SF Motors reveals two electric SUVs with 300 miles of range

While much of the automotive world is focused on the New York Auto Show, a small car startup has unveiled its first-ever vehicles on the other side of the country in Santa Clara, California. SF Motors, the US arm of Chinese company Sokon, has just announced two cars — the SF5 and the SF7 — as part of a whole new line of electric vehicles. The SF5 is a medium size crossover SUV, and the SF7 is a full size crossover. The SF5 will be available for pre-order by the end of this year and will ship in 2019.

Both vehicles boast a proprietary powertrain that promises 1,000 horsepower and the ability to accelerate to 60 miles per hour in under 3 seconds. They utilize a LiDAR system for adverse weather, road conditions and more. According to SF Motors, it also developed a “range-extension platform” that helps to extend the driving range of the vehicles thanks to a “high-power onboard generator.”

Interestingly, SF Motors also states that it developed its own proprietary battery cells that apparently has a range of more than 300 miles (500 km) per charge. It incorporates a so-called advanced Battery Management System, liquid-cool thermal management and “unique mechanical structures.” And thanks to the acquisition of InEvit, a battery module startup last year, SF Motors is also working on a next-gen battery module system that directly integrates into the vehicle chassis.

And once those batteries are spent, they don’t need to be tossed away. SF Motors is also proposing a battery recycling solution whereby they can find second use in homes and offices.

We attended the car unveiling in Santa Clara but we weren’t given a chance to get inside the vehicles themselves. Still, the cars do look pretty great up close. They’re quite large and roomy as you might expect SUVs to be. I was especially enamored by the large touchscreen instrument cluster and unique head’s up display. I love that all the controls as well as the speedometer are within easy view. A SF Motors spokesperson said they were designed to be in a straight vertical line between your eyes and the road, for less distraction.

Sokon is a well-known maker of vans, trucks and sports utility vehicles in China, but none of them are EVs. A couple of years ago, the company decided to launch a company in the US dedicated to EVs and autonomous vehicles, which is how SF Motors was born. In just two years, SF Motors has made significant strides in creating its first car. It set up its HQ in Santa Clara, California, a research and development center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and now has seven R&D facilities in the US, China, Germany plus an upcoming one in Japan.

Thanks to the backing of a large company like Sokon, SF Motors is able to make its own investments. As mentioned above, In 2017, it paid $33 million to acquire InEvit, a battery module startup started by Martin Eberhard, whom you might recognize as one of the original co-founders of Tesla. SF Motor had even hired Eberhard as a consultant prior to the acquisition. Now, he serves as SF Motors’ chief innovation officer.

SF Motors also seems well-poised to make a serious run at vehicle production. It purchased the AM General Commercial Assembly Plant in Mishawaka, Indiana last year, which was previously used to make vehicles from the likes of Mercedes-Benz and Hummer. It kept around 400 or so employees from the factory and will apparently be the only pure EV company to have manufacturing facilities in both the US and China.

SF Motors isn’t just about EVs; it’s interested in autonomous tech as well. It just started self-driving tests in California, Michigan and China. The cars will also have “protective autonomy” — basically Level 3 autonomy — which are cars that can handle most driving tasks with “limited input” from humans. According to SF Motors, this technology uses deep neural network-based computer vision as well as LiDAR sensory perception. With all of that in mind, SF Motors hopes to get their “protective autonomy” vehicles on public roads by 2020.

As flashy as today’s reveal is, there are still a lot of unanswered questions. We would’ve loved to get a better look and feel of the car’s interior, as well as how it drives. Plus, we still don’t know how much it costs, which will be an important consideration for most potential customers.

“From the creation of our ‘protective autonomy’ technology to our e-powertrain and battery achievements, we are on our way to become a global OEM and a vertical integrator,” said SF Motors CTO, Yifan Tang, in a statement. “And, as much as we thrive on developing new ideas, our technology is meant for the roads, not the lab.”

The BBC says it’s being squeezed out by Netflix and Amazon

The BBC has released its second annual report since its new charter was established and the broadcaster paints a rather bleak picture for itself. It highlights the fact that the media landscape has changed quite rapidly in recent years and will most certainly continue to do so, and it says that the industry is “more and more dominated by a small number of US-based media giants with extraordinary creative and financial firepower.” The BCC added, “Their business models and huge budgets mean we are increasingly being squeezed out of an ever more competitive environment. British creativity and British content are now under real threat.”

