At the Geneva International Motor Show last week, Airbus, the company that builds the superjumbo A380 airliner, debuted a new concept in ultrapersonal, futuristic travel: a flying car that’s fully autonomous and multi-modal. The vehicle, called Pop.Up, is a product of the company’s Urban Air Mobility Initiative.
“Being at the Geneva car show is a unique opportunity for Airbus to reach out to the whole car sector to discuss and develop new urban mobility solutions to solve some of those big problems of urban congestion of mega cities that are growing every day,” Urban Air Mobility general manager Mathias Thomsen said in a taped interview.
Pop.Up, created in partnership with the automotive-design studio Italdesign, comprises a small but comfortable two-seat carbon-fiber pod that connects to a chassis and wheels for all-electric autonomous ground transport. Or an “air module” with eight counter-rotating rotors attaches to the roof to carry the capsule aloft.
Airbus suggests Pop.Up would be a good match for a hyperloop, a transport system imagined by Elon Musk that would connect major cities by a tube and use magnets to propel pods at speeds as fast as 760 mph. Airbus’s goal with the Pop.Up is to create personal-transit systems that interact with “smart-city” technologies and are safe, simple to use, and economical.
Airbus has several other transit-systems-of-the-future projects in the works. The company’s Silicon Valley outpost, A^3, intends to fly its own urban transport vehicle, the Vahana, by the end of this year. And the Skyways team is developing a drone parcel delivery service. Airbus says Pop.Up could become reality within a decade.
Still very much a concept at this stage, the Pop.Up vehicles would form part of an on-demand transportation system and riders could summon one using an app. The capsule-based design, together with Its onboard artificial intelligence platform would connect to either ground or air conveyance modules based on the rider’s destination and their habits.
Airbus also said that the Pop.Up could also be compatible with hyperloop systems, once the technology is more widely available.
While you won’t be booking a ride in the Pop.Up anytime soon, Airbus and Italdesign has given attendees of the Geneva Motor Show a possible glimpse into the future of transport.
It’s still unclear exactly what Airbus has planned for release by the end of the year, or what form it will take, but it most certainly will look nothing like this.
To watch video–> http://bgr.com/2017/03/09/flying-cars-airbus-video/
WayRay transforms thewindshield into a new medium for information
WayRay’s unique AR infotainment system for self-driving cars is featured in the Oasis concept car built by Swiss car manufacturer and automotive designer Rinspeed.
The system of WayRay, a start-up headquartered in Switzerland, revolutionizes the way people access information at the wheel, utilizing the windshield as the most natural medium for delivering content.
Visualized information is contextual and personalized, meaning it can differ for different passengers. According to users’ preferences, this smart infotainment displays essential route information, relevant points of interest, local events, and more. A proprietary technology of transparent holographic displays allows WayRay to make the system small in size and multicolored.
The infotainment system is featured in Rinspeed’s newest concept car. Oasis is a self-driving electric vehicle for the city and surrounding areas. The windscreen serves as a giant display for virtual and augmented realities. Holographic laser projection technology developed by WayRay allowed to make area covered by displays significantly larger than in conventional head-up display used today.
WayRay is a Swiss-based innovator working with augmented reality technology to develop holographic navigation systems and advance the connected car. The WayRay story goes back as early as 2012 when Founder and CEO Vitaly Ponomarev had an unexpected experience.
“I was living in Moscow at the time, and I was driving at a low speed while also trying to adjust my brand new GPS,” Ponomarev says. “My attention got distracted just for an instant and I had my first ever car accident. The accident had a profound effect on me and I began to think about how the windshield is the perfect place to start when it comes to improving car safety. That began this remarkable journey and inspired the creation of WayRay.”
In its four years of development, the company has emerged as a premier developer in connected cars by applying aerospace technology to land navigation. These are the principles behind its two key products.
The company first developed the WayRay Element, a smart car tracker that collects data from the car and transforms it into insightful statistics about the driver. Element works in conjunction with the WayRay Navion, an augmented reality navigation system that allows the driver to see navigation information laid out on the road ahead via holographic projections. All products are to be released in 2017.
Geneva: Tata Motors Ltd confirmed that it is in talks with the world’s largest auto maker, Volkswagen AG, for a partnership.
“I can only confirm that we are in talks but nothing to be announced yet,” Tata Motors chief executive officer and managing director Guenter Butschek said in an interview in Geneva.
