Posted on 02/13/2015 1:27:47 PM PST by Star Traveler
Apple is recruiting experts in automotive technology and vehicle design to work at a new top-secret research lab, said several people familiar with the company, pointing to ambitions that go beyond the dashboard.
Dozens of Apple employees, led by experienced managers from its iPhone unit, are researching automotive products at a confidential Silicon Valley location outside the company’s Cupertino campus, the people said.
Sir Jonathan Ive’s team of Apple designers has held regular meetings with automotive executives and engineers in recent months, in some cases trying to hire them. Recent recruits to Apple’s team include the head of Mercedes-Benz’s Silicon Valley R&D unit.
The Apple research lab was set up late last year, not long after Apple unveiled its forthcoming smart watch and latest iPhones, which suggests that any resulting product may still be years away from release. Apple often investigates a wide range of new product areas, some of which never get released.
(Excerpt) Read more at ft.com ...
These reports about Apple making some product in the future are always speculative, because Apple never announces those things ahead of time. Therefore you always have to take them with a grain of salt.
Sure ... Apple is doing “something” ... but who knows what it is ... :-) ...
My last new car was an 08 we have less than a 100,000 miles on it but have spent exactly nothing n repair other than oil change and gasoline, not a belt, hose or spark plug items that used to be an annual ritual. I graduated High School in 1956 so I know what a muscle car was, you can have them, nothing but headaches compared to cars today even if they are light weight road noisy amplifiers.
Actually, it’s not as bad as you think these days. Today it’s all “modular” in that you just find the module that is failing and you fix it (which means swap it out with a new one).
In the past you would take apart all the pieces and just work on one piece. Today, it’s a module of many interacting parts, and you replace the entire module.
In one sense, it’s easier.
Once up you get used to the different thinking involved, and can sort out the codes on the OBD-II interface, you can work through things pretty easily. However, everything is packed in a lot tighter than in the past, so there’s a problem physically accessing things.
It’s a car with a major safety improvement; it does not allow texting or calls when moving.
“Gay cars ?”
Pretty much. They were NEVER into that “driving thing”.
As I said: creepy. I’d be sorely tempted to knock a ‘ glasshole’ on his ass. But I’ve not run across one here in flyover country.
No, the tech limitations are secondary. The social spying - and that’s exactly what is is - did them in.
There’s a reason I call Google the public / commercial arm of the NSA. And no, I don’t have any proof; it’s just a gut reaction.
: )
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