Applications
Ericsson to power NBC Olympics’ HD content delivery
MUMBAI: Swedish telecommunication and data communication systems provider, Ericsson, has partnered NBC Olympics, a division of the NBC Sports Group, to provide a range of video processing solutions and support services during its coverage of the 2012 London Olympic Games from 27 July-12 August.
Ericsson‘s solution will help NBC Olympics to deliver HD content across both contribution and distribution feeds to ensure the highest picture quality from the Olympic venues to millions of viewers in the United States.
The company is also providing a range of products including MPEG-4 AVC encoders, professional receivers, multiplexers and satellite modulators as well as a team of support engineers in both London and New York. These engineers will assist in equipment/system set-up, maintenance and troubleshooting ensuring no great sporting moments are lost in transmission.
“The Games are the biggest sporting event in the world, and as a result viewers expect coverage to be of the highest quality. Live events like this create TV memories and I‘m sure that the team at NBC Olympics will raise the bar again this summer. We are proud to provide solutions that allow NBC Olympics to bring U.S. viewers closer to the action and give them the best seat in the house,” said Ericsson VP and head of TV Staffan Pehrson.
NBC Olympics SVP Engineering David Mazza added, “With the athlete‘s moving so fast, TV coverage of sporting events is some of the most demanding content to compress and transmit. With millions of viewers throughout the United States watching these events, it is essential that we deliver the best quality pictures possible. Based on our long association with Ericsson, we can be sure its technology will deliver exactly what we need, from the opening ceremony through to the final events.”
Ericsson engineers have been present at all major Summer and Winter Games including Salt Lake City, Sydney, Torino, Athens, Vancouver and Beijing. Its encoding solutions were used by NBC Olympics for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games, the 2008 Beijing Games and the 2006 Winter Olympics from Torino, Italy.
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.
