From sexual harassment, to surveilling regulators, to Uber drivers and taxi drivers committing suicide (because they can’t make a living) the pervasive creepiness of Uber continues to spread while the means of corraling this societal phenomenon creeps steadily forward like sclerotic mid-town traffic. The latest chapter… Read More
Tag: roger c. lanctot
Florida Sends Mixed Autonomous Message
Florida is poised to surpass California and Arizona as the leader in autonomous driving development thanks to an aggressive legislative agenda that began in 2012 and direct engagement with autonomous car developers. The state has good reasons for fostering automated driving given that it is the second largest state in the U.S.… Read More
What Mary Meeker Missed
It must be a measure of the dim view taken of the automotive industry by Silicon Valley types that of the 294 slides in Mary Meeker’s annual Trends presentation delivered at this year’s Code Conference less than 10 of those slides refer to transportation. The Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner even managed to avoid… Read More
Don’t Balkanize Automotive Safety
The Wall Street Journal reported, last week, that auto makers are lining up on opposite sides of the talking cars debate. Some car makers – General Motors, Toyota and Volkswagen – are pushing Wi-Fi-based dedicated short range communication technology (DSRC) while others – Ford, Audi and BMW – are emphasizing 5G for the same application.… Read More
NVIDIA GTC 2018 Then There Were Three
If there was a central takeaway to Nvidia’s GTC event last week in San Jose it was this: autonomous vehicles are already operating or at least testing in virtual every corner of the planet including companies such as Tier IV and ZMP in Japan, and Pony.ai and Baidu in China. But two U.S. companies standout globally for the growing… Read More
Uber’s Monkey in the Wrench
The news of a pedestrian fatality in Tempe, Ariz., resulting from the operation of an Uber autonomous vehicle has set off alarm bells throughout the AV development community. As always in such circumstances there will be a simultaneous rush to judgement and the immediate termination of all such testing, as well as a call for calm… Read More
MWC 2018: The Anonymous Car
European regulators are poised to once again shift European car makers to the back of the queue when it comes to realizing the value of connected cars. While the rest of the world is obsessively pursuing the creation of autonomous vehicles, the European Commission with the help of the GSMA is working toward the creation of the anonymous… Read More
Blackberry Reboot Nears Completion
Jalopnik’s report that car maker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) had experienced a failed software update that had thrown the infotainment systems in some MY 2017-18 vehicles into a never-ending cycle of rebooting was a reminder that cars are indeed becoming smartphones on wheels. Blackberry CEO John Chen has no doubts… Read More
What GM Can Learn from Tesla
General Motors has had wireless connections to its cars for more than 21 years, thanks to Project Beacon, better known as OnStar, now operated as Global Connected Consumer Experience. OnStar has likely saved hundreds of lives, if not thousands, by summoning emergency responders to the scenes of crashes where airbags deployed.… Read More
Japan Inc. on the Brink
Japan has had an incredible run in technology, but the past decade has seen a reversal of fortune. Consumer electronics powerhouses such as Pioneer, Panasonic, Sharp and many others have been humbled by the commoditization of their hardware and a shift in market share to Asian competitors.
… Read More