Otto
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Uber's self-driving truck company completes a 120-mile beer run
If you're in Colorado and grab a can of Budweiser, it's possible that you might be sipping beer delivered by Uber's autonomous truck company. Today, Otto confirmed that on October 20th, it "completed the world's first shipment by a self-driving truck," a delivery that involved transporting 2,000 cases (or 51,744 cans) of Bud from Fort Collins, Colorado to Colorado Springs along Interstate 25.
Uber's trucking plan will connect drivers with cargo
When Uber bought up Otto's self-driving truck platform, the initial reaction was to imagine a future fleet of autonomous trucks traveling coast to coast on America's interstates. According to a new report from Reuters, that reality is still years -- possibly decades -- away. In the short term, however, Uber plans to leverage the Otto purchase to build up its own freight business and make a name for itself as the go-to technology partner for the trucking industry.
ICYMI: Segway's plan B and flexible concrete
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-2").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Segway came to Intel's Developer's Forum to show a prototype for a self-balancing scooter that is also a robot. If the public SDK works out well, Segway hopes to release a consumer version of whatever it becomes in 2017.
ICYMI: Neck pillows that work and self-driving everything
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Ford Motor Company joined the self-driving car race, taking on Uber, which just bought autonomous truck company Otto. We're just excited to see the self-driving vehicles of the future, though those two had better hurry up, since Easymile is already testing actual transport around a large city now. Two Kickstarter projects for actually useful neck pillows are trending. We are fans of the FaceCradle but the nodpod may be just as useful to you. You might also be interested in this video of a dog dressed as Pac-Man, going after all the balloons. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
The creator of Google's self-driving car now works for Uber
Bloomberg has taken a look at Uber's future in the autonomous vehicle world and uncovered a small, but important detail. The website is reporting that Uber has purchased Otto, the driverless freight truck startup that was launched a few months back. That news wouldn't be interesting but for the fact that Otto was founded and staffed by former members of Google's self-driving car team.
ICYMI: Science Spiderman would love and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-344199{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-344199, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-344199{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-344199").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: A team of researchers from Boston University have figured out how to 3D print metals in a free-form style while Oxford University discovered that spider silk strands can recoil themselves when compressed to create stretchable circuit boards. A company called Otto is working on kits to retrofit 16-wheelers into self-driving autonomous rigs. And a menstrual startup wants women to attach a clip at the waist with extra long-stringed tampons clipped into the device. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Self-driving car pioneers bring their smarts to trucking
One of the minds at the heart of Google's self-driving car project has decided that his future lies beyond the search engine. Anthony Levandowski has teamed up with other big names in the world of automotive intelligence to launch a new startup called Otto. Unlike his former initiative, Otto is an attempt to build a system for some of the largest trucks that haul freight up and down our highways. Rather than forcing truck makers to overhaul their vehicles, the Otto platform will be an aftermarket kit that can simply be installed on existing big rigs.
Otto is Samsung's cute personal assistant robot
Samsung unveiled a big new push into Internet of Things at its developer conference today, and it's using a cute little robot to demonstrate it. It's called the Otto, a reference design for what is essentially an Amazon Echo clone. It has microphones and speakers so it can answer questions like "What's the weather?," plus you can use it to control various connected gadgets in your home like light switches and refrigerators.
The Otto is an adorable point-and-shoot for making GIFs
It looks like a baby's first camera, but the blue and black plastic Otto camera is more than just a toy-like point-and-shoot. It's a camera made specifically with the intention of creating instant GIFs -- you know, these things? -- and it's pretty delightful. It operates a lot like Vine or Instagram video, in that you simply turn the crank (yes, really) to record. When you're done capturing silliness, you push the GIF directly to your phone over a shared WiFi network. Easy! There's a video of the Otto in action just below, as well as a pretty great GIF with Shaquille O'Neal looking sassy. Can you resist?
One Shots: You gots ta pay da toll
One of the myriad lines that sticks with me after seeing Robin Hood: Men in Tights about a bazillion times is the line "Sorry, but a toll is a toll, and a roll is a roll, and if we don't get no tolls, then we don't eat no rolls." So when this Warhammer Online screenshot rolled into the One Shots email box, I couldn't help but hear that line in my head - especially when I read the quick note from Otto that came with it. This is Da Toll-boof attendant. It's my Black Orc named Otto on the Dark Crag server in Warhammer Online. See if you can't hear that line in the same voice as Little John from RH:MiT, too.Have you taken a screenshot in your favorite game that either contains, or you can turn into a pop-cuture reference? One Shots is always on the lookout for different screenshots, from the silly to the sublime - but we need you to send them in! Just email them to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name and the name of the game it came from. Feel free to add in your own silly jokes, notes, or what have you. We'll post them out here and give you the credit for it.%Gallery-9798%
Have too much money? Cover your PSP in jewels
Maybe the new Silver and Blue PSPs are a bit too... boring for your tastes. If you're allergic to money and have to desperately get rid of as much as you can right now, you might be interested in picking up these crystal PSPs from German mail-order store OTTO. The "Black Cobra" and "Passion of Flowers" both feature 2000 crystals each. That's 2000 more crystals than your boring busted-up system.They cost 899€ ($1143 USD) each, so if you're able to buy one, you'll be my new best friend.[Via Joystiq]
