In Her Prime
It looks like Alexa might just get employee of the month after all. During Prime Day, Amazon sold a record number of Echo devices incentivized by discounts. Compared to last year’s Prime Day, the company sold as many as twice the number of Echo devices nationwide and three times as many worldwide. That’s a lot of Alexa’s (and Benjamin’s) in a lot of places. “Prime Day has beat all of Amazon’s expectations,” a source said. “They are shocked by the increase.” (Source: TechCrunch)
I’m with the Broadband
After the 2016 presidential election revealed just how disconnected rural America has fallen behind large cities in stable connectivity, Microsoft is striving to close the rural broadband gap. In an effort to provide high-speed Internet access across the world, Microsoft is first focusing on specific areas in 12 U.S. states within the next year. By using white spaces spectrum, the unused frequencies between TV channels, the company hopes to connect 2 million people by 2022 in a more efficient and cheaper alternative to fiber connection or wireless methods. As seen in the map below, approximately 23.4 million Americans in rural areas don’t have access to broadband. Mind the (broadband) gap! (Source: Bloomberg Tech)
Get Audi Here!
The German automaker just unveiled its high-tech A8 sedan, which Audi claims is the first and only production vehicle possessing Level 3 autonomy. This means that when this model goes on sale next year, it will be the most advanced and automated vehicle on the road. The “AI traffic jam pilot” feature allows the car to drive itself in traffic up to 60 kilometers per hour through a camera, radar, and sensors. While many self-controlled amenities seem too good to be true, only time will tell if Audi can really pass Tesla in the race to perfect self-driving cars. (Source: The Verge)
