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Its Time! Emirates’ iconic A380 returns to Dubai with world-first Starlink Wi-Fi onboard

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3 months ago

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Emirates

Emirates customers will soon enjoy a transformative leap in onboard connectivity with the ability to stream, game, browse, and work throughout their journey on personal devices

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, April 27, 2026/APO Group/ –Emirates’ (www.Emirates.com) flagship A380, long celebrated as one of aviation’s most iconic aircraft, is set to reach new heights as the first installation of next-generation Starlink Wi-Fi onboard has just been completed.

The Emirates A380 was one of the first commercial aircraft in the world to offer internet to its customers, with first generation systems offering a total aircraft bandwidth of less than 1 Mbps.  Emirates’ installation of three Starlink antennas on each A380 will improve the Wi-Fi available onboard a thousand-fold – offering a ‘better than at home’ connectivity experience for customers, while flying at 40,000 feet.

The first Emirates A380 aircraft equipped with Starlink made its return to Dubai this week, after its installation and certification was accomplished in Newquay, UK. With more A380s scheduled for accelerated installation throughout 2026, Emirates customers will soon enjoy a transformative leap in onboard connectivity with the ability to stream, game, browse, and work throughout their journey on personal devices. The service will be complimentary for all customers, across all cabins, with easy sign up and access. Future enhancements will include Live TV streaming over Starlink, initially on personal devices and later integrated into seatback screens.

From its celebrated Onboard Lounge to its signature First Class Shower Spa, the Emirates A380 has consistently redefined long-haul travel, beloved by customers from all corners of the globe. With the addition of Starlink’s seamless connectivity across all cabin classes, the Emirates A380 experience evolves once more, delivering a fully connected journey in the sky.

A technical first for the world’s largest passenger aircraft

As the world’s largest passenger aircraft, the A380 presents unique engineering challenges and opportunities. This industry-first Starlink configuration is designed to meet the demands of the A380’s ‘double-decker’ layout and high passenger capacity and is capable of delivering more than 2 Gbps of total aircraft bandwidth across the cabin.

Compared with the Emirates Boeing 777, the Emirates A380 features additional wireless access points and a third antenna to deliver an enhanced connectivity experience for its higher passenger capacity. Optimised inter‑deck integration supports a seamless Wi‑Fi experience, with customers able to enjoy high speeds depending on usage and device capability.

Accelerated rollout across an industry-leading fleet

Starlink installations will soon begin at Emirates Engineering facilities in Dubai to accelerate deployment across the fleet. Emirates is committed to bringing the best possible connectivity to its entire fleet at the earliest opportunity, with 25 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft already equipped with Starlink and the first A380 now joining service.

So far, more than 650,000 Emirates customers have already flown on Starlink‑equipped flights, experiencing the benefits of next‑generation onboard connectivity firsthand.

Emirates continuous investment into elevating customer experience

The introduction of Starlink on the A380 builds on Emirates’ ongoing investment into redefining the customer journey, including one of the most ambitious retrofit programmes in aviation history. To date, 93 Emirates aircraft have been fully refurbished (https://apo-opa.co/4d9Ldyo) featuring the installation of the widely acclaimed Premium Economy cabins, an enhanced Business Class, refreshed First Class suites, upgraded interiors and finishes in Economy Class and throughout all aspects of the cabin, and expanded and upgraded inflight systems that can offer more than 6,500 channels of entertainment.

To complement the significant upgrades across all hardware, Emirates also continues to invest in its training programmes and facilities that are instrumental to customer experience. In mid-2025, Emirates opened an US$ 8 million facility – ‘Centre of Hospitality Excellence’ (https://apo-opa.co/3QpE9VP) to train its 25,000 cabin crew in the art of hospitality onboard – bringing together both the tangible and intangible elements of an outstanding travel experience.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Emirates Group.

