Uber Tests its Autonomous Driving Technology in Pittsburgh

The American app based taxi service is testing its self-driving technology  to establish its foothold in the automotive industry

Uber has begun to test autonomous vehicles in the city of Pittsburgh as the American application based cab service provider pursues upcoming time in which drivers will not be needed. The taxi company is using the hybrid version of Ford Fusion to gather mapping data and test self-driving abilities, the company posted in its blog on 19^th May 2016.

The Uber vehicle comes equipped with various sensors including laser scanners, high-resolution cameras as well as radars to map information regarding the environment, Uber states. It is not clear which organizations are providing the radar as well as other sensors. Spokesman of Ford stated the organization isn’t partnering with the transporter.

The announcement follows competitor Lyft’s own entrance into the self-driving vehicle sector. Initially in 2016, General Motors invested a sum of half a billion into Lyft and tied-up with the organization to finally deploy autonomous vehicles that can be requested through an application. GM and Lyft are reportedly about to pilot autonomous cabs within the upcoming year. GM said it would take over the autonomous automobile tech organization Cruise Automation for over a billion dollar.

In recent times, GM went public by testing its driverless technology on its Chevrolet Bolt EV in the Californian city of San Francisco. The Kalanick’s organization is trialing its driverless vehicles in Pittsburgh as its Advanced Technologies Center is also located there. The transporter states to opt to locate its ATC in the city due to its nearness to local engineering talent as well as research facilities. It is also an ideal setting to test and develop technology across various road types, weather conditions and traffic patterns, Uber states.

In February last year, Uber announced its partnership with Carnegie Mellon University, which included the development of a tech center. At the moment, Uber stated it was interested in closely working with the faculty, students and staff of CMU to carry out R&D. The relations become strained in some months after the company poached 40 of the university’s technicians, researchers and faculty away by providing lucrative salaries as well as benefits to workers of the new technology center.

In 2015, the transporter also collaborated with the College of Optical Science of University of Arizona to concentrate on R&D in the optics sector for safety and mapping. The test automobiles of the company, Ford Fusion vehicles equipped with self-driving and mapping technology will be trialed in Tuscon, which is the University of Arizona’s home.

Earlier, the transporter stated the mapping test automobiles aren’t autonomous cars. While in Pittsburgh, the organization has combined 2 technologies. As per reports by Detroit news, a number of other organizations are also testing autonomous cars. Some of those are Ford and Google. 

Alibaba to Increase its Stake in Postal Organization

The Chinese E-commerce company has agreed to add to its share in Singpost to dominate the competitive market

A momentous joint project agreement signed in July last year between Alibaba Group Holding Limited and Singapore Post is yet being finalized, Singpost stated on 10^th May 2016. The Chinese E-commerce company had agreed to increase its equity share in the logistics and postal service provider by purchasing shares that equal to 5% share in the Singaporean organization.

Both organizations have since then stretched  the long-stop date on the contract from 31^st May to 31^st October as  "longer time is required to fulfil the conditions precedent", Singpost stated on 10^th May 2016 when it issued its final quarter results. With the extension, the timeframe has been stretched. The timeframe was previously extended 2 times one in February and other in November.

In 2015,the online retailer had also agreed to purchase a 34% share in the logistics division of the organization Quantium Solutions International. The finalization of the contract will be done by 31^st October, in the wake of new commercial opportunities emerging from related investments, the postal company stated.

It recorded a final quarter net profit of $105.4 million, up by 196.% from the earlier year due to one-off divestment gains. In the March quarter underlying profit declined by 20.1% to a figure of $31.8 million, mainly due to a decrease in rental income as the Singapore Post Centre mall re-development started in the year’s third quarter and higher financial expenditures.

In the last quarter of 2015, Earnings per share increased from a revised 1.49 cents to 4.36 cents, whereas the price of net asset value per share has increased from 68.37 cents to 72.26 cents in the end of the first quarter in 2015.

The postal organization recorded a net profit of $248.9 million for the entire year, an increase by 57.9% from the earlier year, as yearly revenue grew by 25.2% to a figure of $1.15 billion. Now overseas revenue contributes to 43.9% of the turnover of the group, up from a contribution of 32.5% in 2015.

After the closure of trading, the announcement of earnings was done. On 10^th May 2016, The group ended 0.5% lower at $1.585. As per reports by Nikkei, Singpost has hired Simon Israel as heir of leaving chairman Lim Ho Kee, who had provided his services to the organization for a decade and 3 years, as questions are being raised regarding the corporate governance practices of the company.

Since 2003, Lim has worked as the chairman. He was initially hired as the director of Singpost in 1998. The long tenancies of the board members of Singpost faced criticism by experts of corporate governance, after CEO  Wolfgang Baier abruptly announced his resignation in Dec 2015. Clarity lacks regarding the reasons for the resignation of Baier led to a rumor that battle with Lim was behind an abrupt move. The resignation caused the shares of the postal group to tumble.

