The first episode of a massively popular horror sci-fi series Stranger Things season 4 Volume 2 is one hour 25 minutes long
The eagerly awaited volume 2 of Stranger Things Season 4 has at long last dropped on Netflix today, July 1. Netflix's Original Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2 has two episodes, be that as it may, this time the organization is unique. The last portion of Stranger Things went live on Netflix India at 12.30 pm.
The main episode of a hugely famous repulsiveness science fiction series Stranger Things season 4 Volume 2 is one hour 25 minutes in length. In the mean time, the finale episode of the show is more than two hours in length, making the aggregate length of the last part almost four hours.
The last and last portion of Stranger Things has delivered after a stand by of more than one month as the trailer of Volume 2 had finished on a cliffhanger, leaving fans considering what's in store from the show finale.
A ton of fans are expecting the passings of their #1 characters as Twitterati argued show-creators not to kill the personality of Steve Harrington, which is played by Joe Keery on the show.
A Twitter client said, "in the event that they kill steve harrington tomorrow, I will transform into vecna and obliterate everybody idc. #StrangerThings4." Another stated, "me hanging tight for the unavoidable catastrophe that more bizarre things volume 2 and vecna will be since I won't confide in the duffer brothers."
Video streaming major Netflix on Tuesday said it will reduce traffic on telecommunications networks by 25 per cent while maintaining the quality of service for users in India, as part of its efforts to help mitigate network congestion amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Companies like Amazon Prime Video are also temporarily lowering bit rates - a measure of how much data is being transferred - to ease pressure on telecom network infrastructure.
Consumption of digital content has gone up manifold as people are forced to stay indoors as almost the entire country is under lockdown to contain the spread of the deadly COVID-19.
"Given the crisis, we've developed a way to reduce Netflix's traffic on telecommunications networks by 25 per cent while also maintaining the quality of our service. So consumers should continue to get the quality that comes with their plan - whether it's Ultra-High, High or Standard Definition," Netflix VP Content Delivery Ken Florance said in an emailed statement.
He added this will provide significant relief to congested networks, and the measure will be deployed in India for the next 30 days.
The company, which has over 167 million users globally, has already undertaken similar measures in Europe. It doesn't provide country-specific subscriber numbers. Netflix typically has many different streams for a single title within each resolution. This action would result in removal of the highest bandwidth streams, and so, subscribers will continue to have access to the service they have paid for (Ultra-High Definition, High Definition or Standard Definition) depending on the device they use.
In India, Netflix has a significant number of subscribers on the Mobile Plan which is Standard Definition.
Netflix's rival, Amazon Prime Video on Monday had said it has begun efforts to reduce streaming bitrates in India. Bitrate usually determines the size and quality of video and audio files. Higher bitrate indicates better quality.
The Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) had written to the government urging issuance of instructions to streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and others to initiate measures that will ease pressure on network infrastructure, which is needed for "critical" functions at this juncture.
"We support the need for careful management of telecom services to ensure they can handle the increased internet demand with so many people now at home full-time due to COVID-19…In India, we've already begun the effort to reduce streaming bitrates whilst maintaining a quality streaming experience for our customers," an Amazon Prime Video spokesperson had said.
A Hotstar spokesperson had said said the company's video streaming is based on adaptive bitrate streaming, which ensures that it is "lean" in internet consumption. However, the company said it is "prepared to reduce the bitrate for our HD streams, should the need arise".
Cinemas
are seeing brisk business even as India’s economy slows to a
six-year low and unemployment swells, according to PVR Ltd., the
nation’s largest operator of multi-screen theatres.
Ever
since the box-office hit Kabir Singh released in June, even films
with small budgets or less-recognizable actors are drawing the
crowds, Kamal Gianchandani, chief executive officer at PVR Pictures,
said in an interview this month. Results for July-September will
“definitely surprise a lot of people,” he said, declining to
elaborate.
“I
think the slowdown is helping the cinema business,” Gianchandani
said. “There is negativity around and people want to escape it.”
