Waymo starts offering self-driving minivans for Lyft riders

If you find yourself in Waymo’s Phoenix, Arizona testing zone, you might be able to get a self-driving Lyft ride. The autonomous driving subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet launched its tie-in with ride-hailing service Lyft. Less than 10 self-driving minivans are roaming the streets of Phoenix and picking up Lyft riders who opt-in with the program. According to TechCrunch, Waymo plans to introduce 10 cars in the testing zone but it “isn’t there yet.” While not a lot of people will get to use the service, those who decide to be part of the testing can choose to use the Waymo minivan or a traditional Lyft ride.

This partnership doesn’t mean Waymo isn’t working on its own projects. The company still has its own commercial autonomous ride-hailing service called Waymo One. Earlier this month, Waymo struck a deal with Nissan and Renault to help build self-driving vehicles for those automakers.

Apple’s new AirPods ad promotes its wireless charging case

This isn’t the first time Apple made an ad for its AirPods, but it is the first one highlighting the wireless charging case for this second-generation earbuds. It shows a bored or melancholic man getting ready for the day. He takes the AirPods and its case off a wireless charging pad before he heads outside. There he discovers ordinary street items are somehow bouncy like a trampoline. The song that plays in the background is “I Learnt Some Jazz Today,” adding vibrancy to this monochromatic video. The AirPods with its wireless charging case retails for $269, or you can get the wireless charging case on its own for $99. It will work with any Qi-based charging mats, like the Apple-exclusive Belkin model.

The S Pen might be coming to the next-gen Galaxy Fold

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We’re not exactly counting on this rumour to be true, but the Korean media is buzzing with claims about Samsung’s next Galaxy Fold. Yes, the next one, even if the first one hasn’t even left Samsung’s gates. But we want to indulge the idea a bit and think about what Samsung might bring to the next-gen Galaxy Fold. Rumour has it the Galaxy Fold 2 will get a screen size upgrade, going from 7.3 inches to 8 inches, placing it in Samsung’s tablet territory (close to its own Galaxy Tab A, in fact).

On top of that, Samsung is reportedly toying with the idea of adding support for the S Pen stylus. As SlashGear points out, this raises an important question. For the Galaxy Fold to support the S Pen, it’ll need a Wacom digitizer, which doesn’t exist for foldable surfaces just yet. There have been Chinese digitizers that have been used on flexible drawing tablets, but we don’t think Samsung might head down that route. Or could they? Is there even a point to working on a second-generation one when the first-gen hasn’t even made its way to the public yet?

Google patent shows a foldable ‘smart book’ with multiple screens

A patent Google filed back in 2018 was recently discovered and it takes on the idea of foldable devices in a different direction. Instead of having just one internal screen, this patent toys with the idea of having multiple screens, making it look like a “smart book.” Perhaps, it’s trying to re-define the idea of an e-reader or giving you different screens for different tasks. For now, there isn’t any indication Google is developing this concept into a concrete product. But it’s interesting to see what a multi-screen device could look like.

When folded up, it would have solid, non-flexible screens for both the cover and the back to make it more rigid. The tech relies heavily on the hinge with it both anchoring the screens to the device and helping it move as well as having essential components hidden within it. The patent shows thick internal panels for the screens with these set very close together. Distances between the screens range from 1mm to only 0.005mm between each screen. However, this won’t be ideal to head into production, the weight alone would be prohibitive right from the start. Again, for now, this remains a concept. But with how foldable screen technology has been progressing, we won’t be surprised if this becomes an actual product. And we won’t be surprised if Google leads the charge.

Source: Digital Trends