iWorld
‘New oil’ provider Jio open to partnerships
MUMBAI: Reliance Jio, which has crossed 100-million customer milestone after its launch in September 2016, has an open mind for partnerships at this stage. Jio hopes to put India among the top 10 countries in terms of broadband access, from the 155th position in 2015.
Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, speaking at the Nasscom leadership forum in Mumbai, is betting big on data-driven telecom, emphasising that data was the “new oil”. Crediting the success of Jio to the Aadhaar-based verification, Ambani, who spent over Rs 1.2 trillion on Jio, said that the foundation of the fourth industrial revolution was connectivity and data, which was the new natural resource.
Predicting that India would be a key player in this revolution, PTI reported Ambani as stating that India’s large talent base would have had a competitive advantage.
The salient feature of this revolution is “convergence of the physical biological and digital sciences”, and “we are on the threshold of an exponential change,” he said. India’s 1.3 billion propulation, Ambani said, lends it a huge advantage and the data thus generated could be converted into intelligence.
Ambani recommended looking at the larger picture of helping millions to resolve their problems with the adoption of digital technologies. Digitalisation would continue to face challenges in terms of security, privacy and data theft, but that they could find solutions to problems.
Ambani advised adopting of next generation technologies. India would have to become the capital of real implementation of blockchain, he said, adding that they had the opportunity to adopt artificial intelligence and natural language processing, adopt drones in India’s own logistics as India could become one of the largest software markets.
Ambani advised the industry to focus on the home market while describing the protectionist statements of the new US president Donald Trump as “a blessing in disguise” for the Indian IT sector. The US$ 155-billion Indian IT industry earns over 65 per cent of its revenues from the US.
The IT industry meantime awaits clarity on Trump’s plans to double the salary for H1-B visa-holders and significantly curb visa issuance to techies.
Also Read :
http://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/telecom/jio-may-use-us44bn-to-lay-ofc-expand-network-to-stifle-competition-170118
http://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/telecom/jio-becomes-top-isp-wireline-growthretards-overall-broadband-internet-subs-fall-in-nov-16-170202
http://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/telecom/q3-17-jio-affects-airtel-revenue-digital-tv-segment-numbers-up-170124
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.