If
Gianchandani’s prediction is correct, PVR would be defying a slump
that has dented demand for almost everything from 7-cent cookies to
cars. He joins the likes of Bollywood megastar Shahrukh Khan, who has
in the past compared movies to lipstick, saying that both are immune
to economic turmoil.
Seventeen
of 26 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg have buy ratings on PVR stock,
with eight holds and one sell. Similar numbers can be seen for
smaller Indian rival Inox Leisure Ltd. PVR will probably outperform
Inox on spending per head, analysts led by Karan Taurani at Elara
Securities Pvt. said October 4.
Sensing
competition from the likes of Netflix Inc. and Reliance Industries
Ltd.’s Jio service -- which allow people to watch movies from the
comfort of their home -- PVR has partnered with Canadian motion
technology player D-Box Technologies Inc. to design seats that sway
and jerk in sync with the action on screen, offering a more immersive
experience.
“Our
strategy is to ensure we stay relevant in this age where every other
day a new streaming service is being launched,” Gianchandani said.
“Fortunately, customers are receptive.”....Read
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Streaming
giant Netflix on Wednesday announced a long-term partnership with
Karan Johar's digital arm Dharmatic Entertainment to create a broad
range of new fiction and non-fiction series and films exclusively for
its viewers.
Johar,
who first collaborated with Netflix on the 2018 anthology film "Lust
Stories", is also directing "Ghost Stories" and
producing "Guilty" for Netflix.
The
reach of "Lust Stories", he said, made him realise that
"sky is the limit" with such partnership.
"What
we have decided to do is basically come together to create content to
empower not only ourselves, but also the consumer, and to make sure
that we can create diverse content across genres, and engage not just
an Indian or diaspora audience but an Asian audience," Johar
told PTI in an interview.
His
brush with Netflix, the filmmaker added, led to the setting up of
Dharmatic.
Having
grown up in the lap of mainstream cinema, Johar said, he will always
have a strong and romantic relationship with celluloid. But the
partnership with Netflix offered him freedom from the fear of the
Friday box office.
"There
is one aspect, which is very daunting in all our existence, is the
pressure of the Friday box office performance and then the general
performance of your film, which looms large on us filmmakers.
"But
when you have a platform where you can showcase your creativity and
your content and you don't have the pressure of the box office, then
you are given wings to fly," Johar said.According to Monika
Shergill, head, Series, International Originals, Netflix India, they
were looking forward to Johar's take on series, which is a relatively
new format of storytelling in India...Read
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With
over 1.4 billion active installed base of devices globally and
millions in India - iPhones, iPads, Apple TV, Macs, iPod touch and
more - Apple has finally flexed its muscles to take on content
streaming giants like Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime and Disney with
aggressive pricing, free offers and all-original stories.
The
announcement of a much cheaper Apple TV+ subscription than expected
(Rs 99 a month in India and $4.99 in the US and other countries)
immediately saw shares of Netflix, Disney and Roku tumbling down as
Apple, which has nearly $210 billion cash at its disposal, has sensed
the mammoth streaming opportunity that lies ahead and is going to
open its coffers for creating more originals, even in regional
languages.
Indians
today spend 30 per cent of their phone time and over 70 per cent of
mobile data on entertainment and movies are their preferred choice on
smart TV and larger screens.An over-the-top (OTT) viewer in India is
spending approximately 70 minutes a day on video streaming platforms,
with a consumption frequency of 12.5 times a week, an Eros Now-KPMG
report said last week.
When
we look at the data consumption, In India, the Internet video traffic
is projected to reach 13.5 Exabytes (EB) per month by 2022 -- up from
1.5 EB a month in 2017 -- with video contributing 77 per cent of all
Internet traffic by 2022.The opportunities are enormous and Apple TV+
with its large installed device base is smiling at its rivals who
lack the vantage point of being in your home in the form of an iphone
or iPad.
