Drivers Wanted Download PDF

It is already possible to build driverless cars, trucks and buses. But practical problems and safety concerns mean they may never be allowed on the roads.

The teams competing in DARPA’s Grand Challenge (see article) have it easy. The driverless vehicles racing off-road in the Mojave Desert merely have to avoid boulders, dunes and the occasional cactus. That is nothing compared with the hazards of the open road. Put those same autonomous vehicles on Interstate 15—the busy road that links Los Angeles and Las Vegas—and they would also have to contend with bleary-eyed weekenders, huge trucks and octogenarians puttering along in mobile homes. Even so, engineers and scientists at a handful of academic and industrial research centres are valiantly grappling with the problem of designing autonomous passenger vehicles, buses and trucks. They imagine a future in which convoys of cars would communicate with each other and with roadside sensors to navigate congested freeways, ensure smooth traffic flow and virtually eliminate accidents. Continue reading →

Goodbye to the Video Store Download PDF

For too long, “video-on-demand” has promised more than it could deliver. But new ways are emerging for shrink-wrapping massive video files for delivery over the Internet.

It sounds like the movie addict’s ultimate fantasy: a TV-mounted set-top box that taps the film libraries of Hollywood’s big studios. A film buff could peruse thousands of titles spanning dozens of genres, from enduring classics to the latest blockbuster releases. After deciding what to watch, viewers would enter a password, confirm credit-card details, and then sit back as 5.1-channel surround-sound video streams from a remote web server into a home-theatre system in their living room.

Too good to be true? For the moment, yes. Bespoke video-on-demand is at least three years away. But the difference now is that Movielink—a recently formed joint venture between MGM, Paramount, Sony, Universal and Warner Bros—is preparing a collective library for just such a service. The venture intends to serve up an almost unlimited selection of films over the Internet and, eventually, through a web-connected set-top box. Continue reading →

Heavenly Music Download PDF

A handful of satellite start-ups are hoping to deliver global digital audio to the last analogue holdout: radio. Meanwhile, conventional AM and FM broadcasters are responding with their own digital scheme.

The launch of America’s first satellite-radio service was not without its hitches. XM Satellite Radio, the first firm to go live in the United States, began broadcasting late last year. But its start had already been postponed following September 11th. Eventually, when Hugh Panero, XM Radio’s chief executive, was able to flip the switch, the company’s two geostationary satellites began beaming 100 channels of CD-quality music and talk to listeners in San Diego and Dallas—the two first test markets.

But no sooner had the trials started than another problem emerged. The solar arrays on both of XM’s Boeing 702 satellites were found to be degrading faster than expected. The estimated 15-year lifespan of the $150m satellites was suddenly cut in half. It is a good thing that XM keeps a spare. Continue reading →