Bazsux: Apple self-driving car spotted in California

2017. május 1., hétfő

Apple self-driving car spotted in California

Apple, Project Titan, California, Silicon Valley, self-driving, self-driving car, self-driving cars, self-driving vehicle, self-driving vehicles, autonomous, autonomous car, autonomous cars, autonomous vehicle, autonomous vehicles, technology, software, Lexus, Lexus RX450h, Lexus RX450h SUV, Lexus SUV

Apple is full of surprises. Just last fall sources told Bloomberg the technology giant wasn’t going to build a self-driving car anymore. They may have scrapped plans to construct their own car, but it appears they didn’t abandon autonomous vehicles altogether. People in California recently spotted a white Lexus RX450h SUV with self-driving apparatus drive out of an Apple Silicon Valley facility.

Bloomberg obtained images of the sneaky self-driving car, glimpsed around two weeks after the company got a permit to test autonomous cars. The Lexus SUV was reportedly decked out with Velodyne Lidar Inc’s 64-channel lidar, as well as an array of other sensors. An industry expert said the equipment looked like it was purchased off the shelf, not custom-built. An Apple spokesperson would not give Bloomberg a comment on that.

Here's the vehicle Apple's using to test autonomous driving https://t.co/prbKCuJBq6 http://pic.twitter.com/8oUvrXv7qC

— Bloomberg (@business) April 28, 2017

Apple is known for building their own software and hardware, as opposed to companies like Microsoft that focus on software usable on other companies’ hardware. But it appears they may be going a different direction with their self-driving cars, pursued under the name Project Titan. Last fall Bloomberg said the tech company would focus on software to be used in existing cars, which could help them get their product to market faster. They’re already up against tough competition: big players like Tesla, Uber, and Waymo, which began as Google’s self-driving project, have all made strides on their technology.

Project Titan has gone through its ups and downs. When Apple decided to zero in on software, they reassigned or laid off hundreds of engineers. Leadership changed around a year ago, with veteran executive Bob Mansfield taking over, and he’s scaled back ambitions.

So far California has given out permits to test self-driving vehicles to 30 companies, including startups, tech companies, and automakers. According to California’s DMV, Waymo and startup Zoox Inc. are also testing their technology with Lexus RX450 models.

Via Inc. and Bloomberg

Images via Wikimedia Commons and Paul Miller on Flickr