Smart Electric Drive (2017) first drive: Nippy inner-city transport sprouts a plug socket

Stop anyone in the street and ask them to name the electric car pioneers and it’s likely the big names will make up the majority of answers: the Renault Zoe, Nissan Leaf and Elon Musk’s Tesla Model S.

It might be difficult to comprehend but Smart has been dabbling with plug-in propulsion since 2007 when it unleashed a fleet of 100 all-electric micro-machines onto London roads.

That’s a good five years before the Renault Zoe went into production and to this day, Smart remains the only manufacturer in the world to offer its model in the choice of all-electric drive or typical internal combustion variants.

Unfortunately, previous-generation Smarts have suffered from a number of issues: including a poor safety record, lofty price tags, cheap interiors and a terrible drive (to name a few), which is probably why the niche electric variants struggled to take the world by storm.

Now in its fourth-generation, the Smart ForTwo Electric Drive has tweaked its recipe of tiny footprint, superior turning circle and inner city friendliness so it is now more palatable than ever. Could this be the car to lure motorists away from the forecourts?

Smart ForTwo Electric Drive: Design

Available in either three-door or five-door hatch variants (the latter dubbed ForFour and can seat, erm, four), the Smart Electric Drive doesn’t stray too far from the styling of its petrol-powered siblings.

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In short, it’s a complete and utter Marmite car. Some will love the scrunched up exterior and comically flared haunches of the ForTwo, while others will dismiss it as a clown car.

To be fair to its designers, the car follows function rather than form and the smaller ForTwo actually looks the more appealing of the two variants.

Its shorter wheelbase and oversized alloy wheels lend it some sporting credentials, while its four-seat sibling looks a little ill-proportioned and awkward, despite being infinitely more practical.

There is also a Smart ForTwo Cabrio, which sees the roof lopped off to become the only electric cabriolet currently available in the market.

Contrasting mirror caps and special bright green paintjob on the tridion safety cell differentiate the electric models (as well as a few Electric Drive decals), while interiors receive a large power meter and battery status display.

Neat touches include the split tailgate in the ForTwo, which allows users to easily reach inside the titchy boot to retrieve bags and the impressively wide aperture doors.

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Getting in and out of the Smart ForTwo’s enormous doors is a doodle, unless something is parked particularly close, then it becomes a nightmare. The smaller doors on the ForFour are slightly better conceived and these deliberately open to 90-degress to make loading bulkier items easier.

Smart ForTwo Electric Drive: Interior and infotainment

Despite Smart being part of the Daimler group, which includes Mercedes-Benz, the majority of interior parts are lifted from the group’s cheaper sibling, Renault.

Standard Electric Drive models receive a pretty basic DAB radio system with aux-in, USB and Bluetooth, as well as monochrome LCD instrument cluster display.

Weirdly, Smart also throws in cruise control as standard, which is particularly odd seeing as the ForTwo really isn’t designed to hack up and down the motorway… but more on that later.

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Customers wishing to enjoy satellite navigation and a more up-to-date infotainment system must opt for Smart Media-System, which adds a 7-inch colour touch-screen display (robbed from Renault) and a stylish 3.5-inch colour TFT display that replaces the monochrome trip computer.

Although not the most attractive infotainment system available (the screen looks bolted on to the dash) it’s responsive and supports most smartphone functionality when tethered.

Other notable optional packs include the Winter Package, which adds a handy heated steering wheel and heated seats.

Smart ForTwo Electric Drive: Connectivity

Smart has an entire division dedicated to the development of various smartphone apps and browser-based software systems for its new models.

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With regards to the Electric Drive models, its unique app boasts fairly standard features across the EV industry. It allows drivers to check charge status, pre-heat or cool the cabin, receive maintenance notifications and select the cheapest times – all remotely.

This service will likely be free to customers for the first three years but will subsequently incur a fee to cover the data bills associated with an on-board SIM card.

However, a more advanced ecosystem, dubbed ‘Smart For’ is currently being trialled in Germany.

With help from DHL, customers can now receive packages and deliveries direct to compatible Smart cars. They simply punch in a specially generated code when prompted by online marketplaces, such as Amazon. This then allows the delivery driver to temporarily unlock the car, deliver the package and then walk away.

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The same technology is being developed to allow Smart owners to share or rent their dormant vehicles to friends and family. Using similar temporary unlock codes, it means owners can specify pick-up and drop-off locations and maximise usage of the car.

Expect this private car sharing to be rolled out in the coming years.

Smart ForTwo Electric Drive: The drive

Electric cars benefit from instantaneous torque, with their electric motors and battery packs able to deliver maximum shove as soon as the accelerator is depressed: no waiting for revs to climb in order to hit the sweet spot.

