The creators of SnowRunner, the long-awaited sequel to the off-roading simulator MudRunner, released a four-minute trailer that shows what the game has in store for adventure-seeking gamers. It's even more realistic than its predecessor, it gives players a wider choice of vehicles, and it takes them to new places on the virtual map.
The plot hasn't drastically changed, meaning the goal is still to complete different missions while tackling treacherous terrain like mountains, rivers, axle-deep mud, blizzards, and bridges that are past their prime. The tasks include towing vehicles out of mud pits, building the infrastructure, and making long-haul deliveries in 11 open-world maps set in Michigan, Alaska, and a particularly cold part of Siberia named Taymyr.
This isn't the kind of game you can beat by driving flat-out. Focus Home Interactive, the French publisher that created SnowRunner, explained it went to great lengths to take factors like vehicle weight, tire spin, and water currents into account. You may need to lock the rear differential or shift into the granny gear to complete a job, and you'll get swept into a river if you don't choose the right vehicle to cross it with.
Players will have no less than 40 off-roaders to choose from, and they're all licensed from their respective manufacturer. The trailer shows a Hummer H2T, an early International-Harvester Scout, a Chevrolet C/K 1500, numerous semi trucks, plus odd-balls like a Lada Niva dropped on a generously lifted suspension. Each car can be customized with add-ons like snorkels, tire chains, and bull bars that help them venture further off the trail.
SnowRunnerwill be released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on April 28, 2020. Additional content like new vehicles, maps, regions, and activities will be added to the game in the months following its release.
Common driver-assist technologies like adaptive cruise control and lane-keep assist are meant to keep vehicle occupants safe, but a new study finds that they also make distracted driving more likely — especially with drivers who are more familiar with the technology.
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety reports that drivers who use both safety technologies were more likely to be distracted — by their mobile phones, adjusting the car stereo or other controls, or simply taking their eyes off the road — when they were accustomed to the advanced driver-assistance systems than those who were using them for the first time. The study authors say the disparity could reflect “a lack of trust in the automated systems.”
The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute combed through data from two previous studies. In one, researchers observed 30 people driving their own personal vehicles for the equivalent of one year's worth of data. In the other, they gave 120 participants a study vehicle and observed each of them driving for a month. All the vehicles featured adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assistance systems. They were also equipped with video cameras and sensors to collect data about the driver and other information.
Drivers in the former group with their own cars were 50% more likely to engage in secondary tasks and 80% more likely to engage in visual or manual distractions when using the semi-autonomous systems, researchers found. They also took more frequent and longer glances at non-driving-related tasks and kept their eyes on the road less.
Participants in the other group were less likely to be distracted while adaptive cruise control and lane-keep assist systems were engaged than they were during manual driving. But these drivers, who received leased vehicles and some training on how to use the systems, were slightly more likely to speed when both systems were active than the drivers who used their own vehicles.
The researchers theorize that people may become over-reliant on automation features the more familiar they become with them. They also note that the group of drivers who operated their own vehicles did not receive the same training on the safety systems, despite ostensibly receiving some information about them before or after purchasing their vehicles.
The study adds new wrinkles to what we know about distracted driving, which accounted for 3,166 fatalities in 2017, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the emergence of semi-automated driving systems. Earlier this year, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety issued a study in which it found that, while usage of phones while behind the wheel dropped, more people were using them for texting or other messaging while driving.
Porsche is launching a pilot program to offer online sales of new and used cars for the first time in the U.S., reflecting changing consumer preferences and taking digital retailing about as far as it can go under current dealer franchise laws.
Porsche says it has already launched the program as a joint pilot with 25 of its 191 U.S. Porsche dealers, with a wider rollout possible if all goes well. It will allow customers to move beyond using the web merely for researching vehicle specs and prices and let them view inventories, calculate payments and trade-in value, get approved for credit and sign up for financing and insurance options through Porsche Financial Services. They can also upload photos of their personal documents for ID verification and of their car for trade-in valuation. Dealers will then prepare final paperwork for customers to come in and sign before taking delivery.
The program means buyers need visit the dealer only once to collect their Porsche, with the ability to do all the other paperwork from their computer or mobile device. “For our dealerships, who are at the core of our strategic initiatives, we think this blend of digital and physical interaction with customers will only strengthen their business,” Klaus Zellmer, president and CEO of Porsche Cars North America, said in a statement.
A Porsche spokesperson said the participating dealers have installed and launched the service on their dealership websites over the past month, so the program is already live. Porsche is also launching a similar program in Germany.
