Google and Ford are in talks on self-driving car partnership.
According to sources familiar with the plans, the second-largest U.S. automaker, Ford Motor Co is set to form a deal with Google’s parent firm, the search engine giant Alphabet Inc about forming a partnership to develop autonomous car technology.
the two companies will announce a joint venture at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2016, said a person familiar with the talks. More »
The United Kingdom may be one of the first homes to Google’s autonomous cars.
The US internet giant has met with UK government officials five times in the last two years, according to some media reports.
Google is said to believe the UK could take a leading position in developing laws for the vehicles, which are currently being tested in California and that may become publicly available by 2020. The Californian tech giant reportedly sees the UK as a key market for its driverless cars. According to some documents, those face-to-face meetings have focused on bringing autonomous cars to the streets of the U.K. even though, it is unclear whether Google is planning to extend trials to the UK. More »
Flying cars could be a reality within 24 months. Finally after decades of dreaming and waiting, a company is planning to make a flying car commercially available to the public in two years.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has this month approved Terrafugia’s TF-X flying car for testing. The team behind TF-X patented their flying car in 2011 and unveiled the TF-X concept for the first time in 2013.
The FAA approved only mini versions of the TF-X to enter into space. They are roughly 2 ft long and with a weight restriction of no more than 55 lbs. The four-seater prototype vehicle looks like a mini car with wings and the company can test the flying car at altitudes up to 400 feet and at speeds under 100 mph. More »
An Orange County, California man claims American Airlines almost kicked him off because he weighs a few more pounds.
Chris Shelley, a retired marine, said he is outraged by the way he was treated after another passenger complained that he was too fat for his seat.
Shelley says he flies more than 100,000 miles every year. The Huntington Beach engineer said his nightmare began shortly after he boarded an American Airlines flight from Dallas to Orange County last Friday. When an elderly petite woman sat in the aisle seat next to him, he noticed she was not happy that Shelley was spilling into her own upholstered personal space. She “got up and left and went towards the front of the aircraft.” Shelley was approached by “a young gentleman” in a vest with an American Airlines emblem on it.
Shelley was shoked when the airline employee told him to gather his personal belongings and leave the plane with no explanation other than “anyone two inches over the seat can’t sit in the aircraft”. Shelley convinced the employee to ask the elderly woman if she would switch seats with someone. The woman agreed and then he was able to reboard the plane and return to his seat.
“The worst part”, according to Shelley, was that he was treated as “criminal.” Not only a criminal but a “fat criminal.”
American Airlines sent two apology emails and Ross Feinstein, a company spokesperson said that the airline has launched an investigation.
A new X-ray scanner that uses 3D-imaging and can identify precisely what material an object is made of, is being developed for use in airport security. The technology could revolutionize airport security by making it easier to spot weapons and explosives inside bags. The new X-ray scanning technology could eliminate physical bag searches and speed up screening.
The scanner is being developed by a team of scientists from Nottingham Trent University and the Cranfield Forensic Institute at Cranfield University. The Halo technology uses funnel-shaped X-rays to build the image More »
A stolen Tesla Model S 85D was tracked down using a smartphone app and returned to owners within hours.
Katya Pinkowski, a Vancouver resident and Tesla Model S owner, went to see a concert a few days ago. When it was over, she returned to the car in an underground parking lot and found out it was missing. It is never fun to find an empty space at the place you left your car. After a car theft, it usually takes owners weeks or even years to retrieve their property. More »
Two Italian researchers have developed an entirely new mode of autonomous public transportation. Tommaso Gecchelin and Emmanuele Spera have created self-driving pods, called “Next” that could change the way we travel.
Different modes of autonomous public transportation vehicles are beginning to emerge all over the world, but what makes “Next” different is that it combines personal transportation with public transportation and it can act as a train, bus, or personal vehicle. “Next” consists of modular, energy-efficient pods that can travel on their own, like a personal self-driving vehicle, or can connect while in motion.
When the pods connect, passengers can walk through them the same way we walk to different compartments on a train. “Next” is electric and has six seats. More »
Speaking on Monday at WSJD Live, the Wall Street Journal’s technology conference in Laguna Beach, California, Apple’s Chief Executive Tim Cook predicted there would be “massive change” in the auto industry in the coming years. Cook did not comment on numerous rumors and reports that Apple is working on developing its own electric car.
However, Cook repeated the two words “massive change” More »
Apple Inc is accelerating its efforts to build an electric car. The iPhone maker has designated building an Apple-branded car as a “committed project” and has set a target shipping date for 2019.
After the success of the in-car system called CarPlay, Apple now reportedly has ambitions to build and sell its own electric automobile.
People familiar with the matter claim that the electric car project code-named Titan currently has 600 people working on the prototype. It was also alleged that the leaders of the project have been given the go ahead to triple the size of their team to 1,800 people. More »
Amazon has started legal action against more than 1,000 people who the online retail giant suspects are posting fake reviews on its website.
The online retailer said in the lawsuit, filed in the US on Friday, that its brand reputation was being tarnished by “false, misleading and inauthentic” reviews of books, restaurants or holidays.
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