same, Bedi said, “Everytainmnet is the core of our product and combines not just all forms of entertainment but also caters to content for every season, every reason, every occasion and most importantly, every mood. So whether you're happy, sad, mellow, active or excited, we have a story, a song or a moment for you. We showcase films, web series, sports and news, and with our original programming, we are exploring various new genres spanning satire, drama, comedy, chat shows, historical sagas, biopics, big ticket reality shows and more across multiple languages. The new music tab on our platform will allow viewers to stream music, powered by Gaana on the same app and has made us the one stop shop for all things entertainment. ”
The five new MX Original Series will appeal to different audiences across varied geographies. Be it Aafat which is about five women who are breaking stereotypes while struggling to get married in Delhi’s arranged marketplace; Hey Prabhu that traces the story of a twitter god who has to navigate the offline troubles of life; ImMature, A TVF creation that is a coming-of-age story about the many first adventures of three young boys in school; Lots of Love (in Tamil and Telugu) which is a story of four friends and how a trip changes their lives or Famously Filmfare.
The product has been built from scratch with a simple and intuitive interface and offers sub-one-second latency to its viewers, which translates to instant streaming. By using massive scale datasets, MX Player has created a recommendation and personalisation engine. Additionally, MX Player is leading the way in video tech by building better compression algorithms to optimize streaming on the top of global compression standards like H-265.To further enhance the user experience, the app comes with features like adjusting volume and screen brightness on the go while streaming, vertical trailers for special shows and offline playback feature which allows users to download content and view without an internet connection. The app is built keeping low-to-high end devices in mind and works well for fluctuating networks.
iWorld
WhatsApp may soon let users to pick who sees their status updates
The messaging giant is borrowing a page from Instagram’s playbook as it pushes to give users finer control over their social circles.
CALIFORNIA: WhatsApp is quietly working on a feature that could make its Status function considerably smarter and considerably more private.
According to reports from beta tracking platforms, the app is testing a tool called Status lists, which would allow users to create named groups such as close friends, family and colleagues, and control precisely which group sees each update. It is a meaningful step up from the platform’s current blunt instruments, which offer only three options: share with all contacts, exclude specific people, or manually select individuals each time.
The new feature draws an obvious comparison with Instagram’s Close Friends function, and the resemblance is unlikely to be accidental. Both platforms sit within Meta’s family, and the company has been nudging them toward a common logic of audience segmentation for some time.
The move also fits neatly into WhatsApp’s broader privacy push. The platform has been rolling out enhanced chat protections and is exploring the introduction of usernames, which would allow users to connect without exchanging phone numbers. Status lists extend that philosophy from messaging into broadcasting.
Meanwhile, Status itself has been evolving well beyond its origins as a simple photo-and-text slideshow. The feature now supports music stickers, collages, longer videos and interactive elements, pushing it closer to the social-media-style story format pioneered by Snapchat and refined by Instagram. In that context, finer audience controls are not merely a privacy feature. They are a precondition for people sharing more.
The feature remains in development and has not been confirmed for release. WhatsApp routinely tests tools that are later modified or quietly shelved. But the direction of travel is clear: the app wants Status to be a destination, not an afterthought. Letting users decide exactly who is in the audience is how it gets there.
