Honda Shows The Near-Final Version Of Its Compact Electric Car

PHOTO: HONDA

Honda's Urban EV concept is nearly ready to hit the road in earnest. As teased in January, the automaker has unveiled a Honda E Prototype that "previews" the production version of its city-oriented electric car. 

This refined version unsurprisingly includes less concept car flash (don't count on a display hiding in the front grill), but it's largely true to the spirit of the 2017 design with a glass-covered charging port on the front and cameras replacing the less aerodynamic rear view mirrors.

You also have a clearer idea of how well the finished car will perform. The E Prototype lives up to its urban focus with a relatively short range of "over 200km" (about 124 miles). It'll charge quickly, at least -- it should reach an 80 percent charge in 30 minutes.

The interior will be familiar thanks to an earlier peek. To recap, though, it's a mix of nostalgia with modern technology. 

You'll find a digital instrument cluster, an extra-wide touchscreen infotainment system and a camera-linked rear view mirror, but you'll also see physical controls for air conditioning and radio. And of course, there's plenty of faux-wood paneling.

Honda will display the E Prototype at the Geneva Motor Show on March 5th, and expects to start production later in 2019. 

The car is still intended primarily for Europe -- the external cameras wouldn't fly under US rules, as Audi can attest. Even with that limited launch, though, this is still a big step for a brand that until recently was focused primarily on hybrids and fuel cell vehicles.

SOURCE: ENDGADGET

HyperloopTT Reckons It Can Get You From Sydney To Canberra In 22 Minutes

Image: Hyperloop Transportation Technologies

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HyperloopTT) has said it is confident its solution is a game-changer for the future of Australian transport, promising, for example, to send people from Sydney to Canberra in 22 minutes.

Pitching his company's idea to the Australian House Infrastructure, Transport and Cities Committee on Thursday, HyperloopTT co-founder Bibop G. Gresta said his company's solution "promises to change our life".

"Hyperloop presents an opportunity for Australia to invest in the future, to write a new chapter in its transportation history," Greste said.

Appearing before the committee alongside Greste was Wesley Heron, who leads the company's efforts in Australia. According to Heron, HyperloopTT can make it easier for people to live outside metropolitan areas and still commute to cities for work.

"We've been speaking to state governments around the country and also federal government, and apart from the obvious Sydney to Melbourne, Sydney to Brisbane, Sydney to Canberra corridors, the regional corridors are important," Heron explained.

"Victoria are looking at Melbourne to Geelong, Melbourne to Ballarat for example ... HyperloopTT has the solution for each of those corridors. Here in New South Wales we're looking at Sydney to Wollongong, Sydney to Newcastle -- imagine travelling to Wollongong in nine minutes chair, Sydney to Canberra in 22 minutes.

"It's an important development -- high-speed rail doesn't promise this."

Hyperloop is a new form of ground transport currently in development by a number of companies, which could see passengers travelling at 700 miles an hour in floating pods within low-pressure tubes.

As explained in the company's submission, the HyperloopTT system is powered by a "combination of alternative energy sources to ensure sustainability and low cost", bringing "airplane speeds to ground level, safely".

"The advantages of Hyperloop travel are transformative, changing travel time from hours to minutes across Australia and into regional centres thereby creating decentralisation and game-changing economic opportunities across a properly connected Australian continent," the company wrote.

According to Heron, continuing to invest in rail technology is a waste.

"Rail technology is old technology; it's investing in the past. The Hyperloop technology is new technology; an investment in the future," he told the committee.

"The HyperloopTT technology is in testing and commissioning phase, it is here and now, it is not a pipedream, somewhere over the rainbow, it is being designed and built in a project in Abu Dhabi this year."

HyperloopTT also wants to bring research and development (R&D) down under, with Greste asking the committee to strongly consider helping his company's campaign to stand up an innovation hub on Australian soil.

"We would also like to bring our R&D to Australia, fostering local talent, companies, universities through an innovation hub that allows them to engage with our international partners," he said.

In discussing how the manufacturing work currently underway in Abu Dhabi is converting the area to almost Silicon Valley status, Heron said there is a similar opportunity in Australia, specifically in rural areas.

"There are opportunities and spin-offs from the Hyperloop technology," he explained.

"By going to the moon we innovated six industries; in Hyperloop we already touch 17 industries," Greste added.

