The Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant has long been rumored to be working on its own autonomous car as part of an initiative called Project Titan, but has never officially confirmed its plans.

Apple was so mum about the project that some thought it may have been shuttered, said Michelle Krebs, executive analyst for Autotrader.

However, on Friday the company appeared on the state's Department of Motor Vehicle's list of approved applicants to test autonomous vehicles. That list had already included companies such as Tesla, Google and Uber, along with car makers including BMW, Ford, Honda and Volkswagen.

“For a company that has yet to publicly acknowledge its efforts in this area, this is as close to a tacit admission" as is likely to be given, said Michael Ramsey, a self-driving car analyst with Gartner. "It will be interesting to see what form the test vehicles take and what can be gleaned about Apple's strategy.”

Read the rest of the story HERE.

CBR -- The race is on for car manufacturers and software companies to design the ultimate smart car, with a surprise visit by Apple to BMW indicating a possible partnership between the two firms.

An Apple delegation, including Cupertino's CEO Tim Cook, visited the German carmaker's headquarters last year to learn how BMW builds its i3 electric car, according to sources.

One of the sources told Reuters that the visit to the Leipzig factory did not result in a collaboration between Apple and BMW, as the iWatch maker is reportedly looking at creating a connected vehicle by itself.

The source added that BMW is also reluctant about sharing knowledge on how to develop the technology, as it does not want to become a supplier to a software or internet company like Apple. BMW executives have, however, shown to be open to license parts, according to the same sources.

The lack of trust in the industry is seen as an obstacle to the successful development of a connected car. Dr. Kevin Curran, senior member of the IEEE, told CBR: "A crucial barrier to smart car success is the lack of trust and collaboration between the major auto manufacturers.

Curran added that, for example companies like Ford, General Motors, Toyota, BMW and "all the other leaders" are all part of the Vehicle Infrastructure Integration Consortium, which is striving to deploy the infrastructure of tomorrow.

He said that "however, in reality they all go back to their workshops and continue to promote their own proprietary products".

Read the rest of the story here: http://www.cbronline.com/news/internet-of-things/m2m/could-apple-bmw-soon-be-driving-the-same-smart-car-4637155

A letter to federal traffic regulators on its automated vehicle policy.

The Verge, 12-3-2016 -- Apple, which has been infuriatingly secretive about it’s efforts to build a self-driving car, has sent the strongest hint yet about its so-called Project Titan. In a letter submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the tech giant states that it is “investing heavily in the study of machine learning and automation, and is excited about the potential of automated systems in many areas, including transportation.”

The letter is Apple’s official comment on the federal government’s automated vehicle guidelines, released last September, which has already drawn feedback from many companies working on autonomous cars like Google and Ford. And speaking of Ford, Apple’s letter is signed by a man named Steven Kenner, the company’s head of product integrity who up until very recently was the global director of automotive safety at Ford.

Apple has been working on Project Titan for several years, but has never formally acknowledged it. Lately, the autonomous car project seems to be in flux. Recent reporting suggests that the company is no longer attempting to build its own electric car to compete with companies like Tesla, but is instead focused on developing self-driving software it can deploy in partnership with existing carmakers. 

Read the rest of the story HERE.

Guardian -- Apple is building a self-driving car in Silicon Valley, and is scouting for secure locations in the San Francisco Bay area to test it, the Guardian has learned. Documents show the oft-rumoured Apple car project appears to be further along than many suspected.

In May, engineers from Apple’s secretive Special Project group met with officials from GoMentum Station, a 2,100-acre former naval base near San Francisco that is being turned into a high-security testing ground for autonomous vehicles.

In correspondence obtained by the Guardian under a public records act request, Apple engineer Frank Fearon wrote: “We would ... like to get an understanding of timing and availability for the space, and how we would need to coordinate around other parties who would be using [it].”

Apple declined to comment.

