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Google has made a series of announcements related to connected car tech, but at two different levels. On the one hand, the search giant has announced hopes its self-driving cars will gain official release within five years, while elsewhere the Android Auto app has been announced, which lets users interact with their smartphones more safely when on the road.

You’ll need a little bit more than just the app to get started with Android Auto, however; users will need an Android 5.0 or...

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Driving can be one of the most unpredictable things, which makes the job of self-driving cars difficult. At CES in January, Nvidia announced their work on a computer that will "learn" the right and wrong decisions to make under various scenarios rather than attempting to rely on just pre-programmed situations.

We could've guessed such a complex system would come with a hefty price tag, and on...

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A class action lawsuit filed in California has alleged Toyota, Ford and General Motors has failed customers in its duty to ensure its connected vehicles function properly and safely.

The suit, which can be found here, argues the defendants ‘failed to ensure the basic electronic security of their vehicles’. “Anyone can hack into them, take control of the basic functions of the vehicle, and thereby endanger the safety of the...

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A research note from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) has poured cold water on the concept that autonomous cars would lead to a reduction in fuel consumption.

The study, from UMTRI researchers Brandon Schoettle and Michael Sivak, weighs up the energy-saving pros and cons of self-driving vehicles. In theory, if cars were driverless then there would be fewer of them on the road, and would conserve fuel through more eco-friendly driving standards; increasing...

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A report from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) argues the need for greater industry collaboration in developing connected and driverless cars.

The report outlines a variety of potential issues and threats covered in this publication before, from personal data theft to fraud and deception, freight and goods theft and automotive...

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Driverless cars raise a diverse array of legal issues, one of which will almost certainly be the intellectual property (IP) rights that industry players create and assert to assist them in establishing their market position, and differentiating their products. The auto industry has always been a hotbed of IP disputes. The advent of driverless technologies could well lead to a spike in scuffles caused by jockeying for dominance in this new area, as well as the convergence of...

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Before driverless cars can be released into our complex environment, they need to achieve exceptional levels of safety. How close are we to making this happen?

Automation is old hat. Almost every new car built features some form of non-human control: ABS; cruise control; lane-changing warning systems; even semi-automatic control. In the latter case, the car is capable of following traffic, accelerating and braking, as well as keeping to the same lane, within a defined maximum...

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Connected cars are on the rise, this much is certain, but how fast the market will grow in the future is an area that is still up for discussion and one company has its own take on where the industry is headed.

By the year 2020, Business Insider Intelligence estimates that the market’s value will be $2.2 trillion thanks to the 220 million connected cars due to be be on the road by then, although connected services will only be used by consumers in 88 million of...

The development of driverless technology has gathered momentum along with claims that automation should bring with it improved road safety, fuel efficiency and ecological benefits. Leading automotive brands including Mercedes-Benz and Nissan are working on high profile driverless vehicles while Google’s much-discussed autonomous car project will see the search giant join the race to meet the demands of a potentially significant new market.

All the emerging driverless vehicles, including the Google car...

After less than two years of development Volvo has already announced plans to bring its self-driving project to the roads of Sweden’s second-largest city, Gothenburg.

Volvo’s autonomous vehicle project DriveMe aims to put 100 self-driving cars in the hands of customers by 2017, a step that is being heralded as a landmark by Dr Peter Mertens, the company’s senior vice president of research and development.

“We are entering uncharted territory in the field of autonomous driving,”...