October 13, retail giant Wal-Mart has confirmed it will start selling iPad on Friday. It is reported that only hundreds of Wal-Mart store shelves will sale Apple iPad.But Wal-Mart plans to expand more than 2,300 stores for sale Apple Ipad in mid-November,get ready for the Christmas shopping season.
Leg Up on Rivals
The retail push will help Apple maintain its edge in the tablet field it broke open as competitors rush a slew of new devices to the market. Many of the rival devices use Google Relevant Products/Services's Android mobile operating system.
"With Walmart.com adding Apple iPad to its e-commerce offering immediately and Wal-Mart retailers stocking devices in the coming weeks, Apple is working furiously to make its media tablet product available in advance of holiday 2010 purchasing for U.S. consumers," said ABI Research mobile-devices analyst Jeff Orr, who noted that the device sells for $499 for the basic Wi-Fi model and rises to $829 for the version with the most memory, 64GB, and both Wi-Fi and 3G. At that price, Wal-Mart's best advantage is its ubiquity at the nation's busiest shopping centers.
"In the first 90 days of shipments, the average selling price of iPad exceeded $650, a clear luxury item for most consumers worldwide," Orr said. "With Wal-Mart not gaining any special pricing to attract consumers, the bet has to be on mere presence in more places."
That strategy, he said, could backfire for Apple if it brings people into stores only to have them switch to cheaper items, especially if supply Relevant Products/Services is tight.
"Samsung recently announced distribution Relevant Products/Services agreements with the four largest mobile-network operators in the U.S. to sell the company's Galaxy Tab media tablet before the end of the year; a feat no handset, PC Relevant Products/Services OEM, or CE-device vendor has pulled off before," said Orr.
Sales Figures Awaited
He also noted that Apple next week will announce revenue and shipment volumes for its latest financial quarter. "While it was quick to announce shipments of the first and third million iPad units, the company has remained quiet since July about its progress," Orr said. That could mean sales have slowed, or that Apple is building anticipation for a big announcement to impress investors.
Bolstering the latter theory was a note this week from Bernstein Research analyst Colin McGranahan saying that the iPad is likely to be the highest-selling electronics device in history, "a runaway success of unprecedented proportion" with an estimated 8.5 million sold so far.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Apple ipad vs sumsung Galaxy Tab，exposure of the U.S. contract price
Samsung Tablet PC Galaxy Tab technical details have been revealed, but its pricing and release time is still not resolved the two key issues. U.S. network operator T-Mobile's unofficial blog Tmonews on Sunday revealed the details of this release tablet.
The Galaxy Tab, with its 7-inch display, but a smaller surface than the competition from Apple, but the memory SD card up to 64GB of expandable by.
This offers the Samsung all-rounder a 3.2-megapixel camera – the iPad users are still waiting in vain for this extra. Highlight: The video call feature with an additional 1.3-megapixel camera! Again, the iPad) do not keep up (.
About the Android smartphone operating system are all the apps as well as in normal available.
Great advantage of the Galaxy Tab also: the handy design. The Samsung Galaxy Tab is not much bigger than an outstretched hand, fits in any pocket. And with 380 grams almost half as light as the U.S. bestseller.
Even e-books look good on the tab from right, Bluetooth, music can be transferred. Important for users to the Internet and share the Samsung supports Flash – Apple’s archenemy.
O2 Galaxy tab from the end of October depending on the tariff rates from 99 EURO to 759 EURO one-time payment or for the offer.
These then are still costs for data volume and any flat rates. Early reports is Tablet PC on the market cost of at least 640 EURO.
The Galaxy Tab, with its 7-inch display, but a smaller surface than the competition from Apple, but the memory SD card up to 64GB of expandable by.
This offers the Samsung all-rounder a 3.2-megapixel camera – the iPad users are still waiting in vain for this extra. Highlight: The video call feature with an additional 1.3-megapixel camera! Again, the iPad) do not keep up (.
About the Android smartphone operating system are all the apps as well as in normal available.
Great advantage of the Galaxy Tab also: the handy design. The Samsung Galaxy Tab is not much bigger than an outstretched hand, fits in any pocket. And with 380 grams almost half as light as the U.S. bestseller.
Even e-books look good on the tab from right, Bluetooth, music can be transferred. Important for users to the Internet and share the Samsung supports Flash – Apple’s archenemy.
O2 Galaxy tab from the end of October depending on the tariff rates from 99 EURO to 759 EURO one-time payment or for the offer.
