News

LATEST TECH NEWS: Facebook launches Messenger API with support for Instagram. 2 other things and a trivia you need to know today, October 20, 2020

Published

4 years ago

October 20, 2020

Ripples Nigeria

These latest stories from the tech space will keep you updated with trends today.

1. Facebook launches Messenger API with support for Instagram

Leading social networking site, Facebook, has today announced the launch of its updated Messenger API which allows businesses to manage their communications across Instagram, in addition to Messenger. The new development comes on the heels of an updates to Instagram and Messenger with the hope to delivere cross-app communication and other features. Reviewers noted that prior to the launch, today, businesses could only respond to customer inquiries through the Instagram app and through Facebook’s unified business inbox.

While this could only work for some smaller businesses, larger brands with a high volume of messages struggle to stay efficient. The launch, hence, is expected to facilitate the possible of businesses to integrate Instagram messaging into the applications and workflows they’re already using in-house to manage their Facebook conversations. Facebook further explained that business with a CRM system integration would be able to view the customer loyalty information and take that into account when they respond.

Tech Trivia:

What is the world’s most translated website?

A. Google
B. Wikipedia
C. Samsung
D. Facebook
E. None of the above

Answer: See end of post.

2. Google Cloud unveils mortgage industry tool Lending DocAI

Global tech leader, Google, through its Google Cloud division, has today unveiled Lending DocAI, a new product thought to be its first dedicated service for the mortgage industry. According to press, the tool is meant to help mortgage companies speed up the process of evaluating a borrower’s income and asset documents, using specialized machine learning models to automate routine document reviews. While this to some extent may sound familiar as DocumentAI, from Google Cloud, already offers a more general tool for performing OCR over complex documents, Lending DocAI, on the flip, is essentially the first vertically specialized Google Cloud service to use this technology.

In an interview with press, Google spokesman and product manager Sudheera Vanguri noted that the idea was to enhance mortgage services as a people-focus company. He said: “Our goal is to give you the right tools to help borrowers and lenders have a better experience and to close mortgage loans in shorter time frames, benefiting all parties involved.” In addition, Google stated that it also hoped to cut down on processing time to balance activities in a fast pace economy. “With Lending DocAI, you will reduce mortgage processing time and costs, streamline data capture, and support regulatory and compliance requirements,” he added.

3. Bertha Centre partners SAB Foundation to launch Student Seed Fund

South Africa’s Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship has announced its partnership with the SAB Foundation to launch the Student Seed Fund. The development will offer Cape Town student entrepreneurs the chance to access capital to scale their innovations. According to the duo, the Student Seed Fund is open to all UCT, UCT GSB and RAA students and recent alumni, and entrepreneurs that have gone through UCT programmes such as the Impact Venture Incubation Programme.

In a bid to empower the youthful population, through the fund, the Bertha Centre and SAB Foundation will provide entrepreneurs with innovative ideas for tackling social or environmental problems in low-income communities with access to seed capital at the business model discovery, or pre-startup, phase, as well as the startup phase. Press noted that test funding of up to ZAR20,000 (US$1,200) and seed funding of up to ZAR100,000 (US$6,000) will be made available.

Tech Trivia Answer: None of the above

The world’s most translated website isn’t owned by one of the large tech brands, such as Google, Apple, Microsoft or Samsung. It is, in fact, the website for the Jehovah’s Witnesses (https://www.jw.org/en/).

The website has been translated into more than 1010 world languages and dialects, and the translations of this website’s publications are carried out spontaneously so that it reaches users in the right language, as quickly as possible. Others on the list include: Wikipedia in about 287 languages, Samsung in 166 languages, Google in 164 languages, Apple in 125 languages, and Facebook in 97 languages.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now