BMW AirTouch One Ups Volvo and Microsoft HoloLens - http://clapway.com/2015/12/29/bmw-airtouch-one-ups-volvo-and-microsoft-hololens-123/

The new era of technology is taking serious strides in the automobile industry. Recently, Microsoft announced a partnership with Volvo to use the Microsoft HoloLens to introduce the car makers’ future models. BMW has one upped them by announcing the introduction of AirTouch, a gesture-operated infotainment system for their future cars. There will be no need for touchscreens anymore with this new technology.

BMW Announces AirTouch at Consumer Electronics Show 2015

Hosted in Las Vegas, Nevada, the CES show was the first venue for the announcement. The new AirTouch system will use sensors in the car’s dashboard. The ultimate goal is to give users the ability to interact with their cars’ information screen through hand motions.

The BMW 7 series first hinted at a gesture based control system. However, it was on a much smaller scale. That feature was only capable of lowering or raising the sound system’s volume or declining or accepting a phone call. AirTouch will be using 3D control so that the touchscreen can be operated with gestures. This would take the need of touch away from a touchscreen, though it will still be touch-capable for added accessibility.

Touchless Control System Will Be a Game Changer

A touchless interface will allow for contact access and call list access straight from the car. Like something inspired by the Iron Man movies, this new system will let BMW drivers control entertainment and navigation with only the movement of their hands.

How exactly does it work? A driver or a passenger can set a certain movement or gesture, and a physical button will confirm the motion as being equal to the desired action via AirTouch. So just by pressing the button, doing the motion and confirming the motion with the button, drivers and passengers can have a different way to control the information screen of their car. There are two AirTouch buttons for easy accessibility from the drivers and the passengers as well.

The technology was first demoed in a Vision Car at CES 2016 with other new tech gimmicks.

Wouldn’t This Technology Be More Dangerous for Driving?

This new technology could have potential issues when it comes to safety. While it can be convenient at a standstill or for the person in the driver’s seat, it could be a nuisance for the driver. It could take away from their attention on the road, and also force them to lift their hands from the wheel. It’s yet to be seen how this feature will actually be incorporated onto the new BMW cars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DilzwF90vec

BMW AirTouch One Ups Volvo and Microsoft HoloLens

Google and Ford Go Up Against Mercedes-Benz Self-Driving Car - http://clapway.com/2015/12/22/google-teams-up-with-ford-to-beat-mercedes-benz-self-driving-system-123/

Google is in talks with Ford to make a commercialized version of their self-driving system. Sources have reported that both companies are in talks to form a new company. This would protect Ford from any liabilities during development.

The Giant has been in Talks With Many Car Makers, But it Looks like Ford is the One

No Google or Ford representatives have confirmed the collaboration, and there’s no clarification on when exactly this new company will be formed. There’s also no blueprint in regards to when or even if the vehicles made from the collaboration will be on sale.

The Partnership is Still Really Secretive

The company has been testing their self-driving system on public American roads. They’ve been using converted Lexus SUVs as well as cars from Roush Industries. These test projects are directed by John Krafcik. Former CEO of Hyundai USA, Krafcik is joined by previous Ford CEO Alan Mulally, who is on Google’s board of directors.

Ford Collaboration May Not Be Exclusive

People close to Ford revealed that the deal with Google is not an exclusive one and that Ford is open to Google forming other collaborations with other car makers. Ford just recently opened up a lab in Silicon Valley back in January. They’re planning to test their own self-driving car in California in 2016. Ford is expecting to have a commercialized self-driving car by 2020.

Will This Collaboration Bring a New Ford Car?

This collaboration could make a new Ford-Google car, but it could also take an existing Ford model and remake it with a Google made self-driving system. A partnership like this could be greatly beneficial to both parties. Ford could use a serious boost in sales, and Google can bring them that.

The company has expressed most of their interest in collective transport for all people, but it looks like they want to go commercial. It is about time, as word recently got out that the Apple Car is most likely in development. This new car could be out by 2019, and it will certainly be a commercial car for sale to the public. There are a lot of people out there who would seek out and buy a Google car regardless of the price. The company has many loyal followers like that.

