New tech on the block: Chatbot, crypto, data streaming, AV, blockchain, EdTech, team collaboration, fintech, cybersecurity

The Tech Panda takes a look at recent tech launches.

Chatbot: India’s first conversational AI based offer discovery platform on WhatsApp

plutos ONE launched what they claimed is India’s first conversational AI based offer discovery platform on WhatsApp, to revolutionize the way consumers explore and avail offers and deals. Users can conveniently discover amazing offers with just a tap on WhatsApp, eliminating the need to navigate through multiple websites or sift through countless discounts.

Rajjat Gulati, Co-Founder of plutos ONE, commented, “At plutos ONE, we have always been at the forefront of innovation. With our Conversational AI-based Offer Discovery Platform, we have once again raised the bar on innovation and customer experience.”

Features

• Users can simply engage in a conversation as they would with a friend, and the AI will assist them in finding deals that align with their preferences, making offer discovery incredibly easy and convenient.
• The platform offers access to top offers from over 400 brands across various categories including beauty and wellness, dining, shopping, travel, electronics and entertainment, gifting, health and fitness, education, and more.
• The chatbot provides step-by-step guidance on how to avail offers and vouchers, ensuring a smooth and hassle-free experience for users. Operating through WhatsApp makes the platform easily accessible and convenient for users.
• Users can simply scan the provided QR code with their smartphones or tap on the provided link to begin using the service.
• With upcoming updates, users will have the ability to chat in 16 regional languages and use the platform through voice commands in their native languages.

Upgrade: Designed to empower brands with actionable insights & customizable solutions

DashLoc, an Indian company specializing in hyperlocal discovery and growth, launched DashLoc 2.0, a revolutionary upgrade to its dashboard platform. Building upon the success of DashLoc 1.0, this new iteration incorporates cutting-edge technology and advanced features to redefine the user experience, empowering brands with actionable insights and customizable solutions.

Gaurav Kumar, Co-Founder and CTO at DashLoc, commented on the launch, saying, “We’re incredibly excited to unveil DashLoc 2.0, a culmination of our relentless pursuit of innovation and user-centric design. The Unique Selling Proposition (USP) of DashLoc 2.0 lies in its seamless blend of advanced technology with user-centric features. With this latest release, we aim to elevate the user dashboard experience as well as leverage a new tech stack for quicker and easier development of advanced features. This transition reinforces DashLoc’s dedication to offering advanced solutions and remaining at the forefront of technology and user expectations. We’re confident that DashLoc 2.0 will transform how brands engage with their audiences and navigate the ever-evolving complexities of the modern marketplace.”

With state-of-the-art AI algorithms and advanced ML models, this new version empowers brands to take center stage, leveraging data to shape their future endeavors with unparalleled precision. In addition, integration with GenAI technology enhances the platform’s functionality and effectiveness, establishing a new benchmark in hyperlocal discovery and growth solutions.

Features

• AI-driven Review Management: Streamlining response generation, summarization, and automation to enhance customer engagement and satisfaction across diverse platforms.
• Advanced Chatbot Feature: Offering customized flows tailored to brand interactions, reducing agent costs, and increasing conversion rates by over 26%.
• Intelligent Analytics with Smart Reporting: Generating advanced analytics to facilitate informed decision-making processes.
• Progressive Website Theme Control: Enabling unparalleled customization of website themes to align with brand identity.

Cryptocurrency: Premium OTC services for institutions & HNIs

Mudrex, a global crypto investment platform launched Mudrex Prime, an exclusive Over-the-Counter (OTC) services division catering to institutional and high-net-worth individuals. During its pilot phase in the last quarter of 2023, Mudrex Prime achieved a transaction volume surpassing $100 million catering to a diverse clientele of 200+ institutions in India and the European Union.

CEO and Co-founder, Edul Patel, said, “We are incredibly excited to introduce Mudrex’s OTC services, a significant step towards fulfilling the evolving needs of institutional and family businesses in the crypto space. We aim to empower our users, whether they are seasoned institutions or individuals, with the flexibility to trade across a diverse range of crypto assets. The launch of OTC services is a testament to our commitment to serve all types of clients”.

