Google’s Waymo Unveils Fleet of Self-Driving Chrysler Pacifica Minivans
Google spin-off Waymo unveiled its fleet of 100 self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivans in a preview event ahead of the North American International Auto Show on Sunday (via USA Today).
John Krafcik, CEO of Waymo, told attendees at the Detroit event that the fleet packs an array of new sensors that were all developed in-house, including an enhanced vision system, improved radar and laser-based lidar.
“We’re serious about creating fully self-driving cars that can help millions of people, and to do that we have to oversee both the self-driving software and the self-driving hardware,” said Krafcik.
The autonomous vehicles are the result of a partnership between Google and Fiat Chrysler that was agreed last spring, and represent the first time Google has chosen to build self-driving technology itself, rather than turn to third-party manufacturers. As a result, Waymo said the company had been able to cut costs by 90 percent.
But apart from cutting costs, Krafcik told attendees that building the hardware in-house had allowed the company to develop better technology, such as an improved rooftop radar system, or Lidar, that allows the cars to read more information off the environment.
“The detail we capture is so high that not only can we detect pedestrians all around us, but we can tell which direction they’re facing,” said Krafcik. “This is incredibly important, as it helps us more accurately predict where someone will walk next.”
The hybrid vehicles will join the company’s Lexus SUVs and Firefly vehicles on public roads in California and Arizona later this month to speed up testing. Waymo has yet to reveal when the self-driving system employed in the minivans will be ready to install in production vehicles, but the companies are thought to be planning an autonomous ride-sharing service to compete with the likes of Uber and Lyft.
Apple’s self-driving technology plans remain tightly under wraps, but Cupertino is thought to be developing its own autonomous driving system for use in third-party vehicles. The company is said to have given its car team until 2017 to prove the feasibility of a self-driving vehicle system.
Apple revealed its interest in the emerging self-driving market in November 2016 when it sent a letter to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, suggesting that new entrants to the auto industry should get the same rights as established companies.
Tags: Google, Waymo
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Airmail for iOS Gains Workflow and Bear App Integrations With 1.5 Update
Popular cross-platform email client Airmail received an update to its iOS component today, bringing a couple of notable extra features to the app.
New with version 1.5 is support for third-party automation tool Workflow, enabling users to incorporate email and inbox actions into their custom Workflow creations.
The update also brings integration with cross-platform note-taking app Bear, allowing users to create a note in the writing app that containing a shortcut to a mail in Airmail, for example.
In addition to fixing some minor bugs, a handful of new Custom Actions have been included too, along with an OpenURL action, a new Default Inbox, and support for Gmail authentication.
Airmail 1.5 costs $4.99 and is available for iPhone and iPad on the App Store. [Direct Link]
Tag: Airmail
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Apple Executives to Visit India to Discuss Local Manufacturing Plans
Apple executives will attend a high-profile meeting with Indian officials later this month in order to discuss the company’s plans to set up a manufacturing plant in the country.
Apple is said to be seeking a number of tax and other incentives at the meeting, set to take place on January 25, and could potentially ask for long-term duty exemptions. According to PTI, Indian representatives from a number of government departments will attend, including officials from commerce, industrial policy and promotion (DIPP), revenue, environment and forest, electronics, and IT.
Last month it emerged that Apple was in talks with India to explore the possibility of making products locally, as well as set up a distribution center, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered his government to exempt foreign retailers for three years from a requirement to locally source 30 percent of goods solid in their stores.
Apple sent a letter to India’s federal government in December, outlining its manufacturing plans and asking for financial incentives, and this month’s meeting would appear to be the next step in the negotiations.
In September 2015, Apple CEO Tim Cook sat down with Prime Minister Modi to discuss various matters and Cook reportedly responded positively to Modi’s invitation to open a manufacturing base in India. Foxconn was previously reported to be looking at the possibility of an expansion into India to produce iPhones and iPads, but Cook’s outspoken interest in the possibility was Apple’s first public interest in the expansion.
Apple products are currently manufactured in six countries, including China, Korea, Japan, and the United States.
Tag: India
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Uvify Draco Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Uvify
UVify is showing off its new racing drone this week at the CES trade show in Las Vegas. The Draco modular drone is easy to repair, lightweight and lightning-fast. UVify claims it can reach a top speed of 100 miles per hour.
The drone features a protective carbon-fiber shell. If it does get damaged, the modular design allows you to quickly swap out the propellers and appendages. The Draco, which UVify is advertising as ready-to-fly out of the box, is also capable of performing 360-degree flips and other stunts, which can be captured on the built-in camera.
The Draco racing drone is available now for preorder for $500 (coverted to roughly £407 or AU$685). A second model with a high definition camera (an upgrade from analog) can be had for $600.
Super Retro Boy Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
If you have a bunch of old Game Boy games gathering dust, the company Retro-Bit has something for you. It’s the Super Retro Boy — a 2017 take on Nintendo’s Game Boy. And at CES in Las Vegas, there was a working prototype that was so fun to play that it left a directional pad indent in my thumb.
