Perhaps adding to evidence the company is working on a full-fledged car, Apple has reportedly hired Steve MacManus, a long-time auto industry veteran most recently with Tesla.
Possibly suggesting grand ambitions for an Apple car, a patent application published on Thursday shows a wireless charging system for self-driving vehicles.
Apple's 'Project Titan' autonomous vehicle could have retractable bumpers on both ends of the vehicle, contracting away to make parking in confined spaces easier, but automatically extending outwards to protect the car while it is being driven in traffic.
As current and former Apple staff discuss Jony Ive's departure, new details are emerging about the company's previously secret work on a self-driving car, a television — and just what happened when Ive famously one-upped Scott Forstall.
Apple on Tuesday confirmed the acquisition of self-driving shuttle and car kit startup Drive.ai, with the tech giant snagging dozens of employees, cars and other assets as part of the purchase.
A car with self-driving capabilities could hand control over to a remote operator in the event of an emergency, Apple proposes, with an autonomous driving system taking instructions from a central system to get to a hospital or other location as quickly and as safely as possible.
Apple is reportedly in the process of acquiring once-promising self-driving shuttle firm Drive.ai in a deal that will bolster the tech giant's own autonomous vehicle initiative with seasoned engineers and segment experts.
Apple is continuing to come up with new designs for essential elements of a car, potentially as part of its "Project Titan" vehicular efforts, with ideas surrounding how to improve the floor assemblies and doors that make up a considerable portion of a vehicle's body to be stronger and to accommodate more batteries.
A newly-revealed patent for a fully-actuated suspension system shows Apple has been working on ways for an Apple car to provide a smoother ride through hardware and software.
Apple's "Project Titan" lives on, as the company is reportedly building large drive rooms in California for continued testing, and developing advanced battery technology.
Apple's automotive ambitions could have been augmented with the acquisition of Tesla, an analyst claims, with the iPhone maker said to have made a "serious bid" to buy the electric car producer in 2013, a move that could have brought technology developed under "Project Titan" to commercialization far earlier.
Apple is working out ways its "Project Titan" self-driving vehicle could be improved to give its users more privacy via a band-based lighting system, as well as a door system that can provide far greater access to the inside of the car than how current doors can open.
This week on the AppleInsider Podcast, William is off, and Jimmy Destri of the band Blondie joins Victor to talk about iTunes, Facebook's responsibility, Apple News, Apple Car, and Steve Jobs stories.
Self-driving vehicles in Apple's "Project Titan" could reduce the amount of processing required to recognize objects and to understand the layout of the road ahead, using a "confidence" algorithm that can allow a car's computer to get just enough data from sensors to perform the processing.
In a claimed effort to streamline operations, Intel recently shaved "several dozen" people from its roster of employees working on autonomous vehicles at the company's Silicon Valley Innovation Center in Palo Alto.
For the first time, Apple in April reported a decrease in the number of self-driving test vehicles it has on California's public roads.
Apple is stepping up its automotive efforts as part of "Project Titan," with the firm reportedly in discussions with a number of component suppliers about LiDAR sensors that could be used in the iPhone maker's next generation of self-driving vehicle systems.
Apple's self-driving vehicle technology has the potential to make being a passenger even safer than before, with the company coming up with ways to determine how fast the car is moving along a road without using traditional sensing technology, as well as how the wheels slip in hazardous conditions.
Signaling that it's continuing work on a full-fledged electric car, or at least a platform, Apple has reportedly hired Tesla's engineering VP in charge of powertrains Michael Schwekutsch.
Apple is still coming up with new design ideas it could incorporate into a self-produced vehicle, despite the seemingly self-driving nature of "Project Titan" in its current state, by creating a version of a car sunroof that offers a considerable number of position combinations compared to currently-used sunroof designs.
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Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
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Victor Marks
