Just a couple of years ago Ford was talking up driving assist features like automatic emergency braking, lane keeping, automatic high beams and more as part of its Co-Pilot360 suite. But now in 2020 that feature list is just keeping up with the competition, and falling short of more advanced tech on the road like Tesla’s various Autopilot updates and GM’s Super Cruise, to name a few.
Now Ford is preparing upgrades for 2021 models, and its electric Mustang Mach-E will be the first one to offer the most advanced options, including a “CoPilot360 Active 2.0 Prep Package” that promises hands-free driving after a software update that owners can get at a dealer or install over-the-air in Q3 2021.
A new feature in Ford vehicles, hands-free driving on divided highways will be available as Active Drive Assist, which includes a driver-facing camera that makes sure you’re paying attention as the car maneuvers itself. Producing the package hardware-first and saying customers will be able to get the rest in a future software update resembles Tesla’s Autopilot / Full Self-Driving promises, and while Ford doesn’t go that far, it does claim there’s “the potential for more enhancements in the future.”
As long as your trip on the 100,000 miles or so of mapped highways supported across the US and Canada, then drivers can sit back with their hands off the wheel, instead of needing to keep them there as is the case with lane-keeping technology and adaptive cruise control. GM Super Cruise tech brought a similar feature to Cadillacs a few years ago and the company is now working on an “Ultra Cruise” that supports city streets. Ford’s drive assist can respond to obstacles by stopping, or change lanes and continue on to evade a potential collision.
Ford
According to Ford’s chief product development and purchasing officer Hau Thai-Tang, “By introducing driver assist technologies like Active Drive Assist, Ford’s version of hands-free driving, we’re allowing our customers to feel more confident whenever they’re behind the wheel.” The company said it tested the system with “the mother of all road trips,” covering all kinds of traffic and weather conditions to make sure its sensors would operate consistently no matter what you’re driving through.
Other vehicles will also get Active Drive Assist features and upgraded Co-Pilot360 tech in the 2021 model year, although those packages may vary by model. In the Mach-E, the Co-Pilot360 2.0 standard package’s lane-keeping system will include Road Edge Detection that can alert a driver if their car is drifting over a line or onto the dirt and Blind-Spot assist. Its adaptive cruise control can get the car moving again after coming to a complete stop for as long as thirty seconds — the previous system needed to be reactivated manually if the car stopped for over three seconds. It’s also adding an intersection assist that will apply the brakes if it detects an oncoming vehicle when you’re making a left turn across traffic.
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With roots dating back to 1991, the Sea Otter Classic is one of the biggest biking events and tradeshows each year and brings together all sides of the biking industry from athletes to brands, spectators and consumers. Taking place in April in the sunny hills of Monterey, California, that means this event really feels like the official start to the biking season in North America. Christina Chappetta covers why it’s much different to an indoor European biking tradeshow, a World Cup racing weekend or even Crankworx mountain bike festival, in that it encompasses nearly ALL of the biking disciplines, including road cycling, enduro, downhill, dual slalom, XC, trials riding and more.
In the past fortnight, we have seen large amount of new tech releases. However, Sea Otter 2024 represents some of the first opportunities for many riders to see these things in the flesh, as well as take a deeper dive into what the product aims to do. Welcome to a video summary from Day 2 of the Sea Otter Classic. There are so many giveaways, interesting new products and colourful characters at Sea Otter Classic that it’s hard to stand out from the crowd. Ben Cathro takes a lap of the venue to find his favourites.
The new 12.9-inch iPad Air, the report claimed, would have the same miniLED backlighting currently found on the larger iPad Pro, using the leftover inventory from the current Pro as that model switches to OLED. That was exciting news.
But now, Ross Young, the analyst who made the claim, has changed his mind. The new prediction, shared with paid subscribers only, is that the miniLED technology won’t be coming to the iPad Air, in either size.
While it made sense that the inventory could be maximized in this way, it now “makes sense” that it won’t.
Young says that while he’d heard from supply chain sources that it would, he’d now had contact from “even more supply chain sources” that it won’t.
And the reason this change of heart now makes sense is that this miniLED technology is expensive, so it would be surprising if it made it to the iPad Air, which is more affordable than the Pro.
That’s not quite all the analyst shared. He also said that there are now reports of a new iPad coming later in the year. This is a 12.9-inch iPad, with miniLED backlighting and it could arrive between October and December this year.
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This is intriguing. What could it be? Assuming that the iPad Pro and iPad Air are released in May, it’s extremely unlikely either will be updated later in the year. And if the iPad Air isn’t pricey enough for miniLED to be included, what tablet could Apple be introducing that is the same size as the bigger Pro, with a pricey screen tech, which would sit between the Air and the Pro, it seems?
Young is highly reliable, but this seems slightly preposterous to me. The only other iPad in the range due a refresh is the regular iPad (at 12.9-inches, the iPad mini is clearly out of the picture) and that doesn’t seem likely either.
It seems to me that any regular iPad will almost certainly have the same screen size as now, 10.9 inches. The regular iPad only grew to this size screen in the current generation, and Apple almost never changes designs after one iteration.
Perhaps things will become clearer as the year goes on.
A Calgary woman who abused her sick, 77-year-old father was “overwhelmed” at the task of caring for him, a judge heard Wednesday at a sentencing hearing.
In January, Tara Picard, 52, pleaded guilty to charges of assault and failing to provide the necessaries of life after her father (whom CBC News is not naming) was found injured on a basement floor, where he’d been lying for two days.
On Wednesday, prosecutor Donna Spaner and defence lawyer Shaun Leochko asked the judge to allow Picard to serve her sentence in the community under conditions as part of a conditional sentence order.
Justice Indra Maharaj agreed to a two-year conditional sentence for Picard followed by a year of probation.
“There is no doubt she became overwhelmed,” said Spaner in her submissions. “There is no question Ms. Picard has remorse.”
Leochko told the judge that caring for her father “was really more than [Picard] could handle.”
Maharaj heard that Picard is Indigenous and was the victim of abuse growing up. She lives in a sober dorm-style facility and is working with a mental health and addictions navigator, according to Leochko.
A ‘willingness to give back’
As part of the sentence, Picard must complete 300 hours of community service.
Justice Maharaj commended Picard for “taking that on.”
“That shows me Ms. Picard sincerely does recognize what has happened here,” said the judge.
“What I interpret from that is Ms. Picard’s willingness to give back to her community.”
During Picard’s plea, court heard that in November 2021, Picard and her father fought over his drinking.
Nurses discover victim
The victim suffers from a number of medical issues, including diabetes, heart disease, dementia and alcoholism.
At the time, home-care registered nurses were assigned to help provide supplementary care.
Nurses found the victim wearing a soiled adult diaper and suffering from two black eyes with blood on his head.
He told the nurses who discovered him that he’d been there for two days.
Picard admitted she knew her father had fallen and she had “administered a number of physical blows.”