Google’s Self-Driving System Goes Commercial

A commercial car by Google will bring very interesting competition to the table. Already dabbling in virtually every relevant industry, Google has not found a pool where it isn’t comfortable. With Google’s intentions in mind, they could be bringing affordable self-driving vehicles to third world countries and developed ones alike. They could be optimizing transportation instead of looking to make it more luxurious. Ford has many subsidiaries, and they make many different cars fit for different target groups.

Either way, it is an exciting time for Silicon Valley. Clean energy is becoming trendier with time, and it’s slowly taking over all technology industries. Going green is a statement that is putting a lot of pressure on many different industries. Hopefully, it catches on and makes necessary changes to industries that take advantage of gas emissions.

Is Volvo the Secret to This Partnership?

In an ideal situation, even Volvo should be considered to partner up with Google. With their gas emissions scandal this year, Volvo has very low credibility right now. They will greatly benefit from collaborating with a giant like Google to get back the faith of their clients, investors and customers. Also owned by Ford, Volvo could be the answer to all the mystery surrounding this partnership. It has been a low year for Ford in general, and they could certainly use a boost courtesy of the most profitable company in the world right now.

Google and Ford Go Up Against Mercedes-Benz Self-Driving Car

Self-Driving Technology is Cheaper than Google, Tesla, and Volvo Make it Look - http://clapway.com/2015/12/18/tesla-self-driving-cars-are-overpriced-and-outdated-123/

Tesla is getting into a fight with Bloomberg Business to defend that they aren’t overpricing self-driving technology, but the odds aren’t in their favor. George Hotz is Tesla’s prime target. He was the first person to hack the iPhone and PlayStation 3, and he’s coming at Elon Musk for putting a big price tag on something that should not have it.

Geroge ‘Geohot’ Hotz is 26 Years Old, and Made is Own Self-Driving Car

The young entrepreneur developed his own self-driving car kit, and during its release, he threw some shade at other car companies with autonomous driving ventures. He specifically targeted Tesla and Mobileye, saying that their technology is outdated and even he can come up with better gear. He has the proof, too, as he’s released footage of his Honda Acura driving itself on a highway in San Francisco. His next ambitious plan is to outrace a Tesla on Interstate 405 though he didn’t specify a date.

Tesla was quick to shut these claims down, saying that most of Bloomberg Business and Hotz’s statements are completely unfounded. They claim that Tesla’s self-driving efforts have been years in the making, with arduous research and other components having come together to break serious ground in the automobile industry.

Tesla and George Hotz Have A Serious Feud Going On

Tesla went on to declare that there isn’t one person or company that can produce a self-driving car that is production-ready, and that Hotz’s attempt only works on a short stretch of road.

As it turns out, this fight is some time in the making. Elon Musk has had beef with George Hutz for a long time. According to Hotz, he was supposed to join Tesla’s team of self-driving car technology designers. The proposition fell through after three months.

Elon Musk isn’t Very Popular at Silicon Valley

The significance of these two names in the same sentence isn’t great. Elon Musk isn’t seen in a very good light by a lot of people, both for his narcissism and his incredible ability to make something really small sound grand.

However, it’s probably possible that self-driving technology is not as expensive to develop as these companies make it sound. Tesla is notorious for building cars that are six figures and over, so this is no surprise. Do they overprice the technology? Maybe. Does Google overprice the technology? Maybe not.

Google is, At Least, More Reliable than Tesla

Google’s approach to the self-driving car is very different from Tesla’s. Google is looking to provide people with transportation at the cost of any other form of public transport. Tesla is trying to market a product, as is the case with Volvo.

People have a lot of faith in Google, and Google is good at delivering. There’s a chance that thanks to George Hotz, a lot of people will start to question the true cost of self-driving cars. Companies need to make profits somehow, and it’s always at the expense of the client.

