TOD partners with Skyworth's QVWi to launch 4K streaming set-top box in MENA
Doha, Qatar – TOD, the leading streaming platform for sports and entertainment in the MENA region, and Skyworth, a global leader in STB technology, have announced a strategic partnership at Web Summit Qatar 2025. This collaboration combines Skyworth's cutting-edge QVWi 4K set-top box technology with the premium content offered by TOD, creating an unmatched entertainment experience for viewers across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
Designed to meet the demands of today's digital-first consumer, the device features a Google driven interface with a voice-controlled remote for effortless operation and online searches. Furthermore, the device offers a premium entertainment experience with ultravivid imaging of Dolby Vision® and immersive sound of Dolby Atmos® when connected with a compatible TV, bringing cinematic experience into homes.Perhaps most importantly, the Leap S3 is equipped with 4k resolution and High Dynamic range, including Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG technology, dramatically enhancing picture quality with richer colors and deeper contrast.
'The collaboration with Skyworth marks a significant step in our mission to deliver an elevated streaming experience to our audience,' said John Paul Mckerlie, VP – Marketing & Sales at TOD. 'By combining our premium content offerings with Skyworth's advanced set-top box technology, we're ensuring that our viewers across the region can enjoy the best sports and entertainment in the highest quality available.'
The QVWi set-top box is engineered to offer a premium viewing experience with lightning-fast Amlogic S905Y4 Quad A35processors for a fluid responsive experience. Its dual-band Wifi 5 provides stable connectivity, reducing buffering and lag – two of the key frustrations for streaming consumers. Equipped with optical SPDIF for connection to external sound systems and Bluetooth compatibility for wireless audio devices, the STB offers versatility in audio setup. The device is compatible with a broad range of TVs and home entertainment systems, ensuring that content on TOD is accessible to a wide array of consumers.
'Most consumers today are looking for a streaming device that offers a smooth and interactive experience. We have built the Leap S3 with exactly that in mind, delivering effortless access to the TOD application and various streaming services. This partnership with TOD is an exciting opportunity to combine Skyworth's technological innovation with the platform's leadership in sports and entertainment,' said Marios Stavrou Business Development Director of MEA from Skyworth. 'Together, we are introducing a new way for viewers to experience entertainment in the region, driven by cutting-edge technology and high-quality content.'
This partnership is poised to meet the region's demand for high-quality, fast, and seamless streaming experiences. For TOD, the collaboration will expand its reach, offering viewers a comprehensive range of entertainment options through Skyworth's established regional distribution networks.
The STB is currently available in online and retail stores across the UAE and will soon be available in markets across Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, and Tunisia.
About TOD
TOD brings premium sports and entertainment content to viewers across the MENA region. The platform offers over 60,000 hours of premium Arabic, Turkish, International, Blockbuster, and Children's Entertainment content, including titles from leading Western Studios. TOD is also the leading sports streaming platform for MENA, with exclusive rights to live-stream matches from various sporting events, including the UEFA Champions League, Premier League, La Liga, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Turkish Super Lig, Europa League, NBA, ONE Championship, Davis Cup, ATP Tour, all four Grand Slams and Formula 1 among the notable ones.
About Skyworth
Skyworth has been a global leader in consumer electronics since 1988, specializing in smart home solutions and set-top box (STB) technology. Known for its innovation in TVs, AI-driven devices, and IoT ecosystems, the company has built a strong international presence. With a focus on enhancing everyday life, Skyworth continues to evolve, delivering cutting-edge technology for smarter homes and better entertainment
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Zawya
14 hours ago
- Zawya
Is AI the culprit in new wave of tech job losses?
