Smart Mobility AM

BMW Group, Intel and Mobileye announced on January 8, 2017, that a fleet of approximately 40 autonomous BMW vehicles will be on the roads by the second half of 2017, demonstrating the significant advancements made by the three companies towards fully autonomous driving. Revealing this at a podium discussion held during a joint press conference at CES, the companies explained that the BMW 7 Series will employ cutting-edge Intel and Mobileye technologies during global trials starting in the US and Europe.

Smartphone vendors Blackberry have officially unveiled a state-of-the-art autonomous vehicle innovation center. The fabulous new faculty will be housed within its QNX facility which is located in Ottawa, Canada. The ultimate purpose and vision for the center is to develop production-ready software aimed at accelerating the adoption of connected and self-driving vehicles.

Californian authorities have threatened online transportation company Uber with legal action after they refused to adhere to state regulations in relation to its self-driving vehicles. Uber have deployed a number of its self-driving vehicles on the roads in San Francisco.

Google has yet again reiterated its desire to develop a new way of mobility following the announcement that it will rebrand its self-driving car unit. Management at Google have made a series of decisions in the last number of months which illustrate clearly its desire to ramp up operations in relation to autonomous driving technology.

Google's aspirations to extend the reach of its innovative drone delivery service has encountered a number of issues and plans to begin a wider launch of the product that have been put on hold. Google's parent company Alphabet, a leading software company, has revealed its ambitious plan for a marketplace that could order anything from a coffee to toilet paper and have it within minutes.