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BMW To Compete With Google To Build Software For Self-Driving Cars (reuters.com)
SmartAboutThings writes: Google is about to get some serious competition in the self-driving car race from none other than BMW, one of the most prominent names in the car industry. Speaking to Reuters, BMW's Head of Research and Development, Klaus Frohlich, said the following while present at the Geneva Motor Show: "For me it is a core competence to have the most intelligent car. Our task is to preserve our business model without surrendering it to an internet player. Otherwise we will end up as the Foxconn for a company like Apple, delivering only the metal bodies for them." BMW believes its competitors in the future will include internet taxi service Uber and sales website TrueCar. As the company is approaching its 100th birthday, the company is now on a quest to build the "ultimate driving machine." The company is preparing for a world in which its customers will be mere passengers, and the cars will do the driving themselves.
BMW will add some cool features that the GCars won't have:
1: A weighting for their e-cars to slide into narrow gaps between cars in traffic, then panic stop.
2: No turn signals.
3: Auto detection of parking line spaces, and automatic parking to take up as many as possible.
4: A middle finger sign that pops out, when a lane change is successfully executed.
5: e-Ink on the sides of the vehicle to mimic being keyed by unhappy people after #1-4 are done.