The Smart ForTwo Electric Drive is no different, as its improved lithium-ion battery packs feed power to a separately excited three-phase synchronous motor, which in turn drives the rear wheels. There’s no gearbox to contend with here, as this Smart works on a single, fixed-gear ratio to go about its business.

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Quick pub fact: it doesn’t even change gears when slotted into reverse. Instead, the engine’s direction of rotation changes, meaning you could effectively reverse at 80mph if the killjoys at Smart hadn’t installed a limiter.

Regardless, the new Smart ForTwo ED feels nippy, especially when hammering away from the lights in busy city traffic. But that’s really where the fun ends.

First of all, steering is quick but offers almost no feedback, so it’s great for zipping in and out of tight car parks but not so good for placing the thing through corners.

Secondly, the suspension has been reinforced in this plug-in model to cope with the additional weight of the batteries but it still feels overly firm, often causing a considerable thump in the lower back when traversing speed bumps and potholes.

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Finally, it feels out of its depth on motorways and larger roads, with trucks and other oversized traffic bearing down on its tiny frame and wind noise leaking into the cabin, it’s not exactly a stress-free environment.

First Impressions

It’s difficult to be too harsh on the Smart ForTwo Electric Drive, because it’s a very likeable little city car but a basic Nissan Leaf costs about the same and offers bags more interior room and everyday practicality.

If you’re already a Smart Car convert, then making the switch over to the plug-in variant should be a no-brainer. It doesn’t affect performance – nor does it inhibit interior space – it’s better for the environment and will save a packet on fuel bills.

However, making the jump from a regular, combustion-engined hatchback into the ForTwo of ForFour could be a slightly more daunting prospect if your commute spans beyond the city.

Range Rover Velar designed to fill the void between the Evoque and Sport

Jaguar Land Rover has announced a new model as part of its Range Rover range that will sit in between the Range Rover Evoque and Range Rover Sport. 

The Range Rover Velar is styled to appeal to those looking for something a little roomier than the Evoque, but not as pricey as the Sport. 

It’s an area that is growing in popularity. Other car makers have similar vehicles in their ranges.

The Velar will go up against the popular Porsche Macan, the Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe and the BMW X6. It is even rumoured to be based on the company’s own Jaguar F-Pace SUV. 

JLR

Range Rover has been shy on specific details so far, but has confirmed it will be revealing more at a dedicated launch event on 1 March, ahead of the Geneva Motorshow. 

“We call the Velar the avant garde Range Rover. It brings a new dimension of glamour, modernity and elegance to the brand. The Range Rover Velar changes everything,” Land Rover’s chief design officer, Gerry McGovern, told us in a statement.  

If you were wondering why the name Velar (pronounced Vel-ar) is familiar, it was also the name of the first Range Rover prototypes in the sixties. It also happens to be derived from the Latin velaris meaning to veil or cover.

First Apple Watch Series 3 rumour: Watch will sport new display tech

Just five months ago, Apple released Watch Series 2. That means we’re due for some Watch Series 3 rumours.

Right on time, our first rumour has arrived: DigiTimes, which has a so-so track record when it comes to leaking Apple news, claims the third-generation watch will feature a new display technology. The report sites TPK Holding, the panel supplier for Series 2, and it says Apple is moving from glass panels to a “glass-film” touch solution.

TPK Holding had issues with the curved surface of the current watch, so it will instead ship glass-film panels starting in late 2017. Based on last year’s launch date for Series 2, we can expect a new Apple Watch model to arrive by autumn 2017, and if that’s the case, it would be able to feature those new glass-film panels, which would’ve just shipped.

• READ: Apple WWDC 2017: Where to watch and what to expect?

It’s hard to say what that means for the new watch. All we can say is that Series 2 has a 1,000-nit screen, and that was a huge bump over the original model. We suspect Apple won’t want to lose ground there. Details of what we else can expect are scarce. Earlier this year, DigiTimes suggested Series 3 would land with an improved battery.

In the past, there’s also been speculation about add-on smartbands and battery bands. We should have a clearer picture soon, because once one leak surfaces, it’s only a matter of time before the flood gate opens.

Uber has a sexism problem, and so does Silicon Valley

On Sunday, a former Uber engineer published details about the sexual harassment and rampant sexism that she claims she and other women experienced at the company. But despite reporting the incidents to HR on several occasions, Susan J. Fowler was repeatedly ignored, and even berated a few times for bringing the issues forward. The story has since been met with widespread outrage, with many criticizing Uber over how it treats its female employees.

