BMW now steps closer to producing its autonomous car thanks to new partnerships

While Tesla is being investigated following a driver’s death while under Autopilot control, BMW is pushing ahead with its autonomous vehicle initiative with the new partnerships the brand has entered into. BMW is planning on delivering its iNEXT autonomous car by the year 2021 and to help make that happen, they’ve partnered with Intel and Mobileye. They’re working towards developing “future-proof solutions that will allow the drivers to completely shut off behind the wheel.

Intel will be providing the processors needed to handle the constant stream of information the sensors and cameras bring in. Meanwhile, Mobileye will help BMW create systems that can produce an accurate picture of what’s happening around the iNEXT. In case you didn’t know, Mobileye developed the technology behind Tesla’s AutoPilot system.

Source: Gizmag

Google to let you Cast tabs on Chrome sans extension soon

The latest update coming to Chrome 51 will allow you to Cast the browser to your TV or another Cast-supported monitor without having to use the Google Cast extension. The update bakes the functionality into the browser and it has an option you can select from the tool menu. You can even right click on browser to Cast a specific page.

This new Cast feature will take out the ability to determine bitrate, video quality, and resolution since it’ll automatically adjust this for you depending on your bandwidth. The existing extension won’t go anywhere though, this just gives you the ability to Cast much faster. The update is rolling out to users in the coming weeks.

Source: The Verge

Hyper app brings video digests to mobile

Taking a more visual approach to app digests, Hyper is a newly launched app on iOS after they were acquired by Mic last month. What started out as an iPad app now brings the video digest experience to the iPhone. What sets Hyper apart is it’s a video-focused platform that gives its users 10 curated short videos (usually around three- to six-minute clips) in a clean, vertical list. It’ll ask you to pick your content preference from four categories: tech, global news, pop culture, and fun, and then it’ll start sending the recommendations your way. There’s no other customization. It easily lets you move from one video after another like you would on other streaming multimedia platforms.

Journalists and filmmakers are the ones who select the content and they’ve partnered with the likes of Condé Nast Entertainment, Vogue, GQ, The New Yorker, and Wired. And this approach helps create the aesthetic and themes Hyper is going after, it also allows the team to pick obscure videos from the internet and highlight unknown yet talented creators. They plan to lessen their dependence on big-house media providers and have at least 50 percent of their videos come from independent filmmakers from around the world.

Source: Fast Company

Zachary Quinto pays tribute to ‘Star Trek’ co-star Anton Yelchin

You’ve probably recently heard of the passing of Star Trek star Anton Yelchin in an automobile accident. While we don’t know how his death will affect his role as Pavel Chekov in the upcoming Star Trek Beyond, we’re hearing from one of his co-stars pay tribute to the actor. Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock in the new Star Trek movies, honors his friend Yelchin during a recent guesting on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Quinto and Yelchin started working on the Star Trek movies in 2007 and he has nothing but good words to say about the actor.

“We already know this’ll be a bittersweet experience with the loss of Leonard [Nimoy] but this has been absolutely devastating for all of us…,” Quinto says. “I think our goal has to be to just celebrate his incredible life and honor him as much as we can. It’s terrible loss not only to us personally but to the industry, audiences, he was such a talent.” You can watch the rest of the interview above. 

Source: Mashable