Technology News

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing plans to start using self-driving vehicles to pick up passengers in a district of Shanghai city in a pilot scheme, a senior executive said, taking a further step towards commercialising self-driving technology.

Amazon.com Inc is in early talks with Go-Jek Group to buy a stake in the Indonesian ride-hailing startup, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. Details of the stake were not known and the source did not want to be identified as the talks are private. Both Amazon and Go-Jek did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The company's engineers are working on a powerful new 3D head-up display to project safety alerts, such as lane departure, hazard detection, sat nav directions, and to reduce the effect of poor visibility in poor weather or light conditions.

Anthony Levandowski, a pioneer in self-driving car technology, was criminally charged on Tuesday with stealing trade secrets from his former employer Google before joining rival Uber Technologies Inc. The 33-count indictment made public by the U.S. Department of Justice largely mirrors allegations that the Waymo unit of Google parent Alphabet Inc, where Levandowski had worked, made in a 2017 civil lawsuit against Uber, which later settled. His lawyers said Levandowski stole nothing, and that they looked forward to proving his innocence at trial.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration plans to test how drivers could use cameras to replace traditional rearview mirrors in automobiles, a technology already allowed in other countries, the agency said on Tuesday. The planned test by the agency known as NHTSA would examine "driving behaviour and lane change manoeuvre execution" in cars with traditional mirrors and camera-based visibility systems, the department said in a notice offering the public a chance to comment.

Roaming peacocks, meandering tourists and curbside bushes were all causing headaches this week for operators of one of the first autonomous bus shuttle services to hit public roads in Singapore. Passengers found themselves almost outnumbered by bus stewards checking their seatbelts were tightly fastened as ST Engineering began testing four vehicles in the coastal district of Sentosa. Singapore, ranked second behind the United States in its preparedness for wide-scale driverless transport in a recent KPMG report, plans to deploy autonomous buses in three districts of the island from 2022.

First and last mile connectivity still remains a concern for many and Hyundai Motor Group did showcase the integrated electric scooter concept back at the CES 2017 addressing this issue. The concept essentially included the scooter to be stacked up inside the car and could be easily removed to and used from the boot. Now, building on the same, the Korean carmaker has revealed a new version of the e-scooter with rear wheel drive, a lithium-ion battery and stylish front and rear lights. The latest concept features in future Hyundai Motor Group plans to enable first- and last-mile mobility through integrating the scooter with the future Hyundai and Kia vehicles.

The new design is based on Honda's commitment to developing technologies that better protect vehicle occupants in a wide range of crash scenarios.