This is just the latest in a litany of complaints levied against the company. Just a few weeks ago, Uber was under fire for turning off surge pricing during a New York City taxi union strike against Trump’s travel ban. CEO Travis Kalanick was also heavily criticized for being a part of Trump’s advisory board. He eventually left the council, following multiple objections. This, on top of the various other accusations of driver sexual assaults and disregard of local laws, has tainted Uber’s reputation, to say the least.

But it’s too easy to write Fowler’s account as an isolated incident. The truth is, her story is all too common in the tech industry. Despite the lip service given to diversity and inclusion by many tech companies, sexism is still rampant. According to the Elephant in the Valley study published in 2016, about 60 percent of women in tech reported unwanted sexual advances. Sixty percent of those who reported their incidents were dissatisfied with the course of action, 39 percent did nothing for fear of career reprisals, another 30 percent did not report because they wanted to forget the incident and 29 percent filed a non-disparaging agreement to not say anything.

The state of tech in one woman’s story, also the story of many women, many people at many companies. Take the time to include everyone early https://t.co/H35SjS0nME

— Ellen K. Pao (@ekp) February 20, 2017

One anonymous contributor to the survey wrote: “Experiences included being groped by my boss while in public at a company event. After learning this had happened to other women in my department, and then reporting the event to HR, I was retaliated against and had to leave the company.” Another was asked by a client to “sit on his lap,” and even though she reported the incident to her boss, the company did nothing.

There have been other high-profile incidents besides Fowler’s account. Multiple women have come forward to accuse former Tor project developer Jacob Appelbaum for sexual assault. Kelly Ellis, a former Google engineer, tweeted in 2015 that a supervisor had told her “It’s taking all of my self control not to grab your ass right now” during a company trip to Maui. Julie Ann Horvath, Github’s first female developer, left the company due to harassment and a decidedly sexist “culture of toxicity” where men occasionally ogled at women employees.

The sexism shows itself in other ways beside blatant harassment. For example, Fowler describes how Uber only ordered leather jackets for the men, but not the women, because there were “only six” of them and it wouldn’t be cost-effective to just get six jackets in their size (despite them having enough money to order jackets for over 120 men).

In my reporting for this story, a female consultant (name withheld) told me that a VP at a prominent tech firm (name also withheld) got rid of the ladies restroom in its engineering department because there were only seven women engineers out of 75. Instead, all they had were the men’s room and a “unisex” bathroom that was only one room with no stalls, which the men would occupy anyway. “More than once I had to go down to the Walgreens down the street and ask to use their bathroom,” she said.

When women do publicly come forward about their problems, they face name-calling and abuse, like both Horvath and Ellis had. And when there’s a discrimination lawsuit like in Ellen Pao vs Kleiner-Perkins, women are accused of just wanting money. What’s more, as Greylock VC investor Sarah Guo points out, success in Silicon Valley is very dependent on having good job references. So if you’re known as a “troublemaker” or given a bad review, that could adversely affect your career.

1/ The Valley is very reference-driven. A sinister side effect of that which relates to diversity:

— Sarah Guo (@saranormous) February 20, 2017

In the past 24 hours, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has since responded to the sexism allegations, saying that it would conduct an “urgent investigation.” The company is calling on former Attorney General Eric Holder and Uber board member Arianna Huffington to assist with the matter, which at least gives the impression that Uber is seeking a more “independent” review.

Kalanick also said that Uber would finally publish a diversity report for the very first time, to show the company’s efforts at inclusion. He states that 15.1 percent of its “engineering, product management and scientist roles” are women, adding that “Facebook is at 17 percent, Google at 18 percent and Twitter is at 10 percent.”

But this is problematic for a few reasons. Those numbers he gave on Facebook, Google and Twitter cover what those companies describe as “technical roles,” which may or may not include product management. Further, it’s not like those companies have a stellar record on diversity and inclusion either, so the comparison doesn’t necessarily paint Uber in a positive light. (For the record too, Twitter actually reported 15 percent women in technical jobs last year, not 10, so the numbers Kalanick cited aren’t even accurate.)

As if the problem is about how Uber’s diversity numbers stack up to other companies and an unfocused need to fight some vague injustice… https://t.co/wDTnAJjUtU

— Violet Blue ® (@violetblue) February 21, 2017

Plus, while adding a diversity report is nice, it doesn’t really address the root of the problem here. You can hire as many women as you want, but if the company’s culture is hostile and demeaning to women, you haven’t fixed anything. Fowler allegedly reported her harassment to HR and even to the CTO, but they did nothing, apparently because the managers were considered “high performers.” It seems the only reason Uber is taking these actions now is because she went public.