Uber's Rival Raising Billions in China

Billions of dollars are being raised by Didi Kuaidi to give tough time to Uber and lead the Chinese cab industry

 Uber’s rival is about to raise around $2 billion in its recent fundraising round, as the biggest ride sharing company of China wars with the American application based cab service provider to dominate the Chinese market for ride sharing, aware people of the matter. The biggest rival of Uber aims to close the funding round in the upcoming few weeks with around $25 billion valuation, stated the people, who asked to be kept anonymous because the issue is private.

That would turn it into the fourth highly valued startup across the world after Travis’ company, Xiaomi Corporation and the online rent lodging service provider Airbnb, revealed a research organization CB Insights. Uber and Didi are battling for supremacy in China as the ride-sharing market grows. Didi, which is backed by leading internet companies Tencent Holdings Limited and Alibaba, jumped out to dominate the market. But the transporter is heavily spending to catch up and has stated China could finally turn into its biggest market.

Both need money to pay for subsidizing consumer fares and hiring drivers. Spokesperson of the Beijing based company refused to share views regarding the financing through an e-mailed statement. Tencent shares grew to 1.1% in Hong Kong. Didi had been trying to receive $1 billion in Feb 2016 and grew the target to a sum of $1.5 billion in April 2016, people aware of the issue had stated. The recent increase in financing was partly due to a higher level of demand, the people stated.

If the Chinese organization completes the financing, it will indicate resilience in the Chinese start-up industry, even as their American competitors battle. The finance affiliate of Alibaba, Ant financial, received a sum of $4.5 billion in April 2016, a record made by a private tech organization. In January, the previous record was set when Meituan Dianping, which is the Chinese group-buying service received $3.3 billion.

Both Didi and Uber have received money rapidly to fight an expensive battle. On-demand vehicle service providers have succeeded across the world as the expansion of mobile usage takes place and passengers seek quicker or simpler alternates to public transportation as well as cabs. Yet the US transporter and its competitors can lose funds on rides as they depend on subsidies to lure customers, particularly as they make entrance into new markets.

Didi received $3 billion in 2015, which took its valuation to $16.5 billion, a person aware of the matter stated at the time. It established a global alliance with Lyft in the United States, Southeast Asian taxi service provider Grab and Indian cab company Ola to battle an internationally growing Uber.

Apple Inc. Has Been Around for Forty Year – What Next?

The technology has officially turned 40; we are yet to see what the future holds for it.

It has been 40 years today ever since Apple Inc. has come into existence. However, instead of sitting back and reminiscing over the achievement of the technology company, the real matter we should be concerned about is the fact that the technology world is at such an intersection where all the gold that the iPhone maker has released during this time span has started to lose its glitter. This basically means that everything that tech giant has launched in the past forty years has started to lose its charm in the market now.

Despite the fact that the company comes up with constant updates in its product line as well as its operating system, it seems quite evident that all those updates have simply become bland for the customers; seems as though the 40 year old company is facing its mid-life crisis. At the time that Steve Jobs was around, the tech giant seemed fearless and a company that was poised to reach a valuation of almost $1 trillion.

Furthermore, Jobs has managed to leave a legacy behind and to ensure that after he’s gone the company manages to maintain that legacy; the late CEO had streamlined the entire product line that had to be released till 2020. Nonetheless, Tim Cook, the current CEO of Apple, is working really hard to make sure that every living human being has an iPhone in their hands; he’s working on creativity as well as panache however it should be noted that he is nowhere near to what Steve Jobs achieved in his time.

At this point, we believe that even Apple itself is not quite sure of what it stands for; in between being a market leader and a market follower, (given that it was once a market leader) the tech organization has landed at being yet another follower in the technology industry. Amid battles with the government over encryption and working on conserving the environment, the iPhone manufacturer has forgotten what it started to do – making state of the art products and emancipating stellar products for its consumers.

The real question now is whether Apple will be able to maintain its current position, go back to being a market leader or perish in the next forty years? It’s safe to say that companies that produce such technology products, mostly, do not last for long given the rate at which technology is changing in the world – quite similar to how Apple’s iPhone stole Blackberry Ltd.’s market (who was once the market leader in the smartphone industry). At this point, we are left wondering with which new technology or device will dethrone Apple.

Silicon Valley is quite a tough place to start a company at; it’s where either you’ll make it, or you’ll get crushed (in tech terms) – however customers are nonetheless the ultimate judge who make or break a company. Recently, the Silicon Valley giant released its iPhone SE; it’s easy to say that the business manages well to wrap up (repackage) its gifts (products –iPhone SE) nicely; it did feel more as if we went back to 2010 when a similar device was launched. 

