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Soon we may live in a world where the taxi you hail doesn't have a driver. GM and Lyft plan to test self-driving taxis on public roads in a year. Watch CNET Update for the details, and lea what other news is bubbling up in the autonomous vehicle space: Also in this tech- news roundup, Apple Music is said to be offering a student discount to match Spotify, and new reports speculate over Apple's Music's design makeover.CNET Update delivers the tech news you need in under 3 minutes. Watch Bridget Carey every afteoon for a breakdown of the big stories, hot devices, new apps and what's ahead. Subscribe to the podcast via the links below.Subscribe:iTunes (HD) |...

Enlarge ImageMom looks pretty pleased that you can't talk back. Groupon Mother's Day is coming on Sunday, May 8. I'm taking my mom on a historic house tour followed by a pub lunch and later a home-cooked dier. Not everybody likes spending that much time with the person who birthed you. That's why deals site Groupon is offering to make a...

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.Guns and selfies don't mix. Ethan Miller/Getty Images Last Friday night, 15-year-old Ramandeep Singh wanted to take a selfie. However, as The Indian Express reports, he chose to take one while posing with his dad's pistol. He accidentally shot himself in the head, was taken to hospital in Ludhiana, India, and died from his injuries. The Telegraph reports that instead of pressing the button on his phone to take the picture, he pulled the gun's trigger. The safety catch, police say, wasn't on. The Punjab Police didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. This isn't the first time someo...

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.Enlarge ImageSchumer's Instagram post. She's not happy. screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET When you see someone famous on the street, do you rush up to them?Do you assume the position, phone in hand, shoulder next to the celebrity's? Do you even say: "Smile, oh famou...

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.Enlarge ImageOne of the selfies in question. WVAH-TV screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET Prisoners are supposed to be denied certain privileges. Sometimes, though, there are lapses. One may have occurred when 27-year-old Shane Holbrook posted some selfies to Face...

Ole Spata/Corbis Everyone's favourite 140-character micro-blogging platform is quietly setting off on a new course on the vast oceans of the Inteet, changing classification in the app store from "Social Networking" to "News."Rather than going up against the likes of Facebook, Skype and Facebook's spin-off app Messenger, the move sees Twitter playing in the big leagues with The New York Times, The Guardian and BBC News. Just as rival social network Facebook has shifted focus in recent years, focusing heavily on video, advertising and delivering third-party news within its own ecosystem, Twitter is looking to reposition too. The company is eyeing off the mass market, with Twitter this month wi...

RoadshowAutomobilesSelf-driving cars to hit UK roads in Volvo trialSelf-driving cars are hitting the public roads of Britain as Volvo brings semi-autonomous vehicles to London's streets next year. In early 2017 a small number of semi-autonomous Volvo XC90 vehicles, with people behind the wheel in case of emergency, will be part of the first phase of a trial labelled Drive Me London. By 2018, the Swedish automaker's study is set to expand to 100 cars.The Drive Me programme of driverless trials began in Volvo's home city of Gothenburg, where Roadshow's Tim Stevens spent time test-driving -- or rather, not driving -- Volvo's semi-autonomous cars. Semi-autonomous vehicles allow you to hand over ...

RoadshowCar IndustryUber, Google and Ford form self-driving car coalitionA fleet of auto companies are forming a self-driving car coalition, Reuters reports.The report claims that Google, Uber and Ford are among the auto companies ganging up to promote the interests of self-driving cars. The coalition's aim is reportedly to urge federal action on self-driving vehicles.Reuters quotes ex-US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration official David Strickland as saying, "The best path for this iovation is to have one clear set of federal standards, and the coalition will work with policymakers to find the right solutions that will facilitate the deployment of self-driving vehicles." Driverl...

RoadshowCar IndustryIs Elon Musk working on a self-driving bus?The greatest takeaway from this is that you should never, ever tell Elon Musk something you want kept secret. Patrick T. Fallon/Reuters/Corbis Usually, when you try to keep a secret, you don't tell anyone that secret. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is a bit different. He loves tossing out esoteric statements that leave the media guessing, and some of his more recent comments makes it sound like he's working on something...big.Bloomberg reports that Musk let slip some very interesting details during a transportation conference in Norway. "We have an idea for something which is not exactly a bus but would solve the density problem for ier cit...

Perspective Uber drivers in China will have to snap a selfie in order to register with the service. CNET As Uber continues to battle conces over driver safety and identity, the ride-sharing service will begin asking its drivers in China to use facial recognition features.Drivers will use an app to take a selfie upon initially registering to establish their identities, reports the South China Moing Post. As part of the process, they would make a series of simple head gestures, according to the report. Drivers will then have to confirm their identities periodically to ensure they are really who they say they are.The features, which are designed to end questionable activities like multiple driv...