Thousands of Africans are among tech workers who have lost their jobs this year, as hundreds of companies move to trim their workforce — an upheaval many have blamed on the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI). Last week, global software giant Microsoft announced retrenchment of three percent of its workforce – about 6,000 employees – across the globe, describing it as a move to optimise resources. But Microsoft is not alone. So far in 2025, at least 75,463 tech workers have been laid off globally, as 317 companies announce redundancies, according to tech talent consultancy and tracker TrueUp. Other major firms that have let go of staff this year include Google, TikTok, Amazon, Chegg, Electronic Arts, Meta, Intel, Canva, Hewlett-Packard (HP), AutoDesk and eBay, among others. While none of these companies has explicitly cited AI automation as the cause of their layoffs, many observers have pointed to the technology's rapid proliferation as the underlying threat – one that could jeopardise millions of jobs across the world. Yet experts in the industry view the concern differently, dismissing it as an overreaction to a shifting digital landscape.'AI cannot replace a developer. But an AI-proficient developer can replace another developer who has refused to embrace AI,' said Caleb Nyoiro, director of Zone 01 Kisumu, a training centre for tech workers.'I think it is now cliché to say that AI is replacing developers. Developers with AI proficiency will get more jobs and more money. That is the reality. It is only those who have shown no interest in learning AI that will lose their jobs.'Indeed, several studies suggest that AI is ultimately poised to create more jobs than it will eliminate – particularly in fields that demand higher-order thinking and innovation. A 2023 report by the World Economic Forum, for instance, projected that jobs requiring critical thinking, complex problem-solving and creativity are more likely to be enhanced than replaced by AI. Read: AI may not take your job anytime soon, says MITThese include roles such as software developers, engineers, and mathematicians, where AI is expected to augment about 80 percent of tasks, without fully taking over. Still, the impact will not be entirely painless. Data firm Statista estimated that 83 million jobs could be lost to AI between 2023 and 2027, while the technology is expected to create only 69 million new ones during the same period. Yet surprisingly, most professionals are not alarmed. A study published last month by the Pew Research Centre found that while 56 percent of Americans are 'extremely or very concerned' about AI-related job losses, only 25 percent of AI experts share that concern. The same study revealed that experts are far more optimistic than the public about the opportunities presented by AI. While they do worry about issues such as misinformation and digital impersonation, they express far less anxiety about AI-triggered job displacement. Even global financial institutions have dismissed blanket job displacements by AI. A January 2024 discussion paper by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) suggested that AI would widen income inequality – not because of massive job losses, but due to growing income gaps between workers who can adopt and use AI and those who can't. © Copyright 2022 Nation Media Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Campaign ME
17 hours ago
- Campaign ME
Brand versus performance? Is this really the fight?
Our industry loves a good debate. And over the past decade, we have been having one – around brand and performance. You either build emotional connections, or you drive measurable action. You either play the long game, or you deliver this quarter's numbers. Pick a side. We have been pushed into silos, particularly since measuring the business impact of digital ad investments became a mainstream approach in marketing. This shift gave rise to new structures within marketing functions – structures where on one side we have the brand team, armed with storytelling, culture and creativity. On the other, we have the performance team, armed with dashboards, attribution models and media efficiency targets. Different teams. Different budgets. Different KPIs. Often working in isolation, or worse, at odds with one another. This divide has led to ineffective decisions. Performance marketing wins favour because it is easier to measure and appears more efficient. Brand marketing often gets deprioritised because its impact takes longer to surface. But in truth, neither works in isolation. And both are incomplete without the other. At its core, marketing is becoming more fragmented, and measurement is becoming more difficult. Over the last few years, we have seen a shift: from measuring everything to measuring what is measurable. And that shift risks missing what truly matters. Here is my view. All marketing is performance Because what matters to the businesses we work with is growth. If it does not move the needle in leads, conversions, sales, profit or customers, then it does not matter. It might look great. It might even win an award. But if it does not deliver outcomes, it does not sustain for the longer term. The marketing world is evolving as fast as the technology behind it. CMOs are rewriting the growth playbook in real time. Retail media is exploding – new, closed ecosystems are emerging not just globally but also in our region. Budgets are shifting beyond Meta and Google for certain industries where the conversion cycle is relatively longer. Creators are emerging as scalable media channels. Large language model (LLM)-optimised