South Africa-based pay TV multichoice has partnered with Comcast NBC Universal and Sky to create top-notch content and technology for streaming customers across multichoice markets.

These companies will form a new Showmax group, powered by Peacock’s leading globally scaled technology, which will see Multichoice own 70 percent and NBC own 30 percent. It will build on Showmax’s success to date and aim to create a leading streaming service in Africa.

The partnership will bring about a combination of MultiChoice’s eccentric local content with a unique pipeline of award-winning and critically acclaimed international content licensed from NBCUniversal and Sky, third-party content from HBO, Warner Brothers International, Sony, and others, as well as live English Premier League (EPL) football. 

Speaking on Multichoice’s partnership with other streaming services, Chief Executive Officer of Multichoice Calvo Mawela said,

“We launched Showmax as the first African streaming service in 2015 and are extremely proud of its success to date. This agreement represents a great opportunity for our Showmax team to scale even greater heights by working with a leading global player in Comcast and its subsidiaries.

“The new business venture deepens an already strong relationship and builds on the Sky Glass technology partnership that we announced in September last year. We believe we are extremely well positioned to create a winning platform going forward.”

Also, the CEO of Sky, a British media and telecommunications conglomerate, believes that the company’s partnership with Multichoice and other streaming services will help to innovate Showmax streaming service, offering consumers diverse quality content.

Showmax streaming service offers consumers a wide variety of award-winning TV shows, kids’ shows, movies, documentaries, Showmax Originals, sports, and more. Users can watch as much as they want, whenever they want without a single advert.

Investors King understands that the partnership of Multichoice, Sky, and Comcast NBC Universal, will deepen content on the platform, offering subscribers access to an extensive premium content portfolio, bringing African audiences the best of local and international programs.

German luxury and commercial vehicle brand Mercedes Benz recently revealed the interior of its 2024 E-class, which boasts an array of exciting features such as built-in apps like TikTok, Zoom, Angry Birds, and more.

The latest version of the brand’s best-selling model comes equipped with software that allows for the installation of these apps without an in-car intermediary such as Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. Instead, more apps can be installed directly into the vehicle through over-the-air software updates.

To facilitate third-party app integration into the infotainment system, Mercedes developed a new software architecture and introduced a new app store, accessible via the Mercedes me app.

The 2024 model will also feature an updated version of the MBUX infotainment system, which serves as a precursor to Mercedes’s custom-built operating system, the MB. OS, slated for launch in the automaker’s next-generation vehicles, expected to debut in late 2024.

A web browser will also be available for download. While some car models, including Tesla’s and some other Mercedes models, already have built-in web browsers, this one will be accessible to the front passenger and available as an optional feature with a dedicated touchscreen.

According to Mercedes CEO Ola Källenius, the choice of different apps was based on a survey conducted across various regions to determine which app was most commonly used. For example, the installation of TikTok was targeted for the Asian market.

Investors King understands that one of the major upgrades in the 2024 E-Class is the Super Screen, which combines the standard central touchscreen with a second display in front of the passenger. However, unlike the EQS’s Hyper screen, the digital gauge cluster remains a standalone display.

It is worth noting that the new E-Class will be one of Mercedes’ last gas-powered cars, as the brand is poised to transition to an all-electric vehicle lineup by 2030.

Giant EV automaker and clean energy company Tesla has disclosed plans to issue a free over-the-air (OTA) software update for its vehicles, over issues with some of its model’s full self-driving software.

The software update will be released free of charge, as owners’ notification letters are expected to be mailed by April 15, 2023.

According to reports, Tesla will recall 362,758 of its vehicles due to issues with the full self-driving feature that allows vehicles to exceed speed limits or drive through intersections in an unlawful and unpredictable manner which often results in a crash.

These issues affect a range of Tesla models such as Model 3, Model X, Model Y, and Model S units manufactured between 2016 and 2023.

According to filings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), it disclosed that Tesla’s FSD beta system may cause crashes because it forces some of its models to act unsafe around intersections such as traveling straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane, entering a stop sigh-controlled intersection without coming to a complete stop.

Last year in December, a driver reported to authorities that his Tesla’s “full-self driving” software braked unexpectedly and triggered an eight-car pile-up in San Francisco Bay Area, which led to nine people being treated for minor injuries including a Juvenile who was hospitalized.

Investors King understands that Tesla’s Full-Self driving feature is a controversial feature that has gotten the automaker into a series of trouble with regulators investigating major issues such as phantom breaking.

The Full-self Driving (FSD) feature has been hyped up and promised for years, but it is still not at the full release stage yet. The feature did take what should have been a massive leap forward late last year when a beta version was rolled out for customers, unfortunately, it has continued to pose serious problems.