The primary value proposition for autonomous vehicles — aside from enabling people to realize their greatest “Jetsons”-inspired fantasies — lies in the safety implications of the technology. The operating theory is that by replacing human drivers, autonomous technology will drastically reduce vehicular injuries and fatalities. But to do that, autonomous vehicles have to drive better than humans in all situations. Four months ago, Ford was the first to begin testing its cars on snow-covered roads and begin training its systems to drive as well as an “expert highly trained driver” would under those conditions. Now, after a series of tests in Arizona, Ford can …

Contact lenses that contain a built-in camera, sensors and a display that can project images directly into wearer’s eyes have been conceived by Samsung. A patent application for the technology made by the South Korean electronics giant—first spotted by unofficial Samsung blog Sammobile—reveals the concept was inspired by the limitations of smart glasses, like Google Glass. According to the 29-page application, the image quality of smart glasses is limited and they do not provide a natural interface.

The smart home devices sold by Google's home automation subsidiary, Nest, represent just a small fraction of the burgeoning Internet of Things (IoT) market. However, Nest has become one of the most recognizable IoT brands to tech-savvy consumers, and the company's recent struggles to bring new products to market and its decision to end support for an IoT hub it acquired two years ago could have a lasting impact on the IoT movement. At the end of 2015, nearly 20 percent of all U.S. households with broadband connections owned at least one smart home product, according to the research firm Parks …

When it comes to health and fitness, some technology that's meant to help you actually could be hurting your progress. Fitness trackers, part of the booming wearables market, have caught fire with the health conscious and boosted the fortunes of their manufacturers. In 2014, worldwide consumer spending on health and fitness services clocked in at over $200 billion, with wearable devices capturing a growing percentage, said analyst Jim Duffy at Stifel. Duffy noted that Fitbit alone had sales of $1.8 billion last year, and that the company expects revenue in excess of $2 billion for this year.

Volvo wants to use China's roads as a test bed for a driverless car experiment which, if successful, the Swedish auto manufacturer claims represents a leap into the future for truly autonomous vehicles by allowing the driver (or is that passenger...) to sit back and relax while on the road. "Autonomous driving can make a significant contribution to road safety," said Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive of Volvo speaking at the announcement of the project in Beijing. "The sooner autonomous driving cars are on the roads, the better". The self-driving car experiment forms part of Volvo's Drive Me programme. Erik Coelingh, …

In the never ending quest to connect everything to the internet, there's now a sofa that can be controlled from a smartphone. The Lift-Bit, developed by international design firm Carlo Ratti Associati, is claimed to be the "world's first" Internet of Things (IoT) sofa. The sofa is made up of a number of modular sections that can be moved around to creating different seating positions. The individual stools that make up the sofa are motorised allowing them to be raised and lowered.

Australians are networking their homes at twice the rate of Americans and are eager adopters of the Internet of Things (IoT), according to Vish Nandlall, Telstra CTO. Speaking at Melbourne's American Chamber of Commerce in Australia, Nandlall said US homes had an average of four devices connected to the internet in 2014, a rate well below its tech-hungry Australian counterparts. "When you look what's happening within Telstra and our domestic network, you're seeing a lot more connected devices than you see in the US," Nandlall said. "We're seeing on average eight connected devices."

Bentley has released a mock-up of what the future of luxury driving could look like with this sketch of a personal assistant in the back of one of their supercars. The EXP10 Speed 6 has already won multiple awards as one of the company's most successful concept cars. And the designers have gone one step further to realise its future with this drawing of a holographic assistant in the back seats. It was created to show how the British company will keep up with modern technological advances.

Google’s Nest division is shipping a new feature for its Revolv smart-home hub: an expiration date. That’s probably not the kind of update owners of the Revolv Hub expected when Nest bought the Boulder, Colo., firm that makes the $300 gadget back in October 2014. But on May 15, that gadget — which wirelessly controls other devices in your home — will go offline permanently. A note on the Revolv homepage says that the company is refocusing its efforts on helping other devices work with Nest gadgets (such as its eponymous smart thermostat). Unfortunately, company co-founders …

John Lewis has opened a department dedicated entirely to the Internet of Things (IoT) at its flagship Oxford Street store in London. After seeing an 81% rise in sales of smart home devices and products in the past year, John Lewis’ IT director, Paul Coby said the 1,000 sq ft department would “demystify the concept of the smart home”. The department features a range of home products focused on the kitchen, entertainment, sleeping and monitoring. Mr Coby said: “We know there is a lot of noise around the IoT. Techies talk about connected things and devices, while other people talk about …