Customers want something new to play with every time and in every gadget – it’s a given. If a technology company fails to wow the customer, it has already failed.

Google and Microsoft Resolve Their Disputes

Microsoft Corporation has resolved its disputes with Google to focus more towards its growth.

Google and Microsoft Corporation, two of the greatest monopolies in the world, have been tough competitors for almost two decades. Surprisingly, late last month, the two announced a startling agreement. The tech organizations have withdrawn every regulatory complaint against each other across the globe. Instead of battling in commissions and public courts, they have decided to negotiate privately.

The specifications are confidential, but the message on the two sides is that the agreement reflects a management philosophy change. The CEO of Microsoft Satya Nadella is anxious to promote the company’s collaborative and dynamic vision, tying up anyone from Salesforce to Apple. Google is most dramatic of these allies. For a long period, it has been considered the archrival of the corporation.

The conditions changed in September, just after Sundar Pichai was appointed as CEO of Google when the two organizations agreed to cease fighting over patents – a first measure toward the present contract. Both companies share a corporate line, which is that both are interested in competing on devices, not cases. This PR gambit masks two much more amazing stories. One is regarding Microsoft and its desperate relevance.

The other one is regarding money, power and Google. Both are under deeply worrying and extensive narrative – a story regarding how tech organizations are busily redrawing the line around people’s lives, and facing a bit of resistance to act in that manner. No one is ever interested in a legal battle. Wasteful, painful and fractious, they divert large resources, often to gain little productivity.

This itself is unable to explain the decision by Microsoft to drop undecided regulatory complaints filed against the Mountain view based organization in Argentina, Brazil and Europe, and to stop financing and taking part in lobbyists, which it has supported for 8 years, like ICOMP and FairSearch.org.

It could be viewed as a practical measure. The profits of Microsoft are still greater than that of Google, but the proportion has continued to decrease for 10 years. In the past 4 years, Apple has surpassed both organizations combined (even if recently released figures indicate this momentum, many are slowing down).  

A series of regulatory probes into the alleged abuses by Google of its monopolistic position will keep going on in the absence of the corporation, in regions where Microsoft has filed complaints. These include Argentina, Brazil and Europe as well as in others where it has not, like India. With the withdrawal by Microsoft, it is clear that the residual complaints in these battles-generally tiny, niche internet businesses- are legal critics in their own right. 

Tesla Becoming Less Secretive in the Competitive World

The US EV maker has recently allowed a news crew to film its Model X Assembly  line to inform the people about its production process

 While the preoccupation of Tesla with device secrecy is currently near obsessive as that of Apple, the organization in the previous few years has become a little more secured regarding the happenings, at its factory in Fremont, California. In the previous few months, nevertheless, the American electric car maker looks just a little more interested to slightly pull back the curtain of privacy. In February 2016, for example the automaker permitted- for the first time in half a decade- a news crew to tour the plant where it produces the Model X and well as Model S.

Naturally, the news crew was unable to previously capture the seen footage of the Model X assemblyline of Tesla. More lately, the company permitting what looks to be a Germany based site that tests iPad and iPhone accessories in its Fremont facility where they were able to film never before viewed film of the assembly line of Tesla Model X, of course bolstered by the automaker’s army of advanced and futuristic robotics, the film offers a fascinating look into the progressed procedure that comprise the intricate manufacturing process of the organization.

But one possibly finds the coolest part of the video when he or she views that how the automaker manages to attach batteries to the vehicles on the car assembly line. The video has demonstrated, the car manufacturer depends upon automated guided automobiles to move batteries around the automobile factory floor. From there, the battery is taken to the floor where the vehicle is waiting for it.

The video has been released at a time when Clapway has claimed that Tesla is comparatively more fortunate than Apple. With many innovations, the EV maker is changing the means employed by people to think regarding vehicles. The latest great innovation from the US consumer electronics maker was its iPhone in 9 years ago. At a time filled with keypads and flip-hones, the iPhone launched smartphones to consumers.

Since that time, a few changes have been done to the iPhone with yearly releases, but nothing is earth-shattering. With sales of iPad as well as iPhone decreasing, and the success of Apple Watch yet in question, the once high tech innovator has highly succeeded. The car maker has just been around 13 years, but at that moment, they have succeeded in the market for EVs.

In the last year, Model S was the best-selling electric vehicle in US with more than 25,000 vehicles delivered. The Model 3 was just launched in March 2016, but the car maker has received 400,000 reservations already for the new version. The new version would not come to the roads uptill 2017.  Compared to the accomplishments of Elon, the recent developments of Apple are not significant.Elon believes with modernization of re-launch systems, his space organization can transport 1 people to Mars to colonize it by 2035.