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Ocado's driverless delivery van is a glimpse of the future
Filmers and photographers line the street, their fingers hovering over camera shutter buttons. "Any second now," an engineer mutters nearby, eyes glued to a smartphone screen tracking the truck's location. The group collectively takes a deep breath and then, suddenly, the CargoPod glides into view. It rounds the corner silently before drifting up an empty boulevard and into a nearby side-street. The van's arrival is, to be honest, a little anticlimactic. With its small cockpit and large, boxy back, it resembles a milk float from the early 1960s, rather than a cutting-edge piece of autonomous transportation. Still, looks can be deceiving.
Driverless pods begin ferrying the public around Greenwich
It's been almost a year since the UK's Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) opened sign-ups for a driverless pod trial in Greenwich. The original plan was to start before Christmas, but given today's date that obviously didn't happen. Still, better late than never, eh? Over the next three weeks, roughly 100 people will clamber aboard "Harry," a self-driving shuttle named after clockmaker John Harrison. It will take them around a two-mile course in London's North Greenwich, near The O2, to demonstrate how the technology could be used for "last mile" trips in urban areas.
Put your name down for London's driverless pod trials
Driverless pods are headed to the London borough of Greenwich, and the public is invited to sit inside and experience the technology first hand. The Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) opened sign-ups today for the first public trials, which will take place inside its UK Smart Mobility Living Lab -- a test area that covers the entire borough. The exact routes are still being finalised, but the focus will be around the Greenwich peninsula, in places where the pods are likely to encounter cyclists and pedestrians. We don't know when the trials will start, however, beyond "later this year."
Driverless pods to hit the streets of Greenwich
As you stroll past the Royal Observatory in Greenwich and that place where Thor fought in The Dark World, you'll soon see driverless pods gliding next to you. That's the plan, anyway. The GATEway project, which has already been experimenting with a self-driving shuttle around the O2, will soon be taking some unusual vehicles onto south London's streets. They'll be repurposed Ultra Pods -- electric four-wheelers that already operate at Heathrow Airport. Until now they've been locked to tracks, but project organiser TRL wants to upgrade them so they can navigate Greenwich independently. Furthermore, the new trial will be used to record exactly how the public reacts to self-driving vehicles.
More Times Square silliness
As sort-of promised, we've got some more coverage for you. After meeting up with various head honchos of the geeky online blog community (Christopher Grant, Andrew Yoon, Raw Meat Cowboy from GoNintendo, Chris from Advanced Media Network, I'm talking to you), the "festivities" started. They opened with a rather lackluster performed by someone named "DJ Ravidrums", who was essentially a drummer playing along to some prerecorded music. Bah. But then ... wait! It's friggin' Reggie!This man should have received a deafening applause. Eardrum-destroying. And truth be told, it wasn't bad. But Nintendo made the mistake of setting up the stage on a side-street, in which there was no way anyone standing in line could watch. As such, the viewers of the event were curious bystanders and members of the media, such as myself. Can you imagine this sad scene?"Hey, guys, it's great to be here. You can fill in the blanks, right? My name is Reggie, and I'm about ...!"Only around nine or so people shouted the obvious answer, including myself. How horrible.Still, the speech he gave was decent, and the rest of the stage performance consisted of some TRL/Miss USA woman and more of that weird drumming guy. Exit, stage left.Where to now, we asked ourselves? Well, let's check out the Wii display upstairs and then HOLY CRAP it's Reggie again! Yes, the Regginator was giving yet another interview for a major station (don't ask, we don't know), and right afterward, a few well-informed fans ran up to him to get their DS Lites signed. He was busy, he was in a rush, but Nintendo Wii Fanboy was able to edge in one question! And here it is."Reggie. Honestly, and PR spin aside, do you truly believe that the Wii is going to take first place in sales in the next generation against the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360?"A slight pause. He turns to stare me down."Absolutely. There's no doubt in my mind. We're offering what gamers want, and they're going to love it."Hear that? It's the sound of oh snap.And by the way, that man's handshake is a vice of absolute death.
360 fan picked to duke it out on TRL today
MTV contacted Xbox360Forum.com to give one of their members an opportunity to go to NYC and play a celebrity contestant mano a mano in Fight Night Round 3 for the chance to win... A NEW CAR (cue applause). Chosen member "got_vdub" will take on snowboarding gold medalist Shaun White this afternoon, February 22nd, at 3:30 PM ET. If he wins, he's agreed to change his handle to got_dodge*. If you aren't doing anything today at 3:30, tune in to melt some brain cells watching TV's vilest program, but stick around to root got_vdub on. Try cheering at the screen, or pumping your fists in the air. We're not really sure how this cheering thing works...The above image, taken from got_vdub's MySpace profile, is from last week's TRL introduction. *This statement isn't true.[Thanks, Omar]UPDATE: Xbox360Forum reports, "So it's official. got_vdub rocked the house on MTV, beat gold-medalist snowboarder Shaun White in Fight Night 3, and walked away with a brand new 2006 Dodge Caliber!!" Congrats!