However, the broadcaster is determined to do all it can to survive in the ever more digital TV world increasingly dominated by companies like Netflix and Amazon. In that regard, it laid out a few goals for the year that are aimed at keeping the BBC a relevant, viable service. One focus will be its iPlayer platform. It notes that younger audiences are more frequently choosing Netflix over the BBC and it’s, therefore, making some changes to iPlayer that will hopefully make it a destination itself rather than just a way to catch up on shows viewers have missed. The BBC has already starting to introduce personalization into its iPlayer content and going forward, it will work to enhance the user experience, boost personalization and add more live content.

Similarly, BBC’s iPlayer radio will be revamped to be more intuitive and a place to host its podcasts. The broadcaster says that for the first time, 15- to 34-year-olds in the UK are listening to streaming music services like Spotify and Apple Music more than they are BBC Radio.

But ultimately, the issue comes down to money. The BBC says funding for its UK services has fallen by 18 percent since 2010 while ITV’s and Sky’s incomes have increased by 30 and 90 percent, respectively. “The last few years have seen high super-inflation in areas such as drama and comedy, and we are now seeing this effect moving into other key areas of our output, such as factual programming,” the report says. “The cost of sports broadcasting rights has skyrocketed while, overall, the cost of ideas and talent has risen fast.” The broadcaster concludes that it has shrunk while the market has continued to grow. “In this context, the BBC’s urgent challenge is to develop new ways to grow our income so that we can keep pace with the market around us, as well as successfully safeguard British content and Britain’s creative track record,” it said.

Via: The Verge

Source: BBC

Uber settles with family of pedestrian hit by its self-driving SUV

Tempe Police are still investigating the fatal crash where an Uber autonomous SUV struck and killed a pedestrian and there are many questions about the safety of its procedures and technology. However, one aspect of the case has been resolved, as Reuters reports that the family of Elaine Herzberg has reached a settlement with the company, avoiding a civil trial in this, the first known incident where someone has died after being struck by a self-driving car.

Cristina Perez Hesano, an attorney with Bellah Perez, said “the matter has been resolved,” while Uber declined to comment. The terms of the agreement are confidential.

Questions over liability in the case of a crash with a self-driving car have been asked ever since the technology became a realistic option. In this situation, it’s Uber’s technology, vehicle and test driver behind the wheel, but how this would go for a vehicle owned by a private citizen — or what may happen if the police find Uber’s car is at fault — is still unknown.

Source: Reuters

BMW and Daimler will combine their transportation services

If it seems ridiculous that virtually every major car manufacturer has its own suite of transportation services, you’re not alone. BMW and Daimler have announced a plan to combine their mobility services in a 50/50 joint venture. Car2Go and DriveNow/ReachNow will unite their car sharing efforts, for example, while ChargeNow and Digital Charging Solutions would team up on EV power. Ride hailing, parking are also part of the proposed union.

The two are hoping regulators will clear the services merger sometime in 2018. They’re clearly aware of the potential qualms over anti-competitive behavior, as they stress that they’ll remain competitors in car manufacturing.

The aim, as you might suspect, is to gain a controlling stake in a future where car ownership declines and electric cars take over. Ford, GM and other big brands have all launched or experimented with their own services — there’s a chance that BMW and Daimler could be overwhelmed if they kept up the status quo. We wouldn’t be surprised to see more alliances like this as mobility services mature and it becomes clearer which companies are leading the pack.

Via: Reuters

Source: BMW, Daimler

‘Doom’ is the latest game to get a 4K patch on consoles

The next time you venture a little south of Heaven in Doom it’ll have an awful lot more Hellish detail. Developer id Software is pushing out an update tomorrow that’ll bump the game’s resolution pretty dramatically on PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X hardware, up to 4K. Doom uses a dynamic resolution scaler (which explains how it can run on the Nintendo Switch), but at the moment the resolution is capped at 1080p. So, while the game currently looks better on PS4 Pro than base PS4 hardware, it’s not playing in 4K. Unfortunately, publisher Bethesda’s blog post doesn’t mention HDR or what frame-rates the game will run at in UHD.

The timing of the patch is a little curious — the game came out back in May 2016 — but folks with the more powerful consoles surely won’t mind. For a preview of how it’ll look after tomorrow, peep the trailer embedded below.

