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Apple Hiring Automotive Experts
An anonymous reader writes: A report at the Financial Times (paywalled) says Apple is on an aggressive hiring push to pick up automotive experts. Recent rumors suggest Apple is putting together a transportation research lab, and nobody outside the company is quite sure why. It's unlikely they's want to build an entire car themselves, but quite possible they see a big space for Apple technology within motor vehicles, much as Google seems to. They already have CarPlay, and it will doubtless grow, but we still don't have anything approaching a dominant platform for car software. Whatever they're working on, it looks like the competition for more robust computer technology in cars is heating up.
I hope that the batteries are replaceable
only at the dealer with apple prices.
and they may make you get an apple toll pass that you pay 30% admin fee on top any tolls you pay.
No thanks. We've seen the marxist empty promises destroy enough lives.
You actually wrote that after someone is thinking of building factories and hiring people to design the factories and the items in them. Plus the support that goes along with it?
Did you get dropped on your head as a child?
Perhaps you would rather that they make a huge scrooge mcduck vault to swim around in their money to prove your point?
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that that's exactly what Apple wants to do.
Support the First Amendment. Read at -1
Would it have windows?
Further the bean counters think the dash space to be some sort of profit center. "They bought our car right? Let us make them pay 200$ for map DVD upgrade, 1800$ for navigational package, ha ha haa, you negotiated 800$ using edmunds.com and truecar.com? Well buddy, I will get that money back, 900$ for mp3 player! ".
Further they are used to product cycles running into decade or more and taking 9 months to admit the ignition switch has a problem and six years to hide it from NTSB. They are not used to software release cycle speeds of once in 8 months or once a year.
They used to do this with car radios and make it impossible to install after market radios. Then SAE defined standard connectors and that market got some real competition. It is high time SAE define user interface API for the common things and allow third parties to come in with custom made tablets to be integrated into the cars. With the 3D printing advances, we could get clean molded plastic brackets that fit almost as good as factory made dash with custom tablets. The market is ripe. Hope two really big companies with good customer base enter and do a serious fight for market share.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Communism has always been about the redistribution of the wealth held by the few into the hands of even fewer while claiming to be about liberating the "people", who wind up with even less wealth than before and little if any actual freedoms. Communism is a lie told to the ignorant and the poor to convince them to help tyrannical autocrats and their cronies to power.
Pass thanks. Buh bye.
http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkil...
"I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
Carjackers can apply to Apple as "automotive security experts" to do penetration testing, etc.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
I think a body count of a hundred million murdered by communists is quite enough. Fuck off, you greedy little prick.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
I know you think you said something clever, but I should point out that there was a time when Apple didn't know how to make phones or run retail stores. They found and hired the experts they needed to become world leaders in those lines of business.
I'm going way out on a limb here, but it seems to me that if Apple gets into the car business, they'll do so by hiring the top automotive engineers and designers in the world. I know they can outbid anyone else for them.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Though offtopic, I have a soft spot for the patented Scrooge McDuck dive and swim in the vault.
Fucking comic books
tricked me.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
Apple has roughly 175 billion in cash and Tesla's current market cap is around 35B. If Apple wants to get into the car business might as well jump in feet first. Not to mention you get one of the greatest CEO visionaries Elon Musk, since Steve Jobs. The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Apple is building its one electric vehicle that resembles a minivan.
This is Apple. The factories will be designed and built in China. So will all those manufacturing jobs. Only the design of the vehicles will be done in the USA.
The real question is "Will it bend?"
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
It seems to me that if Apple gets into the car business, they'll do so by hiring the top automotive engineers and designers in the world. I know they can outbid anyone else for them.
Bzzt!
Tesla recently poached 150 folks from Apple. http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2015/02/09/elon-musk-has-raided-150-people-from-apple-for-tesla/
Apple is offering crazy money to get folks to jump the other way, but not having anywhere near that kind of success. http://evobsession.com/apple-trying-poach-tesla-engineers-250000-signing-bonuses/
A search for 'iCar' will bring speculation and images to tickle your fancy. Facts may be harder to find.