Features

The OTC services provided by Mudrex Prime are fully compliant with regulatory standards. The platform is registered with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in India and holds a Virtual Asset Service Provider license in the European Union. The platform prioritizes KYC(B)/AML checks to guarantee the legitimacy and security of all transactions. Headquartered in Bengaluru and San Francisco, Mudrex is backed by Y-Combinator, Nexus Ventures, Arkham Ventures, and Tribe Capital.

Mudrex Prime places a strong emphasis on personalized relationship management, offering users tailored OTC solutions with dedicated tax filing assistance for a seamless experience. The platform is committed to multi-time zone dedicated support, ensuring users receive assistance around the clock.

Data Streaming: Migration Accelerator to fast-track data streaming journeys

Confluent, Inc. the data streaming company, announced the Confluent Migration Accelerator, a new program in partnership with the Confluent partner ecosystem to jumpstart organizations’ data streaming journeys. As enterprises look to migrate away from Apache Kafka and traditional streaming infrastructure (e.g. messaging systems), Confluent’s Migration Accelerator will lower the barrier to migration.

“Organizations that rely on traditional data infrastructure or less complete Kafka alternatives are burdened with static data that prevents them from flourishing,” said Paul Mac Farland, VP of Partner and Innovation Ecosystem, Confluent. “The Confluent Migration Accelerator will make it easy for organizations to swiftly reap the benefits of the only data streaming platform that streams, governs, processes and connects real-time data. Confluent empowers customers to leverage valuable legacy data to power modern, cloud-based apps and experiences.”

The Why

Real-time data is critical for modern businesses to drive new customer experiences, improve business operations and fuel innovation across products and services. Open-source Apache Kafka® has gained widespread adoption as a way to harness real-time data, with over 100,000 global organizations and 75% of the Fortune 500 using it today. Despite its popularity, self-managing open-source Kafka can create significant ongoing operational burdens and risks – ones that only grow over time. While Kafka serves as the foundation for modern data systems, it does not provide all of the necessary functionalities out-of-the-box like elastic scalability, failover processes, cluster sizing and more. This means spending valuable development time and resources building low-level tooling and maintaining platform performance rather than on other high-value projects.

Features

• Press the “easy button” for a simplified migration – Partner with leading data streaming experts to augment staff, access funding credits (subject to approval), and accelerate the migration with packaged migration offerings.
• Upgrade with confidence – Migrate to the leading cloud-native and complete data streaming platform that can run everywhere and in any combination of on-prem, hybrid cloud and multi-cloud deployments. Confluent’s Kora Engine powers Confluent Cloud to deliver faster performance and lower latency than open source Apache Kafka. Multi-tenancy, elasticity, data balancing, network costs, and more are all optimized with our cloud native platform to reduce spend on infrastructure. Moving to Confluent will help automate every layer of the stack to monitor, debug, and build with the most complete data streaming platform on the market.
• Save money and time – Move to Confluent to unlock significant cost savings in comparison to traditional data streaming platforms and open source Kafka.

AV: Series 3 product line, setting a new standard in the AV signal management domain

Kramer an audio-visual experiences company expanded its innovative Series 3 product line, setting a new standard in the AV signal management domain. Series 3 shows Kramer’s commitment to providing end-to-end solutions that are fully interoperable and connected, offering unprecedented simplicity, flexibility, and scalability in AV integration.

Kramer’s Series 3 represents the essence of high-performance audio-visual experiences, offering premium quality with uncompressed 4K60 4:4:4 video, zero latency, and advanced connectivity features like fast switching, single-cable extension, and USB-C interfaces. Designed to support the most advanced collaboration devices and demanding use cases, Series 3 ensures top-notch AV signal processing in any setting.

Series 3 provides full coverage of all AV connectivity protocols, offering compatibility with a wide range of signal management products. This extensive support spans from legacy to advanced protocols, facilitating effortless integration with any preferred collaboration devices.

“With Series 3, we are not just launching a product line, but we are redefining the AV signal management approach. This series is a testament to Kramer’s commitment to continual innovation. As we look ahead, we are excited to keep expanding our offerings, adding more products and solutions to this domain. Our goal is to empower our customers with simplicity, flexibility, and efficiency, ensuring they stay ahead in a rapidly evolving digital world.” says Yishai Mescheloff, VP AVSM and Connect.

