iWorld
Airtel & Amazon partner for Fire TV Stick with voice remote
MUMBAI: Bharti Airtel has announced a partnership with Amazon for Amazon’s Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote, which was launched in India today.
Customers purchasing Amazon Fire TV will get free 100 GB high speed data via Airtel Broadband or Airtel 4G Home Wi-Fi to enable them to enjoy online content on their TV. In addition, Airtel Movies, the OTT app from Airtel, will offer Airtel mobile and broadband customers access to an exciting collection of thousands of popular Bollywood movies & premium TV shows across a host of genres.
Bharti Airtel consumer business and chief marketing officer Raj Pudipeddi said, “We invite customers to experience the Amazon Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote Fire TV on Airtel and also enjoy thousands of movies with Airtel Movies.”
While the data offer can be availed by existing as well as new Airtel home broadband and 4G home Wi-Ficustomers, free access to content on Airtel Movies will be available to all Airtel mobile customers as well. The data quota can be availed in buckets of 35GB per month for three months from the date of activation. To activate the Airtel offer, customers of Amazon Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote have to just launch Airtel Movies and follow a few simple steps.
Airtel 4G is available to customers in all 22 circles across India and the Airtel 4G home Wi-Fi device enables a seamless high speed Wi-Fi experience in homes with the added benefit of portability. Airtel has been rated as fastest mobile network in India by Ookla. Airtel Broadband is available to customers in 87 cities and offers high speed broadband with speeds up to 100 Mbps with cutting edge offerings like V-Fiber that power digital homes of the future.
Airtel 4G Home Wi-Fi is currently available only in Delhi, Mumbai, Karnataka, Kerala, Haryana, Kolkata, Punjab and Maharashtra.
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.
