Uber, Carnegie Mellon University Collaborating on Mapping, Autonomous Transport
Uber, a transportation service that enables consumers to hail a driver via a smartphone app, announced this week that it has forged a partnership with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) to create the Uber Advanced Technologies Center in Pittsburgh, near the CMU campus. According to an Uber announcement, work at the center will focus on mapping, vehicle safety and autonomous transportation, and some projects will involve experts from the National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC), an operating unit within CMU’s Robotics Institute (RI). Uber will also fund the work of faculty and graduate fellowships conducted at the center.
Many urban and transportation planners say autonomous vehicles, which rely on sensor networks for way-finding and safety, could significantly alter how people move around cities in the coming decade or two, and could lead to a significant reduction in car ownership. Some predict that taxi services, or taxi alternatives such as Uber or Lyft, could be displaced by fleets of autonomous cars.
Intel Grows Home Networking Business With Lantiq Acquisition
With its purchase of Lantiq, a German manufacturer of gateway devices, routers and residential broadband networking equipment, Intel is expanding the universe of Internet-connected devices and smart-home products that will use its chips. Through the acquisition, Intel will offer a wider selection of connectivity solutions and cloud-based technologies to original equipment manufacturers, service providers and “companies innovating new applications for the home,” according to a press release from Intel.
In a prepared statement, Lantiq’s CEO, Dan Artusi, said: “Intel and Lantiq share a common vision about the evolution of the connected home and the intelligent network. Together we can drive the transformation of the broadband customer premises equipment (CPE) as it becomes a smart gateway that connects an increasingly diverse roster of devices and services in the home.”
Golden Gate Capital, a San Francisco-based private equity investment firm with approximately $12 billion of capital under management, which purchased Lantiq in 2009 from Infineon Technologies‘ wireline communication division, is Lantiq’s principal investor.
Gartner Survey Reveals Much Enthusiasm, Little Leadership, Around IoT
Last fall, market research firm Gartner surveyed 463 IT and business leaders about their organization’s strategy in deploying Internet of Things technologies. Nearly half of the respondents said they expect the IoT to transform their business, generate new revenue streams or lower their expenses during the next three years, while 60 percent reported that they expect their companies will reap these benefits within more than five years. But that enthusiasm is not matched in terms of preparedness—less than a quarter of the respondents said their companies have established organizational units to spearhead their IoT efforts.
When correlating responses with industry, Gartner reports, the survey showed that executives in the communications and services sectors had the strongest grasp of IoT technologies and their potential, while those in government, education, banking and insurance had the weakest.
ABI Research Predicts Big Growth for Smart Glasses Market
Manufacturers of smart glasses—Internet-connected eyewear with integrated sensors and the ability to overlay digital information across a user’s field of vision—should be seeing a great year ahead, according to a new report from market-research firm ABI Research. The firm expects unit shipment growth of nearly 150 percent in 2015. While the recently mothballed Google Glass consumer product might be the most widely known smart glasses offering, ABI says the next wave of products is gaining traction in enterprise applications, such as providing technical assistance remotely, or moving goods throughout a warehouse. Smart glasses for business applications were also a focus at last month’s Consumer Electronics Show. Within the consumer space, ABI says, smart glasses will be increasingly popular for video gaming.
Agreement Opens Doors to Beacon Advertisements at Banks
Mobiquity Networks, which operates a national location-based mobile-advertising network with Bluetooth beacons installed at 200 U.S. shopping malls, and Relevant Solutions, a provider of mobile in-store shopping content for a range of retailers, financial institutions and mobile banking app providers, have forged an agreement through which Mobiquity could provide branded, local offers from more than 2,500 financial institutions to those who use its mobile app.
Though the agreement, Mobiquity Networks is integrating its software development kit into the Relevant family of branded and white-label apps. According to a statement from Mobiquity, banks will be able to send special offers to consumers via mobile phone messaging, based on their location, and thereby “engage app users well beyond the activity of payments and account balance inquiries.”