Waymos fleet of driverless vehicles are operating in more cities and a study indicates that may reduce crashes on roadways. The study, a non-paid partnership between Waymo itself and reinsurer Swiss Re, indicated Waymos cars result in fewer insurance claims than those operated by people.
Swiss Re analyzed liability claims from collisions covering 25.3 million miles driven by Waymos autonomous cars. The study also compared Waymos liability claims to human driver baselines based on data from over 500,000 claims and over 200 billion driving miles. The results found that Waymo Driver demonstrated better safety performance when compared to human-driver vehicles..
The study found cars operated by Alphabets Waymo Driver resulted in 88 percent fewer property damage claims and 92 percent fewer bodily injury claims.
Swiss Re also invented a new metric to compare Waymo Driver against only newer vehicles with advanced safety tech, like driver assistance, automated emergency braking and blind spot warning systems, instead of against the whole corpus of those 200 billion driving miles. In this comparison, Waymo still came out ahead with an 86 percent reduction in property damage claims and a 90 percent reduction on bodily damage claims.
Of course, there are two glaring issues. First is that Waymo currently only operates in cities, which, yes, account for the bulk of crashes in the US, but rural areas account for a much higher number of crashes (especially fatal ones) proportional to their population. (The study, incidentally, states that having exurban data included in the baseline metrics actually cuts against Waymo's true safety numbers.) Second: Waymo simply hasn't been around that long. It's very hard to get an accurate measure of the system when its real-world testing period has been so relatively short.
The numbers may look good for Waymo Driver in studies but they arent perfect by any stretch. Waymo issued its second recall over the summer when one of its robotaxis hit a street level telephone pole at 8 mph in Phoenix. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation into Waymo and found 24 incidents that involved crashes or traffic violations.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/waymos-driverless-cars-are-apparently-an-insurance-companys-dream-220746643.html?src=rss
It's here! The Steam Winter Sale is underway now and runs through January 2. That leaves you plenty of time to internally debate whether you really need to buy yet more games and ultimately convince yourself that yes, in fact, you do.
Several notable titles from the Summer Sale are once again seeing similar discounts this season. Baldur's Gate 3 is 20 percent off and you can buy it for $48. At $27, Cyberpunk 2077 is half off and Elden Ring is $36, which is 40 percent off.
If you've already had your fill of Elden Ring, you can save 40 percent on a different Souls-like. Lies of P takes the familiar gameplay in a dark retelling of the Pinocchio fairy tale and you can grab it for $36. There's also a 60 percent discount on No Man's Sky, which is still getting regular content patches; soar into infinite space for $24. Another great deal is for the original Cities: Skylines, which is a calmer and more stable experience than the game's troubled sequel has been. The simulator is 70 percent off, costing just $9.
Steam sales are always a great time to fill up on indie hits. We here at Engadget are bonkers for Balatro, which you can save a dollar on at only ten percent off, but there are many steeper sales to explore. Feline-focused Stray is $18, or you can play a more sinister critter in Cult of the Lamb for under $13. For $14, you can fish and roll sushi to your heart's content in the quirky Dave the Diver. Slay the Spire is just over $6 and the perennial favorite Stardew Valley is down to $8.
A bunch of classic titles are up to 90 percent off. Stellar first-person shooter Titanfall 2 is a mere $3. Go nuclear in Fallout 4 for $8. The trio of games in the Mass Effect Legendary Edition can all be yours for $5. Divinity Original Sin, the sprawling RPG that helped prove Larian Studios was the right team to make Baldur's Gate 3, is $4.
That's just scratching the surface of what's included in this season's Steam sale. Take a look over your wishlist and see what else you might want to buy. Happy holidays!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/tis-the-season-for-the-steam-winter-sale-to-take-all-your-money-202852825.html?src=rss
It looks like Lenovos next ThinkBook Plus laptop is going to have a rolling screen. According to images shared by prolific leaker Evan Blass, Lenovos sixth-generation ThinkBook Plus will have an extendable, rolling display that builds on the rollable laptop concept the company first introduced in 2022.
The leaked images show a laptop with a traditional, if slightly taller than average display, that can extend and unroll until you effectively have two screens stacked on top of each other. Lenovos images show a video call open on the top part of the display, and what looks like a PowerPoint presentation on the bottom, but one imagines the possibilities for what you can use the extra screen space for are pretty limitless. Blass didnt share any other technical details about the new ThinkBook Plus, but with CES 2025 weeks away in January, it seems highly likely the new laptop could make an official appearance soon.
