By Ray Blanco
This post Apple’s Top Secret “Project Titan” Revealed appeared first on Daily Reckoning.
“Project Titan.”
That’s the name of Apple’s most closely guarded secret project.
Until recently only a handful of people knew of the project’s existence. Even fewer could tell you what the project was about.
Thank god for Twitter.
Last week a game-changing tweet was shared by Voyage self-driving car startup co-founder MacCallister Higgins. Check it out below (click to see full video):
You just got an insider’s first look at what could be Apple’s new driverless car!
If Apple’s tradition of excellence spills over into the driverless car market… watch out, Tesla and Google. Watch out, Motor City mainstays!
Of course Apple has not officially they are developing an autonomous vehicle, but like a good WikiLeaks story, the cat is out of the bag.
This Is What We Know so Far…
The rumors have been swirling around Project Titan for awhile.
Many thought the project was dead. Fortune reported in 2016 that a number of Apple employees working on their driverless car initiative were laid off.
The Higgins tweet, as well as new reports, tells a different story.
Recently, Apple received a permit from California allowing them to test driverless cars on public roads. If Apple is ready to hit public roads for testing that means they’ve secretly made a lot more advances in driverless tech than anyone previously thought.
Another sign Apple’s all in on driverless cars is their hiring of a number of former BlackBerry employees. This includes former BlackBerry QNX CEO Dan Dodge.
BlackBerry QNX is the world’s leading operating system used in today’s cars.
If Apple is looking to jump into the driverless car market, having the engineers who set the standard for computing in automobiles on the team is major news.
But perhaps the most telling sign of Apple’s interest in creating an autonomous vehicle is the number of new hires they’ve had from the auto industry.
Business Insider reported last year that roughly 50 employees left Tesla in 2016 to join Apple, many of whom were high-level engineers.
And let’s not forget Apple CEO Tim Cook’s hiring of Doug Betts, a former Nissan, Toyota, and Fiat Chrysler executive, in 2015.
The stars seem to be aligning…
Apple Breaking the Mold Again
Apple’s been well known for innovation. Just look what it did for laptops and smartphones.
Recently however, Apple has been more of a follower than a leader.
A new push into the driverless car market could help recapture Apple’s magic.
The sensor apparatus seen in Higgin’s tweet indicates some interesting new innovations that could break the mold and set a new standard for the likes of Tesla, Google and others.
The first notable difference is the number of LiDAR sensors used in Apple’s car versus Google’s or Tesla’s designs. Apple’s design uses six LiDAR sensors, while other design use only two or three.
LiDAR is a crucial component in autonomous vehicles. It’s essentially the eyes and ears of the car.
Having more LiDAR could mean better functionality. More sensing equipment means better response time on the road and a much safer driving …read more
Source:: Daily Reckoning feed
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