iWorld
Madras HC lifts stay on cricket scores via SMS
MUMBAI: Cell phone operators heaved a huge sigh of relief today after the Madras High Court allowed scores of the ongoing India-Pakistan one-day international cricket series to be sent through SMS.
A single judge bench of the Madras High Court, in an interim order, set aside a 7 February order of another single-judge bench of the court that had restrained mobile phone operators, websites and other content providers from providing score updates. The restraint would have applied for four weeks, by which time the series would have been over.
Justice R Bhanumathi issed her order on a batch of 18 petitions, including those of Airtel, BSNL, Reliance Infocomm, Hutchison Essar, Idea Cellular, Aircel Cellular, Spice Telecom, Tata Indicom, Sify, Yahoo Webservices Ltd, Indiatimes, IMI Mobile, PhonyTunes.com, Rediff.com, Pyro Mobile, ON Mobile Asia-Pacific and CricInfo India.
The order also directs operators to maintain accounts of the revenues earned through the score SMS of the one-dayers so as to ensure that if the suit finally went in favour of trhe original plaintiff, the company could be compensated and it would not suffer any loss.
The 7 February order was issued on a civil suit by Marksman Marketing Services Private Limited. Marksman had contended it had secured the rights of disseminating information relating to scores, alerts and updates or other events or happenings of the tour through SMS.
In its suit, Marksman had submitted that Vectracom Pvt Ltd had entered into an agreement with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on 29 December, 2005 for exclusive global SMS rights to the cricket matches. Marksman’s contention was that cell phone operators and websites were providing information related to scores and updates without obtaining permission from Vectracom.
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.
