Amazon Echo is heading outside the US, and here's why you should care and other top stories.

• Amazon Echo is heading outside the US, and here's why you should care

  

  What's all the fuss about the voice-activated home speaker that Amazon is due to release in the UK and Germany in late September? This gadget has been available in the US for over a year and has proven a minor hit, with sales estimates between 1.6m and 3m. But these figures belie the potential impact this kind of artificial intelligence device could have on our lives in the near future.Echo doesn't just let you switch on your music by voice command. It's the first of what will be several types ..

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• Optus follows Telstra with Microsoft-driven app store

  

  Optus has taken a leaf out of Telstra’s book and launched its own apps marketplace to sell Microsoft Office 365 along with other business-centric apps, in a bid to help small business owners streamline their operations. Optus Smart Shop will offer small businesses a selection of apps, including Microsoft Office 365 and SharePoint, financial tracking software Sage One, accounts filing app Xpenditure and security solution MozyPro. The carrier will offer round-the-clock support, to simplify and im..

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• Xbox Games with Gold October 2016: Watch Dogs Finally Included?

  

  It's more than a week away before the Xbox Games with Gold October 2016 lineup announcement. However, as the usual case, buzz about the matter surfaced early. This time, it pertains to Watch Dogs. Could the highly-requested game finally make it with ...

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• Disruption over Macquarie Island calls for some clever Antarctic thinking

  

  The fate of the Australian Antarctic Division’s research base on Macquarie Island hangs in the balance, after last week’s surprise announcement that it would close in March 2017 was followed on Friday by a suggestion that the government could yet reprieve it. Why all the fuss over a scattering of buildings on a windswept island (admittedly a UNESCO World Heritage-listed one) perched on a tectonic ridge halfway between Australia and Antarctica? Macquarie Island is the perfect natural laboratory ..

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Nomads boss arrested in Darwin .	Major review aims to end debate over taking statins .
New Street service to be established in the Illawarra .	Darwin's Coral Warriors .