Google spin-off Waymo has announced that its self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivans are set to begin testing on public roads in January 2017.
The tests are scheduled for Mountain View, California and Phoenix, Arizona, where the company has conducted tests for its self-driving Lexus SUVs in the past few years.
Waymo, which according to its website stands for a new way forward in mobility, unveiled the self-driving Pacificas at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on 7 January 2017, and announced that all technology for the cars is being produced in-house.
That means for the first time, Waymo is making all its own cameras, sensors, and mapping technology , rather than relying on any products from third-party suppliers, reports The Verge .
The move is not only aimed at enabling the company to have more control over the technology used in the vehicles, but also at improving performance and cutting the production costs.
In a speech in Detroit, Waymo chief executive John Krafcik said that by building its own Lidar laser distance measuring sensors, the company is reducing costs by 6.25% to 25% of third-party prices, and is able to make them to its own specifications to operate at short, medium and long range.
“A single integrated system means all the different parts of a self-driving car work together seamlessly,” he said.
Waymo is an independent company operating under Alphabet, Google’s parent company, as of December 2016.
When Waymo was spun off, the company indicated that it was no longer planning to build its own cars, but would instead concentrate on developing self-driving technology that can be applied to vehicles manufactured by companies such as Fiat Chrysler.
It is unclear whether or not Waymo still plans to build driverless cars without steering wheels and brake or accelerator pedals, but Krafcik is on record as saying Waymo is in the business of making better drivers not better cars, and in December 2016, Waymo said that driver controls will not be removed due to the regulatory environment, according to Business Insider .
Waymo has said it can see its self-driving tech being used for ride-hailing vehicles, personal transportation, public transit systems, and even trucks.

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Volkswagen’s new I. D. Buzz electric vehicle concept is a futuristic take on the microbus that revives the family camper for an era when we’ll spent just as much of our time on the road relaxing or hanging out with our fellow passengers as we will driving. The new EV design, Volkswagen’s second concept car in the I. D. line, was revealed at this year’s North American International Auto Show.
The Buzz has a max range of 270 miles on a single charge, and all-wheel drive, with a fully autonomous mode that allows the front seats to be reconfigured to face backwards towards the rear compartment. Depending on what you’re doing with the car, you can seat up to eight using the modular seating arrangement – or just create two luxurious, vehicle length loungers for relaxing while the car drives itself.
The in-car entertainment system is also designed to cater to different passenger arrangements, with a big, removable tablet in the center console and an AR-enabled heads-up display for overlaying information on your view out the windshield. The car remembers who you are using Volkswagen ID, and can set preferences specific to any individual driver. A Beats partnership puts an external speaker with Bluetooth connectivity in-car, which can then be removed for use outside the vehicle – maybe at a camp site, for instance.
Like other autonomous cars, a lot of the communication between vehicle and people takes place via the lighting system, which includes LEDs outside that can communicate things like when autonomous driving is engaged with pedestrians, and ambient mood lighting within.
The microbus was always a car that people loved for its flexibility; it excelled at providing a great getaway vehicle for families with an adventurous spirit. The new I. D. Buzz looks like it has the same DNA, but with an update for a more tech-savvy generation.
Buzz is a concept, so there’s no guarantee we’ll ever see a production vehicle like it on the road, but Volkswagen is committed to hit a sales target of 1 million electric vehicles annually by 2025, with a range of models, so this reimagined microbus could definitely still see the light of day at some point.

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Voice-focused messaging app Voxer has added an end-to-end encrypted ‘private chats’ feature on its Android and iOS apps — powered by Open Whisper Systems’ Signal Protocol. So all content shared within a private chat, including live voice, text, videos, images, GIFs, and document sharing, is fully e2e encrypted.
It’s the latest messaging app to make use of the Signal Protocol, which is also used by the likes of WhatsApp and Wire to secure users’ content from the risks associated with the service provider having internal access to users’ comms — albeit those apps use e2e everywhere, not just within a single ‘private chats’ silo.
e2e encryption means data is encrypted locally and users’ hold the encryption keys, meaning providers cannot be compelled to decrypt and hand over their communications.
Why isn’t Voxer applying e2e encryption across all comms content? CEO Irv Remedios says it’s trying to balance convenience and (robust) security.
“Many businesses and consumers rely on message history using multiple devices — being able to find older messages even after logging out/in on mobile and desktop. End-to-end encryption would change that. We wanted to provide a solution for our users that wanted end-to-end encryption and we’ll build on this,” he tells TechCrunch.
The opt-in private chats feature must be initially on a per chats basis, and is currently only available for one-on-one chats — although Voxer is aiming to launch e2e encrypted group chats in Q1.
The company notes that content sent within a private chat cannot be shared, forwarded, or synced with other devices. Once the user logs out of their Voxer account all private chat content is erased.
Despite being a 10-year veteran of the mobile messaging space, Voxer does not break out active users, saying only that it’s in the “millions” at this point. And while the app is currently a free download, the company’s monetization efforts are focused on mobile workforce users who might not have time to type texts but do still need to leave and receive messages rapidly — such as people working for on-demand delivery companies, service technicians, hotels/hospitality employees and educators.
It says its best market is the US, followed by the UK, Canada, Australia, Taiwan and Japan.
Voxer’s differentiating voice messaging feature is called ‘Live-messaging’ which enables users to stream media live but also store it simultaneously — allowing users to listen to an audio message as it’s coming in while also having it saved for referring back to later.
According to Remedios a majority (~ 60 per cent) of the messages sent via the app are voice, although he notes this can be higher still (“towards 80 per cent”) for business users. “Most of our conversations are quick,” he adds. “Half of all voice messages are 10 seconds or less… Responses to messages are also quick. The median reply time for a message is 20 seconds and two thirds of all messages are replied to within 1 minute.”

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Following a short break for the festive season – and a brief delay after a planned release last week was pushed back – the wheels of the Windows Insider Program began to turn again today with the rollout of Insider Preview build 15002 to PCs in the Fast ring.
The new build brings a huge range of new features to the OS, and also includes improvements to the Edge browser , which now blocks some Flash content by default, as well as adding the first elements of support for Web Payments.
Along with the many other new additions and enhancements to Windows 10, Microsoft also detailed a range of changes in its Settings app, introducing some welcome new features and customization options, as it explained today:
The addition of new Theme Management support is an interesting one, given that a Microsoft promotional video recently hinted at themes being available to purchase, priced at up to $2.49, from the Windows Store. A small selection of free themes also appeared on the Store last month.
What do you think of the new features and options in Windows 10 Insider Preview build 15002? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Source: Windows Blog

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