...omphaloskepsis often...
The phrase for which you're looking is "opiate of the masses."
You realize he normally posts GNAA spam, right?
Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
And jobs in China are a bad thing? More jobs are usually better.
You know what you convinced me screw them. Screw them right in the ear. They should just eat dirt and be happy about it.
My car is over 10 years old and will still go about as fast as it did when I bought it, new. My iphone 4 is way younger and runs nowhere near as quickly on the latest iOS as it did on previous versions. These apple cars will be real unpopular after about the third software version upgrade when they can only do 20 miles/hr and need to be traded in for something thinner.
Nullius in verba
They are communist over in China, they won't eat dirt, the government will find something to provide for them.
BTW, more jobs usually are better. But there are degrees of better. For instance, jobs in the country the headquarters is located and designing the things would be better for those people in that country. More jobs in whatever country you are in would be better for you and/or your fellow citizens. More jobs in some countries make it more stable and thereby reducing the threats of war which is better of yet a lot of other people.
But I guess the better better thing is butter because everything is better with butter.
QNX is already running in pretty much every vehicle. I'd say someone beat them to the punch.
well to be fair, i had one of those GM cars with the ignition switch issue. the only thing is to me it was not a bug but a feature. I could start my car, lock it back up with it running and keep the key on me. this is great on days like today that are -20 with the wind. (not as nice as a remote start obviously but still)
If you cant drive and focus on driving simply because they key pops out of the ignition, well you got bigger problems in life anyway
Whether it's a bug or feature is certainly a fair argument.
To my mind, if you can't predict when the key will pop out then it's a bug.
Also, it appears to have killed 38 people.
I see terrible design all the time - washing machines, TVs, PVRs and of course cars. It's getting worse - the rush to put a touch screen in every Holden (GM's Australian arm) and execrable crap like BMWs iDrive and Ford's whateveritscalled convoluted garbage. It needs taking by the scruff of the neck and kicking into touch, and if anyone is in a position to do it, it's Apple. While their approach is not perfect, it's usually somewhat better than most alternatives. When I hit yet another irritating and apparently arbitrary snag point in the software system of my PVR for example, I often wish Apple would make one just to show them where they've gone wrong (it's a Topfield if you're interested). As long as they make their in-car system solid and secure along with sensible usability (hint: for a car that means NOT a touch screen) they'll have a winner on their hands. As of the 2015 model year, the only way is up.
In a few years every commercial vehicle will have to have to have a device that records the driver's status changes from data that comes from the vehicle engine computer. There are something like 14 million commercial drivers, so there is a LOT of money to be made here just in subscriptions.
I think that's what Apple is doing - they already have the driver-interface saturated with their phone, can create apps in five seconds, so all they need to cash in is the reporting and the vehicle-interface side to sort out.
"Who designs these things?" referring to cars. It wasn't the operating system that got him upset. It was the user interface. There is a huge difference between the operating system and the user interface. Operating systems are a dime a dozen. It's the user interface that makes a difference to the consumer. I have no idea how this will play out at Apple, but user interface is where they shine.
Google already has a developed and working self driving car, but just you wait, in 2 years they will have the 'next big thing' and it will be a self driving electric car. And it was all their idea in the first place anyway.
This is my sig. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
Since Apple is going to preview the new oTunes soon, it makes sense they'd prepare to expand. oTunes is Output Tunes to iTunes Input. Basically, money is output from Apple. They pay you to listen to music with the idea that when you find something you really like, you'll play it for your friends, leading to a net profit for the publisher. After beta, they're going to integrate it into one package called ioTunes, which ups the ante by letting you pay your friends to listen to songs.
The same completion of their work will finally follow with the oPod, which records music, oMac, the life support OS, and oPhone, which converts its user into a cell tower by passing a tiny, imperceivable current through their body. The ioPod will allow recordings sales on the ioTunes Store, the ioMac converts from a computer to a hospice device, and the ioPhone will form a feedback loop useful in executions.
