The latest Apple rumor circulating the internet is that they are joining Google and Tesla in the race for building autonomous vehicles. According to recent reports by Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, and the Financial Times, Apple is getting serious about learning how to make a self-driving car. They have consulted with car makers and automotive suppliers, with a focus on electric and connected car technologies and possibly automated driving.
There have been reports of a secret test lab for Apple’s electric car. Supposedly the project is code-named “Titan” and employs several hundred people a few miles from Apple’s Cupertino headquarters. Although building a car would be quite a departure from Apple’s usual electronic device market, it does seem that the Internet of Things is helping to blur industry lines—as cars become increasingly “smart,” the automotive and consumer electronics industries are more intertwined. Even if Apple isn’t planning to build an entire car, it is likely that they are studying vehicles as research that will help them design systems for navigation, media, and communication systems for cars.
