InMobi unit rolls out interactive platform for Android TV screens

InMobi’s Glance, a Singapore-based consumer internet company, has rolled out Glance TV, a live and interactive content platform for the home screen of Android smart televisions.

A screenshot of Glance TV / Photo credit: Glance

On Glance TV, users can interact directly with personalities in real time. They can also shape the direction of the content through live comments, reactions, and polls.

Through QR codes presented in the live shows, users can also buy tickets for movies and events, shop live, and get their social media posts featured on Glance TV streams.

Glance, which is a subsidiary of mobile marketing firm InMobi, has partnered with several content providers to provide users with fresh and personalized content every day. The Google-backed company will also be creating content in categories such as gaming, sports, cooking, news, commerce, entertainment, and fitness for the new platform.

Glance TV is already available on 250,000 television screens in India. The company is in talks with major original equipment manufacturers for partnerships to roll out the feature.

“We aim to be available on at least 30% of all smart television screens by the end of this year,” Manish Kumar Gupta, senior vice president and general manager at Glance, told Tech in Asia. According to the company’s estimates, there are nearly 76 million smart television sets in India.

“Glance has reimagined the lock screen of smartphones into a live screen for personalized, live content. With Glance TV, we want to redefine television experiences just as we did with smartphones,” said Piyush Shah, co-founder of InMobi Group and president and COO of Glance.

In February, the InMobi unit raised US$200 million in a series D round funded solely by Indian telecommunications company Jio at a valuation of US$1.7 billion.

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