Uber has discontinued its self-driving car test program in the City by the Bay after just one week. Following a dustup between Uber and state officials, the California DMV took action and revoked the registrations of the 16 cars involved. It’s not the end of the story for Uber though, as the company says it’s working with the DMV – and the Golden State bureaucracy – to get the cars re-certified and back on the road.
When that day will come remains to be seen, but it’s no secret California officials were chapped at Uber deploying the cars in the first place. The DMV said it has a driverless car permitting process in place – Tesla, Google, and just about anyone developing the tech seems to be in California – and they say Uber just plain ignored the rules. Uber claims that since they have a person in the driver’s seat of the cars to take over if needed, they don’t need the special permits.
Well, like the song says, Uber fought the law and the law won, but their test program in Pittsburg is still underway, and we’re pretty sure this will only be a temporary pit stop in Uber’s race to perfect its driverless tech.
Waymo Honda driverless cars coming soon? (sorry)
Speaking of robot cars in California, Google-slash-Alphabet’s new WayMo self-driving car division is in talks to collaborate with a major new partner: Honda.
Honda, which is looking to roll out vehicles with automated driving capabilities on highways in as soon as three years, said that if they can strike a deal, Honda R&D folks in Silicon Valley and Japan would work closely with Waymo engineers in Mountain View, and also in Michigan. The result would be Honda cars with Waymo driverless tech installed, with test units joining Waymo’s previously announced Chrysler driverless minivans, which are set to hit the road next year.
The partnership will likely prompt other carmakers and tech outfits to join forces to stay in the game, but a Google-Waymo-Honda-and maybe Acura venture sounds like a winner to us.
Like Oz, but with much better TVs
If you’re watching this video on an LG smartphone, computer monitor or TV, well, do we have a treat for you.
DT’s A/V editor Caleb Denison and Editor in Chief Jeremy Kaplan recently returned from South Korea, where they were given unheard of access to both LG’s R&D and their super-high-tech manufacturing facilities. There’s a lot to see, including an LG museum showcasing their tech legacy back to the 1960s, their new state-of-the-art OLED TV manufacturing facility, and an awesome room composed entirely of giant OLED panels.
DT also got to see some top-secret stuff that will be coming to market soon, and with CES right around the corner all we can say is: prepare to be amazed. It’s going to be a really great year in tech.
