Amazon calls 2016 holiday season its best ever; shares rise

(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc said it shipped more than 1 billion items worldwide this holiday season, which the top online retailer called its best ever, and its shares rose 1.6 percent in afternoon trade. The Amazon Echo home assistant and its smaller version, Echo Dot, topped the best-sellers list, said Jeff Wilke, chief executive of Amazon's worldwide consumer division, in a press release. Sales of voice-controlled Echo devices were nine times more than they were during last year's holiday seas