iWorld
Disney to launch international d2c OTT offering under Star brand in 2021
KOLKATA: The Walt Disney Company (Disney) is going more aggressive on streaming. It will launch an international direct-to-consumer general entertainment OTT offering under the Star brand in India in the year 2021.
The offering will be rooted in the content from the production engines and libraries of ABC Studios, Fox Television, FX, Freeform, 20th Century Studios and Searchlight. While in many markets the offering will be fully integrated into Disney+ platform from both a marketing and a technology perspective, it will be distributed under the Star brand in India.
“In terms of the general entertainment offering internationally, we want to mirror successful Disney+ strategy by using our Disney+ technical platform, rooting it in content that we already own and distributing it under a successful international brand that we also already own which is, of course, Star and then bringing it to market in a very close association to Disney,” The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Chapek said in the earnings call after Q3 results.
“In terms of the premier access idea, as you probably know, Disney tentpole blockbuster theatrical films can be fairly expensive to make and produce in order to get the quality that consumers expect from us and frankly to get the quality that we expect from us. Rather than simply rolling it into a free offering, we thought we would give again because we can test almost anything when you have your own platform. We thought we would give it a try to establish a new window – a premier access window to try to recapture some of that investment that we've got. All I'll say about our research is that it shows that such an offering under a premier access offering not only gets us revenue from the original transaction from the PVOD but also acts as a fairly large stimulus to sign up for Disney+,” he added.
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.
