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Here are all the Facebook Messenger bots we know about so far
While Facebook just announced its bots for Messenger platform today, it already has a few dozen developers lined up to take the plunge. If you downloaded the latest Messenger update today, then you're ready to get started with the CNN bot, a weather bot called Poncho, a Wall Street Journal bot, a bot for 1-800-Flowers and a few more. Here we've compiled a starter list of bots that are already available, plus ones that are slated to arrive in the next few months. You can also peruse the Messenger bot store on Botlist for more. (Props to Martin Hoffman for this public Google Doc of Known Bots).
Facebook's Messenger bots are a compelling alternative to apps
After several months of speculation, Facebook finally announced today that it would be officially integrating chatbots into Messenger. It's already started doing so with a few partners like Uber, Lyft and KLM, but today's announcement means that a lot more businesses are joining the party. And it's not just for customer support or tracking online orders -- though it can certainly be used for that too. These chatbots offer services that range from delivering top news stories to the local weather. In fact, two of its launch partners are a CNN and Poncho, a weather bot that masquerades as a friendly cat.
Create Facebook profile videos with Vine, Boomerang and more
Facebook flipped the switch on profile videos last fall, and now its allowing you to upload those short clips from third-party apps. The social network announced the Facebook Profile Expression Kit at F8, an SDK that will allow app developers to build in tools that allow users to set video creations as a moving profile image. There's already a handful of apps that support the profile videos during the initial beta phase, including MSQRD, Boomerang from Instagram and Vine. Once you make your video, you'll now have the option of setting it as your main Facebook profile visual with just a few taps.
Facebook lets you share quoted text with a click
Facebook is continually looking for ways to help you share more stuff. Today, the social network announced a tool for developers that will help you easily share quotes from an article. Rather than having to copy and paste a snippet of text across apps, you'll be able to simply highlight the words you want to share and post them to Facebook with a click. In the News Feed, the post will appear as a block quote with a link to the original URL or source. And yes, you can add an additional comment on top of the selected text.
Facebook's Account Kit signs you in with a phone number
Twitter isn't the only big social network that wants you to ditch the password. Facebook is using its F8 conference to unveil Account Kit, a framework that lets you sign into apps using a phone number or email address. You won't need a Facebook account just to get into that music store or messaging service; you just have to acknowledge a confirmation message (either by email or SMS) to get your foot in the door. The feature is useful worldwide, but it's particularly crucial in developing regions, where having a Facebook account is far from guaranteed.
Facebook to allow live video streaming from any device
Facebook has been pushing Live Video lately, with a revamped app experience designed to elevate the feature to its users. Today at F8, Facebook's Developer Conference, the company announced plans to increase its Live Video efforts even more. It's opening up a Live API so that anyone can build in the ability to stream live from any device. At the conference, Mark Zuckerberg showed that the ability to stream live video to Facebook has been built into a drone, which will be streaming live video from the conference over the next two days.
Chatbots arrive on Facebook Messenger
As we suspected, Facebook is indeed adding chatbot support to Messenger, and it's officially called "Bots for Messenger." It's not a surprise at this point, given that the latest Messenger update shows a "Bots and Businesses" section and that there have been rumors floating around about it for a week now. Still, Zuckerberg & Co. finally made it official. Facebook's CEO gave a demonstration onstage about how he ordered flowers from 1-800-Flowers just by sending a few messages to the company's chatbot. There was also a demo of a CNN bot that offered breaking news after sending a request.
Watch the keynote for Facebook's Developer Conference right here
Today is the first day of F8, Facebook's Developer Conference, which is where Zuckerberg and Co often reveal their plans for developers in the coming year. As recent news indicate, get ready for more details about Facebook's plans for live video and Messenger -- specifically chatbots -- and we won't be surprised if we hear more news about the recently released Oculus Rift either. If all of that rocks your boat, you can go ahead and watch the livestream right here in the video below. Tune in at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET to catch the whole thing.
Facebook Messenger's latest update hints at chatbots
At this point, it's a bit of an open secret that Facebook will announce the arrival of chatbots for Messenger at F8, its annual developer conference. Well, the latest Messenger update all but confirms it. If you were to do a search in the latest version of Facebook's chat app, you'll find a new category heading called "Bots and Businesses." Prior to the update, this would simply read "Businesses," which was a listing of companies that you could message for customer support and general inquiries. Messaging businesses typically involves speaking to a human, however, while talking to chatbots would likely be a more automated experience -- sort of like chatting to the equivalent of a phone tree. We've seen a few examples of this already. Uber and Lyft requests function similar to bots (especially if you're requesting updates), as does the recent KLM chatbot that lets you book flights with just a few keypresses. There've also been rumors that the chatbot experience isn't limited to just businesses either; we're hearing that publishers could get in on the Messenger chatbot train as well (get ready for breaking news via Messenger). Techcrunch reported last week that a Chat SDK of sorts have already been seeded out to a few developers that instructs them on how to build chatbots into Messenger, so we're guessing we'll find out more about how it all works at the F8 keynote later today at 10am PT / 1pm ET. Stay tuned.
Facebook hints that the Oculus Rift will be available this year (update: or not)
In a rather off-hand comment at today's Facebook developer's conference, company CTO Mike Schroepfer dropped a hint that the Oculus Rift VR headset could come to market this year. It was during an overview talk about what VR means for the company, where Schroepfer demonstrated a sleek looking space shooter game. Following that, he said "You're going to be able to do this, this year in VR ... and in something shipped by Oculus."
Facebook now lets you embed videos elsewhere on the web
At last, that cute puppy video you saw on Facebook won't have to stay on Facebook. The internet giant has announced an embeddable player that lets you put that adorable clip on other websites. There's not much magic to it -- all you do is copy and paste code and drop it into your blog or forum post. It's a simple addition, but it'll help a lot if you'd rather not track down a video on other services (or re-upload it yourself) just to share it with the rest of the world.