Features

• Matrices: Modular, Fixed, and All-in-One Matrices form the core of modern AV systems, offering versatility in professional AV installations. They address all aspects of high-performance signal distribution, switching, processing, including scaling, audio mixing, and integrated control interfaces for remote management.
• Switchers: Our multi-format Series 3 Switchers optimize connectivity for presentations, live events, or home entertainment, providing versatile switching between different sources for a top-tier user experience.
• Extenders: Series 3 Extenders take audio, visual, and control signals further while preserving their full quality and strength, ensuring flawless signal delivery across diverse environments.
• Distribution Amplifiers: These high-performance amplifiers ensure that audio and video content reach every screen, speaker, and device in your network with high precision and clarity.
• Video Processors: Streamline the deployment of multi-view displays and videowalls with cost-effective Series 3 Video Processors, reducing the need for multiple units and complex network infrastructures.

Blockchain: BITBhoomi, a blockchain platform to transform eco-consciousness & sustainable reforestation

Responding to the intensifying environmental crisis, Beyond Imagination Technologies, a prominent blockchain company, has revealed BITBhoomi – a revolutionary blockchain-powered platform designed for the digital monitoring, reporting, and verification of green initiatives, specifically focused on reforesting open spaces in urban and non-urban areas alike. In the coming weeks, the platform plans to unveil its exclusive cryptocurrency, $BHOOMI. This digital asset will serve not only as a means for crowdfunding but also as a key element in fostering a dynamic blockchain community committed to tackling real-world challenges through inventive technological solutions.

Nikhil Goyal, CEO & Co-Founder, Beyond Imagination Technologies expressed his enthusiasm at the launch of BITBhoomi and said, “With the launch of BITBhoomi, we want to bring sustainability into everyday conversations, aiming to shift it from boardroom discussions to dining table dialogues. Our newly launched solution envisions a comprehensive approach, leveraging technology, environmental sustainability, and community engagement to drive transformative change.”

The Why

Alarming statistics from The World Count report reveals that from 2011 to 2015, approximately 20 million hectares of forest were lost annually, with an alarming acceleration to an average of 28 million hectares per year since 2016. This translates to the devastating reality of one football field of forest lost every single second. In a bid to counteract this dire situation, BITBhoomi leverages the power of blockchain and NFT technology to enhance the transparency and traceability of donation campaigns, specifically targeting the mitigation of adverse effects caused by human activities on the environment.

Features

BITBhoomi brings a host of benefits to the forefront of environmental initiatives, fostering a sense of ownership and pride among stakeholders. The platform provides real-time updates, ensuring accountability and trust in the reforestation process. By utilizing innovative approaches towards conservation and reforestation initiatives, BITBhoomi not only promotes transparency but also supports long-term sustainability, making it a catalyst for positive change in the battle against deforestation.

Corporate entities looking to strengthen their environmental initiatives can leverage BITBhoomi data-driven insights, corporate social responsibility integration, and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) and sustainability reporting capabilities. BITBhoomi empowers companies to actively participate in mitigating environmental damage, making their commitment to sustainability tangible and measurable.

The platform introduces a comprehensive suite of impact reporting tools for reforestation efforts, ensuring meaningful contributions from every donation. Key features include advanced tree counting technology for accurate impact visualization, precise geolocation of planted trees to enhance transparency, real-time monitoring of tree growth and health for a deeper donor connection, data-driven optimization for optimal planting times, and measurement of carbon sequestration to contribute to global climate change initiatives. Additionally, the platform assesses and manages soil organic carbon levels to ensure the long-term health and sustainability of reforested areas.

team collaboration and productivity software: AI-powered capabilities to Loom, an asynchronous video communication tool, and Trello

Team collaboration: AI-powered capabilities to Loom & Trello

Atlassian Corporation (NASDAQ: TEAM), a provider of team collaboration and productivity software, has introduced new AI-powered capabilities to Loom, an asynchronous video communication tool, and Trello, a visual personal productivity tool. It also announced the general availability of Confluence whiteboards, a freeform canvas feature in its popular Confluence product. The features are aimed to make it easier to collaborate visually for a variety of tasks – from weekly meetings/catchups, to tracking the progress of a project, to brainstorming new ideas.

