VentureBeat’s Bots Channel tracks all the important and interesting news related to the exploding field of bots and messaging. Each week we select the top stories and present them in in our free weekly newsletter, BotBeat. We include news stories by VentureBeat staff, guest articles from leading figures in the bots community and a good number of posts from a wide variety of outlets. You can subscribe to our BotBeat newsletter to receive this information in your inbox every Thursday.
Here’s this week’s newsletter:
Amazon has already stuck its nose under your tent with the Echo, a cute little chatbot-A.I. device that will obey voice commands and provide a raft of new services. But this week news surfaced that another tech camel — Samsung, much like Google and Apple, is also going to launch its own smart speaker.
The battle to be at the center of your home has been long in the making and has resulted at last in an interface that will prove as disruptive as a proverbial camel pushing its way into your personal space. Tim O’Reilly neatly sums up the potential for this new platform in “What would Alexa do?”
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And Amazon has already answered the call with reported plans for a $5 per month streaming service exclusively for Echo. That’s about half what the other music service providers charge. This camel race is on!
Also this week the popular photo filter Prisma squared off against other A.I.-powered apps by releasing a bot on Telegram; Clari Connect fused bots, messaging, and sales software; and bot technology made its way to Pokémon Go with an illicit bot that helps people automate the entire game (err, cheat) in the pursuit of Charmanders, Pidgeottos, and Bulbasaurs.
As always, please share your ideas for guest posts with John Brandon and send story tips to Khari Johnson.
And those are just some of the items that we reported on this week. For more coverage of bots, messaging, and A.I., visit our Bots Channel and be sure to subscribe to BotBeat Weekly.
P.S. And since we’re on the topic of voice-activated devices, please enjoy this video from MobileBeat 2016: Amazon has reduced Alexa’s mistakes in completing tasks by a factor of 2
From VB’s Bots Channel
5 bots to try this week: BFF Trump, FutureStates, Bits, Sensay, and The Fixer
Each week we bring you a few bots that we think you might want to try. This week’s selection includes presidential candidate bots that help you get educated about the issues, a bot-powered detective mystery, and a bot that helps sneakerheads stay on top of the latest candy-colored dream. Bits You know when one of your favorite musicians […]
Samsung Scoop looks like an Amazon Echo competitor
Samsung has designed a Bluetooth-connected speaker with a microphone that certainly looks like it could compete with Amazon’s voice-activated Echo and the forthcoming Google Home. Samsung today submitted documents for the device, currently named Scoop, to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. The documents include photos of the device and a manual. […]
Amazon to reportedly offer Echo-only streaming music for $5 a month
Amazon is working on two new music streaming services that could be available as soon as next month, a source told Recode. One service would be an economical, all-you-can-eat offering: $10 per month to stream from Apple Music, Spotify, and others from any device. Music streaming services like Apple Pay and Spotify ask customers to spend […]
How chatbots can help small business
In case you haven’t noticed, the bots aren’t coming — they’ve already arrived. For ordering tacos, hailing an Uber, or even helping with your healthcare, chances are there’s a chatbot residing in your messaging app of choice, whether that’s Facebook Messenger, Slack, or WeChat. Chatbots aren’t just for big name tech brands and retail — small businesses stand […]
Prisma bot and other A.I.-powered photo filters you’ve got to try
You’ve probably heard of Prisma, one of the hottest apps this year. Downloaded more than 50 million times since June and powered by artificial intelligence, it uses filters to transform any photo into a stunning work of art evocative of say, Pablo Picasso or a Renaissance master. It’s trending in the App Store: ranked fourth in the free photo and […]
Beyond VB
Beyond Siri, The Next-Generation AI Assistants Are Smarter Specialists
SRI wants to produce chatbots with deep knowledge of specific topics like banking and auto repair. (via Fast Company)
The CEO of $3.8 billion Slack has a smart idea to help people get off work early
Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield doesn’t believe in long working hours.
It’s why one of Slack’s internal mantras is “work hard, go home.” (via Business Insider)
New Pokémon Go bot ‘automates the entire game’
Insta-PokéGo, a new bot that enables you to cheat at Pokémon Go, launched Wednesday. The bot comes from a group of current and former Dropbox engineers, according to co-creator Steven Bartel. (via GamesBeat)
WhatsApp privacy under threat as France and Germany push EU to allow states to break encryption
Telegram, iMessage and WhatsApp all use some form of encryption – and so could come under threat from a renewed scrutiny of the technology which privacy advocates say is key to all parts of the internet. (via The Independent)
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