These then are still costs for data volume and any flat rates. Early reports is Tablet PC on the market cost of at least 640 EURO.
The apple promotes the Mac application procedure store
The apple has held named “Back to the Mac” the release conference on Base company Wednesday. Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced at the meeting that will promote is suitable in the Mac platform application procedure store three months later, using the platform will experience iOS to transplant to the Mac tabletop carries.
As opposed to Apple’s recent raft of iOS-based announcements, this one will mostly be about Mac OS 10.7. The new version of OS X will apparently be referred to as “Lion” if the not-so-subtle image on the invitation is any indication.
And what’s with the use of “Back to the Mac” anyway? Is Apple just being cute or is it a not-so-subtle hint that MobileMe’s “Back to my Mac” remote-access technology could be getting an upgrade?
CrunchGear’s got a good rundown of the current Apple hardware rumors, including touch-based iMacs and MacBooks, a revved MacBook Air and CPU/GPU bumps including the Nvidia Optimus. While we probably won’t see a new iPhone, iPod or iPad next Wednesday, that doesn’t mean that we won’t see iOS at the event.
I love Devin Coldeway’s theory that iOS could find its way into Mac OS X in the form of an iOS dashboard replacing the current (and disastrously unusable) Dashboard. It would be a great way for Apple to capitalize on the success of the App Store and begin to converge the two platforms.
While the announcement of an updated version of Mac OS X might not seem exciting initially, the prospect of touch-based Macs iOS integration should pique the interest of developers and users alike.
You’re the CEO: how would you converge OS X and iOS?
As opposed to Apple’s recent raft of iOS-based announcements, this one will mostly be about Mac OS 10.7. The new version of OS X will apparently be referred to as “Lion” if the not-so-subtle image on the invitation is any indication.
And what’s with the use of “Back to the Mac” anyway? Is Apple just being cute or is it a not-so-subtle hint that MobileMe’s “Back to my Mac” remote-access technology could be getting an upgrade?
CrunchGear’s got a good rundown of the current Apple hardware rumors, including touch-based iMacs and MacBooks, a revved MacBook Air and CPU/GPU bumps including the Nvidia Optimus. While we probably won’t see a new iPhone, iPod or iPad next Wednesday, that doesn’t mean that we won’t see iOS at the event.
I love Devin Coldeway’s theory that iOS could find its way into Mac OS X in the form of an iOS dashboard replacing the current (and disastrously unusable) Dashboard. It would be a great way for Apple to capitalize on the success of the App Store and begin to converge the two platforms.
While the announcement of an updated version of Mac OS X might not seem exciting initially, the prospect of touch-based Macs iOS integration should pique the interest of developers and users alike.
You’re the CEO: how would you converge OS X and iOS?
Microsoft announced that its latest client OS has sold more than 240 million
Microsoft announced that its latest client OS has sold more than 240 million units in the first year of availability, it also therefore making it the fastest-selling OS in the company's history. and the help company obtained the highest profit in the situation of computer sale Slowdown.
the one-year anniversary of Windows 7 hitting tomorrow, Microsoft Windows research and development group said at Windows Team Blog: “Windows 7 was the fastest-selling OS in the company' s history. Windows 7 is running on 93 percent of all new consumer PCs and has over 17 percent global OS market share”.
Earlier this year, the analyst estimated the Windows 7 total sales volumes will achieve 300,000,000 copies at the end of this year. this goal is looking possible.
Windows 7 has also resulted in huge customer-satisfaction numbers for Microsoft—a nice rebound from the Windows Vista dark ages. Microsoft now has a higher customer-satisfaction score than Apple, according to data gathered by YouGov Plc, and "Windows 7 has contributed more than twice as much to Microsoft's customer satisfaction than [the latest OS X release] has to Apple's. The annual American Customer Satisfaction Index report showed similar gains for Microsoft.
Microsoft's bottom line has benefited from the success of Windows 7. In the fourth fiscal quarter ended June 30, Windows and Office, the company's two workhorses, drove a 48% increase in profit year over year and a 22% jump in revenue.
the one-year anniversary of Windows 7 hitting tomorrow, Microsoft Windows research and development group said at Windows Team Blog: “Windows 7 was the fastest-selling OS in the company' s history. Windows 7 is running on 93 percent of all new consumer PCs and has over 17 percent global OS market share”.
