iWorld
Hooq adds exciting American series
MUMBAI: Hooq Asia’s first premium video-on-demand service, today announced the addition of new titles to its already extensive content catalogue especially for HOOQ’s Indian Audience. The new titles include some of the most popular and iconic TV shows of all times like Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men and Community amongst others.
Friends is an American television sitcom, created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which originally aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. The plot is centered around a set of six friends (Rachel Green, Ross Geller, Monica Geller, Joey Tribbiani, Chandler Bing and Phoebe Buffay), living off of one another in the heart of New York City.
The Big Bang Theory is one of the blockbuster shows that is primarily centered on five characters; the two roommates Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper, both physicists who are surrounded by their geeky friends like aerospace engineer Howard Wolowitz and astrophysicist Raj Koothrappali. The showstopper being a character, their neighbour named Penny, a waitress and an aspiring actress. The plot is all about the geekiness and intellect of the four guys in contrast for comic effect with Penny’s social skills and common sense.
Community is an American television series that follows an ensemble cast of characters at a community college in the fictional town of Greendale, Colorado. It makes heavy use of meta-humor and pop culture references, often parodying film and television clichés and tropes.
Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom that originally starred Charlie Sheen (the lead character later being replaced by Ashton Kutcher), Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones. The series is about the bumpy life of a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie Harper; his uptight brother Alan; and Alan’s son Jake.
Commenting on the new additions,Hooq India managing director Salil Kapoor, said, “We always want to offer our customers the best and most exciting content from across the world and genres. Titles such as Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men have become iconic symbols which would work very well with the younger audiences. While HOOQ has one of the largest numbers of Hollywood titles and we are very excited to continuously add more content every month. With varied content on our platform, we aim to offer our audiences different flavors with an uninterrupted viewing experience. “
iWorld
X launches XChat messaging app on iOS with calls and encryption
Standalone app marks shift from “everything app” vision, adds E2E messaging.
MUMBAI: From one big app to many small chats, X seems to be splitting its ambitions. X has rolled out its standalone messaging app, XChat, to iOS users, opening up a new front in its evolving product strategy. The app allows users to connect with existing X contacts through private and group messages, file sharing, as well as audio and video calls. The launch follows a limited beta phase, where the platform tested the product with a smaller user base to refine the experience. Now available publicly, XChat marks a notable pivot from earlier ambitions championed by Elon Musk to turn X into a single “everything app” combining messaging, payments, commerce and more.
Instead, the company under xAI ownership and backed by SpaceX appears to be building a suite of standalone applications, each targeting specific use cases while expanding its broader ecosystem.
At launch, XChat includes end-to-end encrypted messaging, PIN-based access, disappearing messages, and features such as message editing, deletion for all participants, and screenshot blocking. The company has also said the app is free from advertisements and tracking mechanisms, positioning it as a privacy-first alternative in a crowded messaging space.
However, security claims around the platform are likely to face scrutiny. Earlier iterations of XChat drew criticism from experts who argued it fell short of established encrypted platforms like Signal. With the wider rollout, the app is expected to undergo fresh evaluation to assess whether those concerns have been addressed.
Beyond messaging, XChat will also house X’s Communities feature, which is being discontinued on the main platform due to low usage and spam concerns. Migrating these users could provide an early boost to adoption, effectively turning XChat into both a communication and community hub.
The move underscores a broader recalibration at X less about cramming everything into one app, and more about spreading bets across multiple touchpoints, one message at a time.
