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Apple uses Logitech steering wheels and pedals to control autonomous cars

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple outlined a plan to train operators of self-driving cars in documents submitted to California regulators earlier this month, the latest clues to the company's autonomous vehicle technology aspirations. Apple was granted a permit to test self-driving cars on April 14 by the California Department of Motor Vehicles but the company has never said anything about its plan. The state released 41 pages of Apple application documents to Reuters that give some clues about the company's highly secret self-driving effort, which it has never openly acknowledged. The iPhone maker joins a long list of carmakers, start-ups and technology rivals, including Alphabet's Waymo, that are testing cars on state roads. Apple is looking for new hit products and autonomous car technology is expected to revolutionize the traditional auto industry. As part of the application, Apple included a 10-page training plan that appeared to be related to operators taking back manual control of the car during automated driving exercises of the system, which it calls a development platform. Business Insider reports that Apple engineers riding in the back seats have the ability to take over control of the car using off-the-shelf steering wheel and pedal video game controllers from Logitech. Apple declined comment beyond the filing. The plan includes a document called "Automated System: Development Platform Specific Training Overview" whose objective is "to train safety drivers in various automated driving conditions." "Development platform will be controlled electronically (e.g. joystick) and safety drivers must be ready to intervene and take control," the document reads. The document highlights different scenarios to be tested, from high speed driving and tight U-turns to lane changes. One letter sent from Apple to the state Department of Motor Vehicles noted that Apple's development platform "will have the ability to capture and store relevant data before a collision occurs." The document does not include detail on how Apple's self-driving platform actually works or other technical details. It also does not say what kind of sensors are found on Apple's three permitted vehicles, all 2015 Lexus model RX450h. The permit does not necessarily mean that Apple itself is building a full car. Apple could instead be designing a self-driving platform that can be integrated into other manufacturer's cars. (By Alexandria Sage.

Lexus GX has quietly more than doubled its sales this year

There are some things in this industry that we're perplexed by, like the infotainment system on our long-term Subaru WRX or why the Mitsubishi Mirage is allowed to exist, among other things. Let's add one more to that group, with the Lexus GX. It's not a particularly bad vehicle for a big, body-on-frame brute, remaining one of the only true SUVs in the mid-size luxury class, alongside the equally old fashioned Land Rover LR4.
Considering these things, then, what we're about to tell you makes very little sense - sales are up 135 percent through last month. The Japanese luxury marque has moved over 5,300 during the first six months of 2014, owing in no small part to a significant price drop over the 2013 model. Today, a GX starts at $49,085, while a year ago, it was $53,445.
Don't mistake this price decrease for charity, though. Lexus specifically built a lower-cost GX to lure in customers. According to WardsAuto, faux leather covers the cabin rather than the real stuff, while the overall package is decontented relative to what you might find in a typical Lexus.

Lexus parts prices cut in China amidst antitrust fears

It's been a topsy-turvy summer for foreign businesses in China ever since that country's National Development and Reform Commission and State Administration for Industry & Commerce launched a horde of investigations into anti-monopoly practices. When the law outlining monopolistic behavior was passed in 2008 foreign companies appreciated it, expecting it to illuminate some of the more opaque corners of Chinese government enforcement. That hasn't exactly been the case, and now as more than 1,000 auto-sector firms get investigated and pay huge fines to settle the nebulous charge of having prices that are too high, that hoped-for clarity is all but gone.
A recent news report said Audi, Chrysler and Daimler "would be punished for unspecified violations" concerning the prices of spare parts. Earlier this month Toyota said that Lexus China was being looked at, and before there's been any public notification of punishment Lexus has decided to lower the price of its replacement parts. From next month, customers will save an average of 26 percent on roughly 15,000 parts. It's unknown whether the move will appease authorities enough to end the investigation, which outside analysts have said targets foreign firms in China over domestic industry.