Apple thinks that two men accused of stealing secrets from its mysterious self-driving car project are likely to flee the country if they aren‘t closely watched.
Despite the drama surrounding their arrests, what makes this case most interesting is that it absolutely confirms that Apple has a self-driving car in development.
The iPhone could transform into a secure version of a key fob that not only unlocks your vehicle, but it could also summon a parked vehicle to come to you.
Apple drops a breadcrumb on the path to an autonomous vehicle future, offering a possible glimpse into its Project Titan with a patent application for a keyless entry system.
Project Titan may take the steering wheel out of the driver’s hands, but controlling the car could be as easy as gesturing at the seatbelt.
Apple has filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that details a smart seatbelt with a surface that would sense hand gestures for adjusting the entertainment system and operating various features in self-driving vehicles.
Normally, Apple keeps mum about its self-driving car program but it has officially acknowledged a bit of restructuring in the project. This involved a reduction in its headcount.
The employees weren’t fired, and the move is being positioned as a restructuring after a new manager joined the program in August.
Apple’s self-driving car development could be headed for a cliff. Maybe. A questionable report from industry analysts says that there are layoffs in this division and the whole project might even be scrapped.
The cause is supposedly the slowdown in iPhone sales caused by the weakening Chinese economy. The reduction in revenue leaves less room for non-core programs.
Andrew Kim used to be a senior designer at Tesla where he contributed to the development of numerous car models. Recently, however, he joined the list of people who’ve left that car company for Apple.
It’s not yet known what projects Kim is working on for his new employer, but he could be contributing to Apple’s autonomous vehicle project. That said, Kim’s design experience extends beyond cars.
Apple’s autonomous vehicle program sustained its first crash last week.
A Nissan Leaf rear-ended one of Apple’s autonomous test vehicles, according to a filing with California’s Department of Motor Vehicles. The DMV licenses autonomous car testing programs in the state.
