iCar

Apple wants to lease a 800,000 square foot warehouse for Project Titan R&D work

The Wall Street Journal yesterday shared some rather interesting development regarding Silicon Valley's worst-kept secret, an Apple-designed electric car, dubbed Project Titan. The firm is apparently seeking a massive 800,000 square foot warehouse, presumably to keep research and development work on Project Titan secret for as long as possible.

Furthermore, the iPhone maker is said to be in the process of expanding Project Titan team, which reportedly had about 600 employees last year, according to sources.

Apple rumored to be running a secret vehicle research and development lab in Germany

Influential German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung this morning ran a story on Apple's rumored electric car, code-named Project Titan, claiming that the iPhone maker is running a secret vehicle research and development lab in the heart of Berlin.

Apple's 15-20 person “top class” team at the site is mostly comprised of engineers hired away from several German car manufacturers, who are described as “progressive thinkers” in their respective fields. The report adds that Apple is said to be planning to use Austria-based automotive contract manufacturer Magna to build its electric vehicle.

Fiat CEO advises Apple against building a car on its own

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has a piece of advice for Apple regarding Silicon Valley's worst-kept secret that it is building an electrical vehicle: don't do it on your own but if you must, have an established car maker mass produce a custom vehicle for you according to your specifications.

“If they have any urges to make a car, I'd advise them to lie down and wait until the feeling passes,” Marchionne told journalists at the Geneva auto show.

Apple leases old Pepsi bottling plant near its not-so-secret Project Titan industrial complex

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”).

Cook: Apple ultimately may decide not to make a car at all

In a Q&A with Adam Lashinsky of Fortune published Monday, Apple's boss Tim Cook suggested that his company ultimately may decide not to make a car at all, but hinted Apple is “exploring” various “technologies” and “products” in general.

He also responded to concerns about peak iPhone, talked about how Apple behaves in a down cycle and how the company’s culture is evolving, revealed that Apple will start moving into its upcoming iSpaceship in 2017 and explained why services are important in Apple’s product mix, among other topics of interest.

Steve Jobs considered Apple car eight years ago

According to the famous iPod creator, former Apple engineer and Nest founder Tony Fadell, Steve Jobs did consider an idea of Apple building a car as far back as 2008, but ultimately decided not to move forward because he had other projects on his mind.

In a video interview with Bloomberg, Fadell said that Jobs and himself discussed how a hypothetical Apple car would we build, what features it would have, what a dashboard would be like and so forth.

Apple poaches Nvidia’s director of deep learning

Apple has hired Nvidia's director of deep learning, Jonathan Cohen, Re/code reported today. As is its wont, Apple declined to comment but news of Cohen's hiring has since been officially confirmed via his LinkedIn profile, in which he states that he's been with Apple since earlier this month.

The publication speculates that Cohen might be joining Apple's autonomous car project in unknown capacity. As you know, Apple is rumored to be developing an electric or autonomous car, dubbed Project Titan.

Apple CEO predicts ‘massive change’ coming to autonomous driving

Apple CEO Tim Cook is one of the few people in the technology industry who have an uncanny insight into the future of technology so little wonder his vague hints at his company's next moves are being carefully scrutinized by pundits and examined for meaning.

When it comes to the automobile industry, Cook has once again deflected iCar-related questions, refusing to acknowledge the existence of the company's rumored electric car, dubbed Project Titan.

That, however, didn't stop him from teasing that the car industry is at an “inflection point for massive change” during his interview last night at the Wall Street Journal’s WSJ.D Live conference in Laguna Beach, California.