Apple's rumored electric (autonomous?) vehicle, internally referred to as Project Titan, should use custom-designed batteries developed by engineers that Apple poached from A123 Systems, the makers of advanced batteries. According to a new report Tuesday, Apple has now tapped scientists and engineers from a small, unnamed South Korean firm to help co-develop hollow battery packs for Project Titan.
Apple's rumored electric vehicle project has shifted its focus towards autonomous driving systems although that shouldn't be interpreted as Apple abandoning efforts to design its own vehicle, Bloomberg reported today.
After bringing former hardware chief Bob Mansfield back from retirement to run its Project Titan initiative, Apple has now hired BlackBerry and Ford talent to help perfect its secret self-driving software.
George Hotz aka “GeoHot” is one of the pioneers of the early jailbreak scene. In December 2015, Bloomberg Businessweek ran a lengthy profile focused on Hotz's new project: a self-driving car kit. He's since secured funding for the project, Forbes reported, and now the kit that promises to transform your car into a self-driving vehicle for just $1,000 seems to be becoming a reality, as The Verge reports.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on Tuesday granted Apple a patent that could be a perfect fit for Project Titan, its not-so-secretive electric car project.
The proposed invention outlines an advanced vehicle access control system that would permit an iPhone to do things like open your car doors, start or shut off the engine for specific time frames and for specific duration of time, adjust and activate personalized car settings and more.
“The feature set described in this invention went far beyond anything that could have been conceived working with CarPlay,” explains Patently Apple, which first caught wind of the granted patent.
George Hotz, one of the pioneers of the early jailbreak scene who used to go by the code-name “GeoHot”, has managed to secure funding for his self-driving kit, Forbes reported Wednesday. Among those interested in his project: the CEOs of graphics giant Nvidia and auto parts supplier Delphi.
Both CEOs have paid visits to Hotz's basement office in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood. In fact, Nvidia's boss sponsored Hotz's project with high-performance GPU cards woth $30,000.
But more important than that, he's scored an unannounced seed investment from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, valuing the fledgling company at $20 million, according to sources.
According to The Silicon Valley Business Journal, Apple in November 2015 quietly leased a 96,000-square-foot site in Sunnyvale, California which used to be Pepsi's bottling plant.
Interestingly enough, this industrial property is located in the neighborhood of a complex of warehouses and offices which Apple leased about a year ago for purposes unknown to the public (hint: permits mention things like an “auto work area” and a “repair garage”).
All the do-it-yourself mechanics out there love being able to troubleshoot their own check engine light (CEL) to see what's going on under the hood of their own cars. Typically, doing so requires an expensive OBD II scanner tool that plugs into the OBD II port underneath the dash.
But, with an app on your iPhone and a tiny accessory that plugs into the OBD II port, you could save some money and you'll still have access to a lot of the information the scan tool would give you. In fact, because of how advanced your iPhone is, you may even get more information than a lot of the scan tools will offer.
In this review, we'll be taking a look at the LELink Bluetooth Low Energy OBD II car diagnostic tool, which can be had for about $35 on Amazon, as well as the $9.99 OBD Fusion app, which can be had from the iOS App Store.
Don't expect the Apple Car to start hitting stores anytime soon, says Tim Cook. During Apple's annual shareholders meeting on Friday, the CEO responded to a question regarding the rumored vehicle, suggesting the project is far from launching.
Business Insider has Cook's full response from the Q&A session: "Do you remember when you were a kid, and Christmas Eve it was so exciting, you weren't sure what was going to be downstairs? Well, it's going to be Christmas Eve for a while."
AppleInsider reported Monday that Apple's automotive ambitions are at crossroads as the company has reportedly instituted a hiring freeze on the 1,000+ person team responsible for so-called Project Titan after a recent progress review.
Jony Ive, Apple's Chief Design Officer, is said to have “expressed his displeasure” with the group's headway following a post-holiday review of the secretive project.
During a recent trip to Silicon Valley, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche told German weekly Welt am Sonntag that Apple and Google have made more progress on automotive projects than he had assumed, Reuters reported Monday.
“Our impression was that these companies can do more and know more than we had previously assumed. At the same time they have more respect for our achievements than we thought,” the executive told the paper.
Fiat Chrysler on Monday announced its fourth-generation Uconnect system, which will bring Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to select vehicle models later this year. In a press release, the automaker says that the addition of CarPlay will give drivers a smarter, safer way to use their iPhones while in their cars.
"With fourth-gen," said Joni Christensen, Head of Uconnect Marketing, "we are continuing to minimize the everyday stresses of busy lifestyles by providing drivers with a variety of ways to stay conveniently connected to their vehicles, while making every drive exceptionally informative, entertaining and unique."
Some cars have just one power outlet (aka cigarette lighter) to be shared amongst all gadget-using travelers. There are multi-USB adapters that help spread the wealth, but it would be even better if there were two power outlets.
Bestek makes an adapter that splits into two DC power outlets and provides two USB ports for all your charging needs. If you add something like the EleckeyTM or the reVOLT, then you're talking six charges at a time.