Lenovos been toying with the concept of a rollable laptop for a few years at this point, and this new ThinkBook Plus seems like a direct descendant of the companys earlier concept device. Lenovo is no stranger to making weird laptops, either. The Lenovo Auto Twist from CES 2024 featured a display that could rotate and fold on its own, and the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i from 2023 joined two separate touchscreen displays to give owners even more screen space to play with.
Evan Blass
Up until this point, rollable displays have mostly existed in smartphone concepts and expensive televisions, so if Lenovo can sell a laptop with a unique screen at an approachable price, and guarantee it wont suffer from hardware issues, it might have a hit on its hands. Then again, the previous fifth-generation ThinkBook Plus a Windows computer when you attached a keyboard and an Android tablet when you didnt started at $2,000, so it might be wrong to expect affordability.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/lenovos-extendable-thinkbook-plus-laptop-accidentally-unrolled-early-193056769.html?src=rss
Earlier this year, Meta previewed Movie Gen, an AI video editing tool that looked impressively realistic (at least in the sample clips it released). At the time, though, Meta said it was still a research project with no immediate plans to make the features available to users.
But it now seems that Movie Gen could arrive on Instagram sooner than later. Instagrams top exec Adam Mosseri posted a short video previewing the kind of seamless AI edits that will eventually be possible, saying that the company is hoping to bring this to Instagram next year.
In the clip, Mosseri says that Meta is working on some really exciting AI tools for video creators. You should be able to do anything you want with your videos, he says. "You should be able to change your outfit, or change the context in which you're sitting, or add a chain whatever you can think of.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Adam Mosseri (@mosseri)
During the short clip, Mosseris backdrop and outfit changes several times, including a brief shot where he looks like a Muppet-inspired character. Throughout the clip, the transitions look pretty seamless without obvious AI artifacts. Of course, that wont necessarily be the case once Movie Gen is actually available and videos of its abilities arent entirely controlled by Meta. But if it works anything like Mosseris teaser video, it could open up some interesting possibilities for Instagram creators.
Its probably not a coincidence that Meta is teasing the feature just days after OpenAI released its video generation model to subscribers. Meta has repeatedly said it wants its AI assistant to be the most used in the world and in an update that was also published today, the company said Meta AI has nearly 600 million monthly users.
Unfortunately, Mosseri didnt indicate exactly when Movie Gen features may actually arrive on Instagram, other than some time in 2024. But he did say that there would be more to come from the company.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/metas-ai-video-editing-features-are-coming-to-instagram-next-year-191501418.html?src=rss
Paramount Pictures is hoping to spin-dash to success for a fourth time. The studio has confirmed that it is working on Sonic the Hedgehog 4 and is targeting a theatrical release of spring 2027 for the movie. No details have leaked about the plot, but it's likely that the project will see actors Ben Schwartz and Jim Carrey reprising their roles as Sonic and Dr. Robotnik.
The recent film adaptations of Sega's famous game franchise have become a consistent hit for Paramount. The first film secured the biggest opening weekend in history for a video game movie, only to be dethroned in 2022 by its own sequel. Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which adds Keanu Reeves to the already star-studded cast of the series, releases tomorrow. Variety is currently projecting the third entry to fall short of the financial bar set by Sonic the Hedgehog 2, but anything could happen. The movies have also received a television spin-off on Paramount+ due to air next spring. The show will delve into the backstory of Sonic's echidna ally Knuckles, voiced by Idris Elba.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/sonic-the-hedgehog-4-movie-confirmed-by-paramount-190234137.html?src=rss
SpaceXs satellite-to-cell Starlink texting service can now operate throughout New Zealand, thanks to the telecommunications company One NZ. The New Zealand-based provider says this is the first time that a nationwide satellite text messaging service has been powered by Starlink. T-Mobile has been making a lot of noise about getting this going, but it looks like One NZ beat it to the punch.
Whats the benefit here for New Zealand residents? Its a country with many rural areas without access to mobile towers, resulting in weak or no signals. This should even the playing field for people who dont live near big cities.
Now onto the caveats, and there are a couple of big ones. Starlink texting is incredibly slow when compared to traditional methods. One NZ says that most messages should be sent and received within three minutes during the initial rollout, but admits that timeframe could increase to 10 minutes or longer. It is for this reason that the company continues to urge folks to carry a personal locator beacon when traveling to a remote area.
