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Hyundai and Volkswagen team with Google's former self-driving lead
Both Hyundai and the Volkswagen Group announced today that they are partnering with self-driving technology company Aurora Innovation and will be incorporating the company's autonomous driving systems into their own vehicles. Hyundai will be working the technology into its latest fuel cell vehicle, debuting next week at CES, while the Volkswagen Group says it could be incorporated into a number of its brands' vehicles, including self-driving Sedric pods, shuttles, delivery vans or trucks.
Volkswagen shows off its vision for a driverless future
Back in March, the Volkswagen Group dropped rendered concept images of its futuristic Sedric, an autonomous vehicle that would take riders to their destination at the touch of a button -- no human driving required. At Auto Shanghai 2017, VW showed off a real version of its autonomous concept vehicle. As previously shown, the automater has completely removed the cockpit in favor of pure passenger space, which would which would make it capable of level 5 autonomous driving.
Nokia partners with European automotive powerhouses for in-car apps
Downloadable horntones? Music-sensitive interior lighting? In-dash version of Snake? All in your future -- at least if you plan to own an Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, or VW at some point. Nokia has come to an agreement with all of them to provide in-car apps and greater smartphone integration tech. This, of course, isn't the first move from the company (which has been showing off its Terminal Mode dash lately), but it certainly could be a major coup for Espoo. These five are by far the dominant players in the European market and certainly have a lot of clout worldwide. Exactly what sort of apps and integration remains to be seen, but recent statements from Audi may give a glimpse, saying it wants users to be able to "download heated seats." Naturally you can't download heating coils and circuitry, but the company could cut costs by just building that option into every vehicle and then enabling it via in-car purchase -- probably on a chilly January's morn. Distasteful? Yeah, just like paying extra to unlock "downloadable content" that's already sitting on the videogame disc.
