iWorld
Vimeo buys Livestream, enters live video market, may integrate with OTT tech
MUMBAI: Vimeo, an ad-free open video platform which has an office in India, signed an agreement to acquire Livestream.
The latter is a leading live video solution that powers over 10 million events a year. Vimeo also rolled out its own Vimeo Live product, offering professional live streaming capabilities directly through its platform for the first time.
Following completion of the acquisition, Livestream’s offering will be integrated with Vimeo to empower creators to capture, edit, stream, and archive live events, as well as host, distribute and monetize videos, all in one seamless workflow. The move into live streaming positions Vimeo as the most complete video solution in the market for businesses, organizations and professional creators.
Vimeo CEO Anjali Sud says: “Live streaming is the #1 request from our creator community this year, and we’re focused on bringing a new level of quality, convenience and craft to this evolving medium.”
“With the launch of Vimeo Live and the addition of Livestream’s impressive team and innovative product suite, we can empower a diverse range of creators to produce beautiful live experiences with professionalism and ease,” she added.
Livestream provides businesses and organisations with a solution for connecting with their audiences in real-time. Nearly 50 million viewers tune in to hundreds of thousands of live events powered by Livestream each month from customers including Dow Jones, Philadelphia Eagles, Tough Mudder and Spotify.
Livestream co-founder and CEO Mark Kornfilt adds, “At Vimeo, we can accelerate the adoption of professional-quality live video by combining our tools and capabilities with Vimeo’s video expertise and global scale.”
Complete video solution: The integration of Vimeo’s video technology with Livestream’s proprietary hardware and software products, production services and enterprise-level features will provide a end-to-end video solution for a wide range of professionals, businesses and organisations.
The combination of Vimeo and Livestream will offer: Innovative Production Hardware and Software – Livestream provides production tools and services for capturing, broadcasting and editing live events, from its live event Mevo camera to its live production switcher Studio.
Future integrations with Vimeo will provide creators with direct access to stream live events through Vimeo and leverage the platform’s robust video tools.
High Quality Streaming: With Vimeo Live, creators can now broadcast live events in full 1080p with built-in cloud transcoding and adaptive streaming, so viewers can watch in stunning high quality, perfectly fit for their device and bandwidth. Auto-archived live videos on Vimeo can be replaced with files to support 4K viewing.
Distribution and marketing tools: Creators using Vimeo Live have the flexibility to embed the fully customizable Vimeo player wherever they choose, see who’s attending their event by enabling email capture in the player, turn on live chat, and view live and archived stats to track performance. The addition of Livestream’s syndication tools will enable live distribution across social platforms in the future, including Facebook, YouTube, Twitch and Twitter.
Singular home for video workflow: Vimeo now provides one home to help creators with all aspects of their video hosting and live streaming workflow – from broadcasting and auto-archiving to storage, management and collaboration to distribution, marketing and analytics. Post-event videos can also be monetised directly to audiences worldwide as a rental, purchase or subscription. Moving forward, Vimeo will also integrate live with its over-the-top (OTT) technology, enabling live content in branded apps across iOS, Android, Roku, Amazon, Samsung, and more.
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.
