Netflix, Inc. Makes A Surprise Entry In Various Asian Market

Netflix, Inc. shocked the world with its latest release – unless you are sitting in China, Syria, North Korea or the Crimea, you are blessed enough to access the video streaming media service. There was an unprecedented global expansion into 130 countries on January 6, 2015. The original content by the media giant had made its services available in all over the world however the categories might vary from country to country.

Earlier on Wednesday, the video streaming service was launched in India and Russia but not China, catering to over 70 million potential customers in those regions. So the total countries that the service is now available in is 190; now it just need to be in 20 more countries by the end of 2016. This news was revealed at the CES 2016 conference held in Las Vegas, where the media giant had planned to announce the entry into the Indian market.

Along with making the expected announced, it added to it the launch in Russia as well as Indonesia. It is safe to say that the on demand video subscription service is now available in some of the largest countries of the world. Initially in 2015, the company was in talks with Alibaba Group Holding regarding a potential partnership but soon after the Chinese e-commerce giant launched its on video streaming service in the country.

The chief executive officer of one of America’s largest media companies, Reed Hastings stated that it hopes to enter the Chinese market in the near future, as per a blog post by Variety’s Live Blog. Another official announcement was made by the company suggesting that the service will most likely not be available in North Korea, Crimea as well as Syria due to restrictions by the U.S. government.

In the new market, Netflix, Inc. has planned to keep its same pricing strategy. In India, the pricing starts with 500 Indian Rupees which is $7.49 per month for the basic, single user, non-HD package. The standard and premium packages come in about 650 Indian Rupees ($9.75 per month) and 800 Indian Rupees ($11.99). At this point, the customers of the new market are only able to make payments via credit and debit cards. It is highly expected that it might get into partnership with various mobile carriers so that the millions of users who do not own a credit or a debit card are able to make payments easily.

Facebook Releases tvOS kit For Apple Support

The social media giant has released a new software developing kit for tvOS users

According to recent Facebook news as presented by 9to5Mac, it was seen that the social media giant released its first development kit which is to be compatible with Apple's tvOS. As the management of the company, it was reported that this software development kit has been offered to the software developers by the media giant to provide them with a wider platform to experiment with their developing skills in a much improved manner and that with the new SDK, this will be made easier for them. The new kit reportedly works in interesting ways to promote the usage of the social media network for the Apple TV users.

The SDK kit has been deemed as an important addition to the hardware being made by the Facebook software business and that it is believed to be established for the sole reason of a better than before social media experience for the users along with options to share posts on their profiles as well as other options like Facebook Analytics. Moreover, the SDK coming in from Mark Zuckerberg's company is being considered as an effort made especially by the giant to put in their input in the development of software for tvOS. 

According to reports, the SDK has a couple of interesting features which might bring a lot of developers to buy the kit in order to test their developing skills on the gadget. The users will be able to log in to all the different profiles and accounts being used on the SDK through a single account only. The social media company clearly believes that the users might find it an unwanted task to use a remote control to get their tasks done on the kit, which is why a new option has been given to them on the new kit which will give them a chance to log in on the gadget by using a confirmation code. 

As per statements by the Facebook management, it has been made official that the giant is also working on an app using which the users will be getting to experience the TV experience in a much more advanced manner.The users on the tvOS will also be shown similar content on their searches based on the social media experience that they might have had on the platform. This will determine a better approach to searching as well, according to analysts' belief. The developers who make more apps on the kit will also be able to share their production with others on the network.

Facebook Expands More, Offers Free Internet to More Countries

The social media giant is planning to expand its Internet.org program to more countries, followed by success in 29 countries.

Facebook is growing as a social media company at an alarming speed on a global level and it is a fact that nobody can deny. The media company recently started a program called Internet.org through which it determined the presence of internet in even those countries that were previously deprived of it. This also included particular areas in developing countries where the basic internet facilities are still not available. Through this project, it not only offered services free but also got itself recognized and known in the eyes of the previously unprivileged people.

The social media giant has recently stated that it is planning to expand the Internet.org program to all those countries left to be touched by the internet and will be doing so eventually. Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of the social network company, seems to be taking this idea very seriously and holds the opinion that everyone on the planet deserves to be given access to the knowledge that pours in through easy accessibility of basic internet facilities.

The social media company has already carried out provision of internet in 29 countries, reaching out to around 15 million people in total, which were previously kept in the dark due to multiple reasons. Analysts believe that the despite the arguments that have been emerging from all parts of the world, especially coming from India and Bangladesh, the program hinder the progress and idea of a free internet space with equal preference given to every site is becoming a problem with the new Facebook project.

The criticism also comes in from companies who believe that their sites are being given a low preference while other sites are preferred more through the service that the media company has decided to provide.

Even though some countries have created arguments and filed lawsuits against the social network giant for not promoting free internet in the country, some analysts believe that this program coming from its side is definitely praiseworthy, given how it has been raising awareness and creating opportunities for the parts of world that were completely ignored by the rest of the world.

Rumors also suggest that the giant might also be considered using a special aircraft called the Aquila, which will then be sent down in remote areas to provide internet services to those areas, and considered as an incredible idea to begin with. People are expecting reasonable service from Facebook that will connect them.