Facebook will bring 360-degree videos to Oculus and News Feed
In an effort to bring even more content to Oculus, Facebook has announced at its developer conference that it plans to bring spherical video content to its VR headset. There really isn't a whole lot more information aside from that -- how will people get these 360-degree videos? -- but it's an important step forward in enhancing the nascent VR platform. Additionally, Facebook also announced that it'll begin to support these 360-degree videos embedded right in the News Feed, so you won't need a headset to check them out if you don't mind not having that whole VR thing.
Facebook Messenger will soon let you chat with stores
Facebook's Messenger won't just be for chatting with family and friends in the near future. The social network has unveiled a business feature for Messenger that lets you talk to a store about your orders. The option not only spares you from a flurry of email for receipts and shipping, but gives you an easy way to ask questions -- if you want to change your order or add something new, you just open up the existing conversation. In theory, you don't have to go through the hassles of calling or emailing customer service to solve a simple problem. The business effort will only start out with a handful of partners that includes Everlane, Zendesk and Zulily, but a sign-up program suggests that you'll see Messenger used at more online shops before long.
Why text when your phone can sing messages at your friends?
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-344018{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-344018, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-344018{width:629px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-344018").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Ditty might sound like Sean Combs' latest stage name, but in fact, it's a new messaging application that takes mundane text messages and turns them into a shareable video, with onscreen lyrics. The app, made by a company called Zya, is one of the few that can be used in concert with Facebook Messenger, which just opened up to third parties. In fact, the app was unveiled today during Facebook's own F8 developer conference.
Facebook to allow third-party apps on Messenger
In the past few months, Facebook has really ramped up the Messenger experience -- you can add your location, apply stickers on photos and even use it for payments. Now, Facebook will let you customize your messages even further. That's because Facebook has evolved Messenger into its own platform, which essentially means you can now integrate third-party apps inside the messaging app. Want an easy way to send GIFs from Giphy? Simply install the add-on, find the GIF you want and away you go. You'll find many of these apps -- there are apparently already 40 on board -- in the compose window. And if a friend sends an image or video from one of these third-party apps and you don't already have them installed, you'll see an "Install" link on them so you can download them right then and there. This new feature should be available on your friendly neighborhood Messenger app starting today, so be on the lookout for new ways to annoy your Facebook buddies.
Facebook's F8 app hints at big changes for Messenger
Typical. Just when you're about to unveil a new project at your own developer conference, the event's companion app breaks the news ahead of time. A notification from Facebook's F8 app, presumably scheduled for the 26th, went out early to inform conference attendees that the company was announcing two new initiatives: Parse for IoT and Messenger as a Platform.
Facebook will let you log in anonymously to third-party apps
Just in case you've always been skittish about offering up your Facebook credentials when logging in to third-party apps, the company has just announced at its f8 developer's conference that it'll finally let you login to them anonymously. As it suggests, this will let you use the app so that it doesn't remember your username or password, but it also won't let you share any info to Facebook. According to the company, this is especially useful when you're trying out an app for the first time as you learn to see if you like it first before you entrust it with your info. Of course, the developer has to incorporate the anonymous login feature into their app first before you get the privilege.
Facebook app update brings Timeline to the iPhone, iPad version coming soon
Facebook's Timeline feature has only just begun to roll out across the globe, and now an iOS version has sidled up next to its Android counterpart -- making it even easier for us to recheck our social network back stories. The new app is currently only available for the iPhone, but Facebook states that an iPad-friendly update will arrive soon. You will need to have already activated the timeline function on the web-based original, but downloading the latest version will also grant access to your friend lists and subscriptions. Some requisite performance improvements are also promised too. Cringe at some portable post-millennial fashion mistakes by grabbing the download at the source. [Thanks Christoph]
Facebook rolls out Timeline feature worldwide, it's time to untag some old photos
Get ready for a This Is Your Life-style recap available online, as Facebook's Timeline feature is now out of beta and available to all users worldwide. Originally announced during the f8 conference back in September, it wraps up all the information you've posted, friendships you've made and embarrassing photos you were tagged in, in a neat, date organized package. If you're worried it may uncover some things better left private -- and posted years ago before you were more savvy about social media -- you can enable the feature and still wait a week before it goes public for viewing by others. Currently timelines are visible on the main site, via the recently updated Android client and the mobile version of the site. If you want to turn it on right way, head to the Introducing Timeline page and click Get It Now. Update: Facebook has just rolled rolled out a fresh version of its Android app that you'll need to grab for Timeline access there, the change log (after the break) also mentions changes including access to games & apps, new push notifications and a new photo viewing experience.
Facebook partners up to bring music, news and videos to your profile through Open Graph (video)
Facebook's f8 developer conference is going on today, and Andy Samberg Mark Zuckerberg has just revealed another part of his master plan for the social network. Open Graph will now integrate many of your favorite news and music services, including Spotify, Rhapsody, Rdio and MOG onto your Facebook page with custom apps, and will also bring video from Vevo, Netflix, Hulu and many more. The media platform's already up and running, so you can see (and hear) the results of Mark's labor right now. Update: Unfortunately for Facebook users in the US, Netflix has confirmed that its Facebook integration will only be available in Canada and Latin America initially, due to a US law that "creates some confusion over our ability to allow U.S. members to share what they watch." That doesn't apply to the music services, however, and you can get an idea how Spotify will work in the video after the break. Even TiVo's gotten in on the action, announcing new sharing buttons for its iPhone and iPad mobile apps, although there's no direct DVR integration mentioned yet.