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YouTube is worth $40bn to advertisers but revenue growth is decelerating

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3 days ago

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July 16, 2026

By

YouTube
  • YouTube reaches 2.6 billion users, driven by its Shorts video format. Gen Z is YouTube’s most valuable and commercially active audience 
  • TV is becoming YouTube’s fastest-growing screen. Connected TV accounts for 45% of total YouTube watch time in the U.S 
  • TikTok and Netflix emerge as key competitors 
  • Marketers rank YouTube as most trusted advertising platform 

 

WARC Media’s Platform Insights: YouTube – a new report spanning investment, consumption and performance
15 July 2026 – YouTube has become one of the world’s most powerful advertising ecosystems, now competing directly with linear TV for living-room attention. It has around 2.6 billion monthly users and annual revenue exceeding $60bn in 2025, of which more than $40bn is attributed to advertising, according to WARC Media.

However, the platform’s ad business growth is slowing, and it finds itself under pressure from rivals such as Netflix and TikTok.

WARC Media’s Iatest Platform Insights report examines YouTube’s ad revenue trajectory and competitive position, how and where audiences are consuming content, and what the data says about campaign performance.

Alex Brownsell, Head of Content, WARC Media, and lead editorof the report, says: “Rising consumption of video content on YouTube, and in particular on TV screens, has not yet translated into the kind of year-on-year ad revenue growth we see elsewhere in the digital ad market. YouTube has been less successful than rivals such as TikTok in its attempts to persuade marketers of its role in driving lower-funnel outcomes, hence its growing focus on winning a greater share of TV budgets.”

Investment: YouTube advertising revenue reached $40.4bn in 2025, but growth slows

YouTube’s global ad revenue grew 11.7% year-on-year to $40.4bn in 2025, while total platform revenue, including YouTube Premium subscriptions, exceeded $60.0bn for the first time.

However, YouTube’s year-on-year ad revenue growth decelerated from 14.7% in 2024 to 11.7% in 2025 and is forecast to drop to 7.0% this year ($43.2bn) and 7.9% by 2027 ($46.6bn).

 
In part, this reflects a maturing platform, but YouTube faces growing competition for performance ad dollars as marketers favour platforms like TikTok for social commerce. At current growth rates, TikTok’s ad revenue could overtake YouTube’s by 2028.
Netflix has also emerged as a key competitor. Its ad tier success positions it for long-term advantage in securing subscriber and advertiser investment and is expected to pull ahead of YouTube over the next 18 months.

 

Research from DoubleVerify’s 2026 Global Insights, Kantar’s Media Resources 2025, and WARC’s Voice of the Marketer carried out last year, all found that marketers globally intend to increase ad investment with YouTube this year, suggesting it remains a core component in media plans.

Consumption: 2.6 billion monthly users and still growing. TV is YouTube’s fastest-growing screen

YouTube is used by nearly 2.6 billion people every month, who spend an average of 58 minutes daily on the platform in 2025, up from 48 minutes in 2024 – reflecting deepening engagement rather than audience expansion.

India leads with 500 million users, followed by the US at 254 million, with Indonesia and Brazil close behind at 151 million and 150 million respectively.

Based on Similarweb App Intelligence data, YouTube generates the highest total time spent on any social or video platform globally.

The 25-34 age group is the largest demographic segment at 21.7%, the 35-44 group accounts for 18.5% and the over-65s represent the smallest segment at 9.5%.

YouTube viewing is shifting from mobile to larger screens. Connected TV accounts for 45% of total YouTube watch time in the US, with average session lengths exceeding 45 minutes and completion rates of 95% or higher.
YouTube Shorts, the platform’s vertical video format is reshaping consumption, and now averages more than 200 billion daily views globally.

 

Monetisation is steadily rising in response. In several major markets, including the U.S., revenue-per-watch-hour for Shorts has overtaken that of traditional in-stream formats. Further ad revenue growth will require advertisers to get on board with the creative requirements for the format.

YouTube’s content mix is broader than any other platform, spanning music, entertainment, gaming, news, education, children’s content, and an increasingly significant podcast offering.

According to Affinco data, music videos remain the most-watched content globally. MrBeast leads by subscribers at 503 million; Indian music label T-Series leads for views at 322 billion.

