Waymo will deploy its driverless cars in Japan and test its technology in another country for the first time. According to CNBC, the company will begin testing its Jaguar I-PACE vehicles in Tokyo in early 2025 and hopes to remain in the country “for a long time.”
During the vehicles’ experimental phase, which will last several quarters, human drivers from Japanese taxi company Nihon Kotsu will pilot Waymo’s cars so its technology can map the city. Specifically, they’ll be driving Waymo’s Jaguar I-PACE on the streets of Shinjuku, Shibuya, and other major areas of Tokyo.
Data collected from those tests will be used to train the company’s self-driving system. Waymo will also recreate Tokyo’s driving conditions on a closed course in the U.S., where it will test more of its robotaxis, and use data collected from that effort for training.
The company has not yet announced when it will launch ridesharing for the general public, but it has partnered with Japan’s “GO” taxi app, which will likely offer driverless ridesharing to users in the future. As CNBC reported, Japan is keen to introduce driverless ridesharing as a transportation option due to its aging population despite its efficient train system. Last year, it amended its laws to allow Level 4 autonomous driving on its roads.
In the US, Waymo operates its driverless cars in Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. However, it announced several plans to introduce its vehicles to more locations in the past months, and raised $5.6 billion for its expansion to Austin and Atlanta next year. Waymo will also deploy its Jaguar I-PACE vehicles in Miami in early 2025 and offer ridesharing to the public in the city sometime in 2026.
The latest MacBook Air ticks a lot of boxes: not only is it our top pick for the best laptop available now, but we also consider it the best laptop for college students and the best MacBook for most people. Apple hasn’t changed much in the latest version, but that’s to be expected since the previous entry was the most significant redesign in nearly a decade.
The new 13-inch MacBook Air has a faster M3 chip, as well as the ability to run dual external monitors (but only with the lid closed) and support for Wi-Fi 6E. There’s also a fingerprint free finish for the black “Midnight” model that actually works!
It’s hard to improve on a laptop we previously considered nearly perfect, but a new chip certainly helps. The M3 processor is about 20 percent faster than the M2 for both single-core and multi-core tasks, and it offers a significant GPU bump, along with support for real-time ray tracing. Battery life remains best in class, with enough juice to keep you going for several work days without a charger.
It has one of the best keyboards we’ve ever seen in a laptop – it’s surprisingly tactile and responsive – and the trackpad is huge and smooth to the touch. Even the speakers are much better than other systems.
The only major drawback against the MacBook Air is that it only has a MagSafe charging port and two USB-C connectors on its left side. That makes charging a little tricky if your plug is only accessible on the right side of the machine. But, at least it still has a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is becoming increasingly difficult to find in ultra-thin notebooks these days.