Automakers have been exploring new ways to overhaul the car-buying experience as customers express dissatisfaction with the traditional automotive dealership model. Tesla most notably employs a direct retail model, bypassing dealer franchises altogether in favor of company-owned stores and online retailing, but that leaves it unable to sell its vehicles in many states with strict franchise laws. Porsche also offers a subscription service called Porsche Passport in select markets that starts at $2,000 a month and includes unlimited ability to switch models.
“We do not benchmark but instead develop new programs based on how we can best exceed customer expectations,” a Porsche spokesperson told Autoblog.
The new pilot covers all new and pre-owned vehicles in a dealership’s inventory.
Miami is experiencing a sort of sports venue boom right now. Just a few years ago, the Miami Dolphins unveiled a renovated Hard Rock Stadium, David Beckham is in the process of bringing a new MLS soccer arena to the city (supposedly), and now Millennial Esports says it's building what it claims to be the world's first dedicated esports racing arena in South Beach.
Esports have been exploding in popularity over the past 10 years, but any time there's been a massive event like the Fortnite World Cup or the FIA Gran Turismo Championship, it takes place in a preexisting event space or sports venue. The 2019 League of Legends World Championship, for example, takes place at at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris, France. Millennial Esports wants to shift that trend.
In partnership with Florida-based racing simulator company Allinsports, Millennial Esports Corporation will build a 12,000-square-foot arena in the Wynwood entertainment district in Miami. For reference, a football field is roughly 57,000 square feet, so it's not huge. Based on the photos, it sort of looks like a live set for a TV show with massive screens up front.
The company plans to use the space for local and global esports racing leagues and competitions as well as general esports events. Furthermore, the building will also serve as a training academy facility for digital drivers. The space will feature 30 racing simulators, and professional drivers will have the option to install full-size simulators.
Millennial Esports has plans to build numerous dedicated facilities around the globe as the sport and industry continues to expand. The Miami facility is scheduled to open in 2020.
🌴🏎 The world’s first dedicated esports racing arena will be built by Millennial Esports Corp in Miami with the state-of-the-facility scheduled to open in 2020! ➡️ Read more at: https://t.co/dEfTgh9cP3pic.twitter.com/jSDrmHLRKE
— Engine Gaming & Media (Nasdaq: GAME) (@EngineMedia) October 3, 2019
My father rented a Hyundai Kona this morning for a road trip along the Oregon Coast. It's a base SE model in Surf Blue that typically starts at $21,085. As my parents were leaving, I explained that the Kona comes standard with Apple CarPlay, and then showed my dad how he can use Google Maps through the car's standard touchscreen and USB port. Just plug in your phone, press the Apple CarPlay button prominently displayed on the home screen, and voila! Yes, you have to "unlock" your iPhone the first time, but never again thereafter.
OK, now let's contrast this experience with the $102,895 2020 BMW 740i I've been driving the past week. To use Apple CarPlay, I had to …
Connect my phone to the car's Bluetooth system, which means interacting with both the phone and finding the appropriate menu with BMW's iDrive interface.
Make sure I'm allowing for Apple CarPlay to be used with that Bluetooth connection and not just interacting with iDrive.
Confirm the Bluetooth PIN is correct on my phone and the BMW, and then agree to some other things.
Assuming your phone and car are now paired (an iffy assumption as you'll soon see), you must now find Apple CarPlay in iDrive.
To do so, press the Media menu button on the center console, twirl the iDrive knob down the various media types: Presets, Sirius XM, FM, AM, some other stuff, and then Apple CarPlay.
Great, press that icon. Congratulations, you can now use Apple CarPlay.
So, that is quite obviously a pain in the ass, but it does allow you, in theory, to use Apple CarPlay without plugging in your phone. You can therefore leave said phone in your purse, for instance, or keep it charged on the standard wireless charging pad, freeing the cabin from the unsightly iPhone wire that gets in the way of the cupholders.
That's all excellent, plus you'd only have to do that Bluetooth song and dance once, right?
Wrong. I had to do it constantly, both in the BMW 740i as well as the BMW M850i and BMW X7 that have recently passed through my garage. Sometimes it would just take an interminably long time to re-establish the Bluetooth connection. Sometimes it would never re-establish it at all. My phone would indicate it's connected to the car, but the car wouldn't respond in kind. In the 740i, I would connect it once as described above, it would work as it should, then it would essentially forget the next time I drove the car. It's a Groundhog Day of annoyance.
Now, the car would remember my phone if I initially set it to pair with Bluetooth only, no CarPlay. I could still play things through the car, but would have to control my phone with my phone. So at least there's that.