GoMentum Station is on the old Concord naval weapons station, a disused second world war-era facility with 20 miles of paved highways and city streets. The base is closed to the public and guarded by the military, making it, officials claim, “the largest secure test facility in the world” for the “testing validation and commercialization of connected vehicle (CV) applications and autonomous vehicles (AV) technologies to define the next generation of transportation network infrastructure.” Mercedes-Benz and Honda have already carried out experiments with self-driving cars behind its barbed-wire fences.

This security is bound to appeal to Apple, which has hundreds of engineers quietly working on automotive technologies in an anonymous office building in Sunnyvale, four miles from its main campus in Cupertino. Details of the project are still unknown but it seems that Apple has a self-driving car almost ready for the road. In late May, Jack Hall, program manager for autonomous vehicles at GoMentum Station, wrote to Fearon to postpone a tour of the facility but noted: “We would still like to meet in order to keep everything moving and to meet your testing schedule.”

Apple has been rumoured to be working on a self-driving electric car, codenamed Project Titan, but this is the first time its existence has been documented. In May, Apple senior vice-president Jeff Williams called the car “the ultimate mobile device” and said that Apple was “exploring a lot of different markets ... [in which] we think we can make a huge amount of difference”.

Read the rest of the story here: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/aug/14/apple-self-driving-car-project-titan-sooner-than-expected

SKAA Began Integrating USB-C Connectors to it Products in Early 2018; Apple Now Migrating to USB-C Due to Worldwide Demand and Compliance

EDMONTON, Alberta, Canada, Oct. 25, 2023 – Once again, Eleven Engineering, Inc. (www.elevenengineering.com), a market leader in semiconductor products for wireless audio for home theater, multi-room, portable, professional, 12 Volt (car, truck, motorcycle, power sports, marine) and gaming applications, is making waves once again with the recent announcement that Apple is now finally converting to the USB-C connector standard, thus making new Apple products SKAA-compatible, as well.

“Our SKAA-Enabled Cassandra transmitter with USB-C connector was launched nearly six years ago, and Apple is finally catching up,” explained Rex Whitehead, Eleven Engineering executive vice president, sales & marketing. “We read the tea leaves back in 2017 as the industry was beginning to migrate from micro USB to USB-C, and our Cassandra transmitter was our first with a USB-C connector that embraced that new trend. Ideal for charging and transmitting data more effectively and quicker than micro USB, Cassandra has set the benchmark for the new desired and practical connector ever since. Now, SKAA is the ideal choice for all phones, tablets, and laptops which utilize a USB-C port, including Apple products.”

USB-C has become recently popular over the past few years for a number of reasons, both functional and practical:

• First, it is reversible, meaning no more frustrating moments since you don’t have to turn the connector and/or cable around in order to plug it into the device…no more USB superposition.
• Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, USB-C also brings higher speed and power advantages to your fingertips.

Additional Cassandra feature and specifications include:

• Sends audio to up to four receivers
• Works with all apps
• Use up to five transmitters in the same area
• No pairing
• 15 meters (50 feet) indoor range
• Low latency
• Works with SKAA cmd (optional app)
• Ships with SKAA OS 2.4, works with all receivers running SKAA OS 2.1 or newer (if you're not sure what version you have, go to TLC, send us a note and just ask)
• Free Shipping

“SKAA’s USB-C transmitter ensures seamless connectivity, bringing a new level of audio excellence to your iPhone experience,” Whitehead continued. “Say hello to high-fidelity, low-latency sound!”

SKAA is the wireless HiFi audio standard developed by Eleven Engineering, Inc. SKAA transmitters work with iOS & Android mobile devices, Mac & Windows computers, televisions, and just about any product with a line output or a headphone jack. SKAA is also available as a built-in technology not requiring an external transmitter in purpose-designed partner products, which are featured at SKAA.com. SKAA navigates hostile environments saturated in wireless traffic with best-in-class reliability. SKAA delivers uninterrupted audio with the highest sound quality to all speakers without the latency that is inherent in other wireless solutions.

With SKAA, the receivers (speakers / headphones) are in charge of selecting which transmitter to listen to. There’s no pairing.