The Indian company is exploring various options, including a partnership for the development of its new advanced modular platform (AMP), a joint venture or a contract manufacturing agreement with the German automaker, in its bid to achieve economies of scale that will help cut costs, said Butschek.
An alliance with the German carmaker will give Tata Motors access to advanced technology and reduce development and production costs for both partners.
Tata Motors unveils sports car Tamo Racemo, launch seen in FY18
Although Tata Motors is aiming to become one of the top three passenger vehicle makers in India by 2019, the company by itself may not be able to achieve significant reduction in costs through higher sales volumes, Butschek said.
“Therefore, we, since a while, have been having intensive talks with different potential partners, who might join us on the AMP,” he added. “Additional volume will bring higher economies of scale, which is going to give us cost advantage and competitiveness.”
Tata Motors is also hoping that the alliance will help it improve its image, making it more desirable among customers in India.
“We believe if we can find a partner, it would be a very helpful strategic move,” Butschek said, adding that the company needed to find the right partner in terms of alignment on objectives of joint development of the AMP.
“Just getting a partner for the sake of getting one but not really adding substantial volume is not expected from such kind of partnership,” he said.
When asked whether the partnership would be a joint venture or a technical collaboration, Butschek said: “I am not ruling out one or the other… It is always about the right fit.
“If this is finally going to end up in a development joint venture or production joint venture or sharing of capacity contract manufacturing agreement, these are all subject for further discussion in order to make it a win-win for both the parties,” Butschek said.
Bloomberg reported last month, citing people familiar with the matter, that Volkswagen was in advanced talks to team up with Tata Motors as the German automaker took another stab at India’s fast-growing demand for cars.
Tata Motors, India’s fourth-biggest carmaker by volume, meanwhile, has been stepping up efforts to shed the budget image of its namesake brand. The company has been losing money in its home market and relies on the Jaguar and Land Rover luxury brands to provide most of its revenue, the report said.
Tata Motors TaMo RaceMo unveiled at Geneva Motor Show 2017
The TaMO RaceMo also gets a RaceMo+ race edition that can also be played on Forza Horizon 3, the 2016 video game.
Tata Motors has today, under is TAMO sub-brand, has officially unveiled its first sportscar, the TAMO RaceMo at the Geneva Motor Show 2017. The TAMO Racemo is designed by legendary automotive designer, Marcelo Gandini, at Tata Motors Design Studio based in Turin, Italy. The RaceMo is Tata Motors’ first natively connected car, which is co-developed with Microsoft. The partnership with Microsoft is to create a digital ecosystem of future mobility solutions under Tata Motors and TAMO sub-brand. The TAMO RaceMo is based on an all-new Moflex platform, which will also underpin upcoming products like a tall-boy stance small hatchback, premium hatchback and an all-new sedan.
The TAMO RaceMo is the first product under the TAMO sub-brand to make use of the Moflex MMS technology, to develop an all-new sports coupe with super car design cues, while offering practicality to navigate the Indian roads. The RaceMo is the fastest project to be developed by Tata Motors under R&D head Tim Leverton. The car was developed within 22 months and makes use of the multi-material sandwich (MMS) structure technology, which offers greater parts flexibility. The TAMO RaceMo will soon enter production and is expected to be launched in India in 2018
The TAMO RaceMo will be powered by a newly developed 1.2-litre four-cylinder turbocharged Revotron petrol engine, which has been tuned to develop 190 PS (187 BHP) of maximum power along with a peak torque of 210 Nm. This unit will come mated to a 6-speed automatic gearbox with paddle shifters. According to Tata Motors, the TAMO RaceMo can sprint from 0-100 kmph under 6 seconds. The company has unveiled a racetrack-focused version of the RaceMo, called the RaceMo+. This version gets different interiors and has also been rendered and added to the 2016 Microsoft-published video game, Forza Horizon 3.
Speaking at the unveil of ‘RACEMO’, Guenter Butschek, CEO & MD, Tata Motors said, “We launched our sub-brand TAMO as our answer to new technologies, business models and partnerships. ‘RACEMO’ is the first innovation from TAMO, and our emotional, unexpected leap to the future. Symbolising the change that is taking place at Tata Motors, ‘RACEMO’ is the proving ground of the TAMO family of vehicles and will drive the future of India’s connected generation. From styling and design to driver experience and technology, RACEMO is an extension of customers’ personality, as part of their digital ecosystem and will break the ice with a radical new presence and pique the interest in the parent brand.”
Tech giant Apple is facing a lawsuit over not disabling its iPhone’s functionality when in use behind the wheel, according to a new report.