As an added bonus, all of these BMWs claimed that my "USB device (was) not supported" when using the non-Apple lightning wire I use successfully in every other manufacturer's car. The white Apple wire, by contrast, worked fine to successfully charge my phone.
Now, I did not attempt any of this using a different iPhone other than my 6s, so this is a less-than-scientific inquiry. However, my phone is fully updated and I never have these problems with the cars of any other brand that require a hardwire for CarPlay connection. Furthermore, Senior Editor Alex Kierstein reports having similar BMW-CarPlay connectivity issues in an X2 and 3 Series, with inconsistent behavior and an inability to connect his iPhone 6 without deleting and re-connecting via Bluetooth. The 330i also froze his wife's iPhone, forcing a hard restart. According to BMW, the system requirements for Apple CarPlay to function are "an iPhone 5 or newer running iOS 9.3 or higher." That would include both of our phones.
However, there's a kicker to all this: BMW offers Apple CarPlay as a subscription. Oh sure, it's standard on the 7 Series and other high-dollar models for a year like Sirius XM is, but after that trial period, you're paying for it constantly. Once again, CarPlay is standard on a $21,000 Hyundai Kona and cars even cheaper than that. At the very least on other cars, it can be a one-time option charge or included in a package or upper trim level. None of this subscription business. Just plug in a cable and go.
Quite simply, this is unacceptable. If I spent my own money on any of these BMWs, I would be furious. Actually, I didn't spend my own money, and as an X7 full of friends can I attest, I was still furious. Even when I actually could maintain a connection to Apple CarPlay, the interaction between the system and iDrive is still suboptimal relative other car companies. While there are obvious functional benefits of connecting to Apple CarPlay through Bluetooth, that connection clearly doesn't work well enough. That BMW charges you extra for it is absurd. It should be standard, and it should work. Or you should at least be able to bypass the Bluetooth-CarPlay dance entirely with a cable connection.
Then again, it could be worse: Several of our editors have Android phones. Android Auto isn't available on any BMW. On the $21,085 rented Hyundai? Standard.
Automatic license-plate readers (ALRPs) are among the most prolific yet least-talked-about technologies fast eroding Americans’ diminishing right to privacy. The camera-based systems, mounted on police cars or in static locations, automatically photograph license plates and feed information about their location into government and other data bases. Now, privacy advocates can fight back, simply by getting dressed in the morning. As reported in MIT Technology Review, a new clothing company, Adversarial Fashions, is selling a line of men’s and women’s wearables with license-plate patterns that are designed to trigger ALPR cameras and feed the systems useless data and obfuscate actual plates.
Three different patterns are offered. One depicts black-and-white plates with miscellaneous letter-number combinations or license plates, another has the same thing mixed with circuit imagery, and a third puts into license-plate form the text of the fourth Amendment (the one against unreasonable searches and seizures). The collection includes T-shirts, hoodies, crop tops, skirts, jackets, and dresses. The company suggests shoppers might consider buying a size larger than normal, since the patterns are most easily read when the garments hang straight. And this is one instance where you want the readers to get a good, clear look.
A new IIHS study found that a scary amount of people are confused about the driver assistance systems found in cars today. Furthermore, the study found that folks were especially confused about Tesla's Autopilot.
One portion of the study involved the IIHS surveying participants about certain unsafe behaviors behind the wheel, given only the name of the driver assistance system. People weren't given the name of the brand for this section, and were instead told to answer the questions about Autopilot (Tesla), Traffic Jam Assist (Audi and Acura), Super Cruise (Cadillac), Driving Assistant Plus (BMW) and ProPilot Assist (Nissan). The results show that folks misunderstand Tesla's Autopilot far worse than any other driver assistance system on the market. A chart of the results is pasted below.
A huge 48 percent of respondents thought it OK to take your hands off the wheel while using Autopilot. Additionally, 6 percent thought it safe to take a nap with Autopilot active. This level of distracted driving is something we've seen time and time again on public roads. Interestingly, only 27 percent of people surveyed think it's alright to take your hands off the wheel using Cadillac's Super Cruise, and that's a hands-free system.
We should be concerned about the numbers for the other driver assistance systems, too. Drivers are confused about the capabilities of current systems, and what a manufacturer calls it appears to be contributing to the confusion.
The IIHS study went further to learn about how people are interpreting instrument cluster data as it pertains to these systems. This portion of the study used a 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class. It found a couple different bits of information eluded most of the study's participants. Most people "struggled to understand what was happening when the system didn't detect a vehicle ahead because it was initially beyond the range of detection." Also, many were unable to identify when lane centering was inactive. The IIHS suggested that audible alerts and more obvious visual signals could help improve the understanding of these systems.
