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Google turns its AI on traffic lights to reduce pollution
Google is working on a project that could use AI to make traffic lights more efficient and, as a result, decrease pollution in general.
Ford's connected cars can now tell you if they're being broken into
Ford's connected security system is rolling out to all cars via the FordPass smartphone app.
Aston Martin built a $74,000 racing simulator
Aston Martin is breaking into the world of 'luxury esports' with a $74,000 racing simulator.
Mercedes' new touchscreen controls eliminate 27 physical buttons
Mercedes' second-gen MBUX system will replace 27 physical buttons with touchscreen, voice, gesture and gaze controls.
Microsoft and Bridgestone launch real-time tire damage system
A new system can detect tire damage in real time.
Owlcam's new owner more than doubles the price of its annual LTE dashcam fee
Owlcam users will have to pay more than double their subscription fee to continue accessing LTE services.
A few Nintendo Labo kits drop to $20 each on Best Buy
Best Buy is offering discounts on select on Nintendo Labo kits, including a VR starter kit.
Dyson finally unveils its canceled electric car
Unlike other traditional car brands, Dyson doesn’t have a fleet of profitable gasoline cars and diesel cars to offset the “huge losses” on every electric vehicle made — each Dyson electric car would have needed to make £150,000 to break even, according to the entrepreneur.
Automatic to shut down and end support for its car diagnostics dongle
Automatic, the company behind an on-board diagnostics (OBD-II) dongle for cars, announced that it’s shutting down due to COVID-19.
Tesla’s Berlin factory will support flashy multi-layered paint jobs
Elon Musk has hinted at color and pattern options for the Cybertruck, and it’ll all come down to wrapping.
NASA wants students' help designing tech for the Moon and Mars
NASA is enlisting whatever help it can get to make sure its crewed Moon and Mars missions go smoothly, and that might include help from schools. The agency is running a new round of its Moon to Mars Exploration Systems and Habitation Academic Innovation Challenge (M2M X-Hab if you want a much shorter name) that encourages university students to study and develop spacefaring tech. The challenge will reward work on habitation, vehicles, robotic advance missions, "foundational systems" (think autonomous mission tech and remote manufacturing) and human spaceflight architecture focused on the lunar Gateway.
US DOT approves Nuro's next-gen driverless delivery vehicle design
Today, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) approved a regulatory exemption for Nuro's next-generation self-driving delivery vehicle, R2. The exemption allows Nuro to begin public road testing and to prepare for deliveries to customers' homes.
UPS will use Arrival’s electric trucks in the US and Europe
Delivery giant UPS has ordered 10,000 electric trucks from Arrival, a technology company based in the UK. Some of the vehicles will be trialed in London and Paris later this year, building on a similar experiment that was run by the two companies in 2018. The pair then hope to deploy the trucks across Europe and North America over the next four years. If everything goes well, UPS has the option to buy another 10,000 vehicles.
Samsung’s SmartThings app will soon connect to your car too
Samsung wants to add cars to its smart home ecosystem. At CES, Samsung announced that it's teaming up with Smartcar to make its SmartThings app compatible with "most new cars" in the US. Through the app, users will be able to do things like locate and unlock their vehicle or check its mileage, fuel level and EV battery status.
Mercedes and China's Geely team up to take electric Smart cars global
Last year Smart became the first car brand to switch to an all-EV lineup -- now its parent company Mercedes-Benz has got a new partner to help bring its electrification ambitions to fruition. While Mercedes will continue to design the vehicles, China's Geely -- which owns Volvo -- will take care of the manufacturing and engineering.
Watch Hyundai's CES 2020 press conference in seven minutes
Hyundai made good on its promise to show off its flying car concept at CES, but its press conference demonstrated exactly how it envisages integrating such a vehicle into everyday life. In what it calls "liberation from gridlock" and the "democratization of flight," Hyundai once again pointed at Uber as a vital ally in getting its flying cars into the skies. The rideshare platform wants to launch its Uber Air initiative in 2023, and Hyundai looks like it's got the goods to help it do exactly that.
VW will roll out self-driving electric shuttles in Qatar's capital
If you visit Qatar in the next few years, you might find yourself riding in a driverless vehicle. Volkswagen and Qatar have struck a deal that will bring self-driving electric vehicles to the public transportation network in the capital city of Doha before the end of 2022. A total of 35 autonomous ID Buzz vans will carry up to four people each on semi-fixed routes in the Westbay area, while Scania buses will handle larger groups. VW's MOIA and Audi's AID will handle the software needed to run the service.
NASCAR could introduce hybrid race cars by 2022
NASCAR has been talking about hybrids for a while, but it has kept quiet about a timeline. Now, the association says hybrid tech could show up in its vehicles by 2022. "We travel the world visiting other sanctioning bodies and are not ignorant to the fact that the world's going towards more hybrid technology," NASCAR's senior vice president for racing development John Probst told TechCrunch.
DoorDash eyes autonomous food delivery with latest acquisition
It's no secret that DoorDash wants to deliver your food with autonomous vehicles. Early this year it partnered with GM to test deliveries via self-driving Cruise vehicles, and in 2017, it was part of a Starship Technologies trial that sent deliveries scurrying about in six-wheeled robots. Now, DoorDash is getting a bit more serious. As The Verge reports, the company just acquired Scotty Labs, a startup that makes autonomous and remote-controlled vehicle technology.
Researchers discover climate-friendly way of extracting hydrogen from oil
Scientists have discovered a way to extract hydrogen from oil without releasing greenhouse gases -- a move they've hailed as a "silver bullet" for climate issues. Hydrogen is already used by some car manufacturers to power vehicles and is also burned to generate electricity. However, most of this hydrogen comes from natural gas, which involves producing planet-warming methane during the extraction process. The large-scale roll-out of hydrogen tech has also been restricted because of the high costs involved in separating it from hydrocarbons.
