Thanks to better AI technology, Alphabet won’t need as many balloons to get its Loon project off the ground, Recode reports. “Loon, the balloon project that aims to deliver internet to parts of the world that lack reliable connectivity, announced today that due to advancements in the machine learning software, it can now deploy fewer balloons to provide greater connectivity,” it writes.

Accessories manufacturer Coach is bringing its fashion show to fans who did not get to attend its NYFW runway, available on social media and at Simon Mall locations, with a virtual reality experience it believes is better than the real thing.  While fashion shows in the past were inaccessible to the public, reserved exclusively for industry insiders, brands are making a bid to bring these events to fans at home. Coach’s VR experience will bring its runway to users, beginning with show prep to the finale, available for viewing on Facebook 360, YouTube, VR platforms and at select Simon Malls. 

British automaker Jaguar is building on the disruptiveness of mobility innovation with its own in-car payments system for drivers to seamlessly pay for Shell gasoline. Oil and gas company Shell is working with Jaguar to bring a cashless system of payment within vehicles. Drivers will be able to fill up their Jaguar vehicles, pay within the dashboard of their vehicles and simply drive away.

The Philips FlexCare Platinum Connected toothbrush is more than just a device for keeping your mouth clean – it’s an IoT machine. Wireless sensors measure the location, pressure and scrubbing patterns of the 31,000 strokes-per-minute vibrating bristles. The data is transferred via Bluetooth to a mobile app that provides a three-dimensional post-brush analysis of coverage, recommending areas of the mouth that should be “touched up” or given extra attention. There’s an option to send a month-long history of brushing patterns to your dentist to keep them informed of your brushing habits. And all of this data, along with many of …

Google Home users can now order home products from Google Express partners. “Those partners include the likes of Costco, Whole Foods, Bed Bath & Beyond, Fry’s, Guitar Center, Petsmart and Walgreens,” TechCrunch reports. “The exact list of partners depends on where you live, but some are available nationwide.”

While the success or failure of the virtual reality market is still very much up to debate, a new report from ABI Research claims that its growth will come on the back of standalone apparatuses as opposed to mobile-reliant ones. The finding comes from ABI Research's Augmented and Virtual Reality Devices and Enterprise Verticals report, which presents data culled from various market projections concerning the augmented and virtual reality market. The report also projects growth for marketing applications for VR through the same time period.

Pizza Hut is hoping to tap into Amazon’s suite of mobile applications and Alexa devices with a new promotion that gives a discount to consumers who place an order through an Alexa device. The promotion will give customers 30 percent off their order if they enable the Pizza Hut ordering skill from their mobile app and place an order through Alexa. The move is an attempt on Pizza Hut’s part to get its mobile ordering capabilities to an even broader number of channels.

At last year’s Google I/O developer conference, Google introduced a new Awareness API that would allow for smarter applications that could understand where you were, what you were doing, what’s nearby, and even the weather, in order to more intelligently react to your current situation. Today, Google introduced a new application that’s taking advantage of this sort of data in order to…design you a dress. Yes, a dress. Uhhh??? Google says it teamed up with H&M’s digital fashion house Ivyrevel on a project dubbed “Coded Couture.”

Business magazine Fast Company is debuting a suite of applications focusing on providing experiential and video content to interested users’ mobile and over-the-top devices. The apps will be produced in partnership with media technology company Maz, through its TVX platform, which powers over 1,000 apps across mobile, OTT, and the web. Fast Company already touts a large repository of video content through an assortment of channels, including FastCo Exclusives, Co.Design Exclusives and Co.Create Exclusives, and will look to the OTT and mobile apps as an outlet for its content library that does not involve the hoops and regulations of traditional …

Ford has shown just how committed it is to the future of self-driving cars by investing a staggering $1 billion (£800 million) in a new AI company. The huge investment, which will be spread over five years, is being made into Argo AI, a startup based in Pittsburgh, with engineering hubs in Southeastern Michigan and the Bay Area of California. The firm has staff from Carnegie Mellon University which has helped develop self-driving vehicles for both Uber and Google.