The world in 2017 looks very different than it did in 1938. That much Pioneer Electronics has seen firsthand. The 79-year-old company has remained on the forefront of electronics, particularly in the automotive space, for decades. At this year’s CES, we chatted with Pioneer’s Ted Cardenas, the vice president of marketing in the company’s car electronics division, about the future of our vehicles, particularly when it comes to self-driving technology.
At its booth at CES, the company is showcasing technology for cars of yesterday, today, and tomorrow, with hopes of proving that much of today’s technology can be implemented in the cars of yesteryear. They’ve outfitted a 1967 Datsun Roadster, for example, with modern speakers, a GPS system, and more. But can a car from five decades ago do what some of the cars of the present are doing, and drive themselves? That, Cardenas said, is where things get tricky.
While it’s true that you don’t have to get a new car to get the latest tech, Cardenas told us that there are a number of legal issues when it comes to outfitting a car from the ’60s with self-driving technology of 2017. “Who owns the liability?” Cardenas asked. Is it the tech company (like Pioneer) who provides innovations like light detection and ranging (lidar) systems to help the cars “see” the road, or is it the carmaker itself who must take responsibility in case of an accident?
Either way, finding a way for older and newer cars to coexist in a futuristic environment is key to self-driving technology, Cardenas said. Perhaps most important will be vehicle to vehicle communication. While a number of modern cars know how to “talk” to one another, equally important will be their ability to talk to more aged models. And as vehicles learn how to better communicate, we’ll get closer and closer to true autonomy on the road.
“There are six levels of autonomy,” Cardenas said, with zero being an entirely manual situation, and five being completely autonomous. “Today, we’re at level two,” he continued, and to get to level five will take another few decades yet. After all, it’s not just about getting self-driving cars. Infrastructure like highways, stoplights, and other traffic signals will have to adapt to a self-driving future over the next few decades.
“It’ll be a fun 30 to 40 years,” Cardenas concluded.
Digital Trends is live all week at CES 2017 in Las Vegas. Check out our continuing coverage live on YouTube, Facebook, #DTces, and DigitalTrends.com/ces/.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.