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Waymo's first outside investment round includes car industry heavyweights
Believe it or not, Waymo hasn't really leaned on outside help to fulfill its self-driving car ambitions -- Alphabet (and earlier, Google) has shouldered much of the load. Now, however, it's expanding its sources of cash. Waymo has announced its first external investment round, and you might recognize a few of the names contributing a shared $2.25 billion. Car tech giant Magna International and retailer AutoNation are making investments, as are well-established investment groups like Andreessen Horowitz, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Silver Lake and Mubadala.
Lyft’s autonomous vehicle partner Magna is done with self-driving tech
Two years after teaming up with Lyft to collaborate on self-driving technology, Magna said that partnership's coming to an end. The auto parts maker plans to focus on assisted driving products, instead of fully autonomous tech.
Pokémon manga e-books are available in schools and libraries worldwide
Pokémon manga e-books are now available to public libraries and schools worldwide through OverDrive, Inc. Students and library patrons can visit overdrive.com to find a participating library. From there, you'll be able to download Pokémon magna titles published by Viz Media, either on a web browser or via the Libby or Sora apps. Borrowed titles will expire at the end of the lending period, so as an added perk, there are no late fees.
Lyft team-up will build self-driving car systems on a large scale
If Lyft is going to translate self-driving car experiments into production vehicles offering rides, it's going to need some help -- and it's on the way. The company has formed a partnership with Magna that will see the two jointly fund and develop autonomous car systems both for Lyft and the broader automotive industry. Lyft will lead the development, while Magna will take charge of manufacturing as well as contribute its know-how in vehicle systems, driver assistance and safety. The two hope to make the technology available to the industry on a large scale in the "next few years."
Self-driving car demo is the first to cross the US-Canada border
As a rule, self-driving car tests tend to be limited to the country where they started. But that's not how people drive -- what happens when your autonomous vehicle crosses the border? Continental and Magna plan to find out. They're planning to pilot two driverless vehicles all the way from southeastern Michigan to Sarnia, Ontario, making this the first cross-border test of its kind. The machines won't be in complete control for the entire route, but they'll use a combination of cameras, lidar and radar to take over when they can, including two key border crossings (the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and the Blue Water Bridge).
Apple reportedly has 'hundreds' working on an electric car (updated)
Those ages-old rumors of Apple working on its own cars may have some merit after all. Wall Street Journal sources report that Cupertino has "several hundred" staffers working on an electric car project nicknamed Titan. It's supposedly early days (a release would be "several years" away), but the current effort apparently resembles a minivan. There's no mention of whether or not Apple's camera-toting vans are linked to this EV effort, although it's certainly tempting to make that connection.
Steve Jobs is a Japanese manga star
The life of Apple guru Steve Jobs is already a book and a Hollywood movie, so why not adapt it into a Japanese comic as well? That appears to be just what has happened. It's noted that the book is "based on" the official Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson, though just how close it stays to the source material is anyone's guess. [Photo credit: Daniel Rehn]
Magna, Mitsubishi show off electric vehicle concepts in Geneva
We're not sure if it has anything to do with its falling out with Telsa or not, but auto-parts maker Magna International looks to have really gone all out for this year's Geneva Motor Show, where it is showing off its new Mila EV concept vehicle. Apparently, in addition to proving that it can build more than just parts, Magna is hoping that the vehicle will appeal to manufactures who want a turn-key EV platform that they can quickly get into production. Magna even seems to be going so far as to supply the batteries for the vehicle, which it says could have a charging time of just 2.5 hours and a range of 150 kilometers. Also offering up an EV concept at the show is Mitsubishi, which has rolled out an update to its iMiEV electric vehicle in the form of the iMiEV Sport Air (pictured after the break). In addition to getting an even more eye-catching, head-scratching look, this one also gets a boost in range from 100 to 120 miles, and a bit of an increase in performance from a new 60 kW motor. Dive into the links below for a closer look at each.Read - AutoblogGreen, "Geneva 2009: Magna Steyr Mila EV concept"Read - Autoblog, "Geneva 2009: Mitsubishi iMiEV Sport Air streamlines the bubble"
Nearly half of American households to have a DVR by 2014
So, what? 2012 is too close now, so we're moving the target date for all consumer electronics-related estimates to 2014? All jesting aside, a new study from Magna asserts that by the end of 2014, some 44% of US households will have a DVR of some kind. Also by that time, the DVR will be responsible for a 4% erosion in total viewing impressions across all dayparts, but those primetime spots will become that much less important when users can simply make anytime their own personal primetime. The report also expects around 68.8 million homes to receive video-on-demand (up from 40.4 million in Q3 2008), while the number of US domiciles with broadband internet access will rise to 86.2 million from 68.3 million now. Ah, the beautiful scent of progress.[Image courtesy of AT&T]
Tesla's original transmission maker sues for back payment
The drama surrounding the Tesla Roadster's transmission and the company's attempts to build a system that can transmit power from the motor to the wheels without breaking under the strain took another strange twist today, with the revelation the that first supplier Tesla contracted to design the part is suing the company for $5.6M. Magna Powertrain USA says Tesla hired it to develop a two-speed transmission in September 2006, and when things fell behind schedule, Tesla canceled the contract and walked away without paying. Saucy! Of course, problems with the proposed two-speed transmission are why Tesla plans to ship early production Roadsters with "temporary" one-speed units and swap them out later, but there's no word on where the two-speed versions are going to come from apart from Tesla saying "We need to have more control over our fate and manage the process in house." Sure, sure, just as long as we get one for "testing," okay?
