There's been some big news on self-driving cars
While Tesla has been making progress, Apple has hit a pothole
It's happening. No matter how you feel about it, computers will soon be prying your steering wheel from your hands, forcing you into a permanent state of back seat driver.
Tesla, the electric car group owned by Tony Stark-personified entrepreneur Elon Musk, has announced a new update to its Autopilot feature (that's right, it's a car company that improves cars over Wi-Fi) that seriously improves Telsa cars' ability to recognise hazardous objects.
"I think it will make the Model S and Model X by far the safest cars on the road. I don’t think there would be a car that is even within a multiple of the S and the X," said Musk in a press call.
The new 'Tesla 8.0' update sees the Autopilot feature make better use of the radar sensor of the Model S and Model X cars. With the new update installed, cars will use a combination of camera and imaging-processing to recognise potential road threats, along with a greater amount of data collected by the car's radar system.
Despite what its name suggests, the Autopilot feature won't drive the car for you; drivers are recommended to keep their hands on the wheel while in Autopilot mode, ready to take control should the system indicate danger ahead.
Musk stated that he believes the new 'Tesla 8.0' system could have prevented the fatal accident that occurred in May this year, when 40-year-old Joshua Brown crashed into a truck while using the Autopilot feature.
But while Tesla forges ahead toward its ultimate goal of true self-driving motors, word comes from New York Times that Apple is rethinking its strategy.
Apple has been rumoured to have a significant interest in self-driving cars for several years, employing a large team working on a project code named 'Titan'. While previous reports from Wall Street Journal suggested that Apple's own car might be ready by 2019, anonymous sources have told New York Times that the tech giant has "shuttered parts of its self-driving car project and laid off dozens of employees".
The project isn't being dropped altogether, but rather "rebooted" - something you barely ever have to do to a Mac. The irony.
The self-driving revolution is coming. It just might take a while before it comes with an Apple logo.
(Image: iStock)
[Via: Business Insider]