So unless this investigation results in a systemic shift in culture from the top down, then things are just going to return to business as usual. It will take a genuine commitment to inclusivity — like setting zero-tolerance harassment policies, where even so-called “high performers” aren’t immune — in order for anything to change. Kalanick, and the rest of Uber’s leadership, need to say unequivocally that harassment, and sexism, is not acceptable at any level. And the rest of Silicon Valley needs to do the same.

Facebook hopes to stream an MLB game every week

Twitter and Yahoo aren’t the only ones interested in streaming live baseball beyond dedicated sports sites. Reuters sources claim that Facebook is in “advanced” talks with Major League Baseball about the possibility of livestreaming one game every week during the 2017 season. It’s not clear just which games would get the live treatment, but history would suggest that this would be regular season play — sorry, playoff fans.

Facebook is declining to comment. We’ve asked MLB for a response and will update if it has a response.

Such an arrangement wouldn’t come out of nowhere. Univision chose Facebook Live when it decided to stream Liga MX games, and consultants tell Reuters that Facebook has been pushing sports rightsholders for other deals. However, MLB would clearly be a huge coup. It could lure some sports fans away from rivals like Twitter, and would give Facebook a way to keep people engaged for hours at a time. Needless to say, that’s a huge opportunity to show you more ads. Having said this, you might not mind potential sales pitches if it means tuning in alongside your online friends.

Source: Reuters

Uber’s self-driving vehicles are picking up folks in Arizona

Uber’s fleet of self-driving vehicles are now cruising the streets of Tempe, Arizona. After a spat with the California Department of Motor Vehicles in December, Uber moved its line of 16 custom, autonomous Volvo XC90 SUVs to Arizona, where Gov. Doug Ducey welcomed the company with open arms (and no extra restrictions on self-driving vehicles).

Thanks for the smooth ride, @Uber_AZ. Arizona is proud to be home to your autonomous vehicle fleet! pic.twitter.com/AFKci3zZ7R

— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) February 21, 2017

Today, some Arizona residents can finally catch a ride in a driverless Uber. Request an UberX in Tempe — the home of Arizona State University — and if a driverless vehicle is available, it will accept the trip. Pricing remains the same and the Volvos can accept up to three riders, as every self-driving SUV will have Uber employees in the front seats as a safety precaution. Still, riders are able to cancel the request if they want a traditional human driver instead.

This is the second public test of Uber’s self-driving ecosystem. In September, the company rolled out a small number of driverless Ford Fusions in Pittsburgh, and we even took an oddly boring spin in one of them. The test had a rocky start, with multiple reports of accidents, wrong-way driving and close calls. However, none of the cars have been involved in major accidents.

Uber’s Tempe test is positive news, but it’s unlikely to overshadow other issues currently hanging over the company. This week, former Uber engineer Susan Fowler published a blog post claiming she and other female employees were routinely sexually harassed while at the company, and the story went viral. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick ordered an investigation into the matter, calling the behavior described in the post “abhorrent.”

Kalanick additionally announced Uber will release its first-ever diversity report in the next few months. In her blog post, Fowler wrote, “Out of over 150 engineers in the [site reliability engineer] teams, only 3 percent were women.” However, Kalanick says 15.1 percent of Uber’s employees are women.

“As points of reference, Facebook is at 17 percent, Google at 18 percent and Twitter is at 10 percent,” Kalanick says.

Source: azcentral, Verge

Meitu’s new phone uses AI to snap better selfies

Chinese selfie app and smartphone company Meitu has unveiled its newest flagship, and it’s all about making you look better. The T8 includes a front-facing camera with optical image stabilization and dual-pixel phase detection autofocus (PDAF) similar to Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and the ASUS ZenFone 3 Zoom — rare components in a selfie camera. It also has a feature called Magical AI Beautification. Like Meitu’s popular beauty apps, it can detect your skin tone, age and gender, then touch up your selfie accordingly.

According to Meitu, Magical AI Beautification will enhance group photos as well as selfies, detecting and adjusting each face individually. It will whiten your teeth, get rid of those bags under your eyes, smooth your skin, add radiance to your face and apply some stylish filters. The feature works on real-time videos too.

Over a billion people have downloaded and installed the Meitu app. It was a viral hit on social media last year, turning everyone’s selfies into kawaii anime characters. But, the fun ended quickly when people discovered the app asks for access to a lot of personal data, including your calendar, contacts, SMS messages and location. Meitu claims it collected the data because it needed a workaround for Apple and Google’s tracking services, which are blocked in China.

The T8 is not the first “selfie smartphone” to come out of China. Both Lenovo and Oppo released low-to-mid range devices last year with powerful front-facing cameras, but Meitu says the T8 is the first smartphone to offer DSLR-type performance and photo quality through its dual pixel technology.

