In Sunday’s segment on Sky News Australia (Weekend Edition with Tim Gilbert) we discussed Ford and Volkswagen pulling their funding from ARGO AI, an autonomous vehicle technology company.
The decision by Ford and Volkswagen to pull out ARGO AI is significant, as together they pumped 3.6 billion US dollars into the business. Ford is going to put its money into driver assist technology rather than full-blown AI driving, which many now believe is decades away from becoming a reality on our roads.
But others like Waymo (formerly Google self-driving project) are still ploughing ahead. Telsa’s approach is very different to the others – it is relying on cameras – not other sensors for its self-driving functions. This has drawn widespread criticism. Tesla is reportedly being investigated over claims it’s made about its Autopilot system. Elon Musk has made some bold statements in the past about the capabilities of self-driving in Tesla vehicles. Self-driving cars or buses are more likely to be used on well defined routes in the near future but as for all roads – not for years to come. The main issue is our roads – they just aren’t self-driving friendly.
OPPO MAKES AUSSIE TABLET DEBUT WITH PAID AIR
The OPPO Pad Air is OPPO’s first tablet sold in Australia. This is a great entry level product for $379 and so far this is the best tablet for its price I’ve ever used. It has grooves on the back for grip and it rejects fingerprints. It has a two-finger split screen, four-finger floating window, and smart sidebar. You can can drag and drop from an OPPO phone like airdrop on Apple devices.
It has a 10.36-inch 2K HD display and the speakers are fantastic. It also has a massive 7,100 mAh battery which allows users to watch videos for up to 12 hours. There’s a lot to like about this tablet for the price. You can actually get it for free if you buy an OPPO Find X5/Pro smartphone. A good reason to go all-in on OPPO.
RIPPER CORPORATION BRINGS DRONE IN A BOX TECH TO AUSTRALIA
Yes .. it’s call a Drone in a Box and it weights 460kg and it was unveiled in Perth last week. Ripper Corporation has linked up with H3 Dynamics, a leading Singapore-based company in aerial mobility and hydrogen aviation and has produced what is considered the world’s most advanced drone in a box system.
Ripper Corporation, is a pioneering Australian drone company based in Queensland that introduced the use of UAV’s in the field of search and rescue for Surf Life Saving, SharkSpotter and CrocSpotter algorithms and koala count systems.
The Drone in a box allows for remote activation of the drones to fly often in remote and dangerous locations/situations 24/7, with images in real time streamed into a dashboard. It is an agnostic system allowing most brand of drones to be flown from the box. There is also the capability for drones to fly from box to box in multiple locations. The Box then recharges the drone, downloads data and serves as a fully air-conditioned hanger for the craft. The drones can be used for natural disasters such as fire, flood, remote and harsh environments such as mines, surveying of assets such as water storage and security patrols.