Results from another IIHS study were also released today, and this one has to do with where people are using these systems. This study monitored people driving a Range Rover Evoque and Volvo S90 to see where and how often they use adaptive cruise control or the Level 2 Pilot Assist system in the Volvo. These systems are meant to be used on the highway, and are often detailed as such in a vehicle's owner's manual. The study found only a small percentage of driving off the highway was done using these systems, just 7 percent for the Evoque and 11 percent for the S90. Those numbers both rose considerably in highway use, with the Evoque's systems being used 40 percent of the time and the S90's for 28 percent of the time. You can check out the study here for more details if you're interested.
I'm holding a Hot Wheels Lamborghini Miura in the palm of my hand, and the cool-to-the-touch metal toy feels identical to the Matchbox cars I spent endless hours playing with as a wee lad. But this time, the scaled-down conveyance packs tech I couldn't have dreamed of back in the day: an embedded NFC chip that acts as a digital VIN number, recording a lifetime scorecard of laps speeds, top scale speed, challenges won and distance traveled. This is not your father's Hot Wheels toy (and it certainly wasn't mine), but this techy Hot Wheels 'id' toy that debuted at Apple Stores today just might redefine the way children play with toy vehicles in the future.
"Kids are now learning to swipe before they wipe," Mattel Director of Product Management and Global Marketing Ron Friedman tells me in the "War Room" of the company's Southern California headquarters. More specifically, Friedman is referring to the so-called Alpha generation — children born after 2010, the year the iPad was launched. This particular subset of tykes slot after millennials, and are considered the first truly digitally native generation, born and raised in a fully saturated environment of tablets, smartphones and screens. In an attempt to understand how Alphas interact with this landscape, Mattel dove deep into research, conducting ethnographic studies on their play habits and leisure behavior. "Three years after the launch of the iPad, 21 percent of kids had access to a tablet. Fast forward five years from there and the number has climbed to 93 percent," Friedman says. This is the new playground, and they're spending more time on digital than off. This is the new normal."
So we're well aware that the kiddos have gone full digital, but what does that mean for how they play with cars? Recognizing the benefits of physical play and its link to cognitive and motor skill development (as opposed to vegging in front of a screen), Mattel integrated a digital element into their 50 year-old Hot Wheels platform while maintaining the same basic elements of their die-cast cars — dimensions, rolling wheels and the ability to play vroom vroom and pretend that miniature car is somehow full-sized. The digital fingerprint originates from the tiny chip in the car, but transforms gameplay by communicating with an app that's first being launched on iOS; hence, the 30-day Apple Store exclusive. Android, inevitably, will follow. You can pretend play with an id car all you want, roll it on countertops and drive your parents crazy the good old-fashioned way. But to accumulate mileage, tricks, and top speed specs– all of which are tracked with the id app–you'll need to play on a new Hot Wheels id Smart Track ($179), which uses a Race Portal ($39.99 if purchased separately) that's equipped with an NFC reader and 2 IR sensors which recognize each vehicle's unique digital signature and calculate its scale speed. The track comes with two unique vehicles and 16 interlocking track sections that link digital data via USB connectors. The resulting combinations can create up to 50 different configurations, each of which are detected by the app and can be mirrored in the digital environment. The app also acts as a digital garage that echoes the selection of cars at play in the real world. Future track components will become available in 2020, priced between $9.99 and $29.99 individually, and offering further variations on loops, jumps and straightaway sections.
I spent some time fiddling with the Hot Wheels id system and found it to be a near 50/50 mashup of old school play style and new school gamer elements. There's a strong sense memory association for traditionalists like myself — the feel of the car in your hand, the freewheel spin of the axle, the metallic flake paint and the whimsical designs. Hot Wheels intends to offer 51 id vehicles this year and kicks off with eight, each priced at $6.99: relatable supercar/racecars including the Corvette C7R, SRT Viper GTS-R, Mercedes AMG-GT and Aston Martin One-77, as well as fictitious creations like Howlin Heat, Motosaurus, Shark Hammer 2.0, and Arachnorod.