Website MacRumors reports Julio Ceja, a resident from Apple’s home state of California, is seeking a class action lawsuit against the company for not implementing a lock-out mechanism to prevent drivers from using their phones behind the wheel.
According to the report Ceja is demanding that sales of iPhones should be halted in California until such a feature is implemented, and that Apple needs to release a software update that adds a lock-out feature to all iPhones already being used by consumers.
The complaint – which was filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court last week, says Apple’s “enormous market share” makes it the “largest contributor” to texting behind the wheel, which constitutes “unfair business acts and practices” under California’s Unfair Competition Law. A jury trial has also been demanded.
“If texting and driving is a vessel of trouble, Apple is the captain of the ship,” Ceja alleges in his complaint.
The document also points out that Apple has previously recognised the dangers of texting and driving, along with the role it plays in bucking the trend, through a patent the company filed in 2008 then published in 2014 – which detailed a lock-out mechanism for the iPhone.
In the patent, a motion analyser detects if a handheld device is in motion beyond a certain speed, while a scenery analyser would be capable of determining whether the device is located within a safe operating area of the vehicle.
Should both sensors detect the conditions are unsafe, the device’s functionality would be disabled.
Last year the US Department of Transportation (DOT) proposed a similar concept, with guidelines for a mobile phone ‘driver mode’ which would disable certain functions of the device – for example manual text messaging and social media – while the user is driving, to avoid driver distraction.
While the company is yet to comment on Ceja’s complaint, in 2015 Apple faced a similar lawsuit, and, in response said the responsibility is on the driver to avoid distractions.
“We discourage anyone from allowing their iPhone to distract them by typing, reading or interacting with the display while driving,” Apple said in a statement to the New York Times in 2015.
“For those customers who do not wish to turn off their iPhones or switch into ‘Airplane Mode’ while driving to avoid distractions, we recommend the easy-to-use ‘Do Not Disturb’ and ‘Silent Mode’ features.”
Alexa is an intelligent personal assistant developed by Amazon Lab126, made popular by the Amazon Echo. It is capable of voice interaction, music playback, making to-do lists, setting alarms, streaming podcasts, playing audiobooks, and providing weather, traffic, and other real time information. Alexa can also control several smart devices using itself as a home automation hub.[2] Most devices with Alexa allow users to activate the device using a wake-word (such as Echo); other devices require the user to push a button to activate Alexa’s listening mode. Currently, interaction and communication with Alexa is only available in English and German.
Amazon’s Alexa platform is no longer confined to the home — Ford, Hyundai and Volkswagen have all announced integration of the voice assistant into their vehicles. That’s great if you’re a die-hard Amazon customer and in the market for a new car. For the rest of us, Logitech’s aftermarket ZeroTouch mounts and companion app bring the same dash-based Alexa experience, but to the car you already own.
The Logitech Zero Touch app-and-dock system already offers a hands-free solution to most smartphone tasks while driving. But starting today, it comes with added support for Alexa. This means that in addition to controlling music, sending texts and setting destinations on the move, the voice-controlled application will listen for Alexa commands (once the feature has been activated).
I tried out the updated ZeroTouch system, and other than a few minor setup issues with the flash briefing skill (which delivers quick news hits from various sources like NPR, Fox News and BBC), it really did feel just like using Alexa at home. There is one big difference though, which is ZeroTouch doesn’t have a wake word. Instead, you either hold or wave your hand over your smartphone to activate it. Once the app is primed, Amazon’s voice assistant responds just like it does at home, which opens up a world of possibilities.
Any IoT devices you own that are linked to Amazon’s assistant are now available from within the car. This means you can control lights, thermometers and door locks while driving down the road, if you wish. Oh and of course, because this is Amazon, you can order items from the online retailer and partners — like Pizza Hut (gross) and Starbucks — right from the driver’s seat, if you must.
What Logitech’s Alexa integration won’t do is tell you about the car itself. That’s a feature the automakers have that the ZeroTouch doesn’t. Understandably, that requires deep integration into the vehicle, so it’s not something we expected.
The voice-activated system uses the Bluetooth hardware dock like a key. Drivers add a slim piece of metal (either via adhesive or underneath a case) to their Android phone. The phone then attaches to magnetic dock and when that happens, the app launches. It’s a slick way of securing your device in the car and getting it ready for the road without forcing the driver to waste time trying to launch anything.
