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A24 TECHNOLOGY
Saturday 24 February 2018
Glitches or not, Nissan starts testing semi-autonomous rides

By YURI KAGEYAMA Ride’s technology will de-
AP Business Writer liver safer rides because
YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) most accidents are caused
— In the future Nissan envi- by human error. Redzic,
sions, driverless cars will pick who oversees the alliance’s
up children from school connected vehicles and
and recommend restau- mobility services, sees fail-
rants to tourists in various proof cybersecurity as cru-
languages. cial.
Nissan Motor Co. says feed- Driverless mobility services
back from people who try it could also help make up
will be used to fine-tune its for growing labor shortag-
“robo-vehicle mobility ser- es, reduce traffic and park-
vice.” ing problems and help en-
The automaker said Fri- ergize depopulated areas,
day that 300 people have Redzic told The Associated
already signed up to try Press on the sidelines of a
out Easy Ride next month. news conference Friday
The Japanese automak- announcing the service.
er hopes to roll it out as a For Easy Ride, users first
commercial service in the download a special app
early 2020s. Details, includ- In this Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2018, photo, Nissan Motor Co.'s Easy Ride robo-vehicle, front, goes on on their cellphones.
ing pricing, are undecided. a course during a test ride in Yokohama, near Tokyo. After logging on, voice rec-
The service was developed Associated Press ognition is used to set a des-
in a partnership, which be- tination, and the date and
gan last year, with Japa- The app is only in Japa- ciple, though, since Japa- “I think the potential is quite time for when the ride picks
nese mobile game pro- nese, but there are plans to nese law doesn’t allow to- large in the long term, es- you up at one of four pos-
vider DeNA Co. DeNA has offer it in several languages tally driverless vehicles. So a pecially in large cities such sible spots in Yokohama.
been working on driverless for tourists and other travel- human driver in a no-hands as Tokyo or Boston, where A display visible from the
bus and delivery services in ers. position sits behind the there is a need for point- vehicle’s back seat shows
Japan. Like other autonomous steering wheel. The system to-point transit but little in- its route on a digital map.
For now, Easy Ride will be drive technology, the Easy isn’t flawless, with human centive to own cars,” said It also recommends events
limited to a 4.5-kilometer Ride vehicle is packed with intervention sometimes Nicholas Evans, an assistant such as concerts, historical
(2.8-mile) course that starts cameras, sensors and ra- needed to avoid a crash, professor at UMass Lowell. landmarks, restaurants and
from Nissan headquarters dars to recognize pedes- according to Nissan. However, he cautioned, other places to visit, which
and winds through a shop- trians, intersections, traffic It’s just one of several such “In introducing technology, pop up as photos and text
ping mall area in this port lights and other vehicles. kinds of technology be- all it takes is for a couple of on the display. The service
city. It’s still only driverless in prin- ing worked on around the high-profile accidents for also includes coupons that
world, such as Google’s consumers to turn against can be downloaded and
Waymo and Tesla’s Au- manufacturers. used at those spots.
topilot. Just about all the “It’s in the self-interest of Some glitches remain.
major automakers, includ- manufacturers for rigorous In a recent demonstra-
ing Mercedes and Toyota, testing and public input on tion, the app had trouble
are working on such tech- this new kind of technol- launching because of a
nologies. Nissan has been ogy,” said Evans, who stud- poor internet connection
among the most aggres- ies the ethical dilemmas at Nissan headquarters.
sive. posed by emerging tech- When a reporter said, “I
Although opinion is divided nologies such as drones want to eat a burger,” it
on the projection that as and self-driving vehicles. successfully recommended
many as 10 million driver- Ogi Redzic, senior vice several nearby joints.
less cars will be on roads president for the alliance But it was not able to find
This July 19, 2016, file photo shows the Google logo at the com- by 2020, everyone agrees among Nissan, Renault the nearest New Balance
pany's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. the technology is going to SA of France and Mitsubi- store, or any other place to
Associated Press grow. shi Motors Corp said Easy buy sneakers.q
Another former Google's digital assistant

employee sues Google branches out to Nest camera

over issues of diversity

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE ing offered to owners Google another potentially
NEW YORK (AP) — Another tion, harassment and white AP Technology Writer of the Nest Cam IQ in a valuable earhole in its bat-
former Google employee supremacy on Google's in- SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — free update rolling out tle with Amazon and Apple
is suing the tech company ternal messaging system. Google's voice-activated Wednesday. The move to build digital command
over issues of diversity. In a statement, Google assistant is branching out comes just two weeks after centers in people's home.
Software developer Tim said it prohibits promoting to Nest's deluxe security Nest moved back under That ambition has already
Chevalier, who is transgen- harmful stereotypes based camera in an expansion Google's direct control af- spurred warnings from pri-
der, says he was fired for on race or gender and de- that may amplify the pri- ter spending nearly 2 1/2 vacy watchdogs about
speaking up about online cides on termination, “with- vacy concerns surrounding years as a separate com- the potential for internet-
bullying he experienced out any regard to the em- internet-connected micro- pany owned by the same connected devices being
at the company and com- ployee’s political views.” phones. parent, Alphabet Inc. used as surveillance tools.
plaining about discrimina- q The virtual assistant is be- The $300 Nest Cam will give q