Sunday, June 9, 2019
Why 'Huawei ban' could delay 5G roll out globally
Fiat Chrysler partners with Aurora to develop self-driving commercial vans
Aurora, the autonomous vehicle technology startup backed by Sequoia Capital and Amazon, has struck a deal with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to develop self-driving commercial vehicles.
The partnership will focus on integrating Aurora’s technology into FCA’s line of Ram Truck commercial vehicles, a portfolio that includes cargo vans and trucks. The deal could extend to FCA’s Fiat Professional brand as well, TechCrunch has learned.
The deal with Aurora aims to specifically develop and deploy self-driving commercial vehicles that could be used by any third party with a delivery-to-consumer need. For instance, once Aurora’s technology is integrated into its commercial vans, FCA could sell them to a third-party logistics company — like say, Amazon — that intends to use autonomous vehicles for deliveries.
Neither company disclosed financial terms of the deal.
The high cost of developing and bringing technology such as electrification and autonomous vehicles to market has prompted automakers, including FCA, to seek out partnerships and alliances, sometimes even with competitors.
In May, FCA proposed a 50-50 merger with French automaker Renault, arguing that it would create a more capital efficient enterprise that could develop global vehicle platforms, architectures, powertrains and technologies.
FCA has since withdrawn its merger offer. However, more partnerships are likely to emerge.
“As part of FCA’s autonomous vehicle strategy we will continue to work with strategic partners in this space to address the needs of consumers in a rapidly changing industry,” FCA CEO Mike Manley said in a statement.
FCA has an existing partnership with autonomous vehicle technology company Waymo, the former Google moonshot project that is now a business under Alphabet. These two relationships are tackling different aspects of autonomous vehicle technology — at least for now.
Two years ago, FCA said it would produce about 100 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans integrated with Waymo’s suite of self-driving hardware and software. Waymo uses these self-driving minivans for testing as well as for its Waymo One autonomous ride-hailing business in the Phoenix area. The autonomous vehicles used in the Waymo One service still have a human safety driver behind the wheel.
FCA and Waymo expanded on their relationship in 2018 with FCA announcing it would supply Waymo with up to 62,000 more Chrysler Pacifica minivans.
Unlike Waymo, Aurora has never indicated plans publicly to launch a robotaxi service. Instead, it’s focused on supplying and then integrating its full self-driving stack to companies hoping to deploy autonomous vehicles or services.
Aurora, founded in early 2017 by Sterling Anderson, Drew Bagnell and Chris Urmson, has integrated its technology into six vehicle platforms, including sedans, SUVs, minivans, a large commercial vehicle and a Class 8 truck.
Aurora is just a few months removed from announcing its hefty $530 million Series B round that was led by Sequoia Capital and included “significant investment” from Amazon and T. Rowe Price Associates. The round pushed Aurora’s valuation to more than $2.5 billion. Aurora announced a $90 million Series A round last February from Greylock Partners and Index Ventures, bringing its total raised to date to more than $620 million.
The company has offices in Palo Alto, San Francisco and Pittsburgh and previously announced partnerships with Volkswagen Group, Hyundai and Chinese electric vehicle startup Byton.
GetSafe, a mobile-only insurance provider that targets millennials in Germany and has 60K customers, raises €15M Series A, as it plans to expand to the UK (Steve O'Hear/TechCrunch)
GetSafe, a mobile-only insurance provider that targets millennials in Germany and has 60K customers, raises €15M Series A, as it plans to expand to the UK — Getsafe, the German insurance startup targeting millennials, has raised $17 million (€15m) in a Series A funding.
Piyush Goyal pushes for nations’ sovereign right to use data for social welfare
Incentives on cards to push Industry 4.0
Doom, Fallout and the rest of the trailers from Bethesda’s E3 press conference
E3 may not officially start until Tuesday, but the announcements are coming fast a furious. A few short hours after Microsoft previewed its streaming service and next get console, Bethesda took to the stage a few blocks a way, with footage from new Elder Scroll and Doom titles, along with a lot more Fallout 76 gameplay.
Here’s what you missed.
Elder Scrolls: Blades for Switch – The mobile game is heading to Switch this fall — and best of all, it’s free.
Fallout 76: Nuclear Winter – As the company noted, fallout 76 didn’t get off to the most auspicious of starts. The publisher announced a number of new updates for the post-apocalyptic title, including, the addition of Nuclear Winter, a battle royale mode.
Ghostwire: Tokyo – A new creepy action adventure game from Resident Evil director, Shinji Mikami.
Commander Keen: The 90s id game returns as a free-to-play iOS title.
