self-driving cars
-
BMW Group and Daimler are preparing for a future where car ownership, especially in major cities, could become a thing of the past. The two German auto giants announced a year ago plans to merge their existing mobility services into a global joint-venture company, and on Friday they finally provided the first details on what the new company, which is yet to receive a name, will entail. The long-term goal is to develop a single, all-encompassing app to handle transport needs, including the integration of public transport services and, when the technology is ready, the services of fleets of...
-
Amazon invests in self-driving car company Aurora InnovationWhat started with books has reached the budding self-driving car sector. Amazon has invested in self-driving car company Aurora Innovation, the self-driving technology firm announced last Thursday. The actual figure it had received from Amazon wasn't disclosed in Aurora's announcement, but in...
Sean Szymkowski -
Second Apple engineer accused of stealing self-driving car tech secrets for ChinaFollowing an accusation last July against an ex-Apple engineer, the FBI has arrested a second Apple employee after he allegedly tried to steal self-driving car technology secrets and leave the country. The employee is Jizhong Chen, and according to a CNBC report on Wednesday, the FBI arrested him...
Sean Szymkowski -
Self-driving bar aiming to pour a cold one anywhereThe automotive industry often focuses on how self-driving cars will move people in the future. We've also looked at self-driving grocery delivery services, but what about a robotic, self-driving bar? There hasn't been talk of that until now. The Italian startup Makr Shakr, which has already...
Sean Szymkowski -
Apple drops 200 staff from Project Titan self-driving car skunkworksApple has let more than 200 employees go from its secretive Project Titan self-driving car operation. CNBC first reported on the move Thursday and an Apple spokesperson acknowledged the cuts in a statement to the news organization. The spokesperson said Apple will refocus on other projects and...
Sean Szymkowski -
New tech lights up the path of self-driving carsA world where we share the road with cars driven by computers will take some getting used to. In response, companies working on self-driving cars are looking at ways of making the transition as smooth as possible, by helping to gain the trust of the public. One of the companies is Jaguar Land...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler is already partnered with BMW Group in the area of mobility, with the two German auto giants last month having received regulatory approval to merge their various mobility divisions into a single joint-venture company. Now the two are reportedly in talks over partnering in the area of self-driving cars, which on the surface appears like a natural extension of the mobility merger deal. Citing sources at Daimler and BMW Group, Handelsblatt reported Monday that the two firms are examining the possibility of extensive alliances, including in the areas of...
-
Rain reportedly confuses Waymo self-driving carsIt appears precipitation is enough to require the human back-up driver to take control in a Waymo self-driving car. According to a report from The Verge, rain was one of a few factors that prevented Waymo's self-driving car from carrying out its autonomous duties. The insight came from one of just...
Sean Szymkowski -
VW poaches Apple executive for self-driving car developmentVolkswagen has successfully hired former Apple executive Alexander Hitzinger to help lead self-driving technology development. His larger role is direct responsibility for technical development for commercial vehicles, and he will also lead the company's Mobility as a Service initiative, which...
Sean Szymkowski -
BMW's self-riding motorcycle demonstrates its ghostly capability at 2019 CESBMW brought its self-riding motorcycle to the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show to show off its technology for the first time in the United States. The bike rode around by itself in a parking lot, looking like a motorcycle possessed. The concept BMW demonstrated at CES came to life after two years of...
Sean Szymkowski -
Nissan reveals connected car technology to reveal the invisible for driversAt next week's 2019 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nissan will show off its Invisible-to-Visible (I2V) technology, which will help drivers anticipate what lies ahead. The technology uses sensors from inside and outside of the vehicle and works with data stored in the cloud, likely via...
Sean Szymkowski -
GM Cruise and DoorDash partner for self-driving food deliveriesGeneral Motors and its Cruise self-driving car division announced a new partnership with popular food delivery service DoorDash that will employ autonomous vehicles to deliver food this March. Both companies announced the new pilot program on Thursday days after former GM President Dan Ammann took...
