Report says Amazon glasses in works
NEW YORK -- Amazon is attempting to develop glasses that pair with Alexa and would allow users to access the voice-activated assistant outside the home, according to a newspaper report.
The Financial Times, citing anonymous sources, says the glasses could be released before the end of the year.
Amazon.com Inc., based in Seattle, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Wearable technology, glasses specifically, is already in limited use. Snapchat sells $130 glasses that take a short video and post it on the social media app. And Alphabet Inc. sells Google Glass to employers, so that doctors or factory workers can search information or talk to co-workers hands free.
-- The Associated Press
Airbnb adds dinner reservations to app
Airbnb Inc. is expanding into restaurant reservations, part of the startup's plan to become a full-service travel-booking company such as Priceline Group Inc. and Expedia Inc.
Through Airbnb's website and smartphone app, users can book tables at about 650 restaurants across the United States, the company said last week. Diners could previously only use Airbnb to make reservations in a small test in San Francisco.
The new service makes Airbnb more like Priceline, which owns OpenTable, the leading U.S. restaurant reservation website and app. Airbnb declined to disclose its method for making money from the new booking tool. However, it's designed in part to get users to engage with Airbnb more regularly. When people book a place to stay on the company's main home-sharing service, they may also arrange dinner out during their trip.
After its debut in 2008, Airbnb became a favorite app for travelers looking for somewhere to stay. Now the startup is looking beyond lodging. Last year, it began selling unique travel experiences such as cigar-rolling classes in Cuba.
Airbnb used acquisitions and partnerships to speed up this expansion. Last year, Airbnb invested $13 million in restaurant-booking app maker Resy. Resy will start handling reservations for Airbnb users through a tab called "Restaurants" in Airbnb's apps and website. Airbnb declined to disclose its ownership stake in Resy or say if it has plans to buy the company outright.
-- Bloomberg News
Transatlantic internet cable completed
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- Lawmakers and tech industry leaders have announced the completion of a new high-speed data cable that stretches across the Atlantic Ocean.
Representatives from Facebook and Microsoft joined with Virginia's governor and two senators in Williamsburg to celebrate the cable's completion on Friday morning.
The 4,000-mile cable runs from Bilbao, Spain, to Virginia Beach. It can transmit 160 terabits of data per second.
That's 16 million times faster than the average home internet connection. Put another way, it could stream 71 million high-definition videos at once.
The cable is named Marea, which is Spanish for "tide." It's a joint project between Microsoft, Facebook and global telecommunication company Telxius.
The cable will help to meet growing demand for internet infrastructure across the globe. It will also make the network more reliable.
-- The Associated Press
Tracking collars to help fight poachers
Africa's largest mobile carrier MTN Group Ltd. and IBM are introducing collars for prey animals that help combat rhino poaching, a test case for new wireless technologies.
The collars track and monitor prey animals such as zebras that graze close to rhinos, detecting when the animals sense a threat and start moving around. The data gets picked up by MTN's network, sent to a satellite and analyzed in the cloud where it can be accessed through a mobile application, the companies said.
Johannesburg-based MTN, like wireless carriers globally, is seeking new revenue sources and uses for its network as competition weighs on call and data prices. International Business Machines Corp. is targeting a foothold in the market for so-called internet of things, or devices linking together via the web.
"This will be a first of its kind to tackle the rhino poaching problem in Africa," said Craig Holmes, a business development vice president at IBM. "The project is an example of how IBM is increasingly working with partners to roll out practical applications for the internet of things."
-- Bloomberg News
Toyota: Electric won't replace hybrids
Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda says hybrid technology will remain central to the company's strategy even as a rising wave of governments and automakers get behind plug-in electric vehicles.
Asia's biggest car manufacturer will continue to offer a wide range of powertrain options, and customers will ultimately decide which technology is successful, Toyoda told reporters in Tokyo last week. He said the Toyota City-based company would make a realistic decision on its product lineup as it watches market trends evolve.
"With hybrid technology at the center, Toyota will offer fuel-cell vehicles, plug-in hybrids, gasoline cars, and -- although we're a little bit late -- electric vehicles," Toyoda said. "We're not thinking about deciding that now it must be EVs, and we'll only do EVs."
From domestic rivals such as Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. to overseas competitors including Volkswagen AG, Daimler AG and Ford Motor Co. have recently announced plans to increase their electric offerings.
-- Bloomberg News
Amazon Fire tablet faster, runs Alexa
How to revive a stagnant tablet market? Make the gadgets more like those fast-selling, voice controlled speakers. That looks like Amazon.com Inc.'s strategy with the launch of its latest flagship tablet.
The company debuted a new version of its Fire HD 10 tablet last week that has a high-definition screen for watching video, up to 64 GB of storage, a lower price and a processor that runs 30 percent faster, Amazon said.
The most significant new feature is hands-free voice control, which lets users ask questions and do other things such as play music and listen to the news by saying "Alexa" without touching the device. Along with audio-based responses, the tablet will display information, like weather and calendar appointments, on special cards on the screen like the Echo Show speaker introduced earlier this year. This only works when the tablet is hooked up to Wi-Fi.
This feature will be added to Fire HD 10 tablets through a software update starting Oct. 11, and more Alexa capabilities will be added to the device in the future, Amazon said.
-- Bloomberg News
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