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REUTERS/Phil NobleCOVENTRY, England, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Developing fully autonomous vehicles (AVs) that can go everywhere has proven harder and more expensive than expected, but investors are continuing to fund startups that target simpler self-driving vehicle solutions far removed from pedestrians and other vehicles operated by unpredictable humans. Earlier promises made by robotaxi companies of operating fleets of vehicles by the early 2020s have fallen well short. BMW iVentures has also invested in AV truck technology firm Kodiak Robotics, which managing partner Sage said has adopted a simpler approach to areas like mapping. Construction and agricultural equipment - used off-road in low-traffic environments - has been another growth area for AV startups. U.S. agricultural equipment maker AGCO Corp (AGCO.N), for instance, is using the Palo Alto, California-based startup's software for an experimental automated electric planter.

☆ Slow roll brings Aurrigo to self-driving airport baggage dollies
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Nick Carey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Aurrigo has developed a four-seater "auto pod" with no steering wheel or pedals for slow non-road routes such as on university campuses. The company has also designed the "Auto-Dolly" and "Auto-DollyTug" for airports and is working with Singapore's Changi Airport, its lead customer, to automate baggage handling. But Aurrigo's CEO said airports provide the perfect environment because all vehicles travel at low speeds. Aurrigo is currently talking to 80 airports about following Changi's lead and Keene said the typical airport will need between 300 and 500 dollies. The IPO raised only 8 million pounds ($10 million), but Keene said that should pay for the rollout of airport dolly AVs.

☆ L&G succession planning misses the mark
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Jan 30 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Chief executives always like to see their company’s share price dip when they announce their departure. But it might also express mild discontent with the board’s succession planning. Even so, the smoothest way to sign off on Wilson’s tenure would have been to announce his successor now, rather than the news it might take up to a year to find one. After all, the L&G board had long enough to identify a suitable internal candidate. Chairman John Kingman’s reticence may reflect a preference for a big-hitting external candidate to grow the company beyond UK borders.

☆ Firefighters smashed the window of a driverless Cruise taxi to stop it running over their hoses
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Firefighters smashed the front window of a Cruise autonomous car to stop it from running over hoses. Another Cruise car ran over a fire hose when it was in use at an active fire scene in June 2022. The incidents were noted in a letter sent by San Francisco officials to regulators on Wednesday. San Francisco firefighters smashed the front window of a Cruise driverless taxi to stop it from running over their hoses. A similar incident occurred in June 2022 when a self-driving Cruise car ran over a fire hose that was in use, the letter says.

☆ Will We Blame Self-Driving Cars?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Julian De Freitas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

The autonomous vehicle (AV) industry has been promising for years that self-driving cars will be the future of transportation. But technological progress remains slow, and in recent months investors have shown signs of impatience. When Intel took its Mobileye car-technology unit public in October 2022, it was valued at $23 billion, dramatically lower than the company’s original expectation of $50 billion. One of the challenges facing the industry is trying to estimate how much liability AV firms will have for accidents involving their vehicles. As fully autonomous vehicles become more common, they will inevitably be involved in accidents.

☆ Aviva keeps dividend, capital returns guidance after UK's December cold snap
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - British insurer Aviva (AV.L) on Wednesday maintained its dividend guidance and capital returns outlook as it reported a positive end to trading for the year in its general insurance unit. The company said it expects the group's full-year combined operating ratio to be around 94.6%, in line with guidance given at its third-quarter update. One of Britain's biggest motor and home insurers, Aviva estimated December's adverse weather conditions in the UK to cost around 50 million pounds ($61.65 million), and said it was continuing to support customers following the cold snap. Over the course of 2022, it said its weather experience in its UK & Ireland business was only marginally above long-term averages whilst its Canadian business actually recorded lower than long-term averages with no fourth quarter weather events. ($1 = 0.8110 pounds)Reporting by Simon Jessop, editing by Sinead CruiseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ I used to work on Mars rovers and now I develop self-driving cars. Here's how I made the pivot from NASA's JPL to Amazon's Zoox.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The former supervisor at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab now works at AV startup Zoox. I figured after all the startups, why not work for a big company, and what better big company than NASA? ZooxThe AV space is the next frontier of robotics. What we're trying to do here in the AV space, it's extremely multidisciplinary. You're doing perception, you're doing planning, you're doing prediction, doing simulation.

☆ A Traveler’s Guide to Rio’s Botecos—the Brazilian Version of Irish Pubs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Tom Downey | Photographs Kristin Bethge For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

“I WANTED TO be a priest,” said João Paulo Campos, the owner of Velho Adonis, a bustling boteco, or Brazilian-style tavern, in Rio de Janeiro. “This bar became my church instead.” Indeed, after drinking countless draft beers as a regular, Mr. Campos, 41, bought Adonis three years ago and renovated the 60-plus-year-old establishment, making his devotion to these idiosyncratic watering holes complete. “A boteco isn’t just a place to drink,” he said of his calling. Often opened by immigrants and operated in informal grocery-style shops, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, some botecos found themselves on shaky footing. In 2019, initial warnings about the closure of Bar Luiz—known for the best chopp, or draft beer, in Rio—prompted mourning from Cariocas of all stripes.