The T8’s other specs include a full metallic body, a 21-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 2.3GHz processor, a 5.2-inch AMOLED display, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of onboard storage. And yes, it has a headphone jack. It’s currently available on Meitu’s website (accessible in China only) and costs 3299 RMB ($479 USD). It’ll be available to buy at online retailers Tmall, suning.com and jd.com on February 22nd. There’s no word yet on whether the T8 will make it to the US.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Meitu

Implants enable richer communication for people with paralysis

John Scalzi’s science fiction novel Lock In predicts a near future where people with complete body paralysis can live meaningful, authentic lives thanks to (fictional) advances in brain-computer interfaces. A new study by researchers at Stanford University might be the first step towards such a reality.

Using brain-computer interfaces (BCI) to help people with paralysis communicate isn’t completely new. But getting people using it to have a complex conversation is. This study’s participants were able to output words at a much faster, more accurate rate than ever recorded thanks to the advanced technique.

The investigators worked with three people who experience severe limb weakness, either from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also called Lou Gehrig’s disease, or from a spinal cord injury. They each had a tiny electrode array or two placed in their brains to record the signals from a region in the motor cortex that controls muscle movement. With only a little bit of training, the participants were able to master the typing interface. One participant, Dennis Degray of Menlo Park, California, was able to type eight words per minute with just his brain, a rate approaching texting speeds.

The researchers used the newest generation of BCI called the BrainGate Neural Interface System, the first such device to be surgically placed inside a patient’s head. The tiny chips have 100 electrodes that penetrate the brain and can tap into individual nerve cells, a massive improvement over the older systems which can only measure brain waves and blood flow subcutaneously or from the outside of the scalp.

This is only the first step to creating a much more connected life for those with significant motor issues. The team of investigators looks forward to a day, perhaps just five years from now, when systems like this can be used to help people with paralysis communicate meaningfully with others.

Via: Medical Xpress

Source: Stanford

SodaStream recalls 51,000 bottles because they might explode

Your greatest SodaStream fears have been realized: tens of thousands of SodaStream’s plastic bottles may not be able to withstand quite as much pressure as the company thought, causing the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue a recall because they pose an injury risk to carbonation-happy consumers. Some 51,000 bottles sold in the US and another 7,600 bottles sold in Canada are included in the recall because they could potentially explode under pressure — either while pumping them full of CO2 or simply by shaking a full, carbonated bottle.

According to the CPSC, these affected bottles were sold at outlets like Walmart, Bed Bath & Beyond, Target and others between February 2016 and last month. Thankfully, no one has reported an actual SodaStream-related injury yet, so the recall is a precautionary measure for now. The affected bottles are blue, 1-liter sized with the expiration date of “04/2020” printed on the back and SodaStream has built a handy recall page so you can double-check if you’ve got safe or faulty equipment. If you do happen to have a potentially explosion-prone bottle, the company will issue you a refund.

Source: SodaStream Voluntary Recall

Dance moves turn into music with BeatMoovz

There are plenty of gadgets out there for making music on your mobile device, but they’re relatively sedentary affairs. BeatMoovz turns things arounds with a music tool that gets you up and dancing: instead of moving with the music, you dance and create a soundtrack using your steps, spins and sashays.

Developed by Daigo Kusunoki, a competitive dancer with a background in mechanical engineering, BeatMoovz is a pair of Bluetooth bands you wear on your wrist or ankles. You pair them up with the iOS or Android app, and then you’re ready to start making music. It’s attuned to how fast you go and how you move — a gentle rocking may produce a slow groove versus a faster beat you get from breakdancing.

Multiple sets of bands can be hooked up to one app: the demo at Toy Fair involved Kusunoki and another dancer both wearing two sets of bands, with them bouncing, waving and kicking to produce a variety of techno and hip hop jams. Different sounds can be assigned to each bracelet for a fuller piece of music. It’s easy to imagine a street dancer using this to put on performances, as well as kids competing to create the most interesting compositions.

The app isn’t limited to a small set of instruments — there are 400 different options from a whole variety of music genres, from rock to pop to jazz. There are even sounds inspired by science fiction, video games and action films. The BeatMoovz will recognize your movements and apply the appropriate audio effects — you can do the robot with all the appropriate mechanical shifting and clinking or, if you’re not into dancing, it’s also great for some physical humor as you pretend to shoot fireballs at your friends.

Each set of bands will cost $70 when they’re released in August. They’ll come in blue, black, red, green, yellow or orange, so you’ll have no problem matching them to your favorite dance attire.