Clapway

When Other Car Makers Join the Race, The Truth Will Come Out

Once big car makers like Mercedez-Benz and others join the ranks to make their own self-driving car, the cats will get out of the bag. When the consumer has more options, then sellers are forced to share more information. How else will they compete with Tesla, who has been on the market for years?

We can also expect more flashy statements from Elon Musk. This is another great talent that Tesla has. They will continue to release cars with ridiculous specs and people will continue to buy them, at least until the big boys come around. Then, Elon Musk might have to scramble for attention for once.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTrgRYa2wbI

Self-Driving Technology is Cheaper than Google, Tesla, and Volvo Make it Look

2016 Volvo X90 CarPlay More Effective Than Ford Siri Eyes - http://clapway.com/2015/12/09/2016-volvo-x90-carplay-more-effective-than-ford-siri-eyes123/

The partnership between Apple and Volvo has finally given some fruit; the 2016 Volvo X90 crossover will be the first out of the carmaker to feature Apple CarPlay as an option. This partnership has been two years in the making, and Volvo has had intentions of having an Apple car interface onto their vehicles since 2014.

Volvo’s Sensus Connect and Apple CarPlay Join Hands

The reason why it has taken the carmaker so long to launch the services is because they were looking for the best way to combine it with their new automobile entertainment interface, Sensus Connect. It works as a four-tile system, which performs different tasks. These involve navigation, phone connection, media, and if buyers choose it, Apple CarPlay.Choosing any option will not take over the entire 2016 Volvo X90 screen, so drivers and passengers can easily toggle back to the main screen. Apple CarPlay will also not start without the mobile app, so passengers will have to first get the app ready on their phones and then launch the application.

volvocars.com

Apple CarPlay is Only Featured as an Option in 2016 Volvo X90

In an interesting turn of events, buyers can choose to not integrate Apple CarPlay onto the 2016 Volvo X90. The fourth option bubble can be taken over by other third-party apps instead. Apple, who is usually strict about its partners and enjoys exclusivity, has allowed for Volvo drivers to have other options on board when it comes to entertainment.

volvocars.com

Sensus Connect, which is part of Volvo’s plan to revamp their entire car roster by 2019. The software takes up a fraction of the $11 billion investment that looks to change the brand in the next five years. The 2016 Volvo X90 will be the first one to feature it, and it will be a standard feature on all upcoming cars by 2018.

volvocars.com

Volvo’s Next Makeover is for the Volvo S90 Sedan

The car maker’s next target will be unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit next month. It’ll be presenting a new re-designed version of the S90 sedan.

This maker isn’t the only one with alliances with Apple. Ford is also featuring Siri in the upcoming models of their cars, and it feels like this is the company’s attempt at starting to become part the automobile industry, which Google is already heavily invested in.

volvocars.com

 

2016 Volvo X90 CarPlay More Effective Than Ford Siri Eyes

Volvo easily beats Toyota and Volkswagen - http://clapway.com/2015/12/02/volvo-easily-beats-toyota-and-volkswagen-123/

Volvo has just recently seen more of an increase in their total shares than Toyota and Volkswagen have combined. All three of these companies recently released what their sales looked like. By the looks of these statistics, Volvo is ahead of Toyota and Volkswagen.

VOLVO MUCH MORE SUCCESSFUL THAN TOYOTA AND VOLKSWAGEN RECENTLY

Volkswagen was the most unfortunate of the companies when they released their October sales. The company stated that their worldwide sales fell a full 5 percent in October. The company stated that some of the problems was the halted sales of some diesel models. They said that the exhausts would emit a larger amount of nitrogen oxide that is allowed. Volkswagen also stated recently that they exaggerated claims about CO2 emissions for around 800,000 of their vehicles. Volkswagen has had a rough time, but Toyota saw their global sales rise. Toyota announced that their total sales rose up 12.4 percent in November. The general manager for Toyota, Bill Fay, stated that the company is set to exceed their exceptions for 2015. He also said that they had their most successful Black Friday in years. However, the most successful company out of these three recently is Volvo. The company of Volvo announced that their sales increased a massive 26 percent in November. They also stated that they sold 49,055 cars in November and stated that that was a personal record of theirs.

