Applications
Harmonic launches software solutions for multiscreen video devices
MUMBAI : California-based Harmonic has announced the ProMedia family of software solutions that optimise live and file-based multiscreen video production and processing for content and service providers.
The ProMedia family performs a broad range of functions including transcoding, packaging, and origination to enable high- quality video creation and delivery of live streaming, live-to-VOD, and VOD services to TVs, PCs, tablets, smartphones, and other IP-connected devices.
ProMedia is also an ideal solution for content creation in file-based workflows such as tapeless production environments.
A suite of software products that can be deployed individually or as an end-to-end video processing solution, the ProMedia family offers the flexibility and performance required for today‘s multiscreen video services. The ProMedia family is also integrated with leading digital rights management systems, asset management systems, and content distribution networks, in addition to other Harmonic products including encoders, receivers, playout servers, and storage.
The ProMedia family leverages Harmonic‘s H.264 video codec expertise – based on the same intellectual property behind Harmonic‘s market-leading Electra encoders — to provide superior-quality video content for multiscreen viewing.
The ProMedia family includes four software products:
ProMedia Live is a real-time video processing and transcoding system with enhanced H.264 video codec technology developed by Harmonic and optimized for creating high-quality Internet video streams.
Powered by Rhozet technology, ProMedia Carbon (formerly Carbon Coder) is a file-based transcoder that supports the largest array of acquisition, editing, broadcast, Web, and mobile formats in the industry. The system scales from a single instance to a large automated multinode transcoding farm.
ProMedia Package is a carrier-grade adaptive streaming preparation system for secure, high-value Internet video services. ProMedia Package supports numerous HTTP streaming protocol standards and is capable of packaging in multiple output formats from a single video source, enabling a more scalable, distributed architecture.
ProMedia Origin is an HTTP and RTMP streaming video server ideal for originating a broad range of multiscreen services in a scalable, easy-to-manage, carrier-class platform. Leveraging industry-standard protocols from Adobe, Apple®, and Microsoft® to maximise device interoperability, ProMedia Origin enables services such as live streaming, VOD, catch-up TV, start-over TV, and network DVR to connected devices.
Harmonic director, multiscreen product line management Moore Macauley said, “As demand continues to grow for more video on more devices, content creators and service providers need to implement an efficient and scalable infrastructure that can support a wide variety of input, editing, and output formats. The ProMedia family is the most comprehensive multiscreen video processing solution available and leverages Harmonic‘s expertise in both live and file-based video services, including more than 200 multiscreen deployments. It can easily be added to an existing broadcast video infrastructure to deliver high-quality video services to any IP-connected device, including tablets, smartphones, PCs, and TVs” .
Control and management can be handled by Harmonic NMX Digital Service Manager or a Web-based GUI for real-time services. Harmonic is offering server-based hardware appliances to host the various ProMedia software applications.
The first customer shipments are expected to begin in August.
Harmonic solutions for the production and delivery of high-value video services in the multiscreen environment have been successfully deployed for new Internet and mobile TV services by leading satellite, telco, cable, and broadcast operators in North America; major cable, telco, and mobile operators in Europe; and a key CDN operator in the Middle East.
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.
