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Facebook brings VR to your office with the 'Oculus for Business' pack
While the new standalone Oculus Go stole the spotlight at Facebook's Oculus 4 event in San Francisco, the company did also announced its plans to bring virtual reality into the office space with the "Oculus for Business bundle. It includes a Rift VR headset, a pair of Oculus Touch controllers, three spacial sensors, and three "facial interfaces" (the foam bits that rest against your face) as well as dedicated customer support and expanded licenses and warranties.
Audi's flagship A8 has an overwhelming amount of tech
The 2019 Audi A8 is one of the most, if not the most technically advanced cars in the world, so when the company offered a test drive, how could we resist? While we didn't get to see the vaunted Level 3 self-driving, there were still a lot of cutting-edge features on display. If anything, the sheer quantity of technology was a little disconcerting when we drove the A8 through the hills of Valencia, Spain.
Audi wants autonomous cars to run errands while you're at work
Audi laid out its plans for autonomous vehicles and how it intends to use AI to us back in July, and now the automaker is ready to show off what it's been working on. At this year's IAA auto show in Frankfurt, Audi debuted the AIcon and ElAIne (above and below), a pair of cars capable of Level 4 autonomy (conditional, but fully automated driving) that it claims are empathetic to their drivers' needs. "They will be able to continually interact with their surroundings and passengers, and thus adapt themselves in a better way than ever before to the requirements of those on board," Audi wrote in a lengthy press release.
Audi's Aicon concept car is all about autonomous luxury
At the Frankfurt auto show, Audi unveiled its fully autonomous Aicon concept car. The "design study" showcases the automaker's vision of a world without steering wheels, pedals or the stress of driving.
Audi will use solar panels to help power its future EVs
When you think of electric vehicles, you probably imagine Tesla's Supercharger, or gas station-like centers where you go to top off the voltage. There's another idea, though, that makes a lot of sense: sun energy. AltaDevices, a subsidiary of Hanergy that makes thin, flexible solar panels, is working with Audi to bring the power of solar to your car's sunroof. The first prototype should be developed by the end of this year.
Audi, BMW and Mercedes cars will share live traffic jam data
It's not too hard to find real-time traffic data, but it's usually specific to one car make. Wouldn't it be great if cars of all brands could regularly coordinate? They're not quite there yet, but they're getting closer. Here has unveiled a Real-Time Traffic service that has cars from Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz (all co-owners of Here) sharing their live sensor data to provide more accurate traffic alerts than you'd get from external probes alone. It's particularly helpful on 'arterial' roads, Here says. And more than 30 of the 60-plus countries covered by the service can also take advantage of safety warnings based on sensor data you expect from incidents, such as hard braking to avoid a crash.
Mercedes-Benz will join Formula E in 2019
Last October, Mercedes-Benz announced that it had reserved a spot in the Formula E racing championship for the 2018/19 season and today it revealed that it would officially be entering the competition during the 2019/20 season. To do so, the automaker will be leaving another competition, the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM), in order to focus on Formula E. In the 18 years it has competed in the DTM, Mercedes-Benz has won a slew of drivers', team and manufacturer titles. "Our years in the DTM will always be held high as a major chapter in the motorsport history of Mercedes," said head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Toto Wolff in a statement.
BMW denies conspiring with rivals on diesel emissions systems
VW isn't the only German automaker reeling from the effects of diesel emissions scandals. BMW is denying Der Spiegel allegations that it not only colluded with Daimler and the Volkswagen Auto Group (including Audi and Porsche) on the designs and prices for AdBlue diesel emissions treatment systems, but fell short of European exhaust standards. While the newspaper claims that BMW's thousand-plus meetings with rivals amounted to a "cartel," BMW insists that the meetings were simply meant to create a Europe-wide infrastructure for AdBlue. It also claims that the technology (which injects urea into the mix to help reduce emissions) meets the latest European requirements, and that it can update the software on older cars to meet that standard.
Audi knows millennials will have to deal with self-driving boredom
During Audi's elaborate introduction of its new (Level 3 autonomous) A8 in Barcelona, it also talked about the 25th Hour, a research project it says will "define the premium mobility of the future." Simply put, now that you're not driving, what do you do in an autonomous car?
Audi’s AI future tackles autonomous driving one solution at a time
If you want a self-driving car, you need artificial intelligence. At its first Audi Tech Summit, the automaker unveiled Audi AI, its long-term plans to stay ahead of -- or at least keep pace with -- its competitors.
