tech:

taffy

Google Building Its Own Self-Driven Cars

Google-Driverless-brakeless-cars

Google says it will start building its own driverless cars; a strategy that gives the Mountain View giant control of both the hardware and the software, in its foray into commercial autonomous vehicles. The company plans to build about a hundred prototype vehicles,  without steering wheels, accelerators, or brake pedals, because the cars will simply not need them. Instead, the vehicles will be controlled by software and sensors.

Want to know more about these brakeless, accelerator-less cars? Well, they have sensors that remove blind spots, and Google says the cars can detect objects out to a distance of more than two football fields in all directions, helping them navigate busy intersections. The speed of the vehicles have been capped at 25 mph.  The cars will have two seats (and yes, you need to still wear seat belts), a space where you can stash your belongings, buttons to start and stop, and a screen that shows the route.

Google drivers will start testing early versions of the driverless vehicles later this summer. The initial batch of cars will have manual controls, for safety. The company plans to launch a small pilot program for driverless cars  in California in the next couple of years.

Google started working on automated cars in 2010.  It is not the only company to do so. Automaker Nissan, for example, says it will start selling autonomous vehicles by 2020. A self-driving  2011 Cadillac SRX, repurposed by the Carnegie Mellon University can change lanes.

Check out the video of Google’s driverless car:

[Image courtesy: Google]

 

Just in

Apple sued in a landmark iPhone monopoly lawsuit — CNN

The US Justice Department and more than a dozen states filed a blockbuster antitrust lawsuit against Apple on Thursday, accusing the giant company of illegally monopolizing the smartphone market, writes Brian Fung, Hannah Rabinowitz and Evan Perez.

Google is bringing satellite messaging to Android 15 — The Verge

Google’s second developer preview for Android 15 has arrived, bringing long-awaited support for satellite connectivity alongside several improvements to contactless payments, multi-language recognition, volume consistency, and interaction with PDFs via apps, writes Jess Weatherbed. 

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman is paid more than the heads of Meta, Pinterest, and Snap — combined — QZ

Reddit co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman has been blasted by Redditors and in media reports over his recently-revealed, super-sized pay package of $193 million in 2023, writes Laura Bratton. 

British AI pioneer Mustafa Suleyman joins Microsoft — BBC

Microsoft has announced British Artificial Intelligence pioneer Mustafa Suleyman will lead its newly-formed division, Microsoft AI, according to the BBC report. 

UnitedHealth Group has paid more than $2 billion to providers following cyberattack — CNBC

UnitedHealth Group said Monday that it’s paid out more than $2 billion to help health-care providers who have been affected by the cyberattack on subsidiary Change Healthcare, writes Ashley Capoot.