"We aren't going to sit in front of you and say we want to build you the Hyperloop and provide all the construction materials to Australia, we say to you, here's our technology, Australia come and build it with us and give Australia the opportunity, and those small towns the opportunities to set up the business, the technology, and provide the materials to actually build our Hyperloop," Heron said.

Heron has asked for a mandate from government to get work started on introducing Hyperloop into Australia, saying he's concerned it might be too late.

"We'd require a mandate from government that says: Government is happy to invest in Hyperloop feasibility studies and Hyperloop innovation hubs and give us the opportunity, for let's say two-hundredths of the cost that is being allocated to things like high speed rail, to quote to you what a feasibility study would cost on the corridor of choice ... my concern is we've missed the boat," he said.

"This technology is here, it's not something that is out there on the horizon, it is here and now and being built, and it's time that Australia takes that leap."

Greste believes it will take four years from a feasibility study to having a working solution in place.

One track will be ready this year, followed by another in 2019 aimed at developing superfast rail technology.

SOURCE: ZDNET.COM

Motorola Confirms Its Foldable Phone Is Coming

PHOTO: Chris Velazco/Engadget; Motorola

By now, it's not much of a secret that Motorola is working on a folding phone of its own: A patent for such a device surfaced late last year, and a subsequent report in The Wall Street Journal basically confirmed the company's plans. 

Despite the ensuing hype, Motorola has mostly kept quiet about its progress, but in an interview with Engadget this week, Motorola VP of Global Product Dan Dery shed some additional light on the company's ambitions.

"We started to work on foldables a long time ago," Dery said. "And we have been doing a lot of iteration."

In many ways, talking to Dery about Motorola's foldable future is like peering through a light fog: You're fairly sure of what lies on the other side, but the details are slightly obscure. 

That said, Dery did tacitly confirm an upcoming release. The original report from The Wall Street Journal also suggested that the company's foldable could launch by the end of February, but that's clearly not happening. 

Dery instead said that Motorola has "no intention of coming later than everybody else in the market," and considering the upcoming launch dates for the Samsung Galaxy Fold (in April) and Huawei's Mate X (in mid 2019), it seems safe to assume that we're looking at a Motorola launch by summer.

Despite his low-key confirmation, Dery continued to make some oblique -- but surprisingly specific -- observations that happen to confirm what we've learned in earlier reports. 

Consider the flip-phone-inspired design seen in Motorola's patent filing. It clearly depicts a smartphone (with distinct RAZR-like styling) that features a large internal display that bends in half when the device is closed.

It's an especially unorthodox look compared to what other foldable makers have unveiled so far, and that's potentially a good thing. 

While he thinks the screen-on-the-outside approach adopted by Samsung and Huawei is "the nicest and the purest" way to go, Dery believes the inherent fragility of those displays meant Motorola had to find a different way forward.

"We have been testing a plastic OLED device with plastic film on top," he said, referring to the same kind of design Huawei used for its Mate X. 

"The fact that you're touching [that kind of display] with your nails is scratching it. It has a short life right away; it starts dying the day you unpack it. But it's beautiful. That first day, it's beautiful."

Dery cautiously elaborated on that point, saying that if Motorola was working on a foldable, the company's "intention would not be to put the display outside. 

When you know the scratching issues you would be facing, you will have something that is very rapidly not usable." It should come as little surprise that this happens to dovetail perfectly with the images found in the company's recent patent application.

That clamshell foldable only represents one avenue of interest for Motorola though. Dery confirmed that Motorola is also exploring the possibility of a dual-hinge device with a single screen that folds twice, leaving only a third of the display exposed when in phone mode.

To be fair, Motorola isn't the only company chasing this dual-folding concept, according to Dery, which he referred to as the "holy grail" of foldable design. 
"A couple of Chinese vendors" are also actively exploring the concept, he claimed, including "two very famous" companies that "are not necessarily making a lot of noise at MWC." (Motorola would not confirm the identities of these companies and declined to elaborate further.) 

As far as Dery is concerned, though, this sort of z-shaped design just isn't practical for Motorola's first foldable phone; there are too many technical hurdles to clear right now.

"We're looking into that too," he said. "But definitely that's not going to be our first shot."

That said, Motorola seems to be considering the z-hinge approach seriously enough to have pondered the questions that would come with such a design. 
The whole point of a dual-hinge foldable would be to take a big screen and make it as pocketable as possible, and that would typically suggest a tablet that could be folded down into a phone. 

Dery mentioned twice in our conversation that Motorola is not in the business of making tablets; that falls to Moto's parent company, Lenovo. He did say, however, that if the z-hinge design problems could be solved, it would be "interesting to see a small display" that could be folded down into something tiny.

