For years, the gearshift in a vehicle has followed roughly the same design: a user guides the stick to a designated slot corresponding to the desired gear selection. That has changed in recent years, as some carmakers have opted for sleeker, tech-savvy electronic shifters. However, these components have proven to be confusing, leading to some vehicles — thought to have been in “park” — rolling away, injuring some owners. [More]
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An Emotion-Detecting Echo Speaker: Helpful Or Going Too Far?
By 6.13.16
Alexa, the virtual assistant inside Amazon’s Echo speaker — and its smaller versions — can order you a pizza, but can she tell that you’re upset when she confuses pepperoni with ham? Not yet, but the e-commerce giant is apparently working on giving Alexa the ability to gauge users’ emotions. [More]
VW Offers Amnesty To Whistleblower Employees, But Only For A Few Weeks
By 11.12.15
A week after an internal investigation – aided by company engineers – uncovered carbon emissions issues with 800,000 Volkswagen vehicles, the carmaker says it will keep the door open for employees to share any cheating within the organization – as long as they do it by the end of the month. [More]
