A much-anticipated new streaming service has just launched, with a pretty significant twist: all of its shows are less than 10 minutes long.
Quibi is a mobile-first streaming service, meaning its content is designed to be watched on mobile phones. A built-in feature called Turnstile allows the video to stay full screen in both portrait and landscape modes. And it's already available in the UAE.
Positioned as a rival to industry juggernauts Netflix and YouTube, the service straddles the two platforms. Any content longer than 10 minutes, such as movies, are broken down into chunks.
Sound bizarre? Well, maybe, but it has certainly come armed with plenty of star power, as Hollywood superstars such as Jennifer Lopez, Idris Elba, Sophie Turner, Chrissy Teigen and Steven Spielberg are all involved in Quibi shows.
Reese Witherspoon announced the platform's launch on her own Instagram account, as she narrates new documentary show Fierce Queens, all about the females of the animal kingdom.
The service costs $4.99 (Dh18) a month with advertisements and $7.99 for ad-free viewing, although there is a 90-day free trial available in the US. It was expected to be rolled out to other countries in the coming weeks, but it appears to be working in the UAE now.
The company had raised $1.8 billion for the project, and stuck to its Monday, April 6 launch date, despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Its chief executive Meg Whitman and founder Jeffrey Katzenberg had intended for the platform with its bite-sized content to primarily target viewers wanting something to watch on their commute or during a short break. However, much of those activities are now less of a daily occurrence as countries around the world get used to a life lived primarily indoors due to the coronavirus outbreak.
He's overseen the production of many of Hollywood's biggest outputs: The Lion King, Good Morning Vietnam, Star Trek, Shrek, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and plenty more.
Whitman currently serves on the boards of Procter & Gamble and Dropbox. She was previously the president and chief executive of Hewlett Packard.
Social media has not been particularly kind to the new platform, however. As well as a brief first day outage, many users have complained about the cost, while others lamented that they couldn't share what they were watching with housemates or partners.
Then there were those who complained about watching an entire TV show on a smartphone – which is essentially the whole point of the service.
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Read more:
Disney+ content is coming to the Middle East with OSN this April
From Nickelodeon cartoons to Emirates history: free resources for children in the UAE
15 shows, books and podcasts helping get us by while we're social distancing
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Read more about the coronavirus
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
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Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