Elder Scrolls: Legends – The mobile title is getting addition content.
Rage 2 – The first-person shooter gets new enemies, new vehicles and more.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood – More footage of the Terror Twins doing a number on Nazis.
Deathloop: We didn’t get a lot of info on this one, but it sure did look purdy.
Doom: Eternal – More info, more footage and now, finally, a date. Doom: Eternal arrives November 22.
Fallout 76 updates promise turnaround after “well-deserved criticism”
LOS ANGELES—After what Bethesda's Todd Howard admitted on stage was some "well-deserved criticism" at the launch of Fallout 76, Bethesda rolled out the first phase of its turnaround plan for the game at its E3 press conference tonight.
That plan starts with Nuclear Winter, a 52-player Battle Royale mode that sees players fighting for the role of "overseer" using Fallout's usual lineup of guns, power armor, and some "exclusive perks" to upgrade your own abilities. That mode will be available as a "sneak peek" during a free trial of the full game starting June 10 and running through June 17.
Then, in the fall, a free update being called "Wastelanders" will introduce new elements including a full quest line, new rewards, full dialogue trees, and the much-requested return of human non-player characters. Players will also be able to choose between siding with two different factions: Settlers and Raiders.
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DOOM Eternal gameplay world premiere: Devil horns in the air—literally
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If your workplace has rules that restrict images of virtual blood and gore, consider this your last warning: DOOM Eternal only looks more gruesome from here on out. [credit: id Software ]
SANTA MONICA, Calif.—I don't often get as jazzed about an in-development video game the way I have about DOOM Eternal. After playing its 20-minute E3 demo to completion for my first time, I yelled, "AGAIN! AGAIN!" like a child unwilling to get off of a rollercoaster (and was thankfully granted another go at the fun). Upon getting home and preparing this article before Bethesda's Sunday E3 press conference, I combed through a full playthrough video provided by the developers like a sad ex flipping through a photo album. I had to look again. I wanted to remember.
That's not my normal way; I'm a gaming curmudgeon to put it lightly. And yet I am struck by how pristinely iterative this game feels—a perfect execution of the cheesy poster quote, "If you liked DOOM 2016, you'll love DOOM Eternal." By carrying familiar elements forward and then supercharging them with compelling twists, DOOM Eternal (launching November 22 on Windows 10, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Google Stadia) could very well rank alongside past elite sequels like Super Mario Bros. 3, Uncharted 2, and Burnout 3: Takedown.
Familiar demons, meet new flamethrower
I mention those specific sequels because they each returned to unsurprising gameplay mechanics and art styles, only polished like crazy and met with a zillion new features that all somehow fit. DOOM Eternal sits in that category, so much so that a peek at its supercharged screenshots might elicit a mix of "ooh, crazy demons" and "uh, haven't we seen this before?"
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ProPublica's Political Ad Collector browser extension, now owned by the Globe and Mail, is working once again after being blocked by Facebook earlier this year (Laura Hazard Owen/Nieman Lab)
ProPublica's Political Ad Collector browser extension, now owned by the Globe and Mail, is working once again after being blocked by Facebook earlier this year — The Globe and Mail is the new home to the Facebook Political Ad Collector, a browser extension that ProPublica built and released in 2017.
Bethesda revives ‘80s PC series Commander Keen as a… free-to-play mobile game
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Oh, hey! Commander Keen is back! But...
PC gamers of a certain era fondly remember Commander Keen, one of the most technically proficient side-scrolling action series to land on MS-DOS. Fans of its creators, id Software (perhaps better known for Doom and Quake), have always wondered when the relatively cutesy series might see a revival since its halcyon PC years of 1990-91.
That day was Sunday, as announced by Bethesda at its E3 press conference. But fans may not have seen this version of Keen coming.
The new Commander Keen, as shown in the above gallery, will "soft-launch" on iOS and Android "this summer" as a free-to-play platforming game. Gameplay specifics were not clarified either at the press conference or the game's brand-new announcement site, but this smartphone game appears to revolve around tapping on smartphone screens to direct players' upward hops (recalling '80s arcade games like Ice Climbers) and activate attacks.
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Google steps up in India to woo more enterprises for its cloud biz
UPI payments likely shifting towards merchant transactions
Russian cryptocurrency payment network A7 expands to Africa, as Moscow builds an alternative payments system amid western sanctions after its Ukraine invasion (Financial Times)
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Sohee Kim / Bloomberg : South Korean authorities are investigating a data leak at e-commerce giant Coupang that exposed ~33.7M accounts; ...