The service is also only supported by four smartphone models, which includes the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and OPPO Find X8 Pro. This list of eligible devices is expected to grow next year. The company also intends to eventually expand the service to include voice calling and data.
The satellite service is free for existing One NZ customers on paid-monthly plans, but we dont know the pricing scheme for new customers or for those signed up for other types of contracts. Starlink has partnered with other telecommunications companies to bring comprehensive coverage to Japan, Peru, Switzerland and Chile. As previously mentioned, its also working with T-Mobile to do something similar in the US.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/starlinks-first-nationwide-satellite-texting-service-goes-live-in-new-zealand-182343142.html?src=rss
Sony has acquired a major stake in FromSoftwares parent company Kadokawa. This follows reports that Sony was in talks to purchase the company outright. It looks like that isnt happening, but Sony has boosted its total ownership of Kadokawa up to ten percent after spending around $300 million on more shares. This makes Sony the largest shareholder of the Japanese publisher.
Sony likely made this move to get its hands on some of Kadokawas IP, which includes the entire roster of FromSoftware games and franchises created by Spike Chunsoft and Gotcha Gotcha Games. Kadokawa also publishes a boatload of anime and manga. A press release noted that the two companies will now discuss specific initiatives for collaboration, which will include live-action films and TV drama.
Does this mean that well soon get an Elden Ring or Dark Souls movie? These are some of Kadokawas most prominent franchises, so its certainly possible. The companies have also promised to promote the global expansion of a wide range of entertainment, including anime and games.
As for console exclusivity, dont hold your breath. Sony already owns a 14 percent stake in FromSoftware and games like Elden Ring and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice are available on PlayStation consoles, Xbox consoles and for PCs. To that end, there's some co-op DLC coming to Elden Ring sometime next year. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/sony-is-now-the-largest-shareholder-of-fromsoftwares-parent-company-165934956.html?src=rss
Apple has issued a complaint about Meta regarding the DMAs mandated interoperability requests, as reported by Reuters. The iPhone maker says that Meta has issued 15 of these requests, which it says could impact the privacy and security of users. Meta disagrees.
First, a quick primer. The EUs Digital Markets Act (DMA) requires that Apple allow rivals and third-party app developers to inter-operate with its own services or risk a steep fine, as much as ten percent of global turnover. Under the terms of the DMA, Apple must allow other companies to submit interoperability requests for hardware and software that affect iOS and iPadOS devices.
Apple must assess these requests and, if approved, have to design a solution to allow for effective interoperability. Meta has issued 15 of these requests, more than any other company, and Apple says that compliance would give the company extensive access to its technology stack. Apple also says that doing so could put the privacy and security of users at risk.
"If Apple were to have to grant all of these requests, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp could enable Meta to read on a user's device all of their messages and emails, see every phone call they make or receive, track every app that they use, scan all of their photos, look at their files and calendar events, log all of their passwords and more," Apple wrote in a statement to Reuters.
The company also referred to Metas recent privacy issues throughout Europe. Meta has been fined in various countries for data breaches and for tracking users across apps, among other concerns.
Meta, of course, has a different take on things. The social media and VR giant wrote that what Apple is actually saying is they dont believe in interoperability. Every time Apple is called out for its anticompetitive behavior, they defend themselves on privacy grounds that have no basis in reality.
We sent preliminary findings to Apple under the Digital Markets Act.Apple should open iOS features like notifications, AirPlay, and AirDrop to third-party devices, enhancing innovation and user choice.It should also improve transparency and predictability for developers European Commission (@EU_Commission) December 19, 2024
We dont know if the EU will intervene on behalf of Apple or Meta in this case, but the European Commission recently published preliminary directions on how Apple should open up to rivals. These measures would require Apple to be transparent regarding the different phases, deadlines and criteria involving the completion of interoperability requests.
These proposed measures are open for debate until January 9. In March, a decision is expected as to whether or not Apple has complied with the DMAs interoperability provision.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/apple-and-meta-are-beefing-over-the-dmas-mandated-interoperability-requests-155851120.html?src=rss
Which fresh creative approaches drove results on LinkedIn in 2024 for B2B companies? To find out, researchers used AI to analyze the performance of more than 13,000 creative assets that appeared on the professional social network. Read the full article at MarketingProfs
Discover how AI is transforming product-content orchestration in B2B marketing, blending automation with human creativity for impactful strategies. Read the full article at MarketingProfs
