Technology

The Volkswagen Golf is arguably one of the most recognizable models in Volkswagen’s lineup. That stature comes with the pressure of standing out in a sea of hatchbacks looking to take some shine away from the famous nameplate. Now that the eighth-generation Volkswagen Golf (Mk8) is here, it looks like the competition will have its hands full trying to catch up with the Golf Mk8. See, there are a lot of things to like about the Golf Mk8, but arguably the most important of these things is the incredible amount of new technologies Volkswagen was able to pack into the hatchback. Believe me when I tell you, the eighth-generation Volkswagen Golf is so tricked out in new technology, it’s hard to imagine how Volkswagen managed to fit all of them into the hatchback.

Part of the beauty of owning a vehicle like the Jeep Wrangler, Ford F-150 Raptor, Toyota 4Runner, or even the new Land Rover Defender is the ability to play off-road. By that, we mean hitting rough terrain, climbing over obstacles, and going places cars like the Porsche 911 or Aston Martin DBS Superleggera can’t go. Doing this, however, requires a certain amount of driver skill – your everyday driver doesn’t just know how to approach and climb over rocky terrain or climb excessive steep grades. But, that’s part of the fun of off-roading; you learn how to approach different obstacles and enjoy the challenge. Now, however, it looks like a company known for its off-roading prowess, Land Rover, has lost touch with that entire concept as it works to developer remote control technology for the 2020 Defender.

Tesla has a different view of what “having fun in a car” should mean. Don’t get us wrong, but for the vast majority of gearheads out there, that’s synonymous to actually driving the car and occasionally taking it to the limit. Call us old fashioned, but we don’t see a point in offering your customers the likes of in-car gaming and in-car karaoke since we’re still far, far away from Level 5 autonomous driving. No, Tesla’s Autopilot isn’t that.

As usual, Tesla will deliver the update through its over-the-air system this week, but before you get it, here’s what you should look for. For a better grasp, we’ve grouped the new features based on their purpose.

Driving nannies are already starting to get a little ridiculous. If you try to take a turn too quickly, your car’s advanced stability control system may automatically apply the brakes and keep you in check. Perhaps the car doesn’t think you brake soon enough, so it brakes for you – hell, there are even situations where autonomous braking systems have been accused of braking for no reason. What if your car could evaluate your driving skills and determine what you’re able to do? What if your car can determine whether or not you drive on the freeway, in snow, or in the rain. What if your car determines how close to the imposed speed limit you can get? Sounds ridiculous, right? Well, Toyota thinks that’s the answer to driving safety.

The U.S. Airforce sent a rocket-powered sled down the 10-mile railway at the Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, where it reached a top speed of 6,599 mph. No, it is not a typo. The hypersonic sled was traveling at 1.83 miles per second. Let that sink in.

Remember how bad it got a couple of years ago when Tesla, as a company, was to blame every single time a driver was dumb enough to drive through their house, run a red light, or be involved in any other kind of accident? I honestly can’t recall how many times Tesla was actually found to be at fault, but I do know that there were more frivolous lawsuits that I could count on two hands. My favorite was the guy that drove through his own garage, but we’ll leave that story for another time. Now, a recently published report from the Wall Street Journal claims that people are “scared” to drive their own cars because automatic braking systems aren’t working properly. By that, I mean they are braking when they shouldn’t. Let me tell you a little more about the story before I get into my own personal opinion.

Exoskeletons, in their purest biological sense, are a common sight among insects, especially arthropods. The purpose of such an outer armor is to protect the organism’s softer tissues. As opposed to humans or mammals, for example, which have grown internal skeletons or endoskeletons that are covered in soft tissue. In the broader sense, an exoskeleton is also a device that can gift whoever wears it with more strength and endurance - not quite full-cyborg stuff yet, but pretty close.

As it turns out, such exoskeletons are popular in car plants but also in other fields. Ford’s factory workers use such contraptions as of 2018, as do BMW’s and Toyota’s. We’ve mentioned the automotive sector because Hyundai just came up with a new exoskeleton design that’s meant to “alleviate the burden in overhead work.” Let’s check it out.

As if self-moving chairs and self-parking slippers aren’t enough, Nissan is now showcasing its autonomous driving technologies through golf balls. Yes, golf balls. This is the Nissan ProPilot golf ball, and it’s going to make you a better golfer because of a monitoring system that calculates the correct route it must take to drop into the cup. You can putt anywhere, even with your eyes closed, and the ball will find the hole. Fortunately, you can’t use the ProPilot in actual competition because that’d be cheating. The ProPilot golf ball is simply Nissan’s latest proof of concept that’s meant to showcase its upgraded ProPilot driver assistance system that will début in the new Nissan Skyline next month in Japan. And here you thought you could be the next Tiger Woods? You’ll still need a lot of practice to get to that level.

Porsche might have abandoned its Le Mans efforts, but the company made it clear that it wants to focus more on other competitions, namely Formula E. And now that goal is so much closer as Porsche unveiled the 99X Electric Formula E race car and, as one would expect from Porsche, even its name bears some significance in the bigger equation. Let’s see what’s what.

Electric cars seem to be our only way to the future. They will save the planet and give us more comfort. They are quicker, faster, and more fun. Heck, EVs also have the potential to be cheaper and more accessible alternatives to any ICE-powered vehicle. In this article, I will try to explore the broader ramifications of electric car mass production. I will show you why electric cars could give governments more control over your life and give car companies more money out of your pockets. Electric cars will do all that while taking away from you the one thing that gasoline and diesel-powered cars selflessly provided - freedom. I have a question that is almost in the realm of conspiracy - are electric cars a hoax?

With so many carmakers working on self-driving technology, there’s no denying that autonomous cars are the future. But while some automakers are barely perfecting semi-autonomous cars, others are on the brink of introducing reliable autonomous systems. Tesla’s Autopilot feature is already pretty advanced, but it seems that Elon Musk has an even better system in the works. It’s called Dojo and we don’t know much about it, but Musk claims that it could make the difference.

Alright. We don’t even know where to begin, so here it is. Origin PC has just created what could very well be the Holy Grail of gaming. No, let us rephrase that: Origin PC’s Big O gaming platform is the god of gaming and we’re expecting hordes of gamers to start worshipping it and offer their sacrifice. Or, how Unbox Therapy’s Lewis Hilsenteger puts it, “this is the infinity gauntlet of gaming.” Now, you’re probably asking what has gotten into us but once you hear it, you’ll understand. The Big O somehow manages to incorporate a gaming PC, an Xbox One X, a PlayStation 4 Pro, and a Nintendo Switch. Yes. All of them in just one package that celebrates Origin’s 10th anniversary. Well, friends, let us point out that fact that, to us, Origin has just become the Dan Bilzerian of gaming.

Air drones are in full swing right now with people having them perform lots of tasks, including filming, taking pictures, or providing surveillance for a particular area. Then there’s Amazon and its Prime Air program, which wants to deliver packages of up to five pounds in less than 30 minutes using a fleet of small drones. But utilitarian duties aside, air drones are fun. But do you know what’s also fun? Underwater drones. Now, exploring our oceans and seas has always played a significant part of mankind’s agenda, for various reasons. People hunt for lost treasures or perform research that helps understand and preserve the underwater flora and fauna, or they simply want to get in touch with what lies beneath and take video of their underwater adventures. As of recently, however, underwater drones have been rising to popularity and one of the latest such contraptions to hit the market is Aquarobotman’s Nemo.