Erika Trautman, Head of product, Work Management, Atlassian said, “As employees seek new ways to connect, the use of visual collaboration tools is on the rise. Video, digital canvases, and other non-text content types are enhancing or replacing written updates. At Atlassian, we’re enabling this richer, more visual experience with our work management products.”

“The new AI features in Loom and Trello will drive meaningful collaboration and increase personal productivity in the age of distributed work. And when it comes to Confluence whiteboards, we’re just getting started and look forward to sharing more about our plans to bring the power of AI to this tool in a few months,” she added.

Features

New AI-powered features in Loom help create and share video updates faster

Loom AI

• Auto Message Composer: Writes a message to create the perfect context for sharing the video.
• Auto CTA: Automatically suggests a custom call-to-action button on a finished video.
• Edit by Transcript: Swiftly removes any unwanted filler words or pauses after a video is recorded.

Gen AI in Trello

• Atlassian Intelligence for Trello, now available in beta, can generate new content, summarize or shorten the content that is already there, find action items in the content, and improve spelling and grammar.
• Atlassian has also introduced colored and collapsable lists in Trello for better organisation and refreshing visual makeover.

EdTech: India’s first indigenously built AI education suite

Physics Wallah unveiled India’s first indigenously built AI education suite “Alakh AI”. In less than two months, it has already attracted more than 1.5 million users.

CEO and Founder of Physics Wallah, Alakh Pandey said, “Today, we stand at the cusp of a new dawn in education. “Padhai Ka Naya Andaaz” is more than a theme; it is our commitment to provide a learning experience that transcends traditional boundaries, making education more personalised, effective, and engaging for every student. These initiatives are a testament to our belief in the transformative power of education and our commitment to empowering students with the tools they need to succeed.”

Features

• AI Guru: Personalised Tutor: AI Guru is a 24/7 Personal AI Tutor and Assistant, designed to tailor the learning experience to each student’s unique needs. It serves as a one-stop solution for a variety of student queries, whether academic, non-academic, product-related, or support-related. Its conversational nature ensures that students view it as a trusted guide, improving their grasp of core concepts and supporting their emotional well-being. Students can submit doubts in multiple modes (text, image, speech), receiving responses in both text and video formats. It resolves most of the doubts in real-time, a substantial improvement over the previous 10-hour turnaround time, and boasts a 94% satisfaction rate for academic inquiries. AI Guru offers uniformity and predictability in responses which manual approaches can not provide. The AI tutor has already amassed a user base of more than 1.5 million students. AI Guru has 3x more engagements than “ask doubt” which is an existing product of the company.
• Sahayak: Smart Companion: Study Sahayak facilitates personalised learning for students including aspects like adaptive practices, revision and backlog clearance tailored to students’ specific needs. Students have the flexibility to select their learning requirements, including specific subjects and chapters. Based on these choices, Study Sahayak designs personalised learning for each student. Customised content recommendations such as videos and practice questions are provided to support student’s learning journey.
• NCERT Pitara: NCERT Pitara leverages GenAI to generate questions from NCERT textbooks of various types, such as Single Choice Questions, Multiple Choice Questions, and Fill in the Blanks. This allows students to fill the gaps in their studies in real-time. Since this is completely self-paced, the students can attempt and complete Pitara at their convenience, irrespective of where they are and how much they can study in a given time frame.

Apart from Alakh AI, PW launched the following innovative tech products to enhance the learning outcomes of students:

• Community Learning: To make education more engaging and exciting, PW launched a Collaborative Learning Environment featuring batch-specific discussion groups and “Battleground” for live practice sessions with their favourite teachers and batchmates. This initiative is designed to transform learning into an exhilarating adventure, making education an engaging and enjoyable experience for students.
• Increased Accessibility with Low Data mode: Physics Wallah (PW) has improved its platform’s digital learning efficiency by maintaining the same lecture duration while reducing data consumption by an impressive 80-90%. This advancement allows students to engage with a larger volume of lectures within the constraints of their existing data packages, effectively maximizing their educational intake without the worry of exceeding data limitations. The improved data efficiency not only enhances students’ access to additional educational content but also opens up greater learning opportunities.
• Focused Learning with “LearnOS Tapasya Mode,”: LearnOS is an Android launcher tailored to minimize digital distractions for students. Designed to prioritize academic focus and productivity, it features a”Tapasya Mode” that allows users to block distracting apps for a chosen duration and enables focused study sessions by keeping away apps which can be distracting. Students can track progress with streaks, earn badges, and compete on leaderboards.

