Crazy CES 2017 stuff! Faraday Future has a car + Amazon’s Alexa looms large [episode 21]

Welcome to 2017! Welcome to season 3! Here’s the new episode:

We cover talking refrigerators, smart hairbrushes, and philosophy… 

Thanks for checking out the show notes for episode 21! I’m making an effort to make our show notes more article-like. Because words are good. Right?

In da news…

This week Medium laid off one third of its staff. Ev Williams publicly announced it on the company blog. Isn’t it weird that Medium needs a blog? Because they’re kind of, like, just a big blog. Anyhow…

I interpret the Medium news as just another opportunity to get on my soapbox and state that more people should write blogs. Why wouldn’t you want to own your content? Speak to the world, man. It’s powerful stuff.

In the Musk Zone…

The SpaceX investigation into the exploding rocket is over, and they’re launching again on January 8th. Yay! Wish them luck, and check out the live stream of the launch if you get a chance. They’re amazing to watch live.

Crazy CES 2017 stuff…

An unusual new car company called Faraday Future officially unveiled their first car, which is called FF91. It’s completely electric, and can drive itself. There’s a picture of it at the top of this post. Some like it, others… not so much.

I thought this news was interesting because it shows how Tesla’s approach to car design can be mimicked by other companies. I mean, this thing is pretty much a Tesla, just a bit more futuristic looking.

Alexa is the star of CES 2017

Amazon doesn’t have a booth at CES 2017, but Alexa is everywhere. Companies all over the place are making Alexa and Amazon Echo integrations. Brand new TVs have built-in Alexa voice control, LG has a smart refrigerator with Alexa built-in (and a 29-inch touchscreen). Mattel has an Amazon Echo product that was designed for kids.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Amazon is aiming for domination with the Echo Dot.

Withings and L’Oreal’s Kerastase teamed up to make a smart hair brush called the Hair Coach. It has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a microphone. I brought this up mainly because I wanted to witness Shannon’s reaction. Well worth it!

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Mallercast will be back next on Wednesday, January 11th. Come on back now, yall.