Techmeme: Facebook launches Messenger platform with chatbots (Josh Constine/TechCrunch)

Open Links In New Tab

Mobile Archives Advertise Site News

April 12, 2016, 6:55 PM

Top News

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Facebook launches Messenger platform with chatbots — Facebook will now allow businesses to deliver automated customer support, ecommerce guidance, content, and interactive experiences through chatbots. By providing utility through its huge developer and business ecosystem …

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Facebook says it's testing allowing businesses to send sponsored messages in Messenger — Facebook starts allowing “Sponsored Messages” ads — Facebook launched its Messenger chatbot platform today, but how will it make money on it? By charging businesses to send re-engagement messages …

More: The Next Web, Business Insider, iMore, Silicon Valley Business …, Business Insider and GeekWire

Tweets: @mg and @joshconstine

Jessi Hempel / Wired:

Facebook's David Marcus on the future of Messenger, how brands integrate into the platform, and how there are no plans for a bot store — Facebook Believes Messenger Will Anchor a Post-App Internet — The week before David Marcus will take the stage at Facebook's annual F8 developers' conference …

More: Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Tech Times, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, Facebook Developers, TechSpot, iPhone in Canada Blog, POPSUGAR, PhoneDog.com and WebProNews. Tweets: @dannysullivan

Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:

Facebook releases Bot Engine to help developers build more complex, machine-learning enabled bots, a further development from last year's Wit.ai acquisition — Facebook releases Bot Engine to create much smarter bots — Messenger is all about bots now. As expected, Facebook unveiled the Send and Receive API at its F8 conference.

More: The Next Web, VentureBeat and Social Media Today

Lauren Goode / The Verge:

Messenger and WhatsApp process 60 billion messages a day, three times more than SMS

More: TechCrunch, The Verge, Re/code, Softpedia News, Tech Insider and Pocket-lint

Nicole Lee / Engadget:

Facebook Messenger makes sharing Dropbox files easier, photos and videos will appear directly in chat window, other files can be accessed via Dropbox mobile app

Casey Newton / The Verge:

Facebook unveils Surround 360, a 17-lens, 3D VR camera, will open-source hardware designs and specs this summer, materials to build will cost $30K — This is Facebook's gorgeous, open-source 360-degree video camera — Hoping to dramatically increase the amount of 360-degree video on its platform …

More: Facebook Code, VentureBeat, Guardian, Digital Trends, TechCrunch, GeekWire, SiliconANGLE, BuzzFeed, PCWorld, Fortune, The Next Web, Gizmodo, MobileSyrup.com, CNET, tech.co, Wired and Facebook Media

Tweets: @lexnfx, @marshallk and @jguynn

Blair Hanley Frank / PCWorld:

Facebook launches Account Kit, offering new analytics and login tools for developers, allowing users to sign up or log in to apps with just a phone number — Facebook helps developers with new analytics and login tools — Soon, developers will be able to see what their users do for a living

More: Facebook Developers, VentureBeat, Computerworld, Softpedia News, The Verge and TechCrunch. Tweets: @shiraovide

Aigerim Shorman / Facebook Developers:

Facebook's Profile Expression Kit lets users update their Facebook profile with videos from third-party apps, like Vine — Enabling Self Expression with Facebook's Profile Expression Kit — With more than 4.5 billion views and nearly 30 million profile picture updates every day …

More: TechCrunch, The Verge, The Next Web, Engadget, iMore, Fortune and Forbes

Janko Roettgers / Variety:

Facebook makes its Live API publicly available, allows streaming directly to Facebook from non-mobile devices like drones, TV broadcast feeds — Facebook Opens Up Live Video to Developers to Allow Streaming from Any Device — Facebook just took video streaming on its Live platform beyond …

More: Facebook Media, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, Re/code, PCWorld, The Next Web, ABC News, Facebook Developers, Nieman Lab, WebProNews and The Next Web

Tweets: @joshm, @loic, @jank0 and @jank0

See also Mediagazer

Casey Newton / The Verge:

Facebook's Save feature has 250M monthly users, now lets developers add the button to their web sites

More: Facebook for Developers, VentureBeat, Marketing Land, TechCrunch, Computerworld, The Next Web and Business Insider

Tweets: @mollywood and @jguynn

Cade Metz / Wired:

