(c)BlackBerry

Ford has taken another step toward its wish to have fleets of fully autonomous cars on the road within five years, as it expands the use of BlackBerry software in some of its cars. 

The announcement about the extended partnership was made this week, and builds on the existing use of BlackBerry's software, QNX Neutrino, in Ford's SYNC 3 infotainment system. 

A BlackBerry team of engineers will now work solely on expanding QNX Neutrono operating system, its Certicom security technology,...

(c)iStock/Nathan Leach-Proffer

Intel has launched a new processor dedicated to building and enhancing features for connected cars and IoT.

Intel’s Atom processor E3900 series was built “to support the rapid development and the growing complexity of IoT business” and aims to make it easier and cheaper for car manufacturers to include connected features within...

(c)Ford

Technology that will enable drivers to give red lights a miss is being trialled in the UK with Ford and the UK Autodrive project.

Two Mondeo Hybrids are trying out the tech, which feeds information to cars about traffic and traffic light change timings. The car will display the optimal speed at which to drive for those behind the wheel to hit only green lights.

The thinking behind this is that it will ease traffic congestion and have benefits for fuel consumption and carbon monoxide...

(c)Atkins

It's no longer an 'if' but a 'when' driverless and connected cars are on the roads, according to Atkins' technical director Neil Thomas. 

The company, which works with the University of the West of England's VENTURER, is trying out driverless vehicles to examined their feasability in the UK.

It has launched a whitepaper series this week, which will look at the urgent need to understand the full impact of these vehicles on cities around the world and invest in adapted infrastrucure from now...

(c)iStock/Pixelci

The UK government is committing an extra £4m to extend its plug-in-van grant scheme, which will extend eligibility to larger electric vehicles. 

Under the extension, electric trucks above 3.5 tonnes and vans over 12 tonnes in weight are eligible for grants of up to £20,000. 

Around £100,000 has been invested into connected and...

Chinese car manufacturer Geely has launched a new car brand, LYNK & CO, last week, announcing more details of its highly connected car. 

The marketing around the launch centres on how Geely - who also owns Volvo - became tired with the "sluggish evolution" of the auto indsustry and has so decided to do something about it. 

But as they say, the proof will be in the pudding, and whether the car can stand up to...

(c)Tesla

Tesla has announced that its Model 3 and all further cars produced by the brand will have fully self driving capabilities. 

New Model S and Model X cars with updated hardware are in production and can be bought as soon as today, it added in a blog post. 

The self driving hardware will reportedly have eight surround cameras, giving the car a 360 degree visibility of up to a 250 metre range. 

New cars...

(c)Choreograph

Connected cars are causing something of a stir in various countries around the world. It's becoming clear that eventually, completely autonomous may be the route we go down - but how, what it will look like and whether it will be 'accepted' is something that researchers are currently delving into.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has just produced a report that examines the ongoing development of connected cars and how research is going down so far. 

While...

(c)iStock/undrey

It’s been a busy month already for driverless cars in the UK. In Milton Keynes, they had their first public outing in the LUTZ Pathfinder Project, and more research emerged detailing public opinion of autonomous...

(c)iStock.com/Zheka-Boss

Over half of UK drivers said they would be uncomfortable driving alongside or using a self-driving car, according to new research.

A report carried out by Goodyear and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) show that only 25% of UK drivers who responded said they would feel comfortable with using a driverless car.

They are a technology that is gradually emerging into an...

(c)iStock/ricochet64

The German transport minister has asked Tesla to stop using the word Autopilot in the advertising for its cars, according to Reuters. 

A spokeswoman from Alexander Dobrindt's ministry, the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) confirmed that they had written to Tesla to make this request, following a report in the German Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

The idea behind asking Tesla to stop using the word Autopilot was reportedly as...

The UK has had its first public trial of self driving vehicles last week, with the Transport Systems Catapult in Milton Keynes demoing a UK-developed autonomous driving system.

This marked the end of the LUTZ Pathfinder Project, which has been developing the technology for the past 18 months.

As part of this project, the team have been running exercises to prep for the...

(c)BMW 

BMW has announced its new 5 Series Sedan this week, including a raft of new connected car features.

BMW is also apparently the first car maker to feature wireless Apple CarPlay, which connects a supported iPhone and allows a user to get directions, make calls, etc, in a safer manner.

But that’s certainly not the most impressive connected feature of the 5 Series Sedan, which will arrive on the market in February 2017.

The...