The experience isn’t without its issues, at least in my time with it. For some reason, my flash briefing would only tell me the weather. I added an additional skill to my flash briefing but I was still stuck listening to just the weather. On my Echo and Dot at home, I’ve had no problems hearing about the state of the world via Alexa’s debrief.
There’s also an issue when it comes to navigation. If you try to interact with the system and Google Maps has a voice notification at the same time, it overrides what you’re doing 80 percent of the time. The other 20 percent, the system just seems to get confused. While it doesn’t happen very often during highway driving, on city streets, it can be a pain.
Overall, the core ZeroTouch system and its two available mounts make in-vehicle messaging and app interactions seamless and safer, but pricey at $60 for the air vent mount and $80 for the sturdy windshield/dash mount. But now that Logitech has added Alexa support and all that entails, it’s clearly better value than before.
The key benefit of course is that ZeroTouch brings Alexa to any car in an incredibly simple way. It might not feel exactly like the home experience without the familiar wake word, but it’s close enough. Plus, it’s cheaper than buying a new car — and for Amazon users, it brings just enough Alexa to the driver’s seat to make it worth the price tag. Best of all, it’s available right now.
‘Gaana’, India’s largest music streaming app, has released an Android Auto version that will allow users to stream their favorite music via Android Auto compatible phones, vehicles and aftermarket radios.
Android Auto allows anyone with an Android phone (running 5.0 or later) to use a driver friendly interface to access the key stuff needed on the road ― directions, communications, music, etc. ― without the distraction of things that aren’t essential while driving.
Gaana is the first Indian music streaming that allows users to experience a non-stop, distraction-free and safe music experience using Android Auto.
Prashan Agarwal, COO, Gaana says, ‘Music is the biggest stress buster when driving, but access to just the right song or station, while simultaneously dodging traffic is not just frustrating, but downright dangerous. Gaana has brought the solution with its Android Auto integration. Allowing you access to your favorite music in a safe and delightful driver-friendly interface – So you can keep your eyes on the road and your hands up on the wheel,” laughs Prashan Agarwal, COO, Gaana.
Users can now access their favorite Gaana songs and playlists from their Android Auto app, with a simplified interface, large buttons, and powerful voice actions.
With full access to their personal music library on Gaana, users can play a song, personal playlist and even search for a song using voice commands. With voice enabled search, users can access over 15 million songs, 16 radio stations & 1000 other non-stop radio stations based on their mood, driving time, duration, etc.
In the last one year, Gaana has released several new enhancements such as localization, recommendation engines, dual color themes, and added more payment option such as Citrus, Freecharge to continuously improve the music experience of its 50 million plus users.
Music streaming is the 3rd most used service on the Internet and the Indian car market will become 4th largest automobile market in the world by 2020. Therefore, adding Android auto functionality is key to drive engagement amongst car users who largely listen to FM radio today. Gaana’s Android auto integration will provide a safe alternative to such listeners and will further strengthen Gaana’s dominance in the music streaming space.
The AirWire Connected Car Device operates in Reliance Jio’s pan-India advanced 4G/LTE Network enabling Connect Car apps and services such as hotspot features, location based apps, automobile telematics, security and safety.
American mobile networking products supplier AirWire Technologies and Reliance Jio Infocomm has entered into a partnership agreement to provide AirWire’s Connected Car IoT Device incorporating AirWire’s patented antenna technology to customers in India.
The AirWire Connected Car Device operates in Jio’s pan-India advanced 4G/LTE Network enabling Connect Car apps and services such as hotspot features, location based apps, automobile telematics, security and safety.
The company said, “The AirWire Connected Car Device attaches to the vehicle’s OBD-II port over a cable in the vehicle. When plugged into the car’s OBD port, the device enables WiFi and Bluetooth through which smartphone apps provide communication, cinema, TV, music, games, location data and vehicle telematics.”
“We are pleased to offer a Connected Car Device for India, manufactured in India, in partnership with Jio,” said Debashis Bagchi, AirWire Technologies President & CEO. “Jio’s commitment and focus on the Connected Car market will provide the world the first countrywide deployment of this technology. Jio’s deployment strategy will validate the value of big data analytics to enhance the consumer’s satisfaction with vehicle driving and ownership.”
“Jio has been working closely with AirWire in developing this unique product to enable a suite of services and apps that will make the driving experience unique for the consumers. Jio’s partnership with AirWire provides the connected car device platform in the vehicle for our connected car initiative, Jio Car Connect. Driving, owning, maintaining and securing the vehicle will now fundamentally change with Jio Car Connect and the AirWire device,” said Reliance Jio
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