Opinion

Drive ’Til You Can’t, Then AV Aids Kick In

Featured, Opinion

It’s time for the automotive and tech industries to rethink whether and why the public actually needs “self-driving cars,” aside from the need to please investors who poured billions into startups working on robotaxis and robotrucks.

After several days last week in Brussels talking to throngs of automotive engineers at AutoSens, I had an epiphany. The whole auto industry might be looking at AVs through the wrong end of the telescope.

Arm’s Suit Against Qualcomm Highlights Strained IP Ecosystem

Featured, Opinion

By Peter Clarke

Processor intellectual property licenser Arm Ltd. has sued longtime licensee Qualcomm and recent Qualcomm acquisition Nuvia Inc., another Arm licensee, alleging a breach of licensing terms and resultant infringement of Arm’s trademarks.

Google Glass May be Half-Full

Featured, Opinion

By Rebecca Day

I assume one day I’ll own smart glasses, though I can’t for the life of me understand why I’d want to today. That’s often how it works with me and tech. Unlike HDTV — which I craved after I first saw eyepopping jockey silk colors in an ABC-TV demo reel — new product categories often take time for me to adjust to. I’m not a tech-for-tech’s sake kind of gal. I need to see a compelling reason buy into the next big thing – and for the price to come down.

A portion of the book cover of "How Safe Is Safe Enough?" by Phil Koopman

Phil Koopman’s New Book Asks the Hardest AV Question: ‘How Safe is Safe Enough?’

Featured, Opinion

Engineers, AV enthusiasts, public officials and even ordinary drivers should heed Phil Koopman’s insights, pausing to consider what must be done before unleashing AVs on our streets.

Undefined, Unregulated Hands-Free Driving Means Unsafe Roads

Featured, Opinion

By Junko Yoshida

As more vehicles are introduced with so-called “hands-free” convenience features, the automotive industry is probing uncharted territory.

Metaverse, Omniverse–How Versed Can We Get?

Featured, Opinion

By Jon Peddie

Anyone who has read anything about the metaverse probably knows Neal Stephenson coined the term in Snow Crash in 1992. William Gibson wrote about a similar place he called Cyberspace in 1984, and the idea of an alternate digital reality has been a staple of science fiction ever since. This generation’s version was described by Ernest Cline’s 2011 book Ready Player One and the eponymous film that followed.

BMW iX Crash: Getting at the Cause

Featured, Opinion

By Junko Yoshida

A BMW iX “test vehicle” that crashed on Aug. 15 near Römerstein, Germany, initially generated a lot of justifiable media coverage.

The accident killed one woman and seriously injured nine others, including the 43-year-old driver of the BMW and the driver’s 18-month-old passenger. The BMW vehicle had veered onto the oncoming lane, hitting two vehicles and indirectly causing another collision.

Unanswered Questions in the Aftermath of Fatal BMW Crash

Featured, Opinion

By Colin Barnden

What’s at stake?
Who ensures the public’s safety when automakers test experimental automated driving technology on public roads? The answer may actually be nobody.

Road Test Using ‘Live’ Kids Exposes AV Absurdity

Featured, Opinion

By Junko Yoshida

Last weekend, a handful of Muskovite vigilantes used their children as guinea pigs to prove that Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) functions are unlikely to mow down a small child crossing the road.

This dubious effort by amateur Tesla testers was triggered by a video clip posted on Twitter by Taylor Ogan, CEO of Snow Bull Capital, a technology hedge fund (see below). It showed a Tesla obliterating a child-size crash dummy on a test course.

Intel Should Adopt Pure-Play Foundry Model

Featured, Opinion, Uncategorized

By George Leopold

To succeed as a viable manufacturer of semiconductors, a supply chain expert argues Intel Corp. should redirect resources from its chip R&D and design operations to instead focus on its foundry operations.