Mark Zuckerberg talks about Facebook's future: Messenger bots, AI, live video, virtual reality, and open sourcing key technologies

More: New York Times, Re/code, Digital Trends, ZDNet, The Verge, VentureBeat, Refinery29, USA Today and Newsweek

Nathan McAlone / Business Insider:

A look at Mevo, Livestream's new $399 portable video camera hub, which can stream to Facebook's Live Video API out of the box

More: Gizmodo, Engadget, Mashable and SiliconANGLE

Dan Seifert / The Verge:

HTC 10 launched with 5.2-inch quad HD display for $699, Snapdragon 820, 12MP camera, 3000mAh battery, AirPlay audio support, can pre-order now, ships next month — HTC 10 announced: a modern phone with familiar design — HTC is today formally announcing the 10, its flagship smartphone for 2016.

Joshua Ho / AnandTech:

HTC 10 hands on: SoC in parity with every high-end device in US, Super LCD 5 display one of best, smooth and responsive navigation

More: DxOMark, 9to5Google, Greenbot, PCWorld, Computerworld and ZDNet. Thanks:@iancutress

Narottam Medhora / Reuters:

Uber releases its first transparency report, showing it gave US regulatory agencies data on over 12M users and received 415 data requests from law enforcement — Uber says gave U.S. agencies data on more than 12 million users — Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] on Tuesday released …

More: Medium, TechCrunch, Engadget, TIME, The Register, The Stack, NPR, BBC, Fortune, News. Pop Culture. Satire., The Verge, The Hill, VentureBeat and Mashable

Arik Hesseldahl / Re/code:

Box teams up with AWS and IBM for Box Zones, which lets firms store files locally in Europe, Asia — Box Teams Up With Amazon, IBM to Offer Local Storage Worldwide — Cloud storage company Box is making an effort to widen its appeal as the office file storage and sharing product …

More: Box, GeekWire, eWeek, PCWorld, Data Center Knowledge, Silicon Valley Business …, Wired, VentureBeat, The Register, diginomica, ZDNet, SiliconANGLE, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, Investor's Business Daily and AWS Blog

Andy Weir / Neowin:

Microsoft adds QR codes to Windows 10 ‘Blue Screen of Death’ to help troubleshoot crashes — It's always annoying when your PC crashes, but it's that little bit more frustrating when you have no idea why it's done so. — Even the updated Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) in Windows 10 …

More: Engadget, Ars Technica UK, The Verge, Gizmodo, Slashdot, The Register, Thurrott.com, The Next Web, Petri, TechSpot, AppleInsider, Fortune, ZDNet, BetaNews, Tech Insider, Inquirer, SlashGear, Softpedia News and Windows Central

Tweets: @rstephens, @ashleymayer and @345triangle

Sponsor Posts

Google:

Try Gemini 3 Pro — Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life

Shopify:

Transform ML Experimentation with Tangle — Save months of compute time with Tangle, built by Shopify. Try this open-source platform to simplify ML workflows, ensure reproducibility, and seamlessly share with collaborators.

Zoho:

Contract Signed. Project Ready. Tasks Created. — Every project begins with a promise; a contract that outlines the deliverables, the timelines, and the terms. But for most businesses …

Bitrix24:

Bitrix24 powers the next generation of high-performing businesses — Chat, projects, CRM, and automation — all in one place. Replace dozens of tools so your team moves faster, collaborates smarter, and grows effortlessly.

IDrive:

Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Sponsor Techmeme

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:

AI Device Wars Heat Up, RIP Metaverse?, Netflix Acquires Warner Brothers

The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.

Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.

Channels with Peter Kafka:

"Hollywood is Truly Freaked Out." Inside the Netflix/WBD Deal with Lucas Shaw

Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.

Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.

Hard Fork:

OpenAI Calls a 'Code Red' + Which Model Should I Use? + The Hard Fork Review of Slop

The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.

Subscribe to Hard Fork.

Access:

Is Roblox making the internet better or worse? We asked the CEO

A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.

Subscribe to Access.

Decoder with Nilay Patel:

Anthropic's quest to study the negative effects of AI is under pressure

A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.

Subscribe to Decoder with Nilay Patel.

Lenny's Podcast:

Why LinkedIn is turning PMs into AI-powered "full stack builders" | Tomer Cohen (LinkedIn CPO)

Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.

Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.

Add your podcast here

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 6:55 PM ET, April 12, 2016.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.