RoadshowSUVsVolvo wants to bring self-driving pilot program to USEnlarge ImageAt the minimum, having a robot at the reins might prevent many of us from foaming at the mouth with rage at the thought of traffic. Volvo...

RoadshowAuto TechSelf-driving race car series to use Nvidia's brainsAlthough incredibly powerful, the Drive PX 2 computer is about the size of a lunchbox. Screenshot by Lori Grunin/CNET Graphical chipmaker Nvidia aounced today that competitors in the upcoming Roborace self-driving car race series would use its Drive PX 2 computer as the brains for their cars. Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang made the aouncement during his keynote address at Nvidia's GPU Technology Conference.Organizers of the Formula E electric race series introduced the idea of Roborace last year. This field of self-driving cars will race against each other in conjunction with the Formula E electric races for its 2016-2017 season....

RoadshowCar IndustrySelf-proclaimed Tesla competitor receives big funding pushEnlarge ImageGeorge Hotz explains levels of vehicular autonomy as part of a Bloomberg Business feature on his homebrew t...

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.Quite an explosive smile. Paul Smith/Twitter screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET I've been around plenty of terrorist bombings (courtesy of the Irish Republican Army), but I've never been present at a hijacking.I somehow feel as if I'd be quite nervous. Then, the minute it's all over, I'd want to rush out of the plane, out of the airport and away to a beach for a week or three.Ben Ies may be slightly cooler. Or something.The 26-year-old was on an Egyptair flight from Alexandria to Cairo that reportedly got hijacked by Seif Eldin Mustafa.Mustafa, who admitted his crime, was wearing a belt of what look...

RoadshowCar IndustryNissan CEO Carlos Ghosn talks self-driving cars, EVs at New York showCarlos Ghosn Daniel Karma/dpa/Corbis Nissan Chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn helped kick off the 2016 New York auto show with a keynote this moing. When asked why widespread adoption of electric cars has been slow and seems to be slowing still, Ghosn gave three reasons. He stated that emissions standards aren't approached with the same level of urgency as of late, but that limits are lowering yet and we'll soon reach a time where EVs are the only way to meet the challenge of climate change and CO2 emissions. We're only in what Ghosn calls a "temporary slowdown." Next, the relatively high cost of EVs compare...

RoadshowAuto TechGoogle Self-Driving Car boss sees increased need for dealerships in an autonomous future In an autonomous future, when your car drives itself and your commute becomes 25 minutes of nap time, it's easy to imagine cars being wholly self-sufficient. They'll never need service, never break down and never need to go back to the dealership. Not so, says John Krafcik, CEO of the Google Self-Driving Car Project. Speaking at the 2016 J.D. Power Automotive Forum, taking place ahead of the New York Inteational Auto Show, Krafcik broke down some of the many implications of fully autonomous cars. That is, cars that rely on no human input in getting from point A to point B. Among the many...

RoadshowDelphi's self-driving car is Audi this worldA soothing voice came out of the speakers, "Delphi Drive available." The human behind the car's wheel pushed a button on the center console, and just like that, the car had a mind of its own.Now driverless, the Audi SQ5 approached a green light. To its left was a double yellow line. To its right, where I was sitting, was a rather large 18-wheeler, parked on the side of the road.Delphi has tued an Audi SQ5 into an autonomous vehicle...and it works. Emme Hall/Roadshow The Audi cared not for the large hunk of parked metal and proceeded to whiz by, at the posted speed limit, of course, leaving mere inches between the large Mack truck and my win...

RoadshowCar IndustryFederal regulations have a long way to go before self-driving cars hit roadsNo hands on the wheel? Fine. No wheel at all? Let's dial that back a bit. Google Let's say you want to be an automaker. You take a frame, slap a body on it, put some moving parts inside, print out a price tag and Bob's your uncle, right? Oh, hell no. If you want to hawk your cars in the US, you've got plenty of safety standards to meet, many of which are a little behind the times. This is especially troublesome for some autonomous cars.These issues are highlighted in a new study (here, in full, in PDF) from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which looks at the existing reg...

RoadshowAuto TechGoogle's Chris Urmson explains self-driving car crashChris Urmson took the stage at SXSW to talk about Google's self-driving car project. Screenshot by Wayne Cuingham/Roadshow Taking the stage at Austin's SXSW festival, Chris Urmson, director of Google's self-driving car project, explained precisely what happened during a recent collision between a self-driving car and a bus. He talked further about the progress of self-driving car technology and how even that incident was a crucial leaing experience for the technology.The collision occurred on February 14 between a Lexus RX 450h which Google had modified with sensors and controls to enable self-driving, and a city bus in Mo...

Enlarge Image Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment If you like thrillers, you might just be thrilled by this week's giveaway. We've got a copy of the movie "Hitman: Agent 47," along with some Agent 47 swag. The 2015 film, which is based on the...