Bloomberg Amazon boasted that its virtual assistant Alexa is capable of 1,000 “skills,” as the online retail giant bolsters defenses against rivals such as Google and Apple. The Seattle-based company said in a blog post that the programs were developed specifically for the voice-commanded Alexa software used in Amazon devices such as Echo and Fire TV. Amazon released voice-enabled ...

  Paris / Bloomberg Airbus Group SE is exploring ways of carving out extra space on its A380 superjumbos in order to boost capacity and enhance margins for operators, among them modifying the staircases that connect the double-decker jet’s two passenger floors. Feedback from existing A380 customers suggests that curved steps located toward the rear of the world’s biggest jetliner ...

  Berlin / AFP Dwarfed by huge jets all around, the mini-plane Thor was nonetheless an eye-catcher at the Berlin air show this week — the small Airbus marvel is the world’s first 3D-printed aircraft. Windowless, weighing in at just 21 kilos (46 pounds) and less than four metres (13 feet) long, the drone Thor — short for “Test of ...