Interview with Shijiu TV

By CR Press

Could you tell us a little about yourself and your background?

I am Yunlong Zhou, the CTO of the Shijiu Company. I received a master’s degree in communication and information systems from Shanghai Jiaotong University in 2007 and became a senior specialist in browser and HTML5. I have been engaged in the development of low-level systems driver software and high-level applications since 2005. I have more than 10 years of software development experience and development team management experience, and I am familiar with various operating systems and software architectures. I spent the first 4 years mainly on the graphics side, including low-level driver and high-level application development. In the past 5 years, I have been deeply engaged in the development of browser and Internet (both front- and back-end) and team management, especially for the architecture and optimization of HTML5 browser kernel. I’ve published papers in recognized journals both abroad and regional, and I’ve obtained two US patents.

How did the collaboration with Elastos form and why did you agree to work with Elastos?

Mr. Rong Chen and the founder of Shijiu are both alumni, so they’ve known each other for quite some time. Moreover, since Shijiu has focused on browser technology for many years, it can provide a lot of technical resources for the expansion of Elastos OS, and this gives a good foundation for cooperation on both sides. The reason for choosing to cooperate with Elastos is that, in addition to the trust between the alumni, it is also because of the reputation of Rong, Sunny Han, and the team. The Elastos team is striving for a grand ideal and goal, which is completely different from other blockchains or cryoto projects.

Do you have factories? Besides the TV boxes, what other products do you make or manufacture?

Shijiu focuses on browser technology development and collaborates with partners to help the HTML5 ecosystem grow. We do not directly operate the hardware manufacturing plant, but we have formed a very close cooperation relationship with the hardware manufacturers. The operation of the equipment is also handled by the company.

In addition to TV boxes, our technology and services are also used in DVD, portable video player, smart displays, smart speakers and other devices.

A million TV boxes were sold more than a year ago. Is there anything you can tell us regarding more products being made with Elastos carrier integration?

The products of Shijiu Company are manufactured in batches and will be used in households for years. Therefore, the cooperation with Elastos has to be balanced between technological advancement, and stability and practicality. After Elastos Carrier, we have formed a deep cooperation with Titan, a partner in the Elastos Ecosystem, and we have signed a formal business cooperation agreement to provide decentralized CDN traffic services through TV box. At present, the number of TV box users in the main channels is close to 3 million.

Is there technical integration between the H5 engine developed by your company and the components of Elastos?

The current development focus of Elastos components is still on the mobile phone and server side. The performance optimization of Shijiu H5 engine focus on TV boxes and other smart devices. The hardware specifications of these devices are of lower grades than that of mobile phones. Therefore, the two sides can form a good, complementary relationship. We also recommend the Elastos components when our upstream and downstream partners need blockchain or new Internet technologies.

Apps within the Android ecosystem are fragmented in terms of content, services, account system, and user experience. Elastos has proposed solutions to each of these aspects. Can Elastos technically respond to these questions?

Yes, we see that Android has achieved great success in its ecosystem building, including the values for business and users. But the recent practice of China in the smart TV industry has also shown the ecological and technical limitations of this model. To view content, users need to switch between different video apps, which means different account systems and the need of purchasing different VIP services. Elastos will solve the problem of content not available for trade or change of ownership through digital assetization. Shijiu has committed to promoting HTML5 technology by connecting the application system and the account system via a web approach. This is also in line with the purpose of Elastos, to establish a new generation of the Internet.

Elastos has championed protection and autonomy of personal data. What changes can it make to Shijiu H5 engines in terms of advertising, marketing, and integration of third-party content and services?

Yes. On September 15th, the Ministry of Public Security in the “2019 Network Security Conference” named Jinshan PowerWord, Moji Weather, and others which were suspected of over-collecting citizens’ personal data. There were other apps blamed for eight types of malicious behavior such as remote, unauthorized control and maliciously charging fees.

Following Elastos’ philosophy, you could own your own data and prevent these applications from doing evil, resulting in a more open, transparent, and reasonable business ecosystem. Shijiu is paying attention to the maturity of specific technologies such as DID, which will be introduced into the product at the right time. As such, the user data will be stored on-chain, ensuring transparent, open and fair storage, and eliminating the problems found in the industry.

The development of smart TVs with 5G is a trend. Elastos has greatly improved the existing Internet in terms of network security. In the 5G era, how can Elastos help the transformation and development of smart TVs?

In the 5G era, interactions between various devices are more frequent. However, due to the lack of uniform standards, these connections have multiple protocols and are opaque to users, posing a major challenge to privacy and security. With Elastos Carrier technology, point-to-point direct transmission can be achieved, reducing reliance on vendor servers, increasing security, and reducing the risk of privacy breaches. In terms of data protection, data assets are owned by users, forming the value of digital assets to be traded. This kind of improvement not only makes the device smarter, but also makes the user live safer and happier in the intelligent age. We believe that this kind of improvement is unique to Elastos to surpass other technologies.

Can you discuss details on Titan integration from your perspective?

We are very optimistic about the future of Titan, and the decentralized CDN service has broad prospects. Therefore, our devices will be powered by the Titan SDK, providing traffic as needed. We will gradually transfer our traffic demand to the Titan platform. At the same time, we will also take advantage of our position in the industry to help Titan expand their partner base. In other words, Shijiu will cooperate with Titan in three aspects: its own traffic supply, alliance traffic supply, and traffic demand.

Own traffic supply: Provides traffic to Titan and own customers using equipment with Shijiu OS.

Alliance traffic supply: If its own traffic supply does not meet demands, it will also act as an agent for Titan to purchase from the same industry or related industries.

Traffic demand: Shijiu itself will also need traffic, which was previously reliant on traditional CDN. In the future, Titan network will be used.

Do you have any other partners that you’re able to discuss or share about that work with Elastos?

We have maintained good communication and relationship with partners such as Viewchain and Hive, and we are paying attention to each other’s technological progress. Although there is no specific cooperation in our product, at present, cooperation will be prioritised when the timing is appropriate.

Do you have any news to share with the community?

We have accumulated many years of experience in H5 development, whether it is in development experience or product design. These H5 applications can become an excellent ecosystem of Elastos Browser in the future. Whether it is in the form of DApp or H5 applications, it is a real application of the decentralized world that meets user needs.