Everything we are building for Shams TV launches together on 7 January 2027.

This is where the new website, the Kardo streaming service and the Shams AI presenter stand on 24 October 2026.

75 days until launch 7 Jan 2027 · Erbil
The new website

Built and with Shams for review, in Arabic and English.

6 of 8 phases done Kardo

Every screen is designed. The team is connecting them to the real shows.

Design finished Shams AI

She can now see the person she is talking to and remember them.

Vision and memory added

The old shams.tv kept desktop readers looking at a blank page for almost five seconds.

The new site shows its first picture in 1.1 seconds. Below, both homepages load side by side at their real measured speed.

The current shams.tv0.0 s
shams.tv
The current shams.tv homepage
The new shams.tv0.0 s
shams-tv.pages.dev
The new shams.tv homepage
Playback uses the first-picture times measured on each homepage.
4×

faster to the first picture on a desktop screen.

Desktop homepage, seconds to the first picture

Current
4.8 s
New
1.1 s

Phone homepage, seconds to the first picture

Current
2.8 s
New
1.1 s

Measured on 23 October 2026 in Chrome, on each homepage at desktop size (1440 px) and phone size (390 px). The first picture is the moment the browser first paints content.

This one-minute film shows the redesign from start to finish.

Every frame was captured from the working site.

Drag the yellow line to compare the current homepage with the new one.

Current shams.tv homepage New shams.tv homepage
Current site
New site

The current site offers 2 of these 13 things. The new site offers all 13.

Each line is something a reader, a visitor or a business can now do on shams.tv.

2Current
13New
Watch Shams TV live
Read the news in Arabic and in English
See the full programme schedule
Follow a schedule set by the sun over Erbil, with an evening edition after sunset
Tap through the stories of the day
Get news for Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok, Kirkuk and Baghdad
Check the dinar, gold and oil prices
Ask Shams AI about the news and get the sources
Listen to any article read aloud
Sign in, save stories and follow topics
Plan a visit with the Visit Kurdistan guide
Find companies and opportunities in the Business section
Read books in the Library, starting with For History

Here are ten of the pages built for the new site, from live TV to the Library.

Live TV page
Live TVشمس، مباشرةً من أربيل.

Watch Shams live from Erbil, or switch to audio only and listen.

Programme schedule drawn along the path of the sun
Today's scheduleمسار اليوم

The programme guide follows the sun over Erbil. After sunset the site moves to its evening edition.

Shams AI page
Shams AIمرحباً، أنا شمس.

Readers ask Shams about the news in Arabic, Kurdish or English, and she answers with her sources.

Article page
Every articleاسأل شمس عن هذا الخبر

Any article can be read aloud, and readers can ask Shams about the story right beside it.

Erbil city page
City pagesأربيل

Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok, Kirkuk and Baghdad each have their own news page.

Markets page
Marketsالأسواق

Currency, gold and oil prices together on one page.

Visit Kurdistan page
Visit Kurdistanكوردستان، كما تراها الشمس.

A travel guide to Kurdistan with destinations and a trip planner.

Business page
Businessأربيل، مفتوحة للأعمال.

A section for investors and companies in Erbil, with a business directory.

Library page
The Libraryللتاريخ...

The Library opens with For History, the book by President Masoud Barzani.

Reader account page
Reader accountsحسابي

Readers sign in, save stories, follow topics and choose their newsletters.

On a phone, the new site works like an app, with Shams AI one tap away.

A bar at the bottom of the screen keeps Home, Live, Shams AI, Stories and the reader's account under the thumb. The first picture now appears in 1.1 seconds, down from 2.8.

Current shams.tv on a phone
2.8 sCurrent
New shams.tv on a phone
1.1 sNew

Six of the eight website phases are finished, and the site is with Shams for review.

Next, Shams sends its review notes and the team brings the newest stories across from the current site.

