Disney+ Hotstar has announced new features for its mobile users to enhance their cricket-watching experience during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. The streaming platform has added features including MaxView – a vertical mode for the first time in the history of streaming Cricket worldwide, optimized data saving while streaming, AI-based video clarity enhancements, Always-On Cricket Scorecard Pill, and Live feed tab. The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 starts on 5th October 2023 i.e. tomorrow.
Sajith Sivanandan – Head, Disney+ Hotstar said, “Disney+ Hotstar has pioneered the market in providing unmatched live sports experiences. Our progression is deeply influenced by fan behavior, and we continuously adapt by introducing technological innovations to enhance the viewing experience, especially for users on the go. Our dedicated efforts have been channeled into building a robust product infrastructure, ensuring uninterrupted viewing even amidst the anticipated high user volume.”
The platform, in collaboration with the International Cricket Council (ICC), recently added MaxView, a technological innovation that will allow cricket fans to watch the game in vertical mode (9 x 14 portrait view), the company said. Users will have the option to stream their matches on the go in vertical mode. This feature facilitates a one-handed viewing experience, aligning with the way most users consume content. MaxView will be a brand-new, bespoke opt-in feature. Other surrounding features, such as the Live feed tab, and Scorecard tab, will also be made available in vertical mode, along with vertical ad formats.
Disney+ Hotstar has also added data-saving optimizations to enhance the video quality with minimal data usage. In addition to that, AI-based video clarity enhancements are made available, Always-On Cricket Scorecard Pill and Live feed tab for keeping users up-to-date during important events in the game.
The platform is also introducing a new content discovery feature called the Coming Soon tray for seamless content discovery. This feature allows users to set reminders for upcoming content. Furthermore, the platform will segregate free and paid content in separate trays by providing Free Callouts on the homepage trays, making content discovery easier for free users.
