Tag: Platforms

Singapore – New data shows that Filipino consumers who visit pirate streaming sites are prone to 21.66 times greater risk of malware infections, with a verifiable detection rate of 10%. This was according to the latest study conducted by the Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA) alongside Dr. Paul Watters of Cyberstronomy.

The report’s findings reveal that when Filipino consumers access pirate torrent sites, the risk of malware infection increases 16.66 times when compared to mainstream platforms. The confirmed infection rate is 18%.

It concluded that a typical user visiting a pirate site faces the threat of infection by ransomware, numerous trojan horses, and other advanced persistent threats (APTs). These infections could occur within 42 seconds on a Windows machine and just 1 minute and 18 seconds on an Android device.

Matt Cheetham, general manager of CAP, said, “Evidence continues to mount that far from being a victimless crime, piracy can victimize consumers.” 

He added, “We look forward to the successful passage of site blocking legislation in the Senate that will allow the Philippines to both protect its consumers from online harm posed by pirate sites and grow its economy.” 

Singapore – In collaboration with global customer relationship management (CRM) software company Salesforce, global cloud communications firm Vonage has launched Vonage ‘Conversations for Salesforce’, a configurable omnichannel messaging app powered by the Vonage Communications Platform. 

Vonage’s new app provides a flexible and scalable way of sending SMS, MMS, and WhatsApp messages from within Salesforce, making it easy for businesses to develop custom workflows using standard Salesforce tools.

This feature aims to enable businesses to serve customers directly from the Salesforce platform and deliver exceptional customer engagements, whilst blending bot and Vonage Contact Center (VCC) agent interactions.

With Salesforce as a single source of truth for customer data, users can participate in a conversation and access the entire customer history. Response-handling can also be automated with chatbots or routed automatically to the right agent or organisation to enable fast resolution.

Savinay Berry, EVP, product & engineering at Vonage, said, “Vonage ‘Conversations for Salesforce’ unlocks the power of delivering personalised two-way interactions with customers from Salesforce, enabling engagement at scale with SMS, MMS and WhatsApp channels while blending bot and VCC agent interactions.”

“Based on Salesforce’s best practices and latest tools, the app overcomes the constraints of existing solutions and is enabling conversations across the entire organisation,” he added. 

Vonage Conversations for Salesforce is part of the full Vonage AI Acceleration Suite for Salesforce, a portfolio of AI-capable, low-code/no-code programmable components that aim to help speed business transformation and seamlessly integrate with Salesforce applications to enable personalised conversations across omni-channel communications.

Sydney, Australia – Sitecore, a comprehensive digital experience software platform, has acknowledged its ongoing commitment to incorporating AI capabilities into its range of content and commerce solutions. This statement was announced in Sydney during the Sitecore DX (digital experience) Sydney 2023 conference. The business has already incorporated AI capabilities into its personalization and content cloud software.

A personalisation platform from Sitecore enables brands to gain insights from customers’ prior website interactions and has introduced an AI-driven Content Cloud for businesses.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT has already been fully integrated into the company’s suite of fully modular software solutions. By enabling marketers to integrate Generative AI capabilities into their Sitecore-driven marketing technology stack, this new feature, powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, improves efficiency, personalization, and scalable content production across Sitecore’s broad range of modular solutions.

Marketers can adapt their solutions by integrating their AI tools through open APIs (application programming interfaces) and customizable user interfaces (UIs) using Sitecore’s fully-modular approach. Examples from the real world include integrating ChatGPT into the Sitecore XM Cloud CMS (content management system) for quick translations and using ChatGPT to edit marketing content in the content hub to better tailor it to target audiences and distribution channels.

Additionally, Sitecore customers can use Dall-E to create various image variations for omnichannel campaigns managed by Sitecore’s Content Cloud.

Steve Tzikakis, CEO of Sitecore, said, “The future of marketing technology and brand experience will be AI-fuelled due to the sheer power of machine learning tools. However, businesses will need to move away from legacy software stacks, and infuse AI systems into composable software approaches that enable true flexibility and the ability to provide their customers with personalised and rich experiences.”

In a recent survey of 400 marketers in the US, Sitecore identified generative AI as a beneficial innovation that brand marketers must implement if they want to offer quick personalization to customers looking for immersive and intuitive digital experiences.

Tzikakis also commented, “Our Generative AI offering has been created to integrate with our composable strategy. Generative AI developments are moving incredibly fast. In fact, while 77% of US marketers feel their technology can handle AI demands, 45% are concerned by the significant costs they perceive will be required to maintain growth.” 

He added, “Sitecore’s composable platform helps combat this fear by giving Sitecore customers the ability to leverage our unique, composable offering, which allows brands to control when and how much spend they can invest depending on customer needs.”

Singapore – Sprinklr, a platform that manages customer experiences in modern companies, has recently made public the integration of its Sprinklr AI+ platform with Vertex AI on Google Cloud, enhancing its capabilities for unified customer experience management.

The Sprinklr AI+ platform provides generative AI capabilities for use across various business functions with strict governance and security standards. This integration enables users of Sprinklr to improve productivity and user experiences by fusing Vertex AI models with Sprinklr’s own AI.