  1. ResearchDone · July
  2. Design systemDone · 3 Oct
  3. Pages builtDone · 3 to 4 Oct
  4. Real contentNow · mostly done
  5. Polish and factsDone · 11 to 13 Oct
  6. English editionDone · 20 Oct
  7. Accounts and Shams AIDone · 19 to 23 Oct
Open the new website shams-tv.pages.dev

Kardo is a streaming service that gives Kurdish film and series a home of their own.

Kurdish stories are spread across channels and platforms that were never built around Kurdish viewers or their scripts. Kardo brings them together for viewers in Kurdistan and across the diaspora.

A new premiere can reach Hewlêr, Berlin and Stockholm on the same night.

A film that opens at 21:00 in Hewlêr starts at 19:00 in Berlin and Stockholm, where many Kurdish families live.

Hewlêr21:00 Berlin19:00 Stockholm19:00

This film walks through the Kardo app, from the welcome page to the player.

Every Kardo screen is designed, from sign-up to the player.

3

languages for search: Sorani, Kurmanji and English

4K

HDR picture on every plan

2

clicks to pause or cancel a plan

3

months is the longest a plan can be paused

Each screen works in English and in Sorani, which reads right to left.

Kardo home screen in English Kardo home screen in Sorani

Kardo's design is finished, and the team is connecting the screens to the real shows.

When the screens show real shows, Shams receives a link to review Kardo. The launch target is 7 January 2027.

  1. Brand and design systemDone
  2. App and website screensDone
  3. Back office for the Kardo teamDone · player, A/B tests, artwork, uploads
  4. Screens connected to the real showsNow

Shams can now see the person she is talking to, and she remembers people she has met.

Shams is the AI presenter of Shams TV. She talks with viewers face to face, answers from Shams TV reporting and never invents a story.

Hello.مرحباً.سڵاو.Merhaba.سلام.
EnglishالعربيةکوردیTürkçeفارسی
Talk to Shams

Vision and memory let Shams react to the person in front of her.

These two skills were added this month. The camera turns on only when the viewer allows it.

  1. She sees who is there.

    When someone sits down in front of the camera, Shams notices and greets them.

  2. She knows people she has met.

    When a visitor comes back, she recognises them and greets them by name.

  3. She looks at what you show her.

    Hold something up to the camera and she describes it and asks about it.

  4. She keeps track of the conversation.

    She remembers what was said earlier, so viewers never have to repeat themselves.

Camera on
Shams

Hello, welcome to Shams. What would you like to know today?

Example lines, written to show each skill.

Here is what Shams can do today, and what is left before launch.

A face and a voice

Her own look and voice, presenting live from Erbil.

Live conversation

Viewers talk to her out loud and can interrupt her, as in a real conversation.

Several languages

English, Arabic and Kurdish, with Turkish and Farsi being tuned.

Kurdish speech

Dedicated speech recognition for Sorani Kurdish.

Sources on request

Ask where a story comes from and she will say.

A control dashboard

The Shams team can see and manage what she does.

Vision

She sees the viewer and what they show her, when the camera is allowed.

Memory

She recognises returning visitors and keeps track of the conversation.

Training on Shams TV material

Under way now, and more material from Shams will help.

  1. VisionDone
  2. DashboardDone
  3. TrainingNow

On 7 January 2027, Shams TV turns two, and the website, Kardo and Shams AI go live together.

75days to go.
  1. 28 Jul 2026Work on the new website begins
  2. 4 OctThe new website goes up on the public preview
  3. 20 OctShams receives the new website to review, in Arabic and English
  4. 21 OctThe Library opens on the new website
  5. End of DecRelease sign-off with Shams
  6. 7 Jan 2027Website, Kardo and Shams AI launch on Shams TV's second birthday
Today

Here is what happens next.

  1. Shams sends its review notes on the new website.
  2. Shams receives a link to review Kardo once its screens show the real shows.
  3. OCA and the Shams team hold the planning session for Shams AI.

Prepared by One Click Away for Shams TV on 24 October 2026.

Open the new website Talk to Shams
One Click Away FZEShams TV · Website · Kardo · Shams AI