☆ Amazon's drone delivery unit hit with layoffs just as 10-year-old project finally launches
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Two employees said Carbon, who replaced Prime Air co-founder Gur Kimchi, was hired to turn Prime Air into a real business with a sensible budget. Sources with knowledge of Prime Air said cuts in the drone delivery business were expected considering the division's many struggles. Monica Williams, a College Station resident, poses with a Prime Air drone at a community event in July. College Station residents also expressed concern about the prospect of drones harming the deer, foxes and birds that are native to the area. "As we continue to expand, we will update you when drone delivery is available for your household."

☆ Ongoing headaches with F-35 fighter jets are rippling through the rest of the US military's combat aircraft fleet
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

US Air Force maintainers work on an F-35A at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada in February 2020. Nial BradshawRussia's air force has been mocked for poor maintenance that has undercut its airpower in the Ukraine war. Particularly troubling was a November 2022 GAO study that analyzed readiness of 49 US military aircraft models between 2011 and 2021. A reassembled F-35A is hoisted during a training course at Hill Air Force Base in September 2022. The Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps together plan to spend $20.2 billion a year for tactical aircraft development and procurement between now and 2027.

☆ Direct Line woes are thin end of insurance wedge
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Jan 11 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Direct Line (DLGD.L) has an extreme case of January blues. Shares of the UK home and motor insurance company dropped 28% on Wednesday morning after it scrapped its final dividend. A flood of insurance claims – as bad weather led to a rise in car incidents – was in part to blame. Inflation of car parts and second-hand car valuations helped put the group in the dreaded underwriting position where premiums can’t cover policy costs. But Direct Line’s declining commercial property valuations may also be a sign of trouble ahead.

☆ Warren Buffett might be tempted to buy more Amazon stock as it has 3 levers to unlock value, Evercore says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon stock has dropped 49% year-to-date but it has three levers to unlock value that make it a "Buffett buy," according to Evercore ISI. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway already owns a $1.2 billion stake in Amazon that was bought in 2019. "We continue to view Amazon as highly attractive for long-term investors as a dislocated high quality stock," Evercore said. These are the three value unlocks that make Amazon a "Buffett buy," according to Evercore ISI. "The relatively easy opportunity to better monetize Amazon Prime Video with even a modest ad load – Amazon Prime Video is now essentially the only major streaming asset without ad monetization."

☆ Bank of America names the tech stocks set to benefit from a driverless car boom
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Zavier Ong | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Once considered the stuff of science fiction, Bank of America says self-driving cars now have "real-world visibility." The bank said it expects 2.2 million autonomous vehicles to be on the roads by 2028, citing research by consultancy firm Berg Insights. Internet companies Bank of America said this ramp-up in autonomous vehicles has "broad implications" for internet companies. The bank added that getting the cost of autonomous vehicles down to the level of conventional autos will be key to their transition. Bank of America has a price target of $43 on Uber, giving the stock potential upside of 59.3%.

☆ Here are Tuesday's biggest analyst calls: Amazon, Tesla, Home Depot, Pfizer, Pinterest, Nike & more
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Goldman Sachs upgrades Pfizer to buy from neutral Goldman said that it's bullish Pfizer's upcoming pipeline. Citi downgrades Robinhood to neutral from buy Citi said that Robinhood's outlook is too murky right now. Goldman Sachs upgrades Humana to buy from neutral Goldman upgraded the healthcare company and says it sees "improved competitive positioning." Citi initiates Wayfair and Etsy as buy Citi said it sees an attractive risk/reward outlook for Wayfair and Etsy . Citi initiates Carvana as neutral Citi said the online used car company needs to focus on profitability.

☆ Why GM's happy to keep spending billions on self-driving while rivals like Ford abandon ship
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Nora Naughton | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

GM's Cruise is still pushing forward after Ford's Argo called it quits. Profitability is not yet the marker of success for Cruise, GM president Mark Reuss said. In fact, GM's self-driving outfit is now embarking on the commercialization phase of its robo-taxi service, after a successful nighttime pilot in San Francisco earlier this year. That's essentially the opposite approach from crosstown rival Ford, which last month gave up on its money-losing self-driving unit, Argo. That set off alarm bells for investors in the autonomous vehicle space, hammering AV startup stocks.

☆ Here are Monday's biggest analyst calls: Amazon, Nio, Disney, Carvana, Coinbase, Costco & more
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

JPMorgan reiterates Amazon as top idea JPMorgan said the e-commerce giant is well positioned heading into the holiday season. " Morgan Stanley initiates Las Vegas Sands as overweight and names DraftKings as a top pick Morgan Stanley said in its initiation of Las Vegas Sands that it sees an attractive risk/reward. Morgan Stanley downgrades MongoDB to equal weight from overweight Morgan Stanley said in its downgrade of the database platform company that it's concerned about slowing growth for MongoDB. JPMorgan reiterates Charles Schwab as overweight JPMorgan said Charles Schwab is well positioned as one of the biggest "distributors of third-party mutual funds." Morgan Stanley upgrades Restaurant Brands to equal weight from underweight Morgan Stanley said it likes that the owner of brands such as Burger King appointed the former Domino's CEO as executive chairman.

☆ This self-driving car technology stock can jump more than 25%, Goldman Sachs says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Investors should consider buying shares of Mobileye Global, a company developing autonomous driving technology for cars, Goldman Sachs said. Analyst Mark Delaney initiated coverage of Mobileye Global with a buy rating, saying the maker of technology for self-driving cars can gain market