Audi takes its self-driving car where others dare not go
The self-driving future has a ratings scale. The classifications begin at zero, where you're constantly in charge of all the car's acceleration, steering and braking. Basically a car without cruise control. It ends with Level 5, where the car that doesn't even need a steering wheel or a driver. Currently, if drivers want semi-autonomous features they're getting a Level 2 experience. Like Tesla's Autopilot or Cadillac's Super Cruise, the car can drive itself in specific situations (usually on the highway) but require the human behind the wheel to pay attention and take over at a moment's notice.
Audi introduces its semi-autonomous A8
After a sneak peak of the vehicle parking itself and appearing in Spider-Man: Homecoming, the Audi A8 luxury sedan is finally being shown off in all its high-tech glory. With level-3 autonomy, active electronic suspension, a mild hybrid engine and brand new infotainment system, it's the future of the German automaker's vehicles.
Volvo is working with NVIDIA to develop self-driving car tech by 2021
With virtually every major car manufacturer dumping R&D money into the field, it looks like autonomous vehicles are going to be a thing whether we want them to or not. Early Tuesday morning NVIDIA and Volvo announced that they are redoubling their self-driving system efforts by teaming with a number of other companies to develop and distribute a proprietary autonomous AI platform by the start of the next decade.
Audi teases self-parking A8 ahead of launch
Audi will launch its next generation A8, which is expected to have level 3 autonomous, on July 11th. Ahead of that unveiling, the company released a video of the new vehicle parking itself.
Waze arrives on Android Auto after a year-long wait
Rocking Android Auto and wondering why Google still hasn't added its Waze traffic-and-maps app to the platform yet? Well, we don't have an explanation, but we do have news that after Google talked about it at last year's I/O developer conference, the integration has finally happened, albeit in limited fashion. And so long as you aren't driving an Audi or Mercedes Benz with Android Auto (Google says they aren't compatible yet), if you signed up for the beta back in April, you can start testing. As Android Police notes, your phone running the standalone Android Auto app won't be able to take advantage of this -- it's only for compatible stereo head units.
Drivers win when automakers use Android
Android Auto only got a brief mention at yesterday's Google I/O keynote, but that's mostly because some notable news dropped earlier this week. Both Audi and Volvo announced plans to utilize Android as the OS behind their cars infotainment systems. That's notably different than Android Auto, which basically projects a simplified version of your phone's interface to your car's display. Audi and Volvo's implementations don't require a phone -- and the carmakers are free to customize the UI as they see fit. It's worth noting that this isn't a new idea, though some of the ways it has been used in the past leave much to be desired. Today, we had a chance to check out Audi's vision for Android in the car here at Google I/O. Seated inside of a concept Q8 SUV, a Google spokesperson walked us through the UI, though it was straightforward and sensible enough that you wouldn't really need a hand with it. Conceptually, it's not all that different than when a phone manufacturer skins Android with their own custom interface.
Audi and Volvo go all-in on Android
Audi and Volvo are making a very public commitment to Google after pledging to build Android into their next generation of cars. Rather than simply enabling your smartphone to interact with the vehicle, Google's software will be the operating system for these car's infotainment units. Users will, potentially, be able to use a wide variety of Android-specific apps on their whips, as well as use Google Maps for navigation. In addition, drivers will be able to control their AC, sunroof and windows from the same console that they find a new Spotify playlist or chat to their (Google) voice assistant.
Germany legalizes self-driving car tests
German automakers won't have to bring their experimental autonomous cars to California for testing anymore. The country has just approved a law allowing companies to test their self-driving cars on its roads, so long as they follow a set of conditions. Perhaps the most important requirement is that drivers must be sitting behind the wheel all the time. They can take their eyes off the road to, say, use their phone and browse the internet, but they need to be able to take over if the vehicle's AI needs them to.
Audi teases its EV ambitions with the E-Tron Sportback
Audi's E-Tron electric car lineup isn't coming until next year, but in the meantime it's giving us a taste with the E-Tron Sportback Concept. It's debuting the electric SUV at the Auto Shanghai show in China, but it's not a flight-of-fancy show car. "Following close on its heels, in 2019 comes the production version of the Audi E-Tron Sportback," Audi Chairman Rupert Stadler said in a press release.
Audi's future-proofing plans include more ride sharing
Joining the likes of Maven and Sidecar from General Motors and Chariot from Ford, the Volkswagen group is eyeing a ride-sharing service of its own. Audi (part of the VW group) has announced that it intends to purchase the Austin-based Silvercar which uses Audi A4 sedans to get people around. Previously VW was pondering the market with a $300 million investment in high-end ride-share service Gett. As TechCrunch reports, Audi already had a minor stake in the company and according to a press release the two have been working together since 2012 .