Toyota and Aurora Innovation, a US developer of self-driving systems, just started testing autonomous robotaxis in Texas. What you need to know: The test fleet consists of custom-made Toyota Sienna vehicles, retrofitted with Aurora’s self-driving system, the Aurora Driver. The hybrid electric vehicles are built on Toyota’s specially designed “Sienna Autono-MaaS” (S-AM) platform, can go up to 96km/h, and rely on Aurora’s proprietary FirstLight LiDAR for safe driving at highway speeds. Aurora’s te
When you think of the term hacker, what comes to mind? Criminals plotting to destroy multinational corporations, derail governments, or simply spam your inbox? The phrase doesn’t usually have positive connotations. We think of people hunkered down in basements, anonymously threatening to change our world for the worse. But the reality is in 2022, hackers aren’t always the bad guys. A new breed of hacker, ‘white hat hackers,’ are the people protecting our data, safe-guarding our favorite charitie
In the last few months, regulators across the world have pulled up their sleeves to force Apple and Google to allow third-party payment methods in app stores. While these regulations might take a while to implement, the Big G has preempted it by announcing a new pilot with Spotify that will allow third-party payments for the music streaming service. Here’s how that will work for users like you and me, and what it means for app developers and service providers. How will it work? The concept is pr
There’s been a lot of excitement this week in East Germany as Elon Musk’s Gigafactory launched to a rapturous reception. Elon flew in to cut the ribbon as the first 30 vehicles produced at the facility were handed over to customers. The event was hosted by Andre Traurig, Vehicle Manufacturing Lead at Tesla, and included a speech by Elon Musk, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck, and Brandenburg Prime Minister, Dietmar Woidke in attendance. Big props to Tobi
While drink driving fatalities and injuries have declined in recent decades, it still remains a major problem on Australian roads. Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limits have helped since they were put in place over 25 years ago, but new technology may now be able to stop drink driving altogether. In the US, the massive infrastructure bill passed by Congress last year mandated car manufacturers equip vehicles with advanced drink-driving prevention technology. These systems can either monitor a
Ah, 2015. Phones still had headphone jacks, Donald Trump had never been president, and Instagram still had a chronological feed. Those were the glory days. And then, in early 2016, Instagram announced it was getting rid of the chronological feed in favor of algorithmic sorting, something no one asked for. The idea was to ostensibly sort content based on what’s most interesting to you. But pretty much no one was happy about it, and it yielded real ethical and political concerns beyond general ann
A cybercrime gang called Lapsus$ is tearing through tech giants around the world. In the last few months alone, the group has claimed the scalps of Nvidia, Ubisoft, Samsung, Okta, and Microsoft. Their brazen tactics have attracted a large following — and some powerful enemies. Here’s what we know about the digital extortionists. Who are the Lapsus$ hackers? Lapsus$ first hit the headlines last December after taking credit for an attack on Brazil’s health ministry. The group posted a message on t
Ford has a weird habit of extravagant marketing strategies. I’ll never forget the petrol-scented perfume the company launched to accompany the electric Mustang Mach-E GT. I mean, who doesn’t want to smell like gasoline? But now there’s a new marketing campaign to wrap our heads around: online conference calling for… EVs. As if the Zoom fatigue of the past two years and the transformation of our homes into working spaces weren’t enough, Ford has a vision of your car becoming the “best mobile offi
We need to talk about Bruno. The theme song from Disney’s hit movie Encanto (We don’t talk about Bruno) has become the first song from an animated movie to top the US charts for multiple weeks. How did this come about? The answer is, once again, TikTok. The short-video platform is again behind the creation of a hit song. TikTok is changing the music industry, how hits are made and how the platform opens a new way to discover new artists,and new music. At the heart of the phenomenon are viral cha
It’s been a blockbuster month for Yuga Labs, the owner of the Bored Apes Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs. First, it acquired two other popular NFT projects: Crypto Punks and Meebits. Second, it announced the listing of the ApeCoin token on leading exchanges. And last, but not least, the company raised $450 million from marquee investors like a16z crypto, web3 gaming company Animoca Brands, and FTX cryptocurrency exchange. Now, it’s valued at over $4 billion. With this latest funding the firm has announce