Technology News

Samsung Electronics filed the largest number of patents related to self-driving cars in Europe, data showed on Monday, far above traditional automobile manufacturers.

Toyota has possibly one of the widest range of Hybrid cars available on the market today and for the longest time, Toyota management has stuck to its guns saying it's buyers and dealers do not need an electric car and are happier with hybrid tech. That said, with the world moving swiftly towards electric mobility, the automaker does need to make its presence felt. And with most automakers, Toyota might be looking at a top down approach. Lexus, the luxury arm of the Toyota Group has recently filed a patent for the name 'UX300e' hinting at the first ever all-electric model from the carmaker.

Hyundai has announced that it will soon have fingerprint recognition technology that will allow drivers to unlock their cars and also start their vehicles! The first car to get the Hyundai fingerprint scanner will be the upcoming 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe (for global markets) and will most likely come down the stream and find itself on a range of vehicles in the coming few years. Considering the fact that secure and effective fingerprint scanning technology can be found on cheap android phones too, we would not be surprised if the next generation Hyundai i20 or an even smaller and more affordable car will have this technology. In fact, Hyundai India should seriously consider this for the likes of the upcoming subcompact sub 4-metre SUV, codenamed QXi, that it will be launching in India next year.

Nissan engineers in Michigan, USA have found an innovative and quicker way of performing sunlight UV exposure tests to check paint durability. Called the Xenon Weather-Ometer (XWO), which is essentially a Sunlight Simulator, exposes various paint samples panels to harsh UV environments at the same time.

In March, authorities in Arizona suspended Ubers ability to test its self-driving cars after one of its cars hit and killed a woman crossing the street at night in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Ubers largest testing hub

With the global automotive universe moving towards autonomous vehicles - be in semi autonomous with the likes of Tesla's autopilot or fully autonomous Level 5 cars that are expected in the near future, India is a ways away. While Indian road conditions are absolutely non-conducive for autonomous driving, government policy too is taking a similar direction. Speaking at a corporate event Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said, "for the driverless cars, I have a hesitation. We have decided not to allow driverless cars in India. I am sorry." He went on to say, "Presently, there are 30 lakh people who are getting employment (through the automotive and related industries). And in our economy, the most important thing is how to create more employment potential as our country's population is very high."

Dutch start-up Lithium Werks BV is considering Poland and other European countries for a storage battery plant alongside the 1.6 billion euro ($1.8 billion) one it plans to build in China, founder Kees Koolen told Reuters on Monday. Energy storage is becoming increasingly important as the use of intermittent renewable sources of power grows. Combining wind, solar and battery technology would bring down cost of renewable energy and help power grids balance supply and demand.

App-based ride-hailing platform Ola has announced that the company will be investing $100 million (around Rs. 710 crore) in Vogo - India's fast-growing scooter sharing network. The investment will go into the supply of 100,000 scooters by Vogo that will be used for short commutes. The collaboration will help Vogo gain a strategic supply advantage without having to incur signfiicant capital expenditure, while Ola's 150 million customer base will be able to use Vogo's services directly from the company's mobile app.