iWorld
ZEE5 announces strategic partnership with Wego
KOLKATA: Streaming service ZEE5 Global today announced its strategic partnership with the online travel marketplace Wego. This partnership will provide a chance to Wego customers to get a one-month premium subscription of ZEE5 free for an unlimited entertainment journey.
This novel partnership will entertain and engage Wego customers across the Middle East and APAC in countries including UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt, Morocco, Turkey, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Australia.
“We are immensely delighted to announce yet another exciting partnership for the Middle East and APAC markets. This association with Wego will enable their large customer base across countries to now have easy access to all the premium entertainment content on ZEE5 and watch the latest Originals and Movies on-demand,” ZEE5 Global chief business officer Archana Anand said.
Wego MENA and India managing director Mamoun Hmedan said, “We’re excited to partner with ZEE5 Global, one of the leading OTT players across regions. This collaboration is crucial to provide our users with more shopping choices and a wider and premium range of entertainment.”
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.
