Microsoft Boosts Its Chatbot Future By Acquiring Wand Labs

Microsoft Boosts Its Chatbot Future By Acquiring Wand Labs

Microsoft made headlines by plunking down $26 billion for LinkedIn. Now it’s announcing its second acquisition of the week: For an undisclosed sum, the company has bought Wand Labs, a Silicon Valley-based startup that declares its mission is “to tear down app walls, integrate your services in chat, and make them work together so you can […]

Google takes on Slack and WhatApp with ‘Spaces’ group sharing tool

Google takes on Slack and WhatApp with ‘Spaces’ group sharing tool

Google has launched Spaces, a collaborative messaging app similar to the increasingly popular Slack. Spaces features integration with other Google products, such as Chrome and YouTube, allowing users to share articles and videos without leaving the Spaces app. A ‘space’ can be started and maintained around anything: a weekend getaway, a love of comic books, […]

Google uses I/O to unveil app promotion tools to Apple developers

Google uses I/O to unveil app promotion tools to Apple developers

Google has opened this year’s I/O conference by unveiled the latest additions to its Universal App Campaigns offering, including the extension of the service to Apple developers, plus tools to help them find high value customers. The Universal App Campaigns suite is expanding beyond Android to help developers grow their iOS apps, meaning all app […]

Google puts search functions directly into mobile keyboard

Google puts search functions directly into mobile keyboard

Google has launched a new keyboard for iOS devices that directly integrates search functions, such as maps, GIFs or shopping results, into user’s messages. Called Gboard, the keyboard features a button on the upper left that lets users perform web searches, look for images or GIFs, or even search for emoji without ever leaving the […]

Facebook’s controversial facial-recognition app Moments launches in Europe

Facebook’s controversial facial-recognition app Moments launches in Europe

Facebook has launched its photo-sharing app in the EU and Canada after adapting its controversial facial-recognition software to work around each region’s privacy laws. The program – Moments – was released in some countries in 2015, but withheld elsewhere because of local data privacy rules. The company has created a different version of the software […]