VOLVO AND TOYOTA ARE TRENDING

Volvo and Toyota are trending in the right direction while Volkswagen is certainly not. It will be intriguing to see what these three companies final numbers are in December. However, if these recent numbers are any indication, Volkswagen will be in dead last. Who knows, they could end up having a massive December, but they need to improve quickly. However, this is not about Volkswagen, this is about how great Volvo did last month and the fact that they’re on a roll right now.

Volvo easily beats Toyota and Volkswagen

Microsoft and Volvo Use HoloLens for Virtual Driving - http://clapway.com/2015/11/21/microsoft-and-volvo-use-hololens-for-virtual-driving123/

Microsoft and Volvo have joined forces, though not to produce a tasteless car-themed phone. They’re collaborating to combine Volvo’s showrooms with HoloLens headsets. Starting next year, Volvo will be able to show clients and investors all of their new cars’ specs and features through Microsoft’s HoloLens.

Microsoft’s HoloLens

Microsoft Volvo HoloLens Tested in Redmond

The two companies have actually recently showcased a model version of the system at Microsoft’s HQ in Redmond, making use of the upcoming S90 luxury car as their subject. Using the HoloLens and the Volvo S90, They were able to display not only holographic versions of the unreleased automobile, but also showcase samples of the car’s parts.

Holograms Are Not Just for Show

Participants were also able to customize the car’s shade as well as bumper. They could even walk around the holograms for a full 360 degree scope. The hologram not only displays specs, but it could take drivers for a virtual test drive to get a better sense of what it would look like to drive these cars.

Another Ploy to Get the HoloLens to Sell More

This is another tactic Microsoft is using to promote their HoloLens. The tech behemoth has actually just finished an 11-city tour of the United States and Canada in an effort to lure programmers to endorse the HoloLens next year for $3,000. Still, this partnership isn’t really just a one-off, as Redmond as well as Volvo plan to collaborate on other car technologies in the future.

Microsoft and Volvo Use HoloLens for Virtual Driving

Volvo XC90 Polestar Supposedly "High Performance" - http://clapway.com/2015/11/05/volvo-xc90-polestar-supposedly-high-performance123/

Volvo isn’t really associated with high performance cars, not even of the affordable kind, but it looks like the Volvo XC90 Polestar may fit the bill. COO of Polestar Niels shares that Polestar only wants to follow in the trend of the SUV as an urban cruiser; they’d only like to put one on a race track as well.

Polestar will showcase a new four-pot petrol engine on the Volvo XC90 Polestar, which will replace the straight-six turbo ones in the S60 and V60 Polestar models. The company is also putting a 2.0-liter Drive-E is also under consideration for future showcasing. It’s set to be on the lighter side of their car roster, with more power and half the CO2 emissions. Polestar hopes to put in a supercharger and a turbocharger to get the best of these features.

volvocars.com

Volvo bought out Polestar in July of 2015, and if cards are played right, the Volvo XC90 Polestar and its subsequent models could bring Volvo back to the race tracks. Two S60 Polestar TC1 units will be competing in the World Touring Car Championship in 2016, and it’ll start the spin of changes that will come from the partnership between Volvo and Polestar for future years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjzQbU6vTo0

Volvo XC90 Polestar Supposedly "High Performance"

Volvo Cars Learn How to Detect and Avoid Pesky Kangaroos - http://clapway.com/2015/10/30/volvo-cars-learn-how-to-detect-and-avoid-pesky-kangaroos-123/

The experts at Volvo are working on developing technology in their cars that will allow them to detect kangaroos and prevent accidents. Kangaroos certainly are not an issue in the United States, but Australia is another story as it is reported by the Australian National Roads and Motorists Association that there are around 20,000 collisions per year in Australia involving kangaroos.

