Afrinolly, developers of Afrinolly – winner of the Google Android Developers Challenge 2011 and the most downloaded Entertainment app designed and developed in Africa – has launched the Afrinolly MarketPlace (Afrinolly 4.0, building upon the platforms existing award-winning technology), described as a first of its kind pay per view, secured mobile platform for the distribution of Nollywood/African movies, short films, series and more to GSM users in Nigeria and the rest of the world.
Well documented on this blog and elsewhere, piracy is rampant in the Nigerian film industry, so much that it has become a national matter, eating into the profits of Nigerian filmmakers, affecting how they produce and distribute their films. Providing content protection and a convenient payment system, the Afrinolly MarketPlace aims to help change the status quo, as content creators the African continent will, for the first time, be able to offer their content via mobile phones and get paid for that access without fear of piracy.
“This is an exciting moment for Nollywood and the African film industry as we launch the Afrinolly MarketPlace; an African solution to the challenge of piracy," said Chike Maduegbuna, CEO of Afrinolly Limited. "A challenge largely ignored by established video streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Videos, YouTube Red and others. At Afrinolly, we believe African producers should be able to earn more from their contents and African entertainment enthusiasts should have access to these contents without the risk of piracy.”
“We implemented multi-platform DRM technology and video optimization solutions using industry standards so contents are protected on the Afrinolly platform and we introduced carrier billing (Recharge Pay) so users can pay for contents using airtime via their mobile network.” said Tope Omotunde, CTO of Afrinolly Limited.
For N100 (about 50 cents), users in Nigeria will be able to watch a movie while a short film is N50 (25 cents). GSM subscribers on MTN Nigeria network can pay for content via their airtime, while Airtel network subscribers will also be able to pay conveniently with their airtime in a few weeks.
For users in other parts of the world, the cost is 99 cents for a movie via in-app payment systems.
Adds Tope Omotunde, “Afrinolly is powered by our Dynamic Transcoding Technology, which helps in identifying data speed of our users so as to be able to deliver smooth video viewing experience regardless of network or device type. Our App is backed by our Intelligent Prediction Technology that recognizes a user’s video content preference based on their region, past contents watched, search they have conducted and device used.”
Users can stream content both via Afrinolly’s mobile site at www.afrinolly.com, or via the Afrinolly mobile app, which can be downloaded for Android, Blackberry, and Windows Phone from your app store.
