Thus far, virtual personal assistants like Siri, Google Now and Cortana have been part of an effort to differentiate mobile platforms like iOS and Android. Facebook, however, is working on bringing virtual personal assistants to its Messenger app and the web, according to The Information.
Facebook's offering, which is codenamed "Moneypenny" after the assistant character in the James Bond franchise, will allow users to ask real people for help to research and purchase products and services. Moneypenny will be able to help users with other tasks, but it's unclear what those tasks could be. It's also unknown when Moneypenny could launch.
In recent months Facebook has been working on turning Messenger into a platform, opening up the service to third-party iOS app integration and allowing developers to build apps for the service. Additionally, Facebook previewed the ability for users to be able to message businesses directly to receive updates and shipping confirmations about their online orders as well as the ability to ask free-form questions about orders from within the app.
Facebook Messenger is available for free on the App Store [Direct Link]
27 comments
Will Smith, his wife Jada Smith, and his son Jaden Smith today visited Apple Park to discuss the environment and Jaden's Just Water company, according to a tweet Apple CEO Tim Cook shared on...
Back in March, Facebook announced that millions of Facebook passwords were stored on its servers in plain text with no encryption. At the time, Facebook also said that "tens of thousands" of...
Apple likely paid somewhere around $5 to $6 billion to settle its ongoing legal battle with Qualcomm, according to estimates shared today by UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri (via CNBC).
The...
All three 2019 iPhones will feature 12-megapixel single-lens front cameras, up from 7-megapixels on the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, according to the latest research note from well-known...
Apple has opened a new lab that will study how it can expand upon its current recycling processes through machine learning and robotics. The company announced the news today, along with other...
Samsung this week provided reviewers with Galaxy Fold devices for some hands-on time, and it appears the folding smartphone may be suffering from some serious flaws. Three of the reviewers who...
Apple is facing a class action lawsuit accusing the company of securities fraud for making false statements and failing to disclose adverse information regarding its business prospects. These actions...