Whether or not Motorola actually delivers one of these dual-hinge phones remains to be seen. 

Dery conceded that the company has explored lots of potential products over the years, some of which have been discarded entirely. 

Still, with Motorola's interest in foldables coming into clearer view, it's easy to see how the brand might earn itself some new fans and get some old ones excited all over again.

SOURCE: ENDGADGET

US Bans Cargo Shipments Of Lithium-Ion Batteries On Passenger Planes

PHOTO: Pinterest

Cargo flights will also have to carry mostly-drained batteries.

The US government just added a new wrinkle to receiving lithium-ion batteries. 

The Department of Transportation and the FAA have issued an interim rule banning the transport of lithium-ion batteries and cells as cargo aboard passenger flights. 

It also demands that batteries aboard cargo aircraft carry no more than a 30 percent charge. 

You can still carry devices (including spare batteries) on your trips in most cases, but companies can't just stuff a passel of battery packs into an airliner's hold.

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao described this as a "safety" measure that addressed the "unique challenges" of carrying lithium-ion batteries. 

The FAA has been pushing airlines to reconsider carrying batteries due to the potential fire risk, and the ban theoretically reduces the chances that an incident will put travelers in danger.

The cargo ban will mainly affect people who order batteries. You'll likely still get your orders, but they may have to wait for dedicated cargo flights. 

The battery charge requirement may be another matter. It could mark an end to the days of receiving phones and other gadgets with near-full charges -- you'll probably need to top them up first.

Source: PHMSA

Pentagon’s 1st AI Strategy Vows To Keep Pace With Russia & China

SOURCE: YouTube

The Pentagon has issued its first AI strategy, where it pleads with tech giants to help boost military capabilities and catch up with Russia and China in developing artificial intelligence for military purposes.

An unclassified summary of the strategy calls to rapidly incorporate AI technologies into the military’s decision-making and operations “to reduce risk to fielded forces and generate military advantage.” 

Also, the Pentagon’s strategists believe AI “can help us better maintain our equipment, reduce operational costs, and improve readiness.”

The 17-page paper is loose in wording and full of lengthy sentences hailing the US military’s reliance on innovation. 

Working your way through it won’t help you to get a know-how of building a terminator or the like. Joking aside, one part of it does provide a few tip-offs about what the strategy is actually aimed at.

Other nations, particularly China and Russia, are making significant investments in AI for military purposes.

In an almost ‘usual’ style of bashing, the Pentagon says that Beijing and Moscow “threaten to erode our technological and operational advantages and destabilize the free and open international order.”

Trump orders US agencies to turbocharge AI research and ensure American dominance Trump orders US agencies to turbocharge AI research and ensure American dominance.

Therefore the US and its allies must adopt AI to maintain its strategic position, prevail on future battlefields, and safeguard this order. 

The latter phrase doesn’t sound new as the paper went public only a day after Donald Trump directed US agencies to speed up research and development of artificial intelligence.

Trump’s executive order urges to preserve “continued American leadership” in the high-tech sector and warns the US is falling behind its strategic rivals in the race for AI supremacy.

Notably, The DoD’s plan heavily relies on a helping hand from the American tech industry to source the algorithms and computing power necessary to run AI projects. 

“We will enhance partnerships with US industry to align civilian AI leadership with defense challenges,” it says.

Some tech giants have already been ‘flirting’ with the military, among them Microsoft and Amazon. 

The former had already promised to hand over its expertise to “honorable and ethical” US armed forces, while the latter tried to beat the drum of patriotism with CEO Jeff Bezos calling America a great country which “needs to be defended.”

The hunt for cutting-edge AI technologies didn’t come without setbacks. Microsoft’s own employees demanded that the company have “fair, reliable and safe, private and secure, inclusive, transparent, and accountable” AI policy and dropped the race for “short-term profits.”

Another big tech firm, Google, dropped its bid from the JEDI program last year, which sought to install commercially available cloud computing services into military applications. 

The company has also witnessed a massive outcry from its employees against Project Maven, intended to use AI for drone target acquisition systems.

Some industry captains sounded the alarm over a looming machine takeover. Alibaba's founder Jack Ma has warned that the race for AI dominance could stir up a third world war. 

In 2017, a group of experts teamed up to issue a chilling warning to the countries all over the globe, calling to “stand against weaponizing AI.” 

SOURCE: RT NEWS