“SKAA’s audio quality is always 480 kbps while Bluetooth’s is always lower and actually varies depending on environment and circumstances,” Whitehead said. “You can use up to five SKAA transmitters in your home at the same time. That’s up to 20 speakers or headphones.”

SKAA is ridiculously easy to use —all compatible products are ready to play right out of the box. “It’s also highly flexible, being compatible with a fantastic breadth of audio sources,” concluded Whitehead. “Plus, SKAA receivers can effortlessly switch from source to source. And don’t forget rock-solid reliability, great range, and CD-quality sound. SKAA.com is the source for all things SKAA.”

SKAA is available as a built-in technology not requiring an external transmitter in purpose-designed partner products. SKAA transmitters work with iOS & Android mobile devices, Mac & Windows computers, televisions, and just about any product with a line output or a headphone jack.

Eleven Engineering breaks down the Seven Deadly Sins of WiFi Audio on its YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw2iSCuT0x8).

For more on SKAA and the Seven Deadly Sins of WiFi Audio, please subscribe to https://www.youtube.com/user/SKAAwireless and visit SKAA.com.

For additional information, contact Rex Whitehead at 480-650-3979 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.." style="color: #000000;">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For more information on Eleven Engineering, visit www.elevenengineering.com, SKAA wireless YouTube channel, and Facebook/.

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada-based Eleven Engineering, Inc. is a market leader in microprocessors SiPs (System in Package) and modules designed for wireless audio for Home Theater, Multi-Room, Portable, and Pro Audio products. Eleven's XInC2 multithreaded processor was designed specifically for digital wireless audio applications but is also well suited for other realtime intensive microprocessor applications.

Eleven's high-performance wireless audio semiconductors, equipped with XInC2 wireless processor cores, are complete solutions for high-quality digital wireless audio transport. WFD™, Eleven's proprietary wireless audio transport protocol, has a narrow footprint in the radio spectrum, delivering both best-in-class coexistence with WiFi / Bluetooth and unparalleled Quality of Service.

CNN Money -- Apple announced its next-generation smartphones and a slew of other products at its annual press event on Wednesday. The event kicked off with Apple CEO Tim Cook doing a little Carpool Karaoke with James Cordon and Pharrell. Apple recently bought a Carpool Karaoke TV series exclusively for Apple Music that will debut next year.

iPhone 7 focuses on photography: Apple's new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are water resistant, come in new shades of black, and have improved cameras.

The iPhone is Apple's bread and butter. The company has sold over 1 billion of the devices since it launched in 2007, according to Cook. The latest version isn't a huge departure from the iPhone 6S, but it has a few key upgrades.

It's water and dust resistant, which is different from waterproof but still an improvement over "easily killed by water."

The larger iPhone has two side-by-side12-megapixel cameras. One is wide angle and one is telephoto. It gives users 2x optical zoom and 10x digital zoom. In the future, both cameras will be used at the same time to get a shallow depth-of-field effect, but that feature wasn't ready at launch. The smaller iPhone 7 still has one, lonely camera on the back.

The cameras on both phones have been updated with an optical image stabilizer, a new lens and a 12 megapixel sensor. The flash has four LEDs and can detect the flickers of artificial lighting to better compensate.

The Home button is now force sensitive. Instead of knowing you pressed the button because it clicked, it will vibrate. Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller said the revolutionary new button is "creating new feelings and experiences that could not have been created before."

The iPhone 7 now comes in two new colors: a high gloss jet black finish and a matte black. It's also still available in gold, silver and rose gold (yes, pink). The phones will ship with iOS 10. Existing iPhones can upgrade to the new mobile OS on September 13.

The new iPhones will be available September 16 and start at $649. And, finally, the 16GB entry level version has been nixed. The new phones will come with 32GB, 128GB and 256GB of storage.

Read the rest of the story HERE.

12/6, ABC 15 Arizona -- PHOENIX - The Valley has quickly become the hub for testing driverless technology. It's no secret Waymo is testing in Chandler and that Uber is testing in Tempe and Scottsdale — but rumors are swirling Apple is doing work in Surprise. Several sources close to the company believe Apple is leasing the former Chrysler Fiat proving grounds to work on its autonomous technology.