The Super Retro Boy is not a Game Boy clone. Rather the hardware has captured the soul of the Game Boy while making some improvements, like a 10-hour internal battery and a backlit display. It can play all the games for the original Game Boy as well as the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance — you just need the cartridges.
At CES, I got to play a prototype of the Super Retro Boy — and it was fun.
Patrick Holland/CNET
A spokesperson for Retro-Bit explained how the Super Retro Boy came about. He said it’s all about video game console licensing. More importantly when those licenses expire. This allowed Retro-Bit to work on its own portable console that could play Game Boy games. The project took about a year.
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The Super Retro Boy comes in black or white and will cost $80 (which converts to £65 and AU$110). Retro-Bit is projected to ship it in August 2017.
HTC U could be all about personalisation, massive video leak reveals
HTC could be turning its attention to personalisation in 2017 a new video leak reveals.
Shared by @evleaks via Twitter, the information comes from what appears to be a promo video for HTC, in which the company explains that your phone should be as individual as you are, like your choice of clothes or the music you like.
HTC has often targeted a younger audience with this sort of message, turning to different designs and finishes to make the phone stand-out from rival devices.
HTC 2017? pic.twitter.com/ppONWlT5Mr
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) January 8, 2017
The video shows some styles that HTC has used before, like the micro-splash style of some 2016 Desire models, but focuses on three main approaches: chemical, super fibres and litmus.
Exactly what these three different techniques will result in isn’t exactly clear, but the message is about individuality. Whether this means that you’ll get the choice to customise your phone as per the Moto Maker service, or just that the finishes of HTC’s 2017 phones are all unique thanks to the methods used to apply them, isn’t clear.
The most distinctive appears to be super fibres. Although little is detailed, it looks as though it’s a finish rather like some Libratone speakers, using fabrics. Whether you’ll be able to get a Harris Tweed-backed smartphone we’re not sure and we suspect that any fibres might be laminated or set in resin to protect them.
The litmus option looks a lot like the graduated anodised finish that HTC has used before on the HTC One S, revealed here applied to a handset that clearly carries HTC Vive branding on the rear, and sporting dual rear cameras.
That’s a whole different story – which you can read about here – but things currently aren’t clear on exactly what HTC is planning in 2017.
What we do know for certain is that the company is announcing something “U” related on 12 January, and that may well circulate around personalisation.
- HTC Ocean: What’s the story on HTC 11?
HTC Vive smartphone revealed: Could this be HTC’s new flagship?
We didn’t see this one coming, but the emergence of an HTC Vive handset in a video leak could see a shift in focus for HTC in 2017.
HTC Vive has been well received as a leading VR solution and there’s some sense in having a Vive-branded handset, especially when mobile VR is something that’s very much on the agenda too thanks to platforms like Google Daydream.
The HTC Vive handset appeared in a leaked promo video from HTC that’s talking about personalisation. Coming from @evleaks, a well-established source for accurate leaks, there’s little detail about what handsets we should expect, but it seems to follow the rumours of three handsets launching from HTC in 2017.
Carrying a codename of HTC Ocean, the picture of HTC’s plan is more confusing that any previous year, but it could be that rather than launching the HTC 11 as predicted, that HTC’s flagship handset is actually the HTC Vive model we’re looking at here.
HTC 2017? pic.twitter.com/ppONWlT5Mr
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) January 8, 2017
There’s little to see from the video, except that there’s dual cameras on the rear and that it’s finished in a style that HTC is calling “litmus”.
HTC is planning to make an announcement on 12 January that will surely bring some clarity to its plans for the year, but currently we’re left with more questions than answers.
- HTC Ocean: What’s the story on HTC 11?
Razer’s new prototypes stolen from CES booth
While CES 2017 has drawn to a close, news surrounding the products unveiled at the world’s biggest consumer tech event continue to make the headlines. Take Razer, which had a very encouraging week after unveiling two new gaming prototypes (one of which won two Best of CES 2017 awards). However, things ended on a sour note after company CEO Min-Liang Tan confirmed that two of its concept products were stolen from its booth on the last day of the show.
“I’ve just been informed that two of our prototypes were stolen from our booth at CES today,” said Tan on his Facebook page. “We have filed the necessary reports and are currently working with the show management as well as law enforcement to address this issue.” It’s not known which products were involved in the theft, but Razer’s presence at CES 2017 was largely built around its new Chroma projector, dubbed Project Ariana, and a three-screened laptop that goes under the working title of Project Valerie.
Surprisingly, it’s not the first time that has been victim to sticky-fingered opportunists. In 2011, two experimental Blade prototypes were stolen from Razer R&D lab in San Francisco. Tan has also refused to rule out corporate spying: “We treat theft/larceny, and if relevant to this case, industrial espionage, very seriously – it is cheating, and cheating doesn’t sit well with us. Penalties for such crimes are grievous and anyone who would do this clearly isn’t very smart.”
Source: Min-Liang Tan (Facebook)
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