A self-driving shuttle bus was involved in a crash on its very first day on the road, Apple’s controversial FaceID could release on the next iPad, and German police were called to shut down a party started by an Alexa device, all on its own.
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From Facebook – A self-driving shuttle bus was involved in a crash on its very first day out on the road in Las Vegas yesterday. Nobody was injured in what is mostly just a fender-bender, and according to Vegas police, the human in the other vehicle was the one responsible for the crash. Apparently a driver of a delivery truck was backing out of an alley, and while the shuttle did the right thing and stopped, the human behind the wheel of the truck did not. The shuttle, which is designed to ferry passengers to the Vegas Strip, uses software developed by a French company called Navya. It can carry up to 15 people and has a max speed of 45 kilometers per hour, but usually travels at around 25 kilometers per hour. This is just another instance of a self-driving vehicle being involved with a crash where the human in another vehicle was responsible, so maybe the roads may be safer with us humans off the road.
From Google Trends – Some of the iPhone X’s more significant changes could be making their way onto the next iPad. An anonymous source told Bloomberg that Apple is working on a redesigned, high-end iPad for early next year. This would include the controversial FaceID and lack of a home button. Unfortunately, unlike the iPhone X, this source suggested that any changes would not include an OLED screen, as Apple would most likely stay with the more traditional LCD screen. So far, FaceID hasn’t been the hit Apple has expected as the facial recognition software has largely been met with poor reviews and multiple instances where users are fooling it with ease.
And from Reddit – German police were forced to break into an apartment in Hamburg, Germany after neighbors issued a noise complaint from deafening music coming from an Amazon Alexa Echo device that had begun playing music at 2 am, despite the fact that no one was home. Amazon worked with this customer to find out how exactly this happened, and in a statement said that the Echo device was remotely activated and the volume increased through a third party mobile app. According to the tech giant, the Alexa cloud service worked flawlessly in this case, but it has offered to cover the cost for a new lock on the customer’s door. Turns out you shouldn’t butt dial your smart assistant.
That’s what’s trending today. Hashtag Trending is produced by IT World Canada. Today’s episode is sponsored by Cogeco Peer 1, the company that enables businesses to unlock their IT potential. Learn more at CP1.com.