Apple self-driving effort shifts from hardware to software

Inside Apple’s secretive car division, the focus is starting to shift from building an all-electric, autonomous car to developing software and services that would work inside the prospective car, according to people familiar with the iPhone maker’s plans.

In a Bloomberg report, Mark Gurman states that the company has “increased emphasis on developing self-driving technology” and hired several automotive software developers from BlackBerry.

Dan Dodge, the founder of QNX—the operating system used by BlackBerry in its smartphones prior to the Priv—is one of the new employees reportedly working on car infotainment services.

QNX is used primarily in automotives for Volkswagen, Daimler, and Ford nowadays, making the pickup of Dodge all the more intriguing.

To make it more obvious that Apple is on the hunt for automotive software developers, itrecently opened a research and development center in Kanata, Ontario, home to some of BlackBerry’s R&D facilities.

Apple not totally giving up on hardware

Apple is not giving up fully on the goal of hardware, software, and services all under one roof, but the lack of focus has caused talent to leave and upper-management disagreement.

To that end, Apple veteran Bob Mansfield has been brought in to try and re-focus the team. Mansfield reports directly to CEO Tim Cook, unlike his predecessor Steve Zadesky, showing the growing importance at the company that the autonomous car is a success.

Apple still has 2020 as the date for completion, but growing competition from Tesla, Uber, and Google, alongside previous dormant automakers starting to enter the market, may force Apple to speed up its development and reveal early previews of its tech.

Then again, the autonomous market is still very fragmented with Google not providing any commercial strategy and Uber, General Motors, and Ford only just starting to get to grips with what an autonomous future means for transport and ownership.

Apple may wait for a more cohesive vision on what the future of automotive means before publicly revealing its hand. That way, it won’t be labelled a failure if consumers heavily reject loaning or ridesharing arrangements that Uber, Lyft, and Google attempt to launch.

How to spend the extra hour your self-driving car gives you

The average commute in the United States is 25.4 minutes. If the trip home takes exactly as long, then Americans spend an average of 50.8 minutes per day behind the wheel of their car driving to or from their workplace.

That’s a lot of time, and autonomous vehicles are positioned to give that time back to drivers in a big way. Currently, doing things like eating breakfast or applying makeup in the rear-view mirror during the commute is dangerous. In many places it’s even unlawful. It creates a hazard for the driver, their passengers, and other vehicle occupants on the roadway. This is one of the strongest cases for self-driving vehicles.

That extra hour could be spent doing any number of things you normally would be able to accomplish at home or in the office. For employers, this means salaried employees are more accessible. To hourly employees, it’s an opportunity to get a head start on work and clock some extra time ahead of arrival.

Vehicle manufacturers are making this easy, as well. Concept autonomous vehicles from brands like Rolls-Royce replace the typical instrument panel and steering wheel with a screen capable of displaying video content and even work-related tasks. The interior of the vehicle is being set up more like a lounging area than a traditional car.

The concept behind the Zoox autonomous taxi project includes two bench seats facing each other so the vehicle acts like a portable meeting space. Imagine being able to hold face-to-face meetings on the ride between the hotel and the conference hall, or carpooling with coworkers and getting the morning meeting out of the way before you even arrive.

Extra time to…watch ads?

This is also a win for media companies. The car has long been an almost exclusive domain for radio. Now, an autonomous vehicle will be able to become a medium for media consumption not unlike your laptop, phone, and television at home. This opens the door for cable and Internet service providers to develop more wide-reaching services that cater specifically to autonomous vehicles, enabling passengers to enjoy broadband, television access, and more — which also opens up new advertising channels.

What would you do with your extra hour? Would you spend it watching YouTube videos? Would you spend it working to go home an hour earlier than usual? Would you use it to organize your home life and pay bills or arrange appointments? You could even take nap and catch up on that extra 25 minutes of sleep you would have otherwise hit the snooze button for.

No matter what you choose to do, it’s clear that autonomous vehicles will change the way we commute.