Earlier this year, the analyst estimated the Windows 7 total sales volumes will achieve 300,000,000 copies at the end of this year. this goal is looking possible.
Windows 7 has also resulted in huge customer-satisfaction numbers for Microsoft—a nice rebound from the Windows Vista dark ages. Microsoft now has a higher customer-satisfaction score than Apple, according to data gathered by YouGov Plc, and "Windows 7 has contributed more than twice as much to Microsoft's customer satisfaction than [the latest OS X release] has to Apple's. The annual American Customer Satisfaction Index report showed similar gains for Microsoft.
Microsoft's bottom line has benefited from the success of Windows 7. In the fourth fiscal quarter ended June 30, Windows and Office, the company's two workhorses, drove a 48% increase in profit year over year and a 22% jump in revenue.
Apple buy facebook expected next year
In Apple's earnings call, Apple was asked how the process 500 million in cash, Jobs replied: Apple will soon usher in a strategic opportunity, but do not want to do stupid acquisitions. Kafka believes that next year such as Facebook by 35 to 40 billion U.S. dollars initial public offering, Apple will be interested.
Here’s what I heard. “I think we’ve demonstrated a really strong track record of being very disciplined with the use of our cash,” Jobs said. “So I think that we’d like to continue to keep our powder dry because we do feel there are one or more strategic opportunities in the future, that’s the biggest reason.”
That could mean a lot of things, but as Kafka wrote:
I don’t remember Jobs every signaling his desire to go shopping quite as openly as this before (feel free to correct me in comments if I have this one wrong). Two caveats:
* Jobs is famous for saying one thing and doing… something else. So don’t get too riled up about this.
* Just because Jobs is talking about spending money on “opportunities” doesn’t mean he’s talking about buying a company. He could be talking about big, hairy capital expenditures, like the billion-dollar server farm it’s finishing up in North Carolina.
So what will Jobs spend the money on? Kafka’s suggestion: Facebook. If Facebook has the option of going public for between, say, $35 and $40 billion, next year, Apple could cover that.
That would certainly qualify as a “strategic opportunity.” Just as Apple has struggled to compete with Google’s web services, Google has been trumped in social networking by Facebook. Jobs and Zuckerberg have even been seen together, Kafka notes.
Ostensibly that involves finding a way to integrate Apple’s Ping music discovery service with Facebook. But while they’re talking…
What do you think? What would you buy if you were Steve Jobs and had $51 billion to spend? Weigh in below.
Here’s what I heard. “I think we’ve demonstrated a really strong track record of being very disciplined with the use of our cash,” Jobs said. “So I think that we’d like to continue to keep our powder dry because we do feel there are one or more strategic opportunities in the future, that’s the biggest reason.”
That could mean a lot of things, but as Kafka wrote:
I don’t remember Jobs every signaling his desire to go shopping quite as openly as this before (feel free to correct me in comments if I have this one wrong). Two caveats:
* Jobs is famous for saying one thing and doing… something else. So don’t get too riled up about this.
* Just because Jobs is talking about spending money on “opportunities” doesn’t mean he’s talking about buying a company. He could be talking about big, hairy capital expenditures, like the billion-dollar server farm it’s finishing up in North Carolina.
So what will Jobs spend the money on? Kafka’s suggestion: Facebook. If Facebook has the option of going public for between, say, $35 and $40 billion, next year, Apple could cover that.
That would certainly qualify as a “strategic opportunity.” Just as Apple has struggled to compete with Google’s web services, Google has been trumped in social networking by Facebook. Jobs and Zuckerberg have even been seen together, Kafka notes.
Ostensibly that involves finding a way to integrate Apple’s Ping music discovery service with Facebook. But while they’re talking…
What do you think? What would you buy if you were Steve Jobs and had $51 billion to spend? Weigh in below.
Vietnam already have prototype of CDMA version of iPhone
Apple Releases iPhone CDMA version of the message widely circulated in the past few days, it seems that its authenticity is not questioned. Now, there are an unknown site in the exaggeration, claiming that to get a test prototype of CDMA version of iPhone. Although most of these pictures blurred, but the basic is to determine the aircraft's design and not much different from the existing iPhone 4.
In these latest leaked images, the iPhone appears with a designation of N92DVT, a codename that provides some insight into the production status and possible identity of the handset. According to information previously release by John Gruber on his Daring Fireball blog, N92 is the internal codename given to the CDMA iPhone. The DVT portion of the name refers to Design Verification Testing, one of the final stages in product development. This is the stage at which the iPhone 4 was lost and found in a bar earlier this year.
