Applications
Pace’s App Cafe available for commercial deployment in US, Canada
MUMBAI: Pace said its App Cafe platform is ready for deployment throughout the Americas.
The Pace App Cafe offers cable subscribers access to popular web-based applications via their set-top box for the first time, increasing the range of entertainment available via the television set.
The Pace App Cafe is a service allowing cable operators to harness the potential of online applications within an integrated managed TV service. It offers applications in a storefront format for subscribers to download directly to their set-top boxes, enhancing their entertainment experience and solidifying the service provider’s position at the heart of the home.
Pace App Café enables payTV operators to offer a range of social networking, gaming and Video on Demand (VoD) applications.
In addition, the company has worked with web-based TV technology platform, Clearleap, to offer IP-based video services delivered through customizable, white-labelled applications. This provides operators with a cost effective method of delivering unlimited hours of on-demand content to consumers over the high speed data path.
Pace has also partnered with Universal Electronics to integrate its UEI Velocity remote control with QWERTY keyboard and UEI QuickSearch remote control setup application, enhancing the usability and navigation of the App Café and applications.
The Pace App Cafe will provide subscribers with access to high-profile and popular online services including:
– Popular social networking services
– Internet radio and music
– Online photo and video sharing
– Weather
– Personal finance
– Sports scores
– Operator service and support
Pace Americas senior VP of sales and customer support Tim O’Loughlin said, “There is a rapidly growing desire amongst consumers to access a range of different content on their TV and the Pace App Café is the perfect response. The App Café offers our service provider customers an extensive choice of applications, so that they can deliver the best possible range of services to their subscribers.”
The Pace App Café will be customised with each operator’s brand, allowing them to create custom applications. Operators will have administrative control over the available applications in their library, which they can then package as part of their existing service or make them an additional offering.
The applications can pull their data feed from any Internet connection in the home or from the DOCSIS modems embedded in nearly all Pace set-top boxes.
The onscreen presentation of each application is designed to work alongside the existing electronic programme guide and VoD applications. Many of the applications have the ability to co-exist with live or recorded television programming, so subscribers can get constant, real-time information updates while watching television.
The Pace App Café is based on Pace’s Engineware software platform and is underpinned by a standards-based Flash Lite® Engine and published Software Development Kit
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.
