iWorld
Hotstar Premium to air Premier League 2016, live and exclusive
MUMBAI: Streaming platform Hotstar is now bringing all the matches of the Premier League, LIVE and exclusive starting on Saturday, the 13th of August.
Hotstar is set to be the go-to destination for football aficionados this Premier League season. All 380 games being played across 9 action-packed months, will be streamed LIVE on to the mobile and web screens of viewers. Hotstar has also added Chromecast and Apple TV support so that users can now enjoy streaming matches to large TV screens, making it an all-encompassing experience.
The Premier League is one of the most followed football leagues in the world, and often, as many as 4 or 5 matches are played simultaneously across different venues. In fact, on Day 1, i.e. Saturday, the 13th of August, 5 games will be live simultaneously, and Hotstar will show all the games. So a football fan subscribed to Hotstar Premium will be able to switch between multiple separate LIVE feeds and watch any game he wants to.
To watch the Premier League, viewers can subscribe to the Hotstar Premium service at premium.hotstar.com and enjoy a full month of subscription free of cost. Following this, the service is available at a monthly fee of Rs. 199. Apart from all the Premier League games LIVE, Hotstar Premium also gives the viewers access to the latest American TV shows, Hollywood blockbusters like ’The Martian’, the and latest episodes of their favorite Indian TV shows.
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.
