Tag: Apple

Alexa and Google Assistant carve up CES

At CES, there’s no shortage of gadgets to talk to. Smart TVs, cars, pianos – and even a toilet – these are just some examples of devices that come with voice-activated helpers. No matter who makes the hardware, the virtual aide linked to or packaged inside is likely to be one of two: either Amazon’s… Continue reading Alexa and Google Assistant carve up CES

Carmaker Rolls-Royce urges UK’s May to avoid a hard Brexit

LONDON (Reuters) – Carmaker Rolls-Royce called on the British government to avoid a disorderly Brexit and said it was building up some stock, expanding warehouse capacity and training suppliers for customs changes in case Britain leaves the EU without a deal. FILE PHOTO: Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Chief Executive Officer, Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes, gestures as he is… Continue reading Carmaker Rolls-Royce urges UK’s May to avoid a hard Brexit

GM Teams With Chargepoint, EVgo & Greenlots

2 H BY MARK KANE Planning a long-distance trip with a Chevrolet Bolt EV will be easier General Motors announced a collaboration with three charging networks in the U.S. – EVgo, ChargePoint and Greenlots – to enable access to the largest collective network of more than 31,000 charging ports. GM says that it believes in… Continue reading GM Teams With Chargepoint, EVgo & Greenlots

Volkswagen hires Apple executive for autonomous vehicle role

FILE PHOTO: Volkswagen logos are pictured during the media day of the Salao do Automovel International Auto Show in Sao Paulo, Brazil November 6, 2018. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) said on Wednesday it had hired an executive from Apple (AAPL.O) as a director responsible for technical development at its commercial vehicles… Continue reading Volkswagen hires Apple executive for autonomous vehicle role

China car sales see first drop for 20 years

Car sales in China, the world’s biggest vehicle market, have seen their first annual fall in twenty years. Sales fell 6% to 22.7 million units in 2018, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). The deceleration comes amid a slowdown in China’s economy which has hit performance at car manufacturers around the world. The… Continue reading China car sales see first drop for 20 years

AI Predictions For 2019 From Technology Leaders

If 2018 is any indication, 2019 will see AI play an even bigger role in our lives than we imagined. It will be deployed in ways we don’t realize and to do things we didn’t expect. We won’t even be aware of when it is being used for or against us. And there may not be any appeal of AI decisions. Further, it will be everywhere deployed by everyone thanks to various companies democratizing the technology. These are the observations of leaders from around the industry as reported by Forbes.

“We are seeing the democratization of AI through open source algorithms, affordable computing power and AI specialized hardware,” said Roy Raanani, CEO and founder of Chorus.ai. “Google TensorFlow released open source software to allow anyone to build on Google’s own machine learning algorithms. Also the introduction of AI specialized hardware by Apple, Google, Tesla and NVIDIA is increasing AI performance by tens to hundreds, and enabling that performance in smaller form factors.”

Santi Subotovsky, General Partner at Emergence, and Oded Gal, Head of Products at Zoom Video Communications, believe AI will reshape business meetings by increasing productivity and surfacing hidden insights. AI combined with speech recognition can enable automatic note-taking. It can also surface non-verbal cues that participants of a meeting could miss.

Expect facial recognition as a standard part of the conference room. Much insight can be gained from knowing who used the room, when, and for what purpose.

Candace Worley, Chief Technical Strategist at McAfee, sounds a cautionary note. She believes there will be special oversight of AI usage due to the “legal, ethical, and cultural implications.” She cites the fact that “AI has demonstrated unfavorable behavior such as racial profiling, unfairly denying individuals loans, and incorrectly identifying basic information about users.”

Nick Caldwell, Chief Product Officer from Looker, offers the most optimistic endorsement of AI by suggesting we stop giving its decisions greater scrutiny than we do for humans. He uses a doctor as an example. We trust her professional judgment without forcing her to cite all the studies, research, journals, and lectures she consumed that factored into her decision. He acknowledges that sometimes AI will make mistakes. But for AI to do its best work, we have to get out of its way.

There are a few differences between AI and doctors. For one, we know exactly how, where, and by whom doctors are trained. We can audit that process and be sure it meets expected standards. Second, doctors are accountable for their mistakes. And there are certainly times when we get to question their judgment.

Legally, we still have not worked out what the training standard should be for AI, or who is liable when AI makes a mistake. Will insurance companies cover AI like they do other professionals? Despite these issues remaining open questions for now, it seems professionals in a number of industries are set to integrate it even more in their processes and in our lives.

Volkswagen buys wireless car service from Volvo

Volkswagen MOIA electric ride-pooling van
In automotive electronics news that doesn't come from this week's CES, Volkswagen announced late last month that it is buying wireless automotive technology from Volvo.

The technology is expected to enable VW's upcoming We car sharing program as well as to allow drivers to control some vehicle functions remotely, which could impact things such as charging for electric cars.

