Applications
Qualcomm unveils Smartbook applications for TV viewing
MUMBAI: Qualcomm will offer previews of forthcoming Flo -enabled smartbook applications at the GSMA Mobile World Congress.
The applications unite live TV viewing with real-time Web content, social networking capabilities and personalised digital media stored on the device that can be accessed at anytime.
Running on Snapdragon-enabled smartbook devices, the applications are designed to deliver powerful new consumer entertainment experiences. The technology combines live mobile TV programming with personalised, real-time streaming data and access to social networking sites like Twitter, along with additional content, such as video clips and e-magazines.
The new smartbook applications illustrate Qualcomm’s vision for the future of broadcast mobile media and allow consumers to receive rich, relevant content while watching their favorite programs and simultaneously connecting with other people that share similar interests. For instance, sports fans watching a live match can receive real-time data streams about athletes and team stats while also engaging with fans around the world watching the same event.
Among the applications that are being broadcast over Flo technology are:
• Live Twitter Feed, allowing consumers to watch a live TV channel while monitoring a contextual Twitter feed
• Local Buzz, a real-time aggregated Web feed personalised by location, which shows news, weather, traffic and other topics of local relevance
• Live breaking news dynamically refreshed throughout the day
• Sportscast, offering live sporting events while gaining access to player and team statistics and relevant sports video clips delivered over broadcast
• Video-on-Demand Carousel, featuring an array of video clips delivered and stored on smartbook devices that can be selected and viewed anytime
• Library, a catalogue of e-magazines cached and ready to view where and when the consumer wants
Qualcomm CDMA Technologies senior VP of product management Luis Pineda says, “Snapdragon-based devices with their long battery life and advanced 3G connectivity are changing the way consumers access mobile content and entertainment. Combining the strengths of Flo mobile broadcast technology with our chip platform makes for a powerful and addictive connected entertainment experience for consumers and helps us to clearly differentiate and rise above competitive mobile entertainment solutions.”
Another first-time demonstration will feature a Windows-based portable computer with the Zinio Reader application. The interactive digital magazine demonstration will showcase how FLO technology can be employed for the broadcast delivery of data-intensive multimedia files.
Digital magazines are delivered over a dedicated Flo network and stored on the mobile device for a convenient, optimized reading experience. As a dedicated mobile broadcast technology, FLO technology is ideally suited to offload data traffic from 3G networks or to deliver other types of data to large audiences, thereby freeing 3G networks to support more voice traffic and other revenue services.
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.