search engine optimisation (SEO) is gaining traction. Search is being redefined, with inbound traffic from ChatGPT, Perplexity and others increasing month over month. We are moving from a search-driven world to an intent-first, moment-driven ecosystem. It is time to rethink everything. Modern marketing is transitioning from brand-versus-performance to marketing performance, and from the age of channels into the age of outcomes. The lines between brand and performance will blur. Not because one will replace the other, but because both must integrate to drive sustainable momentum. What happens to creative in a brand-meets-performance ecosystem? Real marketing power emerges when brand fuels performance storytelling, and creativity is held accountable to business outcomes. I believe the industries poised for growth will be those that embrace performance storytelling –where personalisation is no longer optional, but essential. Why does brand versus performance matter now more than ever? This shift demands that we stop thinking in silos of 'brand' versus 'performance' ownership. I have sat in meetings where marketing was reduced to a cost line, and I have watched marketers defend million-dollar brand campaigns with metrics like reach, impressions and video views. It is not their fault. That is what the industry has rewarded. But chief financial officers do not buy into narratives. They buy into outcomes. That is where our narrative, 'Always Relevant' comes in. It is not just a line we use at Platformance. It is how we operate. Instead of chasing awareness for awareness' sake, we look at moments that matter. What are people searching for, talking about, buying into today? Not as a campaign cycle. As a living, breathing ecosystem. And when relevance is the goal, brand and performance have to work together. Not as separate campaigns, but as part of the same motion. Your brand generates demand. Your performance activity captures the demand. When the two are in sync, marketing starts delivering like a growth engine. The reality? Most companies do not need more ads. They need more alignment – between the creative and the commercial. That does not mean you ditch brand entirely for sales-led tactics. It means you build a brand that sells. And a performance engine that does not forget the power of advocacy. One of the best campaigns I have seen recently in the month of Ramadan did not shout out with a multi-million dollar marketing drive. But it landed because the product, the message, the channel and the timing were all built around a single truth: relevance beats noise. So we need to move beyond the question of 'what does the brand stand for?' and ask something more direct: 'what does the brand do for the business?' That is the future of marketing I believe in. And if we get it right, we will stop debating about 'brand-versus-performance' entirely. Because the customer does not care which team made the ad. They just care it works. By Waseem Afzal, Founder, Platformance
Web Release
2 days ago
- Web Release
M2M: The NEW Search Mantra
Marketers have spent the past decade obsessing over Google rankings and social algorithms, and yes, those things have been important in how brands tell their story, find customers, and build loyalty. Here is the gamechanger. You are not just marketing to humans anymore. For the entirety of your lifetime, you have only seen people sell to humans (B2C) or to businesses run by humans (B2B). Artificial Intelligence is creating new rules of marketing. AI is not a passing tsunami. It is a permanent tectonic shift in the way we do business. AI is the new front door to your business for millions of consumers. Google's recently rolled out two new features that are changing how search works: AI Mode and AI Overviews. AI Overviews are those AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of search results. About 30% of searches now trigger these, and they're particularly common for longer questions. Instead of clicking through to websites, people are getting their answers directly from Google. AI Mode is even more dramatic – it's a separate tab that turns search into a conversation. Instead of the usual list of blue links, you get a ChatGPT-style interface that can handle complex questions and follow-ups. You either get mentioned in the AI response, or you're invisible. According to Sharad Agarwal, CEO of Cyber Gear, 'You're not just competing for attention; you're competing for algorithmic favor. Your content needs to be optimized for engagement metrics that train prediction engines, not just humans.' AI platforms and AI agents, the digital assistants that browse and actually do things powered by models like GPT-4o, Claude 3.7 Sonnet, and Gemini 2.5 Pro are increasingly becoming the gatekeepers between your business and potential customers. AI agents are helping consumers all over the world find and interact with brands in new ways. AI agents don't have eyeballs and brains and hearts. They have parsers and models and system prompts. When an AI agent visits your site, it needs information. It's looking for clean, accessible, structured data it can easily digest and present back to users. It's looking for clear, organized content that they can gobble up and synthesize back to that human user. The visual bells and whistles will be completely wasted on an AI. These agents scrape, summarize, and synthesize the web to guide users to decisions. If your product information, docs, and CTAs aren't structured, visible, and machine-readable, you'll get leapfrogged by a competitor that is. Become AI-visible. Now. Contact Cyber Gear at to be found!
