iWorld
Sky picks TiVo to search entertainment across linear TV & VoD using voice
MUMBAI: TiVo Corporation, a global leader in entertainment technology and audience insights, ha sannounced that TiVo and Sky, Europe’s leading entertainment company have joined forces to deliver voice search for Sky’s next-generation box, Sky Q. TiVo is providing Sky Q with a natural language, voice-based search solution, making it quicker and easier for Sky Q customers to find the content they are looking for.
The solution delivered by TiVo lets consumers use their voice to search for digital entertainment across linear TV and video on demand (VOD). By implementing Conversation Services on Sky Q, Sky is making it easier for customers to discover entertainment, sport and movies by providing a conversational experience through language recognition and naturally spoken responses.
“With Sky Q, we continue to innovate and bring fantastic new features to our customers, who we know are watching more TV than ever before. We want to make it even faster and easier for them to search, discover and watch TV,” said Sky’s brand director of TV and content products Luke Bradley-Jones.
“That’s why we’ve introduced voice search. With the technology delivered by TiVo, we are enabling our customers to use natural, voice-based queries to find new and favourite TV to enjoy.”
The solution is built on TiVo’s knowledge graph engine, a dynamic knowledge base of entertainment metadata, capable of understanding trends and conversations. Updated continuously via data ingestion and news crawlers, the knowledge graph includes information produced and curated by hundreds of content editors, predictive search results, and behavioral indicators from social networks.
“With more and more content choices and a great range of entertainment available across TV, TiVo is helping partners like Sky provide the best user experience whilst driving content consumption,” said TiVo senior vice president and general manager, advanced search and recommendations, Matt Berry.
“This implementation further reinforces the value of TiVo’s product portfolio in bringing the latest capabilities to pay-TV homes across Europe.”
iWorld
Snapchat parent Snap cuts 16 per cent of workforce in AI-driven restructuring
The Snapchat parent is axing around 1,000 jobs and closing 300 open roles to save $500m, as artificial intelligence makes smaller teams the new normal
CALIFORNIA: Snap is snapping. The Snapchat parent has confirmed plans to cut around 1,000 employees, roughly 16 per cent of its full-time workforce, as it bets that artificial intelligence can do what headcount once required. Shares jumped more than 10 per cent in premarket trading on the news, a brisk vote of confidence from a market that has watched the stock shed about 31 per cent this year.
The restructuring, which also closes more than 300 open roles, follows pressure from activist investor Irenic Capital Management, which holds an economic interest of about 2.5 per cent in the company and has been loudly pushing Snap to tighten its portfolio and lift performance. The firm got what it asked for, and then some.
Chief executive Evan Spiegel told employees the cuts would reduce annualised expenses by more than $500m by the second half of the year. The company expects to incur charges of between $95m and $130m related to the layoffs, mostly severance, with the bulk landing in the second quarter. Staff in Snap’s North America team were asked to work from home on the day of the announcement.
The financial backdrop is not without bright spots. Snap expects first-quarter revenue to rise around 12 per cent to approximately $1.53 billion, broadly in line with analyst estimates. Adjusted core profit for the January to March quarter is forecast at about $233m, comfortably ahead of Wall Street’s expectation of $186.8m.
The harder question surrounds Specs, Snap’s augmented reality smart glasses subsidiary, which Irenic has urged the company to spin off or shut down entirely. The unit has absorbed more than $3.5 billion in investment and burns through approximately $500m in cash annually. Snap is pressing ahead regardless, with a consumer product expected later this year, even as Meta leads the market in the segment.
Spiegel is betting that leaner teams, smarter machines and a consumer AR play can restore Snap’s credibility with investors who have run out of patience. The redundancy notices have gone out. The harder restructuring, the one that requires a hit product rather than a headcount reduction, is still very much pending.