The source post also claims the CDMA smartphone from Apple includes a micro-SIM slot and suggests this rumored handset may have support for global roaming. This claim fits in nicely with an earlier rumor that points to an Apple smartphone with both CDMA and GSM/HSPA capabilities. Unfortunately, the presence of this micro-SIM slot can not be verified by the leaked photos. Higher quality shots are not available as the Vietnamese repair shop no longer has the phone in its possession.
In the end, these leaked images show little more than an iPhone-4 like handset that may or may not be photoshopped to have the appearance of the rumored N92 CDMA variant. While the timing is right for a DVT prototype to surface just prior to its big early 2011 launch, I am not convinced that these images are legitimate. Sound off in the comments and let us know what you think of these leaked photos. Are they real or a really good fake?
In these latest leaked images, the iPhone appears with a designation of N92DVT, a codename that provides some insight into the production status and possible identity of the handset. According to information previously release by John Gruber on his Daring Fireball blog, N92 is the internal codename given to the CDMA iPhone. The DVT portion of the name refers to Design Verification Testing, one of the final stages in product development. This is the stage at which the iPhone 4 was lost and found in a bar earlier this year.
The source post also claims the CDMA smartphone from Apple includes a micro-SIM slot and suggests this rumored handset may have support for global roaming. This claim fits in nicely with an earlier rumor that points to an Apple smartphone with both CDMA and GSM/HSPA capabilities. Unfortunately, the presence of this micro-SIM slot can not be verified by the leaked photos. Higher quality shots are not available as the Vietnamese repair shop no longer has the phone in its possession.
In the end, these leaked images show little more than an iPhone-4 like handset that may or may not be photoshopped to have the appearance of the rumored N92 CDMA variant. While the timing is right for a DVT prototype to surface just prior to its big early 2011 launch, I am not convinced that these images are legitimate. Sound off in the comments and let us know what you think of these leaked photos. Are they real or a really good fake?
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg denied the rumors on mobile phones
Facebook held a mobile-focused event by CEO Mark Zuckerberg and announced to updates company's iPhone applications yesterday. Mark Zuckerberg denied recent rumors that Facebook plans to develop mobile phones in the conference.
Zuckerberg said Facebook now has 200 million mobile service users. He denied that the Facebook will develop own brand mobile phone plan at the press conference.
Headlining Facebook's event were updates to Places, the location-based features that the social network announced back in August. Places allows Facebook users to "check-in" to a business or other location and then share posts and media about that location. Unlike other location-based social networks like Gowalla and Foursquare, though, Facebook also allows users to check their friends into a place, as long as the friend opts into this ability by turning on the feature in their privacy settings.
Don't worry about getting spammed with coupons if you use Facebook on your iPhone, though, because Facebook's updated iPhone app will only highlight retailers with deals in the Places list. If you don't ever stumble into the Places section, you should never be bothered with any of these coupons.
During a Q&A session at the end of Facebook's event, someone asked founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg why his company has yet to release an official iPad app, leaving the space to third-party apps like Friendly and Social.
To be more precise, as noted in the comments below, Mr. Zuckerberg said specifically, “iPad isn’t mobile,” which means that he doesn’t think it competes in the mobile phone space.
Which means that while Apple might consider iPhone and iPad as kindred spirits due to their shared OS, Facebook doesn’t. In fact, when Mashable’s Ben Barr said to the two execs that Apple would disagree on this issue, Mr. Zuckerberg said in his usual straight forward manner, “Well, sorry.”
Mr. Tseng then stepped in to say that the company is still trying to work out its approach to the tablet market, which suggests that Facebook is looking to bring Facebook to the tablet market as a whole in a unified way.
Zuckerberg said Facebook now has 200 million mobile service users. He denied that the Facebook will develop own brand mobile phone plan at the press conference.
Headlining Facebook's event were updates to Places, the location-based features that the social network announced back in August. Places allows Facebook users to "check-in" to a business or other location and then share posts and media about that location. Unlike other location-based social networks like Gowalla and Foursquare, though, Facebook also allows users to check their friends into a place, as long as the friend opts into this ability by turning on the feature in their privacy settings.
Don't worry about getting spammed with coupons if you use Facebook on your iPhone, though, because Facebook's updated iPhone app will only highlight retailers with deals in the Places list. If you don't ever stumble into the Places section, you should never be bothered with any of these coupons.