YouTube’s strength lies in local, interest-led, and creator-driven content, while traditional broadcast and SVOD platforms are better positioned to create global cultural moments.

Performance: YouTube is the most trusted advertising environment among marketers

For a third consecutive year, YouTube ranked as the most preferred and most trusted media brand among marketers globally, according to Kantar, and ranks second in brand safety, behind Netflix.

Ad format selection is driving variations in ad performance. In-feed ads have been found by Store Growers to deliver the strongest click-through performance, with CTRs ranging from 1% to 3%, above the all platform average of 0.65%. Non-skippable in-stream ads generate less than 0.3% click-through rates, making them better suited to awareness objectives than to direct response.

Gen Z is YouTube’s most valuable and commercially active audience. Half (51%) of Gen Z males and 43% of Gen Z females made a purchase after watching an ad on YouTube Shorts, making YouTube a direct commerce driver for younger cohorts.

YouTube has overtaken Spotify for podcast viewing. Viewers watched more than 700 million hours of podcasts on YouTube via TV screens in a month, up 70% year-on-year.

YouTube has eclipsed Reddit as the leading social platform source for large language models (LLMs), creating a new visibility layer for brands with a strong YouTube presence.

 

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African SaaS Leader Becomes Seamless Technologies, Unveils Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Financial Solutions

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4 days ago

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July 16, 2026

By

SaaS

The move reflects the company’s long-term commitment to building technology infrastructure that supports productivity, access, and enables prosperity for working Africans

LAGOS, Nigeria, July 15, 2026/APO Group/ –SeamlessHR (www.SeamlessHR.com), a leading African HR technology company, today announced its evolution into Seamless Technologies, a strategic transition driven by the company’s expansion into AI and financial services and its ambition to build a broader technology platform serving businesses and workers across Africa.

 

Having established itself as a market leader in HR technology, Seamless Technologies is extending its capabilities beyond workforce management to address one of the continent’s most significant challenges: access to financial services. Working with partners, the company is enabling businesses and their employees to access financial solutions directly within the flow of work, creating new opportunities for financial inclusion, operational efficiency, and business growth.

Under the new corporate structure, Seamless Technologies operates through three core verticals: SeamlessHR, its flagship workforce management platform; Breeze, an embedded financial service that gives businesses and workers access to Employee Self-Service, financial solutions including payroll financing, earned wage access, and lifestyle services; and SeamlessProcure, a procurement solution designed to streamline enterprise purchasing and vendor management.

As part of this evolution, Seamless Technologies is expanding its workforce technology portfolio with the launch of BWOP (Blue Collar Operations Platform), a solution built for organisations managing frontline and shift-based workforces. Together with SeamlessHR’s existing platform for office-based teams, BWOP enables the company to support the full spectrum of workforce operations, helping businesses digitise attendance, payroll, workforce records, communication, and employee self-service regardless of where work happens.

This evolution reflects a much bigger opportunity than HR technology alone

Supporting these products is Samira, the company’s artificial intelligence layer, designed to help organisations and employees automate tasks, access insights, and interact more intelligently with technology across the Seamless ecosystem.

Commenting on the transition, Dr Emmanuel Okeleji, CEO and Co-Founder of Seamless Technologies, said, “This evolution reflects a much bigger opportunity than HR technology alone. As we looked at the challenges facing businesses and workers across Africa, it became clear that access to finance sits at the centre of economic participation and productivity. Our expansion into financial services is a natural extension of our mission, and Seamless Technologies gives us the platform to solve these challenges at a much larger scale.”

Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder Deji Lana added, “The future belongs to platforms that connect people, work, and financial services in a seamless way. Through financial solutions, artificial intelligence, and our growing suite of products, we are building infrastructure that helps businesses operate more efficiently and enables workers to access more opportunities.”

Irfan Keshavjee, Chairman of the Advisory Board, said, “The transition to Seamless Technologies reflects the company’s maturity and ambition. Having built a leading position in HR technology, the business is now entering a much larger addressable market with the capabilities to create long-term value across multiple sectors.”

