Uber now has mapping cars in five continents following launch in Singapore

Uber is taking one more step forward with its mapping initiative by bringing map cars to Southeast Asia through its launch in Singapore. By having these cartographic cars, which basically have drivers ride around the city state with mapping tech on top of the cars, they are trying to collect data about Singapore based on real trips. They’ve done this here in the country, in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Australia, and South Africa.

Uber’s been working on trying to get its own data on its trips instead of having to rely on Google. At the same time, it’ll help in giving exact details about a drop-off point in certain buildings and areas. However, Uber promises riders who catch these vehicles in the country will not have their pick-up and drop-off points retained and these imagery will not be made public. Plus, Uber isn’t shy to admit this could also help in pushing its self-driving initiative further.

Source:  Engadget

Apple shows off Portrait Mode of the iPhone 7 Plus with two new ads

Apple boasts the iPhone 7 Plus's new Portrait Mode, which lets users focus in on the subject while blurring out the background, in two new short ads. One of them is entitled Soul Mate and plays on the importance of our dog's in our lives (as you can see above) and another shows the image of a child in a creek. This feature mimics the "bokeh" effect you can get from DSLR cameras. It makes use of the 56mm telephoto lens found in the iPhone 7 Plus as well as the image signal processor of the smartphone and machine learning techniques to help distinguish the subject in the foreground and those in the background. A depth map of the image from the two cameras is used to help keep the subjects in the photo in focus while blurring out the background. It's not a feature most smartphones can do.

Apple’s ‘Carpool Karaoke’ gets first trailer

We’ve already heard of the new format Apple plans to bring to Carpool Karaoke: The Series. Now we get a first look at what the show is going to look. Previewed at the Grammy Awards, it shows original host James Corden as well as a slew of other celebrities including Will Smith, John Cena, Shaquille O’Neal, Alicia Keys, Blake Shelton, Chelsea Handler, and Arianna Grande, to name a few. And unlike the original show, the guests and the host for the week step out of the car and some surprise fans at bakeries, laundromats, and even a wedding. We’re kinda curious now about the show. It’ll be streaming on Apple Music soon. We don’t have the specific date yet, though.

Ford to invest US$1 billion into autonomous vehicle startup Argo AI

REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

Not wanting to be left behind in the self-driving car race, Ford is pouring a US$1 billion investment over five years at Argo AI. The previously unheard of startup is led by Uber and Google veterans. They will be working with Ford’s team to create a fully self-driving car by 2021. The cars will be used for commercial ride sharing fleets. Argo AI won’t be owned by Ford but the company is the largest shareholder. The startup will be focusing on artificial intelligence and robotics side of the system to help develop Ford’s “virtual driver system.”

Argo AI plans to hire 200 more employees to get the job done. A possible enticement when it comes to recruitment is that employees could have equity stake in the company. "They have the opportunity to run it pretty independently with a board, but because it is a separate company or subsidiary, it has the opportunity to go out and recruit with competitive compensation packages and equity,” Ford Chief Executive Officer Mark Fields says at a press conference.