But there's also a highly polished digital element that incorporates fast moving graphics, multilayered animations and engaging effects — many of the elements found in the latest tablet apps, though a tad less slick than big budget XBox, Playstation or Nintendo Switch games. Not surprisingly, the interface and graphics skew a bit young, though I will also admit to having a bit of fun while playing with the system. The software I tried with was still in Beta form, and had a couple glitches I was told would be resolved before the system went to market. That said, some of the more engaging aspects included a launch function, which measures top speed at the end of the track. The booster hardware, which accelerates cars using gear-driven wheels that are activated by pressing down on a button, is Hot Wheels' most powerful yet. It links to the app which displays its rpms. You can mindlessly propel and track up to six cars on the track by pumping the button, or engage in a challenge that dictates an rpm for you to match. Incidentally, the system relies entirely on the Race Portal for data to be tracked. That section of track runs on a 500 mA lithium polymer battery and can record up to eight hours of playtime until it needs to connect to the phone or tablet-based app in order to transfer the data. Nothing is stored locally in each vehicle — after all, what would you expect for seven bucks a car? — but the app uploads each vehicle's stats and history, and uploads it to the cloud where a permanent record is stored for each vehicle's unique VIN number.
By adding a semi-structured format to gameplay, the id system encourages more involvement and greater stakes for kids who, like so many of us who became lifelong car fanatics, got into the hobby at an early age. Though some traditionalists (like myself) might be initially disappointed to learn that the cars only accumulate their stats when played with on an appropriate id track, the system makes sense within this ecosystem of affordable, collectable cars. And while the $179 price of the track will undoubtedly be a deterrent to some, the buy-in could also be considered fair game for parents seeking to foster the next level of enthusiasm for their car-crazy kids. On top of that, prices can only fall after the gaming system has been on the market for some time.
When asked about the idea of messing with Hot Wheels' analog success, Friedman suggests the new system is simply capitalizing on the brand's car toys of yore without losing the basic principles behind the gameplay. "The idea here is that play patterns have worked for 50 years," he says. "We're just making it more modern for the 21stcentury."
Volvo always seems to be up to something new in the world of safety, and now it's working with another Swedish company called POC to learn about and ultimately improve bicycle safety. Specifically, Volvo and POC (which makes cycling safety gear and apparel) are figuring out crash testing for bike helmets as related to cars. Any time a car crashes into a cyclist is scary, and this testing is a step toward developing safer helmets and maybe even safer cars.
This new crash testing is done with crash dummies wearing POC bike helmets on their heads. Volvo says "they are launched towards different areas of the hood of a static Volvo car, at different speeds and angles for various measurements." It's interesting to watch in the video Volvo and POC made — the "dummies" are basically hard, round objects inside the helmet, and they get thrown into the car with some serious speed. There will also be testing of dummies without helmets, to have a point of comparison.
Apparently, current bike helmet testing procedures aren't very high-tech in nature. Volvo and POC say most regulatory testing involves dropping helmets from different heights onto flat or angled surfaces, without taking various forms of vehicle impacts into account. This new testing should help POC design its helmets to better withstand an impact from the stupid-heavy missiles we all ride around in called cars. Volvo claims this testing will also provide insights it can take apply to vehicle design in the future.
There are tons of bikers on the roads in cities, so this testing seems like a good idea. Mobility scooter riders seem to be at just as much risk these days, as Birds and Limes zip through traffic and on sidewalks in cities all over. However, we've all noticed that helmets don't appear to be top of mind with scooter riders. Perhaps in the future we'll have helmets that can save more of our heads when smacked by a car, just as Volvo and POC are testing here.
Nissan is introducing some new, advanced driver assist systems for the Japanese market Skyline sedan this fall. Similarly to Tesla's Navigate on Autopilot, the updated ProPILOT system now combines navigation and automatic lane-changing. In addition, hands-off driving is enabled when certain guidelines are met and the driver is paying attention to the road ahead. Earlier ProPILOT iterations have required the driver to keep a hand on the wheel at all times.
This advanced cruise control/lane keeping assist now allows hands-off driving in a single highway lane, while constantly monitoring the driver's attentiveness, as the system will need the driver to take over in a sudden situation. With a pre-defined route activated on the navigation system and relying on a suite of cameras and radars, the ProPILOT equipped Skyline is able to change lanes and choose the correct ramp; at the highway exit ramp, the system prompts the driver to take full control of the car, both with audio and visual cues.
The driver authorizes the suggested moves by placing their hands on the steering wheel and pressing a switch, and in the event of a lane change to overtake a slower-moving vehicle, by using the turn signal. Nissan calls the hands-off driving capabilities a "world first", but like Engadget points out, the Cadillac SuperCruise also allows driving hands-off in a single lane, as long as a lane change isn't needed. The hands-off mode will not be available in two-way traffic, tunnels, toll areas or "winding roads", according to Nissan.
The "navigated highway driving" assist will be made available on the Skyline series in the fall of 2019; presumably, this means the premium sedan line and excludes the GT-R. No corresponding U.S. market Infiniti availability has yet been announced.