It's awesome that they're researching their next big move early though. By the time all of this is released to consumers, it will seem like they developed their automotive electronics with blinding speed.
...a translucent flying car that's not compatible with Google and Microsoft gas pumps.
Table-ized A.I.
Car's are made in the USA and the ship cost / time from china is to high / long
this pretty much says it all.
That is how communism has been applied historically - Russia, China, a few other smaller players. Communism isn't about concentrating wealth. The particular groups that took power in those countries are about concentrating wealth. They just happened to be using communist imagery and rhetoric.
What's interesting is that your picture of a wrecked communist country is very similar to how American "capitalism" is playing out.
I've always wanted Apple to invent automobiles.
I want a basic car, with user replaceable parts. Not an all in one system that will not be supported after 2 years. Thats why so many people have little 80$ gps units stuck on their dash even though their car has gps. Either it doesn't work and to repair it would cost 800$, it needs a map update and the dealer wants $250 for a 3 year old map set or its useability is so bad the owners do not want to mess with it. European cars are terrible at useability, they say some bmw's and audi's take 7 steps to go from changing the heater setting to get back to the radio menu to change the preset to another station. I want separate heater controls, with knobs and buttons and not goto 2 menus and a submenu on a touchscreen. I also want a radio unit, standard din sizing, easily replaceable.
I'm an expert... I can drive..
Plus you won't be able to change gear.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
You certainly have the rather wordy twentieth century communist prose style down.
Sounds just like modern democracy to me.
I know you think you said something clever, but I should point out that there was a time when Apple didn't know how to make phones or run retail stores.
And some argue that they still don't know how to do that.
Soon we'll see driverless cars with cracked windscreens all over...
I know you think you said something clever, but I should point out that there was a time when Apple didn't know how to make phones or run retail stores. They found and hired the experts they needed to become world leaders in those lines of business.
I'm going way out on a limb here, but it seems to me that if Apple gets into the car business, they'll do so by hiring the top automotive engineers and designers in the world. I know they can outbid anyone else for them.
-jcr
While I wouldn't count Apple out of any line of business they decide to enter, not because they can hire talent but because when you are sitting on billions in cash you can make a lot of mistakes without killing yourself. However, the car and phone business is very different than retail or making phones. They no doubt could pull off a Tesla clone and sell in the US; but becoming a world leader would be many times more difficult. They would need to deal with a myriad of local safety regulations, distribution laws, shipping and storage capability, not to mention setting up a supply chain and manufacturing systems that is very different from making a phone. While they are great at supply chain management they would be tackling a very different type of supply chain. They'd have to be a Porsche or BMW in order to make anywhere near the kind of margins they'd want; even then their stepping int a very crowded space against very tough competitors. My guess is they more likely would become a supplier of key electronic components to manufacturers, making an Apple control system a deficit standard.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
Trotskyism/GNAA spam... it's all the same crap.
Buy a copy of the fucking Militant! Please!
I installed a bracket to hold my Nexus 6 - best thing I ever did.
Dashboard infotainment systems are pretty much garbage - and the aftermarket stuff is even worse.
Bluetooth handsfree and a bracket is all you need.
They would build an electric car. With the major car makers focused on fuel cells, they can easily jump into building and competing with them. Ideally, it would use Tesla's open patents and then focus on compact or even sub-compact with automated driving. If they work with Tesla and google, they can even come up with car ,to car and car to road communication standard.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Also will it blend.
All of the majors, save Nissan, want to focus on fuel cells and keep oil companies happy ( nearly all hydrogen is coming from nat gas and some oil; next to nothing from splitting water ). As such, if apple and google were to follow Tesla's lead, but focus on different areas, they would easily take over autos. Interestingly, right now is the first time since before 1920 that this is possible.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
First off, Tesla has higher quality standards than what apple is used to. And apple would lower Tesla's standards to being like a caddie Audi, BMW, mb, etc: just more junk. Far better would be for apple, and ideally google to start plants for electric cars out there. They should make their own cars, but try to outcompete Tesla. With competition, combined with cooperation, these 3 could easily take the industry and bring new meaning to the big 3.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
That sounds *exactly* like the language everyone used to say Apple could never make a cell phone. Wouldn't know how to deal with the carriers, too many regulations, too many different systems, not enough stores, supply chain would kill them, too many tough competitors, etc. Remember?