Fintech: Institutional Custody Offering to provide institutional investors secure & compliant digital asset solutions

Liminal Custody Solutions (Liminal), a digital asset custody and wallet infrastructure provider in the APAC and MENA launched of its Institutional Custody Offering. This comes in response to the escalating demand from institutional investors for secure and compliant digital asset solutions.

“Traditional financial markets have long thrived on the principle of ‘segregation of duties’, ensuring market integrity through clear divisions of responsibility. With a large number of institutions expressing interest in digital assets, security and compliance remain paramount. With our Institutional Custody Offering at Liminal, we address these concerns head-on, providing a secure and compliant platform for institutions to confidently enter this innovative asset class. Unlock new investment opportunities and achieve your digital asset goals with Liminal – your trusted partner in the digital revolution.” said Manan Vora SVP of Strategy & Business Operations at Liminal.

The Why

As digital assets gain mainstream adoption, institutions require robust security and scalable options for storing their digital assets.

Features

• Best-in-class security measures: FIPS-certified Hardware Devices, including Ledger Nano X & Thales LUNA, geographic key distribution via multi-signature wallet configurations, seed-phrase storage with access control, ensures unparalleled asset protection.
• Unwavering compliance: SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 & 27701, and CCSS Level-3 certifications guarantee adherence to the highest security and compliance standards.
• Advanced wallet protection and management: Regular penetration testing, segregated accounts, verifiable proof-of-reserve reports, and off-balance sheet storage fortify your digital assets.
• Granular policy control: Liminal’s proprietary firewall engine enables custom workflows for transaction risk analysis, threshold monitoring, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Travel Rule compliance, proactively shielding your investments.

Cybersecurity: Advanced defenses against sophisticated application-layer DDoS attacks

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the cloud company announced significant additions to its flagship Akamai App & API Protector product, including advanced defenses against sophisticated application-layer distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.

“The evolution of Akamai App & API Protector highlights our focus on innovation and a customer-centric approach,” said Rupesh Chokshi, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Application Security at Akamai. “These machine learning enhancements and shared telemetry across Akamai are designed to strengthen and simplify web application and API defense. They provide the strategic edge necessary for businesses to thrive in today’s digital economy.”

Features

• The enhanced Layer 7 DDoS protections now precisely detect and mitigate short DDoS attack bursts and use client reputation scores for improved rate limiting. An additional new capability, URL Protection, ensures the availability of mission critical URLs, APIs, and microservices by smartly prioritizing legitimate traffic during highly distributed attacks.
• App & API Protector also now features Browser Impersonation Detection, which uses machine learning to gain deeper insights into browser behaviors while minimizing false positives and enabling more effective detection of malicious bots.
• Simple Start Onboard — Simplifies and speeds self-service onboarding and new application set-up in just a few clicks
• CVE Protection Catalog — Provides insights to prioritize security efforts in alignment with Akamai’s protections, and allows customers to search the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) database to determine Akamai’s active protective measures against a vulnerability, as well as assess threat level and access CVE details
• Client-Side Protection & Compliance — Akamai Client-Side Protection & Compliance assists customers in adhering to PCI DSS v4 regulations and meeting numerous industry and global compliance standards
• Advanced SOCC Services — Now available for customers seeking personalized support and prioritized escalation paths through our Security Operations Command Center (SOCC), these services allow users to stay ahead of the most sophisticated cyberthreats
• Web Security Analytics Updates — Simplifies operations and boosts analytics capabilities, including customizable dashboards, configuration change indicators, webhook alerts, and shortened deep links for easier sharing