Applications
Peel smart Remote app generates 100 billion commands
MUMBAI: Peel, a California-based company funded by e-commerce giant, Alibaba, has announced that its Peel Smart Remote app has generated 100 billion remote commands since its launch three years ago.
Half of these remote commands have been registered in the last eight months only. Peel has also released a revamped version of its android app, including a customizable remote widget that can appear on a phone’s lock screen without launching the app. Peel is also available as a free app on the iTunes app Store for Apple iOS devices.
The company recently topped 100 million registered users worldwide, out of which 25 million are in Asia. India has emerged as one of the fastest growing markets for Peel, doubling every six months. The large number of TV viewers give the company unprecedented insights into global viewing habits.
“Our users have peeled in to 5 billion TV shows since we launched. We currently have viewer data on six shows every second that helps us improve our content discovery features and the overall performance of the app. It also provides us a unique real-time window into the living rooms of millions of households in India and 200 other countries that can help serve content that viewers really want,” said Peel co-founder and chief product officer Bala Krishnan.
As an example of the insights gained, Peel looked at the top show, the top genre and the top TV brand in four metros across India based on a sampling of the insights gathered from users of the Peel app and platform.
Even after nearly 1,700 episodes over the last eight years, family entertainer sitcom Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah remains the most popular show in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, but ranks at number second in Hyderabad, where C.I.D. tops the charts.
Comedy Night with Kapil grabs the number two spot in Delhi, but is pushed down to number three spot in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore, with C.I.D. taking up the second position in Mumbai and Bangalore.
In terms of content genre, Mumbai and Bangalore viewers prefer comedies, followed by dramas and then news. They prefer comedies in New Delhi, too, followed by thrillers, then dramas. While in Hyderabad, news tops the list, followed by sports talk, then consumer programming.
Among the most popular TV set brands in New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bangalore, Samsung comes first, followed by Sony and then LG. In contrast, Samsung and LG edge Sony out in the top two spots across TV brand positions among homes in Seoul, Dallas, Barcelona, Cairo and Rio de Janeiro.
In addition to being used to control TVs, set-top boxes and other entertainment devices, the Peel Smart Remote app is also optimised to control hundreds of brands of air conditioners and heaters, with more smart home devices planned for the future. “We are already the number one home control app in the world and a major source of entertainment content discovery for our users,” added Krishnan.
In India, the Peel app comes preloaded on many of the leading smartphones, including the Samsung Galaxy S4, S5 and S6, HTC’s M8 and M9, and models from Karbonn, Celkon, Xolo and Panasonic in India. Peel makes it easy for Indian consumers to switch to a smartphone remote because it works with all popular brands of TVs sold in India, and 600 different types of set-top boxes, including those from Airtel, Tata Sky, Dish TV, Hathway, Den and Siti Cable. For Indian consumers, Peel features TV listings from WhatsOnIndia.
Applications
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.