During a Q&A session at the end of Facebook's event, someone asked founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg why his company has yet to release an official iPad app, leaving the space to third-party apps like Friendly and Social.
To be more precise, as noted in the comments below, Mr. Zuckerberg said specifically, “iPad isn’t mobile,” which means that he doesn’t think it competes in the mobile phone space.
Which means that while Apple might consider iPhone and iPad as kindred spirits due to their shared OS, Facebook doesn’t. In fact, when Mashable’s Ben Barr said to the two execs that Apple would disagree on this issue, Mr. Zuckerberg said in his usual straight forward manner, “Well, sorry.”
Mr. Tseng then stepped in to say that the company is still trying to work out its approach to the tablet market, which suggests that Facebook is looking to bring Facebook to the tablet market as a whole in a unified way.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Windows Phone 7 is the last hope for Microsoft
Many people say that Windows Phone 7 is the last hope of Microsoft in the smartphone market, indeed, it is vital time for Microsoft. Although the smart phone market is fiercely competitive, but Microsoft is no other choice. Microsoft's main concern is their own economic interests, but also those who like HTC, ihkc that old cell phone manufacturers also want to see other companies compete with each other. So what kind of advantages of Microsoft's new mobile operating system Windows Phone 7 in the end?
The world's largest software company is hoping that the new phones, from handset makers Samsung, LG, HTC and Dell, will propel it back into the mobile market, which many see as the key to the future of computing, reports the Daily Mail.
The new phones, initially available on the T-Mobile network in Britain and on AT&T in the US, are much closer in look and feel to Apple's iPhone , with colourful touch-screens and 'tiles' for easy access to email, the Web, music and other applications.
Ballmer, who has admitted that his company 'missed a generation' with its recent unpopular phone offerings, said the new phones would eventually be available from 60 mobile operators in 30 countries.
Meanwhile, at a simultaneous launch event at London's Institute Of Contemporary Arts (ICA), Microsoft announced that WP7 will be coming on the Dell Venue Pro by Christmas.
Dell's Venue Pro will join five other WP7 handsets - three from HTC and one each from LG and Samsung - in the British market in the coming months.
In the US, the first phone from AT&T, priced at $200, will be available Nov 8.
Six Windows Phone 7 handsets will be released in Britain in the coming months, including three from HTC and the Dell Venue Pro, which is the only model to come with a slide-out keyboard
Microsoft has a market share of only five percent in the global smartphone market, according to research firm Gartner, compared with nine percent a year ago.
The world's largest software company is hoping that the new phones, from handset makers Samsung, LG, HTC and Dell, will propel it back into the mobile market, which many see as the key to the future of computing, reports the Daily Mail.
The new phones, initially available on the T-Mobile network in Britain and on AT&T in the US, are much closer in look and feel to Apple's iPhone , with colourful touch-screens and 'tiles' for easy access to email, the Web, music and other applications.
Ballmer, who has admitted that his company 'missed a generation' with its recent unpopular phone offerings, said the new phones would eventually be available from 60 mobile operators in 30 countries.
Meanwhile, at a simultaneous launch event at London's Institute Of Contemporary Arts (ICA), Microsoft announced that WP7 will be coming on the Dell Venue Pro by Christmas.
Dell's Venue Pro will join five other WP7 handsets - three from HTC and one each from LG and Samsung - in the British market in the coming months.
In the US, the first phone from AT&T, priced at $200, will be available Nov 8.
Six Windows Phone 7 handsets will be released in Britain in the coming months, including three from HTC and the Dell Venue Pro, which is the only model to come with a slide-out keyboard
Microsoft has a market share of only five percent in the global smartphone market, according to research firm Gartner, compared with nine percent a year ago.
Google's new technology allows automatic driving vehicle
Google announced the company apart in the normal business operations, is also developing the technology allows automatic driving vehicle. The company said in a blog, using this technology can reduce by half the number of deaths due to traffic accidents worldwide each year about 60 million lives saved. At the same time Google also hopes to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Two recent announcements have made self-driving cars seem a lot closer to reality. The first comes from the Army, which is now using self-driving vehicles to guard a large military facility and nuclear waste dump in Nevada. And then there's Google, which recently announced that it has developed self-driving cars that have logged over 100,000 miles on real roads in real traffic.
What is going on inside these cars to make it possible for them to drive themselves? Let's take a look.