Automakers are scrambling to catch up with Tesla's ability to update cars remotely, and also to enable car-sharing services to compete with companies such as Uber, Lyft, and Google in launching self-driving shuttle and taxi services.

READ THIS: The Apple car to finally hit the road, only it's a VW Bus

The deal is worth $122 million, for Volvo's WirelessCar division, which was founded in 1999, which has been a subsidiary of Volvo since 2007.

Microsoft will also provide wireless services aimed at updating VW cars—and almost certainly first models from VW's luxury divisions, Audi and Porsche—over the airwaves.

DON'T MISS: VW updates I.D. Cargo Buzz with solar for LA Show

The companies plan to develop a secure platform to such updates that won't be vulnerable to the kind of attacks that hackers have demonstrated in principle.

Secure communications and the ability to send commands and updates to cars remotely will be necessary pieces for automated taxi services.

CHECK OUT: Electric car-sharing programs expanding in U.S.

For example, such a service could send updated maps with live construction detours to cars that might venture into areas with weak cellular service.

The sale is expected to be completed in the first half of 2019.

LG USHERS IN THE TV OF TOMORROW WITH WORLD’S FIRST ROLLABLE OLED TV

Jaw-Dropping Form Factor, ThinQ AI and Alpha 9 Gen 2 ProcessorDefines A Whole New Way to Watch Television LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7, 2019 — LG Electronics (LG) is defining the next generation of televisions at CES 2019 with the introduction of the world’s first rollable OLED TV. The LG SIGNATURE OLED TV R (model 65R9)… Continue reading LG USHERS IN THE TV OF TOMORROW WITH WORLD’S FIRST ROLLABLE OLED TV

Byton brings its big-screen electric SUV back to CES, a step closer to production

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Byton M-Byte
The China-based electric vehicle maker Byton brought a close-to-production prototype version of its M-Byte SUV to the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show this week.

The debut of the vehicle, still headed for a starting price of around $45,000 and an available driving range of up to 325 miles, marks another step toward production for what was one of the surprise stars of last year's CES show.

Prior to last year’s show, few had heard of, Byton. And in all fairness, the real star of the show wasn’t the vehicle (then just called Byton Concept) so much as what it called the Shared Experience Display—a massive 49-inch screen tamed with gesture controls—and an elaborate, detailed proof-of-concept presentation to CES attendees and media.

DON’T MISS: Startup Byton: EVs aren't the innovation; personal-tech features are

Much of the Concept’s screen actually worked, and responded well to gesture controls, as demonstrated. It was what amounted to an effective distraction, at an electronics show, from the fact that the rest of the vehicle was still very much a cobbled-together concept car, with roughly a year of actual vehicle development underway.

What a difference a year can make. This year Byton reported at CES that the M-Byte, as it became called, is currently in prototype testing, and it brought the close-to-production prototype to CES 2019 with some significant tweaks—to the cabin design especially.

Byton M-Byte interior – production prototype for CES 2019

In addition to all the screen real estate that’s already accessible to those in front, Byton has added a new tablet-style screen between the driver and passenger, while keeping and redesigning the steering-wheel screen that serves as a small control tablet. Two big screens bring entertainment and other functions to rear-seat passengers, and face-recognition functions automatically recall personalized settings; directional microphones will accept voice inputs separately from each passenger.

CHECK OUT: Byton electric SUV promised for 2019 at $45,000 after CES debut: first-ride video

Otherwise the dashboard itself has been given more of a wrap-around design, with pragmatic concessions like climate-control vents and hard buttons added to the center-console area.

That said, the concept-car-style front seats still swivel 12 degrees, to allow those in front to converse, when the car isn’t in motion (or at some point in the future, when an autonomous mode is activated). And Byton says that the screen will meet crash standards in all target markets.

Byton M-Byte interior – production prototype for CES 2019

Byton is working on a Level 4 autonomous-driving system, but the M-Byte will only launch with some driver-assistance features (smart cruise control and limited steering assist).

READ MORE: Byton reveals self-driving living-room on wheels, the K-Byte, in LA

The company states that it “aims to create a premium brand rooted in China which has a global reach.” It has an impressive roster of executives from BMW, Tesla, Apple, and Google, and it emphasizes its international building blocks. The carmaker is building an assembly plant in Nanjing, China, with production equipment from Japan and Germany. The company’s strategic investors include Chinese automaker FAW, Chinese battery giant CATL, and key suppliers such as Bosch, BOE, and Faurecia.

Byton M-Byte and K-Byte

Byton revealed its first drivable prototype of the M-Byte just last year and, in concept form, the K-Byte, an electric sedan that it plans to follow the M-Byte.

In what has to be one of the tightest timelines yet, for from-scratch development of a vehicle intended for the U.S. and Europe, the company is targeting mid-2019 for the debut of a production version of the M-Byte, with a mass-production start at the end of the year. If all things go right, and the company avoids Faraday Future–style drama, it could reach the U.S. sometime in 2020.