John Lewis, the CEO and President of the East Valley Partnership, has been working with the companies since the very beginning.

"From a regional perspective it's just exciting," he said. 

Lewis said the tech giants chose Arizona because of the friendly business and tax regulations, the climate, and ability to test the vehicles in multiple settings.

"When you ask Waymo why they like to do their testing here, some of it is tied to the climate," he said. "Some of it is also tied to the fact they can do urban and suburban testing and can do freeways and residential streets, too."

Read the rest of the story HERE.

PC Mag -- Speculation about whether Apple will build a vehicle has been a favorite topic of conversation in the tech and auto worlds all year. It’s also dominated the news at some auto shows, without Apple being present.

The rumors have been fanned by comments from Apple execs, the company hiring hundreds of automotive engineers and a meeting with BMW officials to tour its i3 electric car factory In May, it was revealed that Apple made inquiries into using GoMentum Station, a 5,000-acre former Navy weapons station east of San Francisco that’s now a secure testing facility for autonomous and connected vehicles.

Last week, meanwhile, it was discovered that Apple senior legal counsel Mike Maleticmet with the California DMV to review “autonomous vehicle regulations.” Then on Monday,The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple’s car efforts were now a “committed project” with an eye on a 2019 ship date.

Taken together, this all clearly points to Apple entering the auto industry in some capacity beyond CarPlay and infotainment. Apple has move into other markets before, from portable music players to smartphones, only to redefine and dominate them. Entering the auto industry is complex and expensive (though if anyone can afford it, Apple can), but here are three reasons why the company has picked a perfect time to do it.

1. Technology is transforming automotive

Almost from the beginning, automakers have sold vehicles mainly based on horsepower, utility, convenience, and in some cases sex appeal. But that’s changing. Since vehicles within a given segment have largely reached a level of parity on features such as performance, fuel economy, and safety, technology has become more of a deciding factor for consumers. People actually pick a vehicle based on whether it works with their smartphone, or at the very least based their satisfaction with tech features, as J.D. Power surveys have shown. With Apple’s tech and design expertise, an iCar could be a compelling choice for its legions of fans as well as many consumers.

Read the rest of the story here: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2491866,00.asp#disqus_thread

The tech and automotive world have been abuzz about the prospect of an Apple Car over the past year. While Apple has been silent on its automotive ambitions, the media has covered the tech titan’s every public auto-related move, such as snapping up car tech talent, inquiring about use of a Northern California autonomous-vehicle test track and speaking with the California DMV about self-driving car regulations.

While such media coverage gives a glimpse of what Apple’s Project Titan may entail, there are other indicators of what an iCar could mean for consumer as well as for the auto industry. At the recent C3 Connected Mobility Summit in San Francisco, a presentation titled “What We Can Expect from the Apple Car” used a data-driven approach to paint a picture of the tech giant’s potential entrance into automotive.

Participants in the presentation were John Suh, director at Hyundai Ventures, and Sarah Pilewski, principal at the data analytics firm Quid. In the first part of the presentation, Suh and Pilewski looked at how Apple traditionally launches new products and enters new industries.

For its initial entrance into the phone market, for example, Apple partnered with Motorola to launch an iTunes player on the Rokr E1 in September of 2005. But because the phone had a maximum usable memory of 1 GB and was restricted by its firmware to allow only 100 songs, the Rokr E1 sold well below expectations, which eventually caused friction between Apple and Motorola. By the time the follow-up E2, was released four months later, iTunes was dropped from the device and in June 2007 Apple released its own iPhone.

Suh and Pilewski pointed out that when Apple originally entered the phone market, incumbents such as smartphone pioneer BlackBerry were skeptical of its success and also openly critical of the iPhone’s touch interface, which has since become the industry standard. And by the time RIM followed Apple’s lead by releasing the touch-based Storm in 2008, the market had moved on and the opportunity had been lost. Suh and Pilewski pointed out that RIM CEO Jim Balsille said at the time, “We can’t be who we used to be anymore.”