With over 1,250 industry-specific AI models covering more than 100 languages and 150 countries, Sprinklr AI+ is the next phase in the development of Sprinklr’s AI. In order to provide customers with structured insights, it processes volumes of unstructured data, including text, audio, video, images, metrics, and time series data. 

Additionally, users of Sprinklr now have access to features across all four Sprinklr product suites: Sprinklr Service, Sprinklr Social, Sprinklr Marketing, and Sprinklr Insights, thanks to the integration of GoogleCloud’s Vertex AI APIs.

By implementing generative AI, retail companies can optimise their contact centre operations. This will allow service agents to modify response attributes like length, tone, and grammar with a single click. Additionally, this development gives agents access to personalised, real-time excerpts from chosen articles, streamlining customer interactions and developing service quality.

Speaking about the partnership, Ragy Thomas, CEO and founder of Sprinklr, remarked, “Generative AI is giving our AI wings. Our customers demand the ability to work with their preferred AI tools and partners and offering flexibility and choice is a major advantage. This expanded partnership with Google Cloud allows us to offer our customers access to their preferred generative AI platforms integrated with Sprinklr’s proprietary AI+ focused specifically on deriving insights from unstructured customer experience (CX) data.”

He added, “Together we can help the world’s most iconic brands leverage AI to break down silos and empower marketing, sales, and customer service professionals to serve customers the way they should in the new world.”

Meanwhile, Rodrigo Rocha, director of global partnerships at Google Cloud, said, “Generative AI can create entirely new experiences for users and value for businesses.Through our partnership, Vertex AI will power new generative AI experiences for Sprinklr users while ensuring the highest levels of data privacy and security.” 

Singapore – Snapchat has announced the launch of its ‘strike system’, with the goal of giving its 13 to 17-year-old users a safety measure when browsing their platform. With the addition of this new strike system, Snapchat aims to become a secure and safe messaging platform for minors. 

The company is releasing a number of new features today with the clear goal of enhancing the protection of 13–17-year-olds from potential online risks. These upcoming features have been designed to accomplish three main objectives, to protect teenagers from unwanted contact from people they don’t know in real life, adapt the content viewing experience to the users’ age range, and improve the effectiveness of identifying and removing accounts promoting age-inappropriate content. 

A strike system and detection technologies will be used to achieve this. The company’s goal for the safety and wellbeing of its young user demographic can be seen in the fact that these features are set to go live in the upcoming weeks.

They have implemented this new strike system in an effort to combat accounts that promote content that is inappropriate for children. Any content that is flagged as inappropriate, whether it is discovered proactively or is reported, is immediately removed under this system. In addition, they may decide to ban an account if it repeatedly tries to violate their policies.

“Our commitment to making our platform safer is always on, and we will continue to build on these improvements in the coming months with additional protections for teen Snapchatters and support for parents,” Snap said in a press statement.

Philippines – Outbrain, an open-source technology platform, has recently announced a new partnership with Summit Media, a local digital lifestyle media network. Outbrain’s continued leadership in providing product offerings, platform capabilities, and service is shown by this three-year contract.

The partnership creates more opportunities for advertisers to connect with targeted consumer audiences by extending Outbrain’s AI-driven customisation across Summit Media’s premium digital properties, which include platforms like PEP.ph, Cosmo.PH, Smart Parenting PH, and Esquire PH.

A diverse and engaged audience can be reached by advertisers by exclusively featuring Summit Media on the Outbrain network. An individualised user experience is promoted by Outbrain’s platform, which not only improves brand visibility but also incorporates content recommendations from advertisers.

Speaking about the partnership, Eve Solomon, managing director of publisher business development for JAPAC at Outbrain, commented, “Summit Media’s choice to once again partner with Outbrain after a brief stint with another advertising platform brings us great joy and is a clear indication of Outbrain’s unmatched ability to deliver outstanding results for our publishers and advertisers.” 

She added, “With Summit Media’s extensive network of websites, advertisers gain access to a broad and engaged audience, elevating the reach and impact of their campaigns. We look forward to empowering more advertisers to leverage the potential of native advertising and reach their target audiences effectively.”

Meanwhile, Monette De Leon, head of programmatic sales at Summit Media, said, “Outbrain’s platform empowers us to deliver relevant and engaging content to our readers seamlessly. We are confident that this new partnership will further elevate the user experience on our sites and enable us to attract more advertisers to run campaigns with us through Outbrain.”

Manila, Philippines – Digital life insurer Singlife Philippines and personal finance marketplace Moneymax has announced their collaboration to make the first-ever Philippine mobile life insurance app through the launching of the ‘Singlife Plan & Protect’ app.

The app enables users to build an emergency fund with a high-interest account, access a guided financial planning tool, and buy customizable life insurance & investment products.

The newly formed partnership is the first of its kind for both digital platforms. For Moneymax, it marks the launch of its life insurance offering in addition to its travel and fire insurance pages, which were launched earlier this year. On the other hand, Singlife will be leveraging its platform to provide fuss-free financial solutions that in the past were only available through traditional means.