The transition provides a unified corporate identity designed to support product expansion and international market entry, while enabling individual product brands to maintain clear positioning and operational focus.

The move reflects the company’s long-term commitment to building technology infrastructure that supports productivity, access, and enables prosperity for working Africans.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of SeamlessHR.

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Tech

Now is Your Moment: Huawei Unlocks New Possibilities for Every Moment Through All-Scenario Innovation

Published

4 days ago

on

July 16, 2026

By

Huawei

HUAWEI Pura 90s Series Headlines a Line-up Designed for Expression, Style and Creativity
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach Newswire – 15 July 2026 – On July 14, 2026, Huawei held its Flagship Product Global Launch Event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where it officially unveiled the HUAWEI Pura 90s Series, HUAWEI FreeClip 2 S and HUAWEI MatePad Air. Led by the HUAWEI Pura 90s Series and its upgraded imaging technologies, these new devices seamlessly extend users’ all-scenario experiences, empowering them to capture, express, and create more effortlessly in everyday life.

Advanced Imaging, Designed for Expression, Capturing Every Meaningful Moment

As a key highlight of the launch, the HUAWEI Pura 90s Series delivers flagship imaging, empowering expression. Guided by the Rhythm of Colour design philosophy, the series combines clean design lines with a layered colour palette to create a distinctive and cohesive visual identity, while the Dual-Tone Gradient Mid-Frame[1] further enhances its aesthetic. The HUAWEI Pura 90s Series also introduces comprehensive imaging upgrades. Equipped with 200MP Ultra Large Sensor Telephoto Camera[2], True-to-Colour Camera 2.0 and a range of industry-leading imaging technologies, it delivers clear, stable, and consistent results across long-range, macro, and challenging lighting scenarios. Enhanced by AI-powered composition and image optimisation, users can move efficiently from capture to refinement, resulting in more expressive and refined visual outcomes.

Luminous Aesthetics, Designed for Style, Balancing Fashion and Comfort

Designed for personal style and everyday wear, the HUAWEI FreeClip 2 S introduces Huawei’s Luminous Aesthetics design philosophy, combining metallic lustre with organic tones in two new colourways – Deepsea Blue and Space Silver – to support individual style expression. The all-new Luminous Charging Case, crafted through over 100 precision manufacturing steps, features a refined rounded silhouette while expanding usable interior space by 20%[3], providing room for both earbuds and small accessories. Complementing the design, the upgraded Airy C-bridge blends skin-friendly liquid silicone with a luminous texture-spraying process to create a distinctive metallic finish. Refined through 22 paint-mixing and spraying processes, it balances visual elegance with a soft and comfortable fit, delivering both style and all-day wearability. Combined with Huawei’s open-ear listening experience, the HUAWEI FreeClip 2 S delivers clear listening and calling performance for everyday use.

Lightweight Design, Designed for Inspiration and Productivity

Designed for inspiration and productivity, the HUAWEI MatePad Air features a slim 5.3 mm[4] profile while delivering flagship-level performance. Equipped with the Ultra-clear OLED PaperMatte Display, it delivers vibrant visuals and exceptional clarity, empowering users to create with greater ease.

Maintaining its sleek and lightweight design, the device offers accurate colour reproduction and exceptional clarity, delivering an immersive viewing experience across work, learning, content creation and entertainment scenarios.

With powerful PC-level productivity and an integrated suite of AI tools, the HUAWEI MatePad Air helps users work more efficiently, transform ideas into content, and present complete solutions with ease. Together, these capabilities enable a seamless creative workflow and bring PC-level productivity into a lightweight form factor.

Together, the HUAWEI Pura 90s Series, HUAWEI FreeClip 2 S, and HUAWEI MatePad Air showcase Huawei’s all-scenario ecosystem. From capturing meaningful moments and expressing personal style to supporting creativity, they deliver a more connected and cohesive user experience across everyday scenarios.

Looking ahead, Huawei will continue to evolve its ecosystem to support diverse user needs, delivering a smarter and more efficient connected experience.

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