Source: Bethesda

Facebook will limit data advertisers can use to target ads

Facebook is still determined to reassure jittery users in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data sharing scandal, and that now includes restricting what advertisers can do. The social network is closing down a Partner Categories service that let third-party data providers offer their ad targeting directly through Facebook. Instead, they’ll have to rely either on advertiser data (say, voluntarily provided emails) or Facebook itself. The program will take six months to ramp down, but Facebook product marketing director Graham Mudd said it should “improve people’s privacy” when all is said and done.

Wall Street Journal sources have also heard that Facebook will stop supplying data on the success of those ad campaigns to those providers.

This wouldn’t have put a stop to Cambridge Analytica’s activities (it harvested data under the guise of research), and Recode noted that it might create headaches for smaller companies that can’t afford to collect their own data. However, it could reduce the chances that Facebook ends up buying data collected through shady or inaccurate practices. Whatever Facebook loses in terms of sheer data it might gain by avoiding another fiasco that leads users to quit the site.

Via: Recode, Wall Street Journal

Source: Facebook Newsroom

Einride’s self-driving cargo trucks hit the highway this fall

Einride’s autonomous T-Pod may look like a giant freezer on wheels, but it’s likely to be on the road fairly soon. According to TechCrunch, the company announced today that the first customer deliveries of the self-driving transport vehicle will begin this fall.

The T-pod can transport standard cargo pallets and travel up to 124 miles on a single charge. It can drive itself on highways, but a human will take over on main roads via remote. TechCrunch says that the trucks will use the Nvidia Drive AI platform to plan driving paths and intelligently sense the environments. Einride also hopes to have a fleet of 200 with an initial route set between Gothenberg and Helsingborg in Sweden.

Source: TechCrunch

Waze Local makes it easy for small businesses to advertise on Google’s Waze app

Waze, the community-driven navigation app owned by Google, is making it easier for local businesses to advertise on its new Waze Local platform. But don’t get your pitchforks out to try and kick advertisers off your app — these type of advertisements have already been available on Waze for enterprise customers. The company is now simply focusing its efforts on launching tools and services specifically for small and medium-sized businesses.

In 2017, Waze said more than 3.3 million of its users visited local U.S. businesses that advertised on the app. When the app was in beta last year, the company found that U.S. businesses advertising on Waze Local saw a 20.4 percent increase in monthly navigations, or visits to the store.

If you use Waze, there are three types of ads that you’ve likely seen in action already. The core format is Branded Pins — these are pins that show up on the map indicating a specific business. Waze said only three show up at a time so your map doesn’t look cluttered, and they only appear for places you are near. Tap on one of these pins and you can get details about the business such as operating hours or a phone number, and of course, you’ll be able to navigate to it.

Branded Pins.

Promoted Search

Branded Pins

Small businesses can also pay to appear at the top of search results in Waze through Promoted Search (these are labeled as ads just like in Google Search). The more interesting ad format, however, is Zero-Speed Takeover banner ads. These ads, which have been in use already, take up the top half of your phone’s screen only when your car comes to a halt. They disappear as soon as your car starts moving. These ads are also proximity based, and they’re meant to be used when a small business wants to advertise a particular promotion or event. These banner ads have a wider reach — literally — as they go 3.1 times further than the Branded Pins from the businesses’ location.

Waze said small businesses can get set up on Waze Local in 5 minutes, touting the simplicity as a boon for businesses that don’t have large marketing teams. Through a dashboard, these small businesses will have access to data such as impressions, clicks, navigations, and more. There are two options: Waze Local Starter and Waze Local Plus. The starter option lets you start advertising on the platform for as little as $2, whereas the Plus version starts at $100. Zero-Speed Takeover ads are only available on the Plus option, along with live support for businesses that may need help.

“If you want to reach local drivers, you really have two options: The radio — ads on the radio — and billboards on the side of the road,” Matt Phillips, head of local SMB for Waze, told Digital Trends. “Both of which provide very little, if any, information back to the business owner. They don’t know how many people listen or saw the ad, they are expensive. If you are a small business owner and you want to change the billboard in the afternoon to promote iced coffee, it can be extremely expensive. With Waze, we track and collect information back to the advertiser using our Waze Local dashboard. They can then optimize their campaigns quickly and easily.”

When asked whether some of these advertising methods, specifically Zero-Speed Takeover, will be seen in Google’s other navigation service — Google Maps — Phillips told Digital Trends there’s nothing in the works at the present time.

