Apple and Tesla want to test self-driving trucks

Tesla Truck Both Tesla and Apple have asked California's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to bump up the weight limit for testing self-driving vehicles. Currently, nothing heavier than 10,000 pounds is allowed on the road with autonomous technology inside. A semi-truck weighs approximately 80,000 pounds. Tesla has already announced plans to get both an electric-powered truck and bus self-driving tech into its product line, presumably with its autonomous tech. Uber too has plans to put a self-driving truck into play with its company, Otto.

Apple has remained moot about any of its autonomous plans. But the company joined Tesla in the weight-limit request, policy change requests that were sent to California from the two along with others involved in self-driving tests including Uber, Lyft and Waymo, reported Reuters. Whether the state will amend its requirements is unclear. But the asking by the companies at the least tips their hat in the direction they'd like to go.

Alexa whispers Alexa can now talk to you in a whisper—that is, if developers embed the new code into their offerings that use Alexa. Why you would request Amazon's voice assistant to speak softly (maybe, perhaps, the baby is sleeping or you don't want the dog to bark) but what's capturing the most attention is that Alexa can now modulate her voice—just like a human. Amazon recently released the SSML code. But that doesn't mean that you're going to get your Alexa to whisper to you at home yet. She'll just tell you she can turn the volume down. And that's not nearly as fun.

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