Sean Szymkowski -
Toyota isn’t as vocal as some rivals in the self-driving space but the Japanese auto giant is making steady progress and at next week’s 2019 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas will unveil a fourth-generation prototype. Toyota used last year's CES to show off the third-gen design. The fourth-gen prototype, appropriately dubbed P4, is based on a Lexus LS 500h and is due to join Toyota's self-driving car fleet in the spring. In the United States, Toyota is testing self-driving cars at shared sites such as California's GoMentum Station and Michigan's Mcity, as well as its own test...
-
Hyundai and Kia latest to show automated valetHyundai and Kia on Thursday showcased a fully automated valet system that is currently under consideration for production. The system leverages technology being developed for self-driving cars and is operated via a smartphone. Upon reaching a parking facility, the driver receives the location of...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Kia concept for 2019 CES previews a world with self-driving carsMuch of the focus on self-driving cars, naturally, has centered on the driving technology, however, the future user experience that a fully automated car can potentially deliver should also be looked at. Kia is aware of this and will preview just such a future with its READ (Real-time Emotion...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Audi's AID subsidiary leads self-driving car development at VW GroupSelf-driving car development is well underway at numerous automakers and technology companies. At Volkswagen Group, Audi leads the charge. The brand spun-off a start-up company called Autonomous Intelligent Driving, or AID, about a year and a half ago. The company has been tasked with working on...
Sean Szymkowski -
Lidar, big data could make de-icing roads more efficientFuture de-icing vehicles could use data and lidar to help ensure better city coverage and safer roads. The city of Knoxville, Tennessee, will put the technology to the test this winter with one specially equipped de-icing truck. Digital Trends reported on the technology last week, which was...
Sean Szymkowski -
Uber self-driving car prototypes back on the road 9 months after fatal crashUber on Thursday rolled out its self-driving car prototypes on public roads for the first time since the March accident where one of the prototypes hit and killed a woman, Elaine Herzberg, pushing a bicycle across a stretch of road in Tempe, Arizona. The prototypes are currently testing near Uber's...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Anthony Levandowski claims he has completed a major milestone for self-driving car technology: a coast-to-coast trip using his latest technology. If Levandowski sounds familiar, it's because he was the center of attention in the Waymo-Uber legal battle. Waymo accused the former employee of stealing trade secrets and forming Otto, a self-driving truck company. Uber then quickly acquired the startup company and allegedly took Waymo's secrets with it. Waymo and Uber settled the lawsuit before Levandowski was called to testify in court. Today, Levandowski is working on a new startup company...
-
Bosch bringing self-driving car concept to 2019 CESBosch in 2019 will start trials of an on-demand self-driving car service with partner Daimler. The service will run between downtown and west San José, California, along the busy San Carlos/Stevens Creek corridor, and initially only select users will participate in the trials. However, Bosch...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Honda Autonomous Work Vehicle could be the fire truck of the futureHonda will use next month's 2019 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to highlight a number of technologies it is working on in fields as diverse as robotics, connectivity and self-driving capability. Among the highlights will be a prototype for a self-driving all-terrain vehicle...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Waymo self-driving service won't launch in 2018 as promisedWaymo won't launch a public self-driving car service this year, the company admitted Wednesday. Instead, the self-driving provider will offer a small-scale service in Phoenix, Arizona to existing volunteers that have already been screened. The limited service, called Waymo One, is a step toward...
Sean Szymkowski -
Daimler concept shows how self-driving cars could communicate with pedestriansIt will require years of research and technology implementation before self-driving cars are a common sight. Until then, some automakers aren't only working on the tech itself, but also developing ways for self-driving cars to communicate with pedestrians. Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler showed off...
Sean Szymkowski -
GM president takes over Cruise self-driving car businessAs a sign of the growing importance of its Cruise self-driving business, General Motors President Dan Ammann is taking over as CEO of the San Francisco-based startup. GM announced Thursday that Ammann will take over from current Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt on January 1, 2019. Vogt founded Cruise...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran