During today's Microsoft Build conference for developers, Microsoft announced plans to bring interactive bots to the Skype platform on Windows, Android, and iOS. Starting today, Skype iOS users will have access to Bots that offer expertise, products, services, and entertainment through messaging options in the Skype app.

microsoftbot

Today we are introducing Skype Bots--a new way to bring expertise, products, services and entertainment into your daily messaging on Skype.

Each Bot will enhance your Skype experience in its own way, bringing a new dimension into your everyday Skype chats by helping turn your ideas and plans into actions.

Available bots that can be interacted with on iOS include Bing Music, Bing News, and Bing Images. Bing Music is able to search multiple sites to find song information, while Bing Image bot and Bing News bot are designed for web navigation. With the Skype Bot SDK, brands and developers will be able to create bots that work through Skype.

In the future, Skype plans to expand Bot availability to audio and video calling, introducing new bot-based experiences. An example of Skype Video Bots was shown off during the Build Conference.


To access the messaging bots in Skype, iOS users will need to download the latest version of the app. Accessing bots can be done through the "Search" option from the Contacts page, which includes an option to add bots to Skype.

Skype can be downloaded from the App Store for free for iPhone and iPad. [Direct Link: iPad, iPhone]

Tag: Skype

Top Rated Comments

Sasparilla Avatar
105 months ago
It's always good to keep in mind who else might be recording your communications when using Skype as some of those Bots may not be user facing:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/11/microsoft-nsa-collaboration-user-data
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
modemthug Avatar
105 months ago
Didn't Microsoft just have to pull the plug on a teenaged girl AI bot that turned into a Hitler-loving sex robot within 24 hours of launch?

True story:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/03/24/microsofts-teen-girl-ai-turns-into-a-hitler-loving-sex-robot-wit/
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
leon44 Avatar
105 months ago
SmarterChild 2016
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Glassed Silver Avatar
105 months ago
Didn't Microsoft just have to pull the plug on a teenaged girl AI bot that turned into a Hitler-loving sex robot within 24 hours of launch?

True story:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/03/24/microsofts-teen-girl-ai-turns-into-a-hitler-loving-sex-robot-wit/
You just made my day! :D

Glassed Silver:mac
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macduke Avatar
105 months ago
Didn't Microsoft just have to pull the plug on a teenaged girl AI bot that turned into a Hitler-loving sex robot within 24 hours of launch?

True story:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/03/24/microsofts-teen-girl-ai-turns-into-a-hitler-loving-sex-robot-wit/
Came here to comment this, haha. I could see this bot in particular appealing to a lot of Trump supporters.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Makosuke Avatar
105 months ago
Didn't Microsoft just have to pull the plug on a teenaged girl AI bot that turned into a Hitler-loving sex robot within 24 hours of launch?
Beat me to that.

Let's just say that Microsoft's record for producing socially-responsible chat bots has not been so good recently.

Where by "not good" I mean "Their chat bot took all of 16 hours online to start advocating genocide, pushing race war, spewing flagrant racism, and propositioning people with filthy language."

And they didn't pull the plug--she's just "tired" so taking a break. From being a violent racist, apparently.

But hey, I'm sure nothing could possibly go wrong with other Microsoft AIs!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Delta Feature

Delta Game Emulator Now Available From App Store on iPhone

Wednesday April 17, 2024 9:58 am PDT by
Game emulator apps have come and gone since Apple announced App Store support for them on April 5, but now popular game emulator Delta from developer Riley Testut is available for download. Testut is known as the developer behind GBA4iOS, an open-source emulator that was available for a brief time more than a decade ago. GBA4iOS led to Delta, an emulator that has been available outside of...
iPhone 15 Pro Action Button Translate

All iPhone 16 Models to Feature Action Button, But Usefulness Debated

Tuesday April 16, 2024 6:54 am PDT by
Last September, Apple's iPhone 15 Pro models debuted with a new customizable Action button, offering faster access to a handful of functions, as well as the ability to assign Shortcuts. Apple is poised to include the feature on all upcoming iPhone 16 models, so we asked iPhone 15 Pro users what their experience has been with the additional button so far. The Action button replaces the switch ...
maxresdefault

Hands-On With the New App Store Delta Game Emulator

Wednesday April 17, 2024 12:19 pm PDT by
A decade ago, developer Riley Testut released the GBA4iOS emulator for iOS, and since it was against the rules at the time, Apple put a stop to downloads. Emulators have been a violation of the App Store rules for years, but that changed on April 5 when Apple suddenly reversed course and said that it was allowing retro game emulators on the App Store. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel ...
Provenance Emulator

PlayStation, GameCube, Wii, and SEGA Emulator for iPhone and Apple TV Coming to App Store

Friday April 19, 2024 8:29 am PDT by
The lead developer of the multi-emulator app Provenance has told iMore that his team is working towards releasing the app on the App Store, but he did not provide a timeframe. Provenance is a frontend for many existing emulators, and it would allow iPhone and Apple TV users to emulate games released for a wide variety of classic game consoles, including the original PlayStation, GameCube, Wii,...
iOS NES Emulator Bimmy Feature

NES Emulator for iPhone and iPad Now Available on App Store [Removed]

Tuesday April 16, 2024 11:33 am PDT by
The first approved Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) emulator for the iPhone and iPad was made available on the App Store today following Apple's rule change. The emulator is called Bimmy, and it was developed by Tom Salvo. On the App Store, Bimmy is described as a tool for testing and playing public domain/"homebrew" games created for the NES, but the app allows you to load ROMs for any...