iWorld
Discovery Plus to add 5 exclusive titles in the month of July
KOLKATA: Discovery Plus, India’s first aggregated real-life entertainment streaming app, which offers of thousands of hours of exclusive content across 40+ genres including Science, Adventure, Military, Survival, Food and Lifestyle, is further augmenting its content portfolio with five new titles this July.
New additions in the month of July include:
Tales of Valour:
Military is one of the strongest content verticals of Discovery Plus. The addition of Tales of Valour gives more options to military enthusiasts to explore on this diffrentiated app. Curated and narrated by Maroof Raza, one of India’s foremost military experts, Tales of Valour brings forward factual documentaries, which showcase 12 stories of valour, many of which are unknown to most Indians. 3 episodes of Tales of Valour drop on Discovery Plus on July 20.
Covid-19: India’s War Against The Virus:
This Discovery Plus special follows both, the global and the Indian timeline, of how the virus spread and shines light on key developments that have taken place ever since India’s first Coronavirus victim was detected in Kerala. The documentary premieres on July 16 in 7 languages including English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Bengali, Notably, the Hindi voiceover for this documentary has been provided by Bollywood star Manoj Bajpayee and the Tamil voiceover by celebrated writer, director, actor Gautham Vasudev Menon. This will be the 4th Covid-19 documentary to be dropped on Discovery Plus.
Project Runway S18:
Emmy-winning competition series “Project Runway” returns for another season of high stakes and fierce fashions. Fashion aficionados can binge-watch the entire season in one go as sixteen new hopefuls fight it out to take the runway by storm and make fashion history. Host Karlie Kloss is back, along with Christian Siriano as the mentor and returning judges Nina Garcia, Brandon Maxwell, and Elaine Welteroth, to decide who has what it takes to make it in the world of cut-throat fashion.
Expedition Unknown – Season 6:
Intrigued by legendary mysteries and driven by curiosity, Josh Gates is on a mission for answers. `Exhibition Unknown' chronicles his global adventures as he investigates iconic unsolved events, lost cities, buried treasures and other puzzling stories in this brand-new season. Starting July 27, 3 episodes from Expedition Unknown – Season 6, will be available on Discovery Plus.
Richard Hammond’s BIG:
Richard Hammond is going behind-the-scenes of the largest structures and machines in the world to understand the science of ‘big’ – how engineers go about building, maintaining and using these superstructures. Starting July 06, each episode of Richard Hammond’s BIG! takes him to a new location and mega structure, where he meets the unsung heroes at the front line making them work and explores the science behind them with a series of experiments.
Follow Tellychakkar for the consumer facing news & entertainment
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.