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Yahoo Mail makes it easier for online shoppers to find the best deals

Yahoo Mail is getting better and better for those that like to shop online. The company announced two new partnerships for Mail that should allow users to both get products they want to quickly, and help save customers money.

The first partnership is with a startup called ShopRunner and essentially gets Yahoo Mail users a one-year ShopRunner subscription for free. Normally, a ShopRunner subscription costs $79 for a year. But what are the benefits? ShopRunner essentially gives customers things like free two-day shipping, free returns, and so on, through its partnerships with dozens of retail partners.

The second partnership is with another startup, this one called Earny. Earny is aimed at ensuring you never overpay on items you buy online. It basically reviews purchases that you made from eligible retailers over the past 90 days, and if it finds that you spent more than you had to, it will automatically process refunds on your behalf. According to Yahoo, “If you paid $60 at one retailer and Earny finds it for $45 somewhere else, you get a check in the mail.” If you want to take advantage of the partnerships with ShopRunner and Earny, you will need to sign up. Yahoo Mail users can sign up for ShopRunner here, and for Earny here.

The partnerships aren’t the only new features coming to Yahoo Mail. The company is also refining its relatively new “Coupons” feature. The feature was launched late last year as a way to put together lists if coupons, and at the time Yahoo called it the digital version of “coupon clipping.” Now, the feature is getting a few new things — like Coupons Smart View, which allows you to save the deals you care about for later, and Receipts View, which helps you track the purchases you’ve already made online.

Yahoo has been trying to build new features into Yahoo Mail of late. Apart from things like Coupons, the company also launched features like “Travel Smart View,” which is aimed at helping you track your flight, notifying you when there are delays and gate changes, and helping you check in 24 hours before your flight.

Thankfully, the new features aren’t only limited to the Yahoo Mail mobile app — they are also available in the Yahoo Mail desktop website.

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Huawei P20 Pro vs. the P20: Which smartphone is the right Huawei to go?

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends
Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

The fact that Huawei has repeatedly run into issues trying to break into the U.S. market hasn’t stopped the Chinese manufacturer from turning out some very impressive Android smartphones. The Huawei P20 and P20 Pro offer a compelling combination of cutting-edge hardware and software, but there are some big differences between the two. If you’re considering buying one of them, then this comparison will help you get a grasp on where they’re similar and where they diverge.

Specs

Huawei P20 Pro
Huawei P20

Size
155 x 73.9 x 7.8 mm (6.1 x 2.9 x 0.3 inches)
149.1 x 70.8 x 7.65 mm (5.87 x 2.78 x 0.3 inches)

Weight
174 grams (6.14 ounces)
165 grams (5.82 ounces)

Screen size
6.1-inch OLED display
5.8-inch LCD display

Screen resolution
2,240 x 1,080 pixels (414 pixels-per-inch)
2,240 x 1,080 pixels (428 pixels-per-inch)

Operating system
Emotion UI 8.1 (over Android 8.1 Oreo)
Emotion UI 8.1 (over Android 8.1 Oreo)

Storage space
128GB
128GB

MicroSD card slot
No
No

Tap-to-pay services
Google Pay
Google Pay

Processor
Kirin 970
Kirin 970

RAM
6GB
4GB

Camera
Triple lens 40MP, 20MP, & 8MP rear, 24MP front
Dual lens 20MP & 12MP, 24MP front

Video
2160p at 30 frames per second, 1080p at 30fps, 720p at 960fps
 2160p at 30 frames per second, 1080p at 30fps, 720p at 960fps

Bluetoothversion
Bluetooth 4.2
Bluetooth 4.2

Ports
USB-C
USB-C

Fingerprint sensor
Yes
Yes

Water resistance
IP67
IP53

Battery
4,000mAh
3,400mAh

App marketplace
Google Play Store
Google Play Store

Network support
T-Mobile, AT&T
T-Mobile, AT&T

Colors
Black, Blue, Pink Gold, Twilight
Black, Blue, Pink Gold, Twilight

Price
899 euros (around $1,100)
649 euros (around $800)

Where to buy it
Huawei
Huawei

Review score
Hands-on review
Hands-on review

Performance, battery life and charging

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends
Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Dissect either of these phones and you’re going to find Huawei’s own Kirin 970 processor inside, along with its special Neural Processing Unit (NPU), which is designed to offer all kinds of artificial intelligence (A.I.) enhancements without slowing things down or draining too much power. You get 6GB of RAM in the P20 Pro, while the P20 makes do with 4GB of RAM. Only serious multitaskers will feel the difference. Both phones have 128GB of storage, but there’s no MicroSD card slot.

