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It’s clear by now Xiaomi will always be on a launch spree, whether it’s a smartphone or an eco-system product, nothing can stop the young juggernaut. The brand has been teasing the launch of the Redmi K20 series in India for months now and it’s finally here.

The K20 Pro and K20 have been launched in the country at a very competitive price and demand for it is already very high. Initially, Xiaomi will be shipping the device via its Alpha Sale for which registration had started a week back and more than 70,000 buyers have already registered. The Redmi K20 Pro will go on limited sale starting July 22 via Mi.com, Flipkart, and Mi Home stores.

Both phones sport a 6.4-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display with a screen-to-body ratio of almost 92 percent. On the front is a 20-megapixel pop-up selfie camera while the rear has a triple camera setup. It consists of a 48-megapixel lens (IMX586 on the K20 Pro and IMX 582 on K20), 13-megapixel wide-angle lens, and an 8-megapixel telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom.

The camera app comes with AI-backed portrait mode, beauty enhancements, and automatic scene recognition. To protect the pop-up module from damage, the phone’s gyroscope detects falls and automatically retracts.

Powering the K20 Pro is the latest Snapdragon 855 processor and the K20 is backed by a Snapdragon 730 chip. A 4000mAh battery provides all the juice and charges via 27W SonicCharge technology. The display also houses a fingerprint scanner and there’s also support for face unlock. Lastly, the design is P2i splash proof thanks to a resistant nano-coating.

The Redmi K20 Pro is priced at INR 27,999 (US$ 406) for the 6GB+128GB variant and INR 30,999 (US$ 450) for the 8GB+256GB option.

On the other hand, the K20 is priced at INR 21,999 (US$ 320) for the 6GB+64GB option and INR 23,999 (US$ 350) for 6GB+128GB configuration. Both the phones are available in Fire and Ice colors.

Xiaomi also announced the launch of Mi Neckband Bluetooth Earphones for INR 1,599 (US$ 23) and Mi Rechargeable LED Lamp for INR 1,499 (US$ 21).

Content is the next big thing in India, with a population of 1.3 billion people and dirt cheap internet, there are unlimited possibilities. Companies have been flooding the internet with original content and this includes multi-national streaming platforms like Netflix, Prime Video, as well as YouTube.

Netflix has been active in the country for a couple of years now and the streaming market has been extremely competitive. Thanks to homegrown players like Hotstar, Sony LIV, and more, the audience has a huge appetite for local as well as international content. We already know Netflix’s international game is on point, but how does it plan to lure the average Indian user?

Originals are the answer, and the service has tied up with local studios to bring onboard A-list stars for new shows and movies. It has already released a host of new series and intends to take a step further with five more.

The five series will be developed in collaboration with companies such as Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment and Anushka Sharma’s Clean Slate Films. The shows will cover genres such as young adult, drama, thriller, horror, and comedy.

Bombay Begums will follow the varied journeys of five women who bond in contemporary urban India. Mai will see a 40-plus docile wife and mother who finds herself sucked into a vortex of violence and politics following a personal tragedy.

One of the most popular actors in the country, Shahrukh Khan is backing Betaal, a horror series based in a remote village that serves as the battleground between British Indian Army officer Betaal, his battalion of zombie redcoats, and the Indian police.

Messy follows an emerging standup comic who struggles to balance a career in comedy with a day job and a demanding family. Masaba Masaba is a scripted series based on the real lives of fashion designer Masaba Gupta and her actress mother Neena Gupta (“Badhaai Ho”), will feature the duo playing themselves.

Netflix’s previous stint with the Sacred Games has been an instant hit in the country and the second season of the show is slated for release on August 15, celebrating India’s Independence Day.

Globalization by localization

Other streaming sites are stepping up their game but the one in particular that Netflix is preparing for is by media giant Disney. The company is set to launch their own streaming service called Disney Plus on November 2019. They’re a real threat considering the content catalogue at their disposal which include Marvel, Star Wars, and many others.

Netflix’s answer is a host of original content. The company already started this year with titles like Kingdom gaining notoriety from audiences worldwide despite it being a mostly South Korean production. Netflix got the idea from the popularity of another series ported from Japan — Terrace House.

Another strategy users of the service noticed is the influx of animé on Netflix. They recently added the classic Neon Genesis Evangelion to their catalogue and it was also announced that a Philippine-made comic book called Trese will be adapted into animé by the company.