"Apple
built on their integrated ecosystem advantage by announcing
low-monthly pricing for Apple Arcade and Apple TV+, and a free year
of Apple TV for a buyer of an Apple device," said Frank Gillett,
Vice President and Principal Analyst at Forrester....Read
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With
a 'binge-watch' culture at its peak and people hooked to
high-definition TVs, laptops, even smartphones, the need for
immersive audio is only obvious — sub-par sound quality mars the
experience of watching your favourite series or movie.
If
you are a binge-watcher looking your kind of audio device, the Sony
HT-X8500 soundbar with Dolby Atmos, launched in May this year, might
help clear the morass. With a slew of worthy features, this soundbar
easily outdoes the others in its price segment.
Sony
HT-X8500 Soundbar Priced at Rs 29,990, the 2.1-channel soundbar has a
built-in subwoofer in the middle centre with two wide-range drivers
at both ends. What’s more, it also offers Dolby Atmos, DTS X, and
virtual 7.1.2-channel surround sound. This lightweight but sturdy
soundbar has a metal covering on its front and can be easily mounted
on a wall.
Built
with design intricacies in mind, the soundbar also sports touch-based
controls and indicator lights on top for Bluetooth, TV, HDMI,
Vertical Surround, Atmos, and DTS X. These complement the overall
structure and lift the looks.
Sony
HT-X8500 Soundbar But what amazes you the most are Dolby Atmos sound
and Vertical Surround Engine, which help deliver an immersive sound
experience. I was happy to have drawn the attention of several people
at a boring get-together at home by just playing a recent Netflix
original on this device. With dim lights and high volume, it felt
like a mini theatre.
I
liked the clean set-up as I could finally avoid the clutter of wires
and simply connect the soundbar to my TV, phone or tablet using
Bluetooth. There also are other connectivity options, such as an
optical input, HDMI input and also the HDMI pass-through...Read
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Days
before the July 4 holiday in the US, hundreds of fans of “Stranger
Things” lined up along the beach in Santa Monica, California, to
attend a fair modeled after the Netflix Inc. show. Clad in shirts
with the names of characters and the high school in fictional
Indiana, they waited more than an hour to ride a Ferris wheel, eat
ice cream and snap selfies in a photo booth.
The
event, one of two in the US, is part of the biggest marketing
campaign ever undertaken by Netflix, the world’s largest paid
online TV network. Over the past few weeks, Netflix has attached
“Stranger Things” to Schwinn bikes, Nike shoes and Coke soft
drinks -- all to hype the Independence Day arrival of the show’s
third season.
On
Monday, Netflix begins a long promotion with Microsoft Corp. The tech
giant is bringing back Windows 1, the first version of the software
that made it the most valuable company. The app includes Microsoft
Paint and the word processor Write, as well as games and videos from
“Stranger Things.” The show is set in 1985, the same year Windows
1 was released.
Like
any campaign, this one is designed to draw in current fans and
attract potential new ones. And it worked. The third season was
viewed by 40.7 million households in its first four days, a record
for Netflix. More than 18 million households watched all eight
episodes.
But
it’s also an important test of whether Netflix can turn “Stranger
Things,” already its most popular original show in the U.S., into
something much bigger. The company, with worldwide subscribers
approaching 160 million, is beginning to angle for a piece of the
$122 billion consumers spend on entertainment-linked merchandise.“The
category is massive, and Netflix wants to play a part,” said Gene
Del Vecchio, a consultant and adjunct marketing professor at the
University of Southern California...Read
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Amazon.com
Inc plans to deliver packages to members of its loyalty club Prime in
just one day, instead of two days, part of a spending ramp-up that
may curb near-term profits and will up the ante for retail rivals
such as Walmart Inc.
Shares
rose as much as 2 per cent in after-hours trade on Thursday as Amazon
said faster shipping will come to customers around the world and said
its profit more than doubled in the first quarter, trouncing
estimates thanks to soaring demand for its cloud and ad services.
The
news marks a costly challenge for competitors that will have to pour
money into a logistics problem that even the king of e-commerce has
yet to solve. Amazon expects to spend $800 million toward the
shipping goal in the second quarter alone.