It’s easier to separate these phones on battery life because the P20 Pro has a 4,000mAh battery, while the battery in the P20 is only rated at 3,400mAh. The P20 Pro has a marginally bigger screen and a few more tricks up its sleeve, but we can’t see that being enough to cancel out the extra capacity, so we expect the P20 Pro to have more stamina than its sibling. There’s no wireless charging here, but you can expect both phones to support Huawei’s SuperCharge fast-charging standard.

Winner: Huawei P20 Pro

Design and durability

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends
Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

The all-glass, curved design of these phones is extremely attractive and they come in some interesting finishes, particularly the twilight option, which shifts from purple to teal. Strangely, Huawei has put the fingerprint sensors on the front, in the old traditional spot beneath the screen, but the main thing that jumps out is that notch at the top. We’re not keen on the notch trend afflicting Android phones right now, but if you’re going to do it, there’s nothing wrong with Huawei’s implementation — the notch in the P20 and P20 Pro is much smaller than the iPhone X’s notch.

There’s nothing to divide these phones on the design front, but if we delve into durability, the P20 Pro is clearly superior. The P20 has a distinctly disappointing IP53 rating, while the P20 Pro scores an IP67 rating. In simple terms, this means that the P20 Pro can survive submersion, but the P20 probably won’t.

Winner: Huawei P20 Pro

Display

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends
Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

The Huawei P20 sports a 5.8-inch RGBW LCD screen, while the P20 Pro boasts a 6.1-inch OLED screen. Both of them have a 2,240 x 1,080 pixel screen resolution. Strictly speaking, this makes the P20 screen a touch sharper, but the P20 Pro has a much higher contrast ratio, with rich colors and really deep blacks.

Winner: Huawei P20 Pro

Camera

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends
Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

The camera war in smartphones has reached new heights recently, as the battle for supremacy has spilled beyond megapixel count and led many manufacturers to adopt secondary lenses. Huawei is taking things a lot further with the P20 Pro by packing in three lenses: There’s a 40-megapixel main lens with A.I. Image Stabilization (AIS), a secondary telephoto lens rated at 8-megapixels, and a third 20-megapixel monochrome lens. This camera offers 3x optical zoom, which can be enhanced digitally to 5x. It also delivers incredible detail and solid low -light performance.

By contrast, the P20 combines a 12-megapixel primary lens with a 20-megapixel monochromatic lens. It may not have as many tricks at its disposal, but we still expect it to be a good performer. Both phones have front-facing cameras rated at 24-megapixels, which should be enough to elevate your selfie game to the next level.

Winner: Huawei P20 Pro

Software and updates

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends
Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

You’ll find the latest Android 8.1 Oreo on the P20 and P20 Pro, with Huawei’s EMUI 8.1 user interface on top. It’s quite a departure from stock Android, and it means you won’t get the latest software updates as soon as Google rolls them out. Huawei’s software is packed with clever A.I. tricks, enabling things like keyword search in the photo gallery app. There’s no real difference between the two phones in this category.

Winner: Tie

Special features

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends
Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Huawei is firmly focused on the triple-lens camera as the standout feature of the P20 Pro, but everything else you might point to as a special feature can be found on both phones. There is a face unlock option on the P20 and P20 Pro that uses 2-D mapping to authenticate users in only half a second, but it’s not as secure as the iPhone X’s Face ID, so you can’t use it for payments.

Winner: Tie

Price

This has been a very one-sided battle so far, but the P20 is able to score a win on price, because it’s significantly cheaper than the P20 Pro. The Huawei P20 costs 649 euros (around $800), while the P20 Pro costs 899 euros (around $1,100).

The phones are available globally now. The bad news is that the P20 and P20 Pro will not be released through carriers in the U.S. after they were pressured to drop Huawei phones by Republican politicians, due to security concerns.

Winner: Huawei P20 

Overall winner: Huawei P20 Pro

There is absolutely no doubt that — as the name would suggest — the Huawei P20 Pro is a better phone than the P20. It has that triple-lens camera, a superior display, a bigger battery, and it’s more durable. The P20 is still a decent device, offering the same level of performance, A.I. smarts, and gorgeous design, but it falls well short of the P20 Pro. All you really have to decide is whether you can stretch your budget.

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