iWorld
Vice Media to launch Vice India on April 2
MUMBAI: New York-based millennial-targeted media brand Vice Media is all set to mark its presence in the Indian entertainment industry with Vice India on 2 April 2018.
Hosi Simon, the CEO of Vice Media Asia Pacific, announced the launch date in Mumbai on the third day of FICCI Frames 2018.
Vice Media has been around for 24 years. In June 2016, Vice Media and The Times Group collaborated for an ‘expansive partnership.’ The joint venture by Vice Media is done to bring its youth-focused content to many more territories, mixing local and international news, culture and lifestyle programming to young viewers across online, television and mobile. The content on Vice India will be an equal half split between local content and content from abroad.
The launch of Vice Media’s TV service ‘Viceland’ with the name ‘Vice Now’ in India as a pay channel is also a part of the joint venture.
Vice India will open up their offices in Mumbai and Delhi. Recently, Chanpreet Arora was appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Vice India. Earlier, Vice India had appointed Pragya Tiwari as the editor-in-chief and Samira Kanwar as the head of video. Since then, Tiwari has left Vice India citing personal reasons and Kanwar has been designated as content head of the firm.
For India, according to Simon, the goal is to be a deeply local, relevant company.
Simon said that Vice would adopt a studio approach and the focus will be on the story, no matter from where and whomsoever it comes
The company will have a production hub that will create different kinds of content including long form, short form and documentaries.
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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.