"There's
a lot of error bars around this programme, especially from the cost
side," Amazon's Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky told
analysts on a conference call. "We (are) again, trying to take
advantage of the fulfilment capacity and transportation capacity,
especially with third-party partners, that we have."
While
Olsavsky did not provide a concrete timeline for the program's
rollout, he said, "We expect to make steady progress quickly and
through the year."
US
rivals Walmart and Target Corp have steadily rolled out two-day
shipping, albeit on far fewer items than Amazon Prime customers can
get at that speed for $119 a year in the United States. Olsavsky said
the "vast majority" of Amazon's selection is available in
two days, and the company has already expanded the number of goods
eligible for same-day and two-hour delivery.
"Amazon
is cranking it up a notch, trying to set themselves apart," said
Cathy Morrow Roberson, a former UPS analyst who founded consulting
firm Logistics Trends & Insights....Read
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Eight
years after the first season premiered, the long-awaited winter has
finally come – Game of Thrones’ final season is here. The
television series created by David Benioff and Daniel Brett Weiss
from the books by George RR Martin has built a rich and complex
multi-thread plot-knot of epic battles, of the living and the undead,
of long owed-debts to be paid, and of the culmination of clan
stratagems to win the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms.
But
at the end of season seven in the autumn of 2017, it wasn’t the
clan warfare that had us cliffhanging, but the thought of the army of
undead white walkers and their zombie dragon bearing down on
Westeros.
Many
millions of fans are waiting breathlessly for the denouement – and
it’s a legion of fans that has grown exponentially over the
eight-year run. In the US, for example, the audience has grown from
2.5m viewers in the first season (2011) to an average of 10.3m during
season seven, which peaked at more than 12m viewers during the season
seven finale on August 27, 2017.
According
to MUSO, a magazine which specialises in piracy, the first episode of
season seven alone was pirated 91.74m times and the season
accumulated more than a billion illegal downloads a week after it
ended.
So
many people viewing outside of the official channels doesn’t just
suggest the incredibly large audience GoT can attract, it also
demonstrates the growth in illegal downloading of television shows –
11% last year – despite the effort of the streaming technologies to
kill off piracy.
Piracy
has its rewards
But
this hasn’t necessarily been a problem for HBO. In 2013, the boss
of Time-Warner (which owns HBO), Jeff Bewkes, declared that piracy
was: “Better than an Emmy” because more people watching the show
inevitably led to more people deciding to pay for subscriptions.
Walt
Disney Co priced its highly anticipated streaming video service below
Netflix in an aggressive move to challenge the dominant streaming
service and entice families to buy yet another monthly subscription.
Disney
said on Thursday its new family-friendly streaming service will cost
$7 monthly or $70 annually with a slate of new and classic TV shows
and movies from some of the world's most popular entertainment
franchises in a bid to challenge the digital dominance of Netflix.
The
ad-free monthly subscription called Disney+ is set to launch on Nov.
12 and in every major global market over time, the company said. In
addition to Disney films and TV shows, it will feature programming
from the Marvel superhero universe, the "Star Wars" galaxy,
"Toy Story" creator Pixar animation the National Geographic
channel and the entire library of "The Simpsons."
"What
we are putting forward is an aggressive strategy," Disney Chief
Executive Bob Iger told analysts at the presentation. "We've got
to be very serious and all in on it."
The
company set a target of luring between 60 million to 90 million
subscribers and achieving profitability in fiscal year 2024. It plans
to plow a little over $1 billion in cash to finance original
programming in fiscal 2020 and about $2 billion by 2024.
The
cost of the service was lower than the $7.50 per month that Wall
Street analysts expected on average, according to a Reuters poll, and
could likely be seen as a stronger bid to appeal to more customers.To
get it in front of more people, Disney said it has struck deals with
Roku Inc and Sony Corp to distribute Disney+ on streaming devices and
console gaming systems and expects it to be widely available on smart
televisions, tablets, and other outlets by launch...Read
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