Applications
Airtel launches device to record TV on mobile
NEW DELHI: Airtel digital TV has announced the launch of ‘Airtel digital TV Recorder’, the enhanced set-top box (STB) with capability to record live television.
The STB will be available at Rs 6,990 to new customers and at Rs 5,990 to existing subscribers.
Customers need to send an SMS from the registered mobile number linked to the Airtel digital TV account with ‘mguide’ to 54325 and download the mobile recording application. Using their customer ID and password, they can log on and record shows from any Java and GPRS enabled mobile handset.
The Airtel digital TV recorder offers customers the advantage of a HDMI (High Definition Multi Media Interface) port for video output. In addition, the Airtel digital TV Recorder allows the customer to search programmes by name or time or click on ‘Most Viewed Channels‘ for easy surfing. These features are backed by 24×7 customer care.
Says Bharti Airtel director and CEO – DTH Ajai Puri, “At Airtel, we believe that the key to our brand is innovation and technology is one vital element of our innovation endeavours. This product would be a lifestyle enabler that will significantly change TV viewing trends in India. It is also strategic as it brings together the TV screen and the mobile screen. The launch underlines our key strength of understanding consumer needs and using technology to deliver a simple elegant benefit through the most ubiquitous element of ones life today- the mobile.”
Airtel digital TV, which uses MPEG 4 with DVBS 2 technology, has raced to a subscriber base of 2.5 million.
Applications
Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
