NAIAS 2016: Buick unveils sporty Avista Concept

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Detroit, MI -  Buick took the wraps off its surprise Avista sports coupe concept which brings a new level of sporty performance, luxury and technology to Buick's stable of of vehicles. The Avista is a swoopy, sexy affiar that is actually buiilt on the Camaro platform but which channels the sleek look of a thoroughbred grand tourer from Jaguar or Aston Martin. 

The surprise reveal at a Buick event in downtown Detroit, the Avista Coupe drew a lot of attention when it rolled into the stage. While this is a concept car which exists with no guarantees that it will ever make production, it did attract a lot of attention and the general consensus from guests and journalists on the floor was that Buick should make a vehicle that incorportates many of the lines and the proposed technologies that the Avista offers.

Click to read more ...

Facebook Messenger has over 800 million monthly users now

Whether you like Facebook Messenger or not, a lot of you use it. Facebook recently announced that the messaging service now has over 800 million monthly active users, which puts Facebook’s messaging platform closer to WhatsApp’s 900 million user mark that they hit back in September. Facebook has worked on innovating the service last year and introduced new features like video calling and bringing businesses and customers together with Businesses on Messenger.

What’s in store for Messenger in 2016? Facebook’s Vice President of Messaging Products David Marcus didn’t go into specifics but one of the things is they seem to still be working on Facebook’s AI-based virtual assistant, M, and they’re developing how to better interaction on the service. “At Messenger we’re thinking about how we can help you interact with businesses or services to buy items, order rides, purchase airline tickets, and talk to customer service in truly frictionless and delightful ways. It is so much easier to do everything in one place that has the context of your last interactions, as well as your identity (no need to ever login), rather than downloading apps that you’ll never use again and jumping around from one app to another.” Marcus said.

Source: Facebook + Mashable

Apple Music reportedly already has 10 million subscribers

Apple Music seems to be well on its way to becoming the biggest streaming music service in the market. Apple’s streaming music service has reportedly hit the 10 million mark. Of course, if you relate this to Spotify’s 75 million active listeners (thanks a lot to its free tier), they still have a long way to go. But in terms of growth Spotify took six years to reach the same milestone and they now have 20 million Premium subscribers.

Apple won’t confirm the figures but it’s not a surprise they were able to reach those numbers immediately. Since day one, they launched in over 100 countries, which Spotify wasn’t able to do from the get-go. And if you’re one of the many iOS users, you’re constantly reminded to sign up and use the service right off the bat. Plus, they're also trying to lure Android users to use the service as well. Or perhaps, we also have Taylor Swift’s help to account for that, too.

Source: Financial Times | Via: Engadget

Uber starts the year with price cuts

If you use Uber regularly, you might notice a drop in prices recently. And that isn’t a fluke. At the start of the year, Uber drops prices in over 100 Canadian and US cities to encourage the riding public to use the service. January is a slow month for Uber with the cold weather and people staying in and trying to save money. It wasn't specificied in their announcement how much Uber cuts in terms of prices, though, as it differs in every city.

Uber promises that their drivers won’t be taken advantage of either. According to the company’s press release on the announcement: “Higher demand means more time moving people, less time spent waiting around and more money for drivers. And if drivers aren’t busier, prices will go back up again. In addition, we are guaranteeing earnings for drivers to ensure that no one is disadvantaged.” In some cities where they dropped prices, driver earnings have increased year after year. But there are also some drawbacks in certain cities. They promise though to try new things to help out both riders and drivers.

Source: Uber