Although I agree that some of the user-facing electronics in automobiles are overpriced, the core components use time-proven technology that is reliable. Even a low-end car (sold for less than $20,000) has engine electronics that are expected to last for ten or more years, an operating temperature range of probably 0 F to 120 F, and can withstand fairly heavy vibration over its lifetime. Your average computer or phone perhaps operates from 40 to 90 (although rated for much less) and would fall apart if put on a shaker. The electrical environment is relatively bad -- voltages range from 10 to 14 V and there are 4, 6 or 8 plugs firing off sparks. Some of the devices also are critical safety items -- for example brakes need to have redundancy and degrade gracefully if power is lost.
Contrast that to your average PC/Mac/iThing which is put into the market with buggy software and has critical patches every month.
For airplanes, cars and other transportation, I'd trade off tested and proven hardware and software for cool-looking flat icons on the touch screen.
Here's something that I'm having a hard time figuring out. How is it that this particular Apple team has the time and resources to design and make fancy enclosures for the stuff on the van? Speaking more generally, I've noticed that a lot of companies including ones that aren't that big or are even startups are able to do this too. What's the secret to getting some nice molded plastic enclosure without having to spend tens of thousands of dollars on tooling?
I think Apple is going into a dangerous and risky direction desperate for attention with a new product. Nobody so far has proven EV's are anymore then a niche market. Self driving cars is another risky endeavor that has yet to prove its even viable on a mass production level. It could very well be that most people like to be in control and even though the proof might be that self driving vehicles are safer. It does not mean people will not want to still drive.
That sounds *exactly* like the language everyone used to say Apple could never make a cell phone. Wouldn't know how to deal with the carriers, too many regulations, too many different systems, not enough stores, supply chain would kill them, too many tough competitors, etc. Remember?
Yes, and as I said you can never count Apple out. However, the car market is very different from the cell phone market with much higher barriers to entry. Apple could make a high end prototype vehicle but a mass market one is a very different beast. For example, Apple already had much of the technology in the iPod that could be adapted to a phone. The had an existing supplier base that could sell the phone and in many ways the iPhone was a low risk deal for carriers. If it failed, they still would sell phones and move on to the next hot phone. The sticking point was to
Selling cars requires dealerships, who have to invest millions in building a dealership before they sell one car.If the line goes bust, they are out a lot of money so they want to be sure before they sign on the dotted line. Knowing Apple, they will be like BMW/Porsche etc and demand separate stand alone operations that meet their design requirements; not some existing one that slaps Apple on their list of marques and sell stem along side Chevys and Fords.
That's why I say it is more likely than Apple is exploring making components for use in vehicles than becoming a manufacturer. They might decide to make some very high end cars in a limited run to showcase there tech but I'm guessing the real money for them is becoming a supplier of advanced in car electronics; especially if it integrates into their existing eco system.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
Apple manufactures more computers in the US than anyone else does (Mac Pro line).
It's just that simple.
Capitalism is decentralized and adaptive. It incentivizes innovation and productivity, both of which benefit the entire country. It attracts the best talent from around the world. Capitalism will beat communism (or any sort of heavily planned economy) pretty much every time, it much better optimizes for human biology (humans try harder out of greed and stop trying when someone hands them stuff for free). The US won the cold war with capitalism.
1. Apple is a $700B company with >$100B in cash. Think about that for a moment. They could purchase Tesla ($25B) and GM (~$60B) without so much as taking out a loan.
2. Tesla has already shown that you don't need dealerships to sell cars.
seriously.
Apple doesn't manufacture anything (except a few high end computers), everything is outsourced to a contract manufacturer. They would probably outsource car manufacturing to someone who actually knew how to manufacture cars.
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?