December 16 - 31 , 2016 PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY A13
Google ’ s self-driving car unit is being spun off and rebranded as Waymo as it aims “ to make it safe and easy for people and things to move around .”
The company announced Tuesday that Waymo would become an independent operating unit within Google ’ s parent holding company Alphabet as it seeks to move forward on autonomous driving technology .
“ We believe that this technology can begin to reshape some of the ten trillion miles that motor vehicles travel around the world every year , with safer , more efficient and more accessible forms of transport ,” said John Krafcik , the former Hyundai North America executive who is chief executive of Waymo .
“ We can see our technology being useful in personal vehicles , ridesharing , logistics , or solving last mile problems for public transport ,” he said .
“ In the long term , selfdriving technology could be useful in ways the world has yet to imagine , creating many new types of products , jobs , and services .”
Krafcik said Waymo “ stands for a new way
PAL set to buy 12 Aircrafts
Philippine Airlines said it placed orders for up to 12 Q400 aircraft from Bombardier Commercial Aircraft .
The country ’ s flag carrier said it ordered six Q400 aircraft with option for another six planes to expand its inter-island domestic operations .
“ These new Q400s , ideal for short runways , have 10 more seats than our existing Q400s , as well as premium economy section ,” PAL said .
PAL owns four Bombardier DHC 8-300 aircraft and five Bombardier DHC 8-400 aircraft , which it dry leased to partner PAL Express .
PAL ’ s domestic network , including those operated by partner PAL Express , covers 31 cities and towns in the Philippines .
It serves the following domestic destinations : Bacolod , Basco , Butuan , Busuanga , Cagayan , Calbayog , Catarman , Caticlan , Cebu , Cotabato , Davao , Dipolog , Dumaguete , General Santos , Iloilo , Jolo , Kalibo ,
New Self-Driving Car
forward in mobility ,” adding that “ we ’ re a self-driving technology company with a mission to make it safe and easy for people and things to move around .”
To demonstrate its technology , the company said it used one of its vehicles to transport Austin , Texas , resident Steve Mahan , who is legally blind .
“ This ride was possible because our cars can now handle the most difficult driving tasks , such as detecting and responding to emergency vehicles , mastering multi-lane four-way stops , and anticipating what
Laoag , Legazpi , Manila , Masbate , Naga , Ozamiz , Puerto Princesa , Roxas , Surigao , Tablas , Tacloban , T a g b i l a r a n , Tuguegarao and Zamboanga .
D o m e s t i c o p e r a t i o n s contributed 20 percent to PAL ’ s revenues last year .
PAL expects to carry 15 million domestic and international passengers in 2017 , higher than the projected 13.5 million passengers this year , a top executive said .
PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista said the airline would likely achieve the target of 13.5 million passengers this year .
PAL flew 11.9 million passengers in 2015 , up from 9.6 million passengers in 2014 .
Bautista said new routes , more destinations and frequency and China charters would drive passenger growth in 2017 .
PAL , controlled by tycoon Lucio Tan , earlier posted a comprehensive income of P2.96 billion in the nine-month period , lower by 54.8 percent than the previous year ’ s total comprehensive income of P6.55 billion . ( D . Amijelar , MS ) unpredictable humans will do on the road ,” a statement said .
Google has been working on autonomous driving since 2009 , and recently moved this unit into its Google X division which has included projects such as internet delivery by drone and package delivery .
The new reorganization creates a separate unit for the automotive operations .
A fact sheet from the company said Waymo ’ s next steps “ will be to let people use fully self-driving cars to do everyday things like run errands or commute to
work .”
The company declined to comment on a report in The Information that said it was scrapping plans for its own branded vehicles to focus on partnerships with auto manufacturers .
A separate report by Bloomberg said Waymo would be partnering with Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles in a new ridesharing venture to launch next year . Such a plan would put the tech giant in competition with Uber , into which Google ’ s venture capital fund has an equity stake .( AP / Interaksyon )
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