You could, in theory, turn any car into a self-driving car. The first thing you would have to do is make it possible for a computer to control the car. This is not quite as easy as it sounds, but it is relatively straightforward. The computer needs to be able to turn the steering wheel, push the accelerator and brake pedals, move the gear shift control and start the engine.
These tasks, at least in experimental self-driving cars, are often accomplished with motors. A motor is mounted so it can turn the existing steering wheel. Another motor is able to put pressure on the accelerator and brake pedals. And so on. It is not a particularly elegant solution, but it gets the job done. As production cars become more advanced, drive-by-wire systems are becoming more common. In cars with drive-by-wire, a computer can hook directly into the existing control systems.
The next thing that a self-driving car needs is sensors, and here things get pretty complicated today. A human being drives a car by using his or her eyes as the sole sensor. The human visual system is amazing in this regard, because it is able to accurately judge the presence of obstacles, their distance, their relative size based on distance, their speed, etc. A human being also recognizes what he is seeing. If a human being sees a fence, she can accurately predict with high certainty that it will not jump into the middle of the road. On the other hand, a child playing with a ball on a sidewalk is a different story.
Computer vision systems are nowhere near this point in their development. So they rely on extra sensors to provide more information. Self-driving cars do have camera-based vision systems that they use to see other cars, unexpected obstacles, road markings and signs. But in addition, self-driving cars almost always have GPS sensors so that they have a better idea of exactly where they are and where they are pointing. They also have LADAR systems — laser scanners that can look for nearby objects and accurately judge their distance. They may have RADAR systems as well. They may also have infrared sensors to improve night vision.
These sensors all feed into a powerful onboard computer (often multiple computers) that process all the data that the sensors are gathering. The internal computer will have access to a database of maps and other relevant information. For example, engineers may pre-drive a route and pre-catalog all signs, road markings, curbs, crosswalks, traffic lights, etc. that the self-driving car will encounter along the road. This way, the car knows what to expect and can plan accordingly. Finally, the onboard computer may also be communicating by radio with bigger computers holding even more data.
Two recent announcements have made self-driving cars seem a lot closer to reality. The first comes from the Army, which is now using self-driving vehicles to guard a large military facility and nuclear waste dump in Nevada. And then there's Google, which recently announced that it has developed self-driving cars that have logged over 100,000 miles on real roads in real traffic.
What is going on inside these cars to make it possible for them to drive themselves? Let's take a look.
You could, in theory, turn any car into a self-driving car. The first thing you would have to do is make it possible for a computer to control the car. This is not quite as easy as it sounds, but it is relatively straightforward. The computer needs to be able to turn the steering wheel, push the accelerator and brake pedals, move the gear shift control and start the engine.
These tasks, at least in experimental self-driving cars, are often accomplished with motors. A motor is mounted so it can turn the existing steering wheel. Another motor is able to put pressure on the accelerator and brake pedals. And so on. It is not a particularly elegant solution, but it gets the job done. As production cars become more advanced, drive-by-wire systems are becoming more common. In cars with drive-by-wire, a computer can hook directly into the existing control systems.
The next thing that a self-driving car needs is sensors, and here things get pretty complicated today. A human being drives a car by using his or her eyes as the sole sensor. The human visual system is amazing in this regard, because it is able to accurately judge the presence of obstacles, their distance, their relative size based on distance, their speed, etc. A human being also recognizes what he is seeing. If a human being sees a fence, she can accurately predict with high certainty that it will not jump into the middle of the road. On the other hand, a child playing with a ball on a sidewalk is a different story.
Computer vision systems are nowhere near this point in their development. So they rely on extra sensors to provide more information. Self-driving cars do have camera-based vision systems that they use to see other cars, unexpected obstacles, road markings and signs. But in addition, self-driving cars almost always have GPS sensors so that they have a better idea of exactly where they are and where they are pointing. They also have LADAR systems — laser scanners that can look for nearby objects and accurately judge their distance. They may have RADAR systems as well. They may also have infrared sensors to improve night vision.
These sensors all feed into a powerful onboard computer (often multiple computers) that process all the data that the sensors are gathering. The internal computer will have access to a database of maps and other relevant information. For example, engineers may pre-drive a route and pre-catalog all signs, road markings, curbs, crosswalks, traffic lights, etc. that the self-driving car will encounter along the road. This way, the car knows what to expect and can plan accordingly. Finally, the onboard computer may also be communicating by radio with bigger computers holding even more data.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
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