Commenting on the app launch, Rien Hermans, CEO of Singlife Philippines, said, “Unexpected life events—such as disability or even death of the family breadwinner, or serious illnesses within the family—can drain a lifetime’s worth of savings and even worse, confront families with a high, hard-to-pay-back debt.”

“For the Juans and Marias of today who work hard and plan to achieve their goals, we want to empower them—with the help of Moneymax—to take control of their hard-earned money. The Singlife Plan & Protect App can guide them through taking proactive steps to make sure they will always have money when they need it”, he added. 

Meanwhile, Prashant Aggarwal, CEO of MoneyHero Group, commented, “Through our strategic partnership with Singlife, we strengthen our commitment to expanding our offers and increasing awareness of digital insurance in the country. Moneymax and Singlife share the same mission of helping customers find financial products that best match their needs and budget, which is what this partnership is all about.”

Hong Kong – Digital-enabled brand agency Totem Media has announced its latest  partnership with Hootsuite, the global social media management platform.

The newly established partnership allows Totem Media to officially distribute Hootsuite across the Asia region, including China, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia and India.

Through this collaboration, Totem Media’s clients can look forward to benefiting immediately with instant access to the new offerings. Additionally, Hootsuite can also be integrated with other foundational platforms, including CRM systems and other important channels for growth in Asia.

Talking about  the partnership, Chris Baker, founder of Totem Media, said, “As the Asia region becomes increasingly more important for global brands, we see the value of Hootsuite as a centralized dashboard for marketing leaders. Management teams in Asia need to keep track of multiple markets, ensuring that brand growth is clear and consistent.”

“We are excited about how this partnership will allow us to increase the impact of our work in social media, brand tracking, growth planning, insights and data analysis. Hootsuite, together with its rich ecosystem of apps and tools, should be a foundational platform for CMOs managing the region,” he added. 

Meanwhile, Brad Wochomurka, vice president, global partnerships at Hootsuite, commented, “Totem Media is a great addition to our reseller program. Their mix of digital marketing capabilities, brand growth insights and experience across key Asian markets, make Totem Media a valuable partner.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Ant Group and PayNet jointly announced the integration of Alipay+ to promote seamless payment for inbound and outbound Malaysian travellers. 

The partnership will enable all Malaysian e-wallets supported by PayNet to be accepted by Alipay+ merchants network globally in 2024, with a collaboration with Ant Group on joint digital marketing efforts to enhance visibility of businesses directly within the users’ e-wallets.

The collaboration comes amidst travel recovery to Malaysia, with 4.5 million tourist arrivals in the first quarter of 2023, with most coming from ASEAN countries. As travel rebounds, it is vital for businesses to adapt to new digital habits, particularly the acceptance of localised digital payment options like e-wallets, which has become the norm for day-to-day transactions. 

By the end of this year, users of five leading Asian e-wallets, including AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR), GCash (Philippines), Kakao Pay (South Korea) and TrueMoney (Thailand), will be able to use cashless payments when they travel to Malaysia with Alipay+.

Gary Yeoh, chief commercial officer of PayNet said,  “This partnership between PayNet and Alipay+ is forged at a vital time when overseas travel and tourism have fully resumed, and are rapidly increasing. Consumers and merchants in both countries who are already accustomed to digital payments expect the same seamless and hassle-free experience when travelling overseas. They also expect this to be conducted at competitive exchange rates.” 

“Since Malaysia has long been a favourite and popular destination with Asian tourists, and vice-versa, this collaboration will likely result in higher trade growth between the two nations. We do see the proliferation of seamless international payments at scale sooner than we think. It is just a matter of time,” he added. 

Meanwhile, Dr. Cherry Huang, general manager of Alipay+ Offline Merchant Services, Ant Group, said, “Alipay+’s collaboration with PayNet  is a significant development for regional travellers. We are jointly making efforts to bring local businesses and international visitors closer together, offering not just convenience to tourists but greater opportunities and visibility for Malaysian businesses.” 

“Travellers today have greater expectations when they travel, particularly the use of digital solutions to enhance their experience. They want it to be simpler, with less complexity and less hassle, and in working with our local partners, this is exactly what we want to achieve – personalised, seamless and borderless experiences,” added Huang. 

Singapore – Singaporean mobile network operator M1 has announced an exclusive partnership with regional content-streaming startup Eazie TV to launch a new live TV streaming service optimised for a variety of platforms.

In the partnership, M1 will be adapting Eazie TV’s features in an app subscription, offering an efficient means of access where customers only need to download the app and sign up to immediately enjoy the available content offerings.

The app will offer over 75 live TV channels, including networks like History, CNN, TLC, AXN, Discovery, Nickelodeon, Hunan TV International, and more. Customers can watch their preferred live and on-demand programming from top international and Asian networks in popular categories like news, entertainment, sports, movies, documentaries, lifestyle, kids, and Asian.

Customers can watch content on as many as four streaming devices at home or on the go with a single membership account. Users of M1 pay S$19.98 per month for subscriptions, whereas non-M1 users pay S$24.98.

Existing M1 customers on M1 mobile, fibre and Maxx plans will also be receiving a free 30-days of access on their first subscription.