Author: ZDNet Online News

Japanese firms to trial location-tracking car loans in Indonesia

(Image: NTT) NTT DoCoMo and Mizuho Bank will conduct a trial in Indonesia until the end of November that will see a device be attached to a car — to track its location — as part of what the Japanese pair labels an advanced financial service in the form of a “network-connected auto loan”. The… Continue reading Japanese firms to trial location-tracking car loans in Indonesia

FedEx rolls out prototype of autonomous SameDay Bot

FedEx on Wednesday unveiled a prototype of its SameDay Bot, an autonomous delivery vehicle designed to get smaller deliveries from retailers to nearby customers. Like Amazon and FedEx’s other competitors in the shipping business, FedEx is hoping that autonomous vehicles can help it solve the challenges of last-mile logistics. Developed in collaboration with DEKA Development… Continue reading FedEx rolls out prototype of autonomous SameDay Bot

Amazon field tests an autonomous delivery robot named Scout

Amazon has revealed its latest autonomous delivery project — a six-wheeled boxy robot named Amazon Scout. The e-commerce giant said the all-electric devices were created in-house at Amazon’s research and development lab in Seattle, and are about the size of a small cooler.  Featured stories The bots are meant to travel on sidewalks at an… Continue reading Amazon field tests an autonomous delivery robot named Scout

Bosch to trial automated vehicle tech in country Victoria

The Victorian government has given approval to Bosch to test automated driving systems on the state’s rural roads. With a AU$2.3 million grant, awarded under the AU$9 million Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) Trial Grants Program, Bosch will be the first to use automated vehicles for testing and development on Victorian roads. The state in… Continue reading Bosch to trial automated vehicle tech in country Victoria

Electric cars: Security flaws could let attackers control charging stations

Electric car drivers could find themselves unable to charge their vehicles, if attackers exploit recently discovered flaws in Schneider Electric’s EVlink Parking charging stations, found in offices, hotels, and supermarkets across several countries. Featured stories Security experts Vladimir Kononovich and Vyacheslav Moskvin at Positive Technologies are now offering details of the three vulnerabilities they found that… Continue reading Electric cars: Security flaws could let attackers control charging stations

CES 2019: Cortana’s gone underground, but Microsoft is not out of the virtual assistant game

Credit: Universal Electronics everything CES 2019 While Google Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa were big at CES 2019, Microsoft’s Cortana digital personal assistant was nowhere in sight. That’s not surprising, given Microsoft’s decision to reposition Cortana as less of a standalone assistant and more of an assistance aide. But Microsoft isn’t totally out of the virtual… Continue reading CES 2019: Cortana’s gone underground, but Microsoft is not out of the virtual assistant game

Real-time location data for over 11,000 Indian buses left exposed online

Real-time GPS coordinates for over 11,000 buses in India have been left exposed on the internet for over three weeks. The data leaked via an ElasticSearch server that was left connected online without a password, according to security researcher Justin Paine, who shared his findings with ZDNet. The server contained data aggregated from 27 Indian… Continue reading Real-time location data for over 11,000 Indian buses left exposed online

CES chief Gary Shapiro predicts the biggest hits of 2019 show

Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association, spoke with ZDNet’s Jason Hiner about the biggest tech trends he expects to see at CES 2019. The following is an edited transcript of the interview. everything CES 2019 Jason Hiner:  We’re arguably on the eve, of course, of the biggest week of the year… Continue reading CES chief Gary Shapiro predicts the biggest hits of 2019 show

Culture clash: There’s nothing virtual about Google’s urban expansion plans

Google’s remote HQ on the edge of the bay. (Image: Tom Foremski) Featured stories You don’t need a physical location. You can create a virtual business overnight using Google’s Cloud enterprise IT services, your employees log-in from their homes using Google videoconferencing, group spreadsheets, and collaborative documents — plus gmail with your company name on… Continue reading Culture clash: There’s nothing virtual about Google’s urban expansion plans