Mercedes-Benz plans to launch its first wireless charging system for its electrified cars in 2018, aiming to cut out a lingering headache for plug-in EV owners. Expected to be offered as an option for select vehicles in the automaker's range, the wireless charging tech will require hardware changes to the car. However, after that's been carried out, it should make recharging it a no-brainer.
Apple is working on turning its biometric sensor into a secret panic button, with Touch ID potentially being used to send out a cry for help if you're getting mugged. Detailed in a freshly published patent, granted to Apple earlier this week, the so-called "Biometric Initiated Communication" method relies on the ability of the fingerprint sensor to differentiate not only between different fingertips but how they make contact. It could potentially mean the iPhone 8 is able to use Touch ID as another input option.
Samsung may be rebooting a few hundred thousand Galaxy Note 7 handsets as Note 7 FE refurbs, but that still leaves millions of the recalled phablets needing to be dealt with. Rather than junk them, however - and facing pressure from environmental agencies - the South Korean firm has detailed exactly how it plans to make the most of the components that went into the ill-fated phone. However, it's unlikely you'll end up seeing some zombie parts showing up in future Samsung devices.
Apple is pulling back the curtain on its machine learning efforts, launching a new journal where employees can share their work on the Cupertino firm's cutting edge developments. The site is an unusual step by the traditionally secretive firm, which in the past has been more focused on wowing with the end-result of such endeavors. Still, with machine learning set to be one of the mainstays of technology over the next decade, Apple appears to want some of the attention that rivals like Google and Microsoft are garnering.
Throbbing red and scented with bespoke perfume, the 2018 Mercedes-AMG S63's cabin made absolutely clear that, even by Stuttgart's standards, this is no ordinary luxury sedan. Still, to describe the 2018 S-Class as an important car for Mercedes-Benz is to damn it with understatement. What's under its handsome sheet metal doesn't just represent the pinnacle of the automaker's engineering efforts, but in effect sets a roadmap for the rest of its vehicles over the next ten years.
Mercedes-Benz might not be the first automaker you'd think of adding a pickup truck to its range, but nobody told the brand new Mercedes X-Class that. Unveiled today, the newest addition to the German company's line-up promises not only all the utility and flexibility you'd expect from a pickup, but with the driving dynamics and luxury drivers of vehicles bearing the three-pointed star expect. Unfortunately, there's also some bad news.
Amazon may be the go-to online retailer for a huge number of people, but the sales behemoth now wants to be a glamorous lifestyle boutique as well as a bargain warehouse. The company has launched a new feature, Amazon Spark, in its iOS app, taking ideas from Instagram and Pinterest in the grand scheme of making you buy more stuff. The premise? You'll be more likely to open your wallet if you see things looking pretty.
You might associate Bluetooth with cutting the cable between your headphones and your phone, but Bluetooth Mesh aims to make it a ubiquitous backchannel for the Internet of Things. Launched today, Bluetooth Mesh is a way that low-energy radios can build many-to-many (m:m) links between devices, evolving to encompass new gadgets, temporary blackouts, and more. Initially, it's setting its sights on the lucrative smart lighting segment.
Microsoft and Baidu are hooking up on autonomous car tech, with the Seattle software giant playing cloud host to the Chinese behemoth's self-driving ambitions. The collaboration will see Microsoft Azure made the home for the Apollo alliance, Baidu's attempt to make autonomous driving an open platform. Importantly, it gives Apollo some degree of legitimacy outside of Baidu's home turf.
Google's ill-fated wearable, Glass, has been reborn for factory drones as Glass Enterprise Edition, now part of Alphabet's developmental X division. The new version of the headset has already been used in trials with a number of business customers, the team announced today, with a revamped version of the hardware and a new focus on making manufacturing, project management, and other enterprise tasks more productive. It's been enough to catch the attention of big names like DHL, GE, Boeing, and Volkswagen.
"The camera never lies" may not have ever been especially true, but new research into lip-sync for computer-generated mouths could one day leave all videos suspect. The research, by a group at the University of Washington, details how by training a neural network it can be used to generate a computer-controlled mouth to map onto a chunk of real footage. In their example, presented at SIGGRAPH 2017, a section from one of President Obama's speeches was used to create a totally new video of him apparently speaking it.
Netflix has more than 100 million subscribers, and has taken aim at the movie industry, warning that what's good for films may not be so great for the traditional ways they're watched. The on-demand media service announced revenues of $2.79bn in Q2 2017, with the vast bulk of that from streaming rather than its legacy DVD business. Now, international subscribers now account for half of Netflix's total user-base.
