iWorld
TO THE NEW Digital ranks in 2015 Red Herring Top 100 Asia
MUMBAI: Digital services company TO THE NEW Digital has been chosen as a Red Herring Top 100 Asia Winner, a list honoring the year’s most promising private technology ventures from Asia.
Shortlisted from hundreds of innovative companies from across the continent, the selected nominees were judged on both quantitative and qualitative criteria, such as financial performance, technological innovation, management strength, market size and execution index from their respective industries.
“Winning Red Herring Top 100 Asia 2015 Award speaks volumes about TO THE NEW Digital’s long-standing experience, strategic vision and technological capabilities. We are focused on innovation and adapting razor edge technologies for client success. This award will further drive our efforts to consistently stay in digital forefront and to deliver ROI-driven customer experiences,” said TO THE NEW Digital CEO Deepak Mittal.
“Choosing the companies with the strongest potential was by no means a small feat,” said Red Herring publisher and CEO Alex Vieux. “After rigorous contemplation and discussion, we narrowed our list down from hundreds of candidates from across Asia to the Top 100 Winners.”
The Red Herring Top 100 Awards are held every year in Asia, Europe and North America to recognise some of the most exciting technology companies in the world.
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.
