Slashdot Mirror
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.
My biggest beef with BMWs is that if you disconnect or replace the battery, the car has to be towed to a dealership to get the battery "registered". No registration, engine will refuse to start. The dealer claims it is to protect the circuitry from overvoltage as non-approved 12 volt batteries can be dangerous.
Look at Here Maps (maps.here.com) , and there offline app navigation. Really you'd think nobody could compete with Google maps, and yet Here is far superior.
Less worthless bells and whistles and noise and more the "where is X" fundamentals of maps.
BMW has shown self driving prototypes since 2011, European cars already have features like lane follow, auto park, sign recognition, collision avoidance and so on, so they're already rolling out key components in existing cars.
My expectation from BMW is that it will make cars that drive from A to B with cameras watching the roads.
My expectation from Google is that they will make cars that drive from A to Sponsored C to Sponsored D to B with cameras watching me.
If you think that's a joke, look at what their glorified Android radio does (it requires all the internal engine data and position, be sent to Google server), so if you're driving a car with a Google android 'radio/navigation' its tracking you and every detail of your driving even when its off.
"...delivering only the metal bodies for them."
No, they won't even be doing that- Google & Uber will not want their metal body or their programming expertise. The mystique of the quality German car quickly evaporates when you own one or crunch the numbers on the cost of purchase, maintenance, parts and accessories.
I'm on my third BMW motorcycle; each new purchase 20+ years after the previous. During that time I've owned a couple dozen other motorcycles. Like the Harley, BMW motorcycles have made only minor changes over the last 100 years, and like the Harley they still can't get it right. Meanwhile the Japanese can snap their fingers and come up with a totally new design that is almost flawless and it's relatively affordable.
It's not just motorcycles; Consumer Reports can't find a single excellent car in the 2015 BMW lineup. It's sad, I'd love to own a vehicle that actually lived up to such a reputation but they don't seem to come from Europe or America.
...omphaloskepsis often...
Yes, I was also wondering if BMW self-driving cars would also drive like assholes.
You are welcome on my lawn.
for driverless cars to become popular. I'll be able to take advantage of their dialed-up safety protocols and be able to cut my way through traffic faster with less risk.
BMW does quite well with car control software (e.g., the all-wheel drive anti-slip software).
They don't do that without help. They don't make the hardware that handles that stuff — just like Audi and Daimler, they buy all of that stuff from Bosch. They also don't write the software, they only make customizations to it and even that is assisted by Bosch engineers. Or in the case of transmissions, ZF engineers. Nearly all German cars are based around a ZF transmission. Then again, it often seems like practically all cars worldwide are using a ZF transmission now — they make the 8- and 9-speed automatics that everyone and their mom is putting into a car now. Automakers are still making their own small manual transmissions in some cases, but almost nobody seems to be making their own automatic that isn't a CVT. A handful of automakers do that. Honda famously makes their own automatic transmissions, which infamously suck. Ford, too. Transmission shop owners love Ford to little bitty pieces. GM seems to be using the ZF8 and ZF9 now...
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"