iWorld
Hotstar to air Barun Sobti’s ‘Tanhaiyaan’ in Jan
MUMBAI: Actor Barun Sobti is all set to make a comeback, but this time in a web series. Star India’s video-on-demand (VOD) service is all geared up to air a fiction web series, titled Tanhaiyan. The 10 episodic show with a duration of 20 minutes each will launch in the mid-week of January 2017.
The show is produced by Gul Khan and Karishma Jain of Unit 7 Network for 4 Lions Films, the web series is directed by Gorky M.
In the show, Sobti plays the role of Haider, while the other lead Surbhi Jyoti will be seen playing the role of Meera Kapoor. Kapoor is in love with Haider, who is seen flirting with girls.
Khan said, “Someone once asked me what’s the why of Tanhayian.. Well there isn’t a person who hasn’t experienced the loss of a loved one.. And every time we lose someone it changes who we are….So here are two people who are dealing with that loss in their own different way.. But sometimes someone walks right into that loneliness and Phir aap tanhayion mein bhi Tanha nahi rehte… Tanhaiyaan is a tribute to that magic…”
Hotstar entered into the original content production with a talk show hosted by RJ Malishka called M Bole Toh. It also aired a 20 episodic news comedy series On Air with AIB with 10 in English and 10 in Hindi. The streaming platform is also rumoured to bring the second season of the show soon.
It had also brought back its popular TV fiction show Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon as a Hotstar Original after a gap of three years.
Being a first mover in the space, it today boasts about 75 million downloads from the mobile nation India – far far ahead of the 30 odd OTT platforms which have popped up. Hotstar offers a smorgasbord of programs: right from India’s favorite sport cricket to 650 shows from its 23 channels, 36 English TV shows, 70 Hollywood movies, and oodles of Hindi cinema as well. The 85,000 hours of content it can stream is available in eight Indian languages.
Primarily a free and advertising-dependent service, the Star Network has poured in an estimated $60-70 million to bring it to the place it has so far.
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.