HOW WILL THESE CARS MANAGE TO ACHIEVE THIS

With the way technology works today, absolutely nothing is off limits for companies around the world. Volvo must have full confidence that they can succeed in minimizing the amount of kangaroo crashes in Australia. The most important factor to achieving this revelation is studying the kangaroos behavior on the road. Volvo Cars, owned by China’s Geely, was stated as saying how a team of safety engineers from Sweden were in Australia’s capital Canberra to film the roadside behavior of kangaroos and collect data for its detection and collision-avoidance software. The company went on to say that the system detects movements through a radar sensor in the cars grille that scans the road through a high-resolution camera on the cars windscreen.

Volvo Cars safety engineer Martin Magnusson noted how the company is fully aware on just how difficult kangaroos are to avoid, but how they have confidence in this project. Magnusson specifically stated, ‘Kangaroos are very unpredictable animals and difficult to avoid, but we are confident we can refine our animal detection technology to detect them and avoid collisions on the highway.’ Volvo concluded that when a kangaroo is detected via their sensor that the brakes would engage automatically to stop the car and avoid any kangaroos.

CAN THIS ACTUALLY WORK

As mentioned previous, nothing is impossible in this day and age and with Volvo’s confidence in this project there is a good chance they will succeed and lower the kangaroo collisions each year in Australia. Now is this to say that they will eliminate all collisions involving kangaroos? Well I think it is safe to say that that is indeed impossible. There is only so much a company can do to protect their drivers from danger before it becomes up to the driver to do something. However, if Volvo can reduce around 20,000 collisions due to kangaroos each year, then this project should be considered a success. The best of luck is wished to Volvo as they work on protecting their drivers from one of the many dangers that appear on the road, kangaroos.

---

Clever Travel Companion Pick Pocket Proof Shirt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1WypciWcFo

Volvo Cars Learn How to Detect and Avoid Pesky Kangaroos

Bike Safety With Volvo LifePaint - http://clapway.com/2015/10/14/bike-safety-volvo-lifepaint-123/

Volvo has developed a fantastic bike safety spray paint that can drastically reduce the rate of bicycle and car collisions in the UK. The idea behind Volvo LifePaint is that this great tool will act as a reflective agent so that drivers can see the cyclists as they are traveling down the roads.

LifePaint is the name that Volvo has given this new bike safety innovation. It is an invisible spray paint and can be applied both to the rider and the bicycle so that there is no doubt that they will be seen in the dark hours of the night. It is washable, however, so if it were to rain, the water would wash the paint off and make your bike go back to being dark again. The company is currently working on fixing this issue.

GreyLondon, an advertisement agency that has been working with Volvo on the development of this new product, supports the product wholeheartedly and also believes that it can benefit the community to have access to such a great bike safety_ tool. One of the advantages to the spray paint is that the user can easily put it on their helmet, bike, backpack, or whatever surface they like and it will not affect the fabric in any way.

Nissan has taken the lead on this and has looked into developing a reflective car paint, which they call Starpath. The idea is to help promote their energy efficient technology, by using it on their LEAF hybrid cars. They hope to be able to use this product to raise awareness here in the United States both for the environmental friendliness of their cars, as well as for the safety of other drivers, and pedestrians that may be roaming the streets at night.

LifePaint could actually have catch on as a visual aid for other items and for other people. Parents with strollers, using it on dog leashes, and regular pedestrians who would like to become more visible to drivers can all use Volvo’s LifePaint with no ill effects to the materials that have been sprayed.

Volvo is promoting the product in hopes of its overall success and to bring awareness to the public about this ongoing safety issue. In the UK alone there are over 18,000 traffic accidents a year involving a bicyclist and a car. The idea is to help lower this number through this easy, affordable product.

LifePaint is now available for purchase and can be expected to last for one week after application on whatever object you choose, provided that it does not come into contact with water. The Netherlands has also looked into taking advantage of this new product and is looking to market it there as well.

Ideally, LifePaint and other bike safety products like it will take off and help skyrocket society into a new level of safety and security where people, bikes, and cars can travel without issue or fear of the unseen.

This new innovation could very well open the door to many other new bike safety products to come into this space.

---

Use SHOWME to show off to your friends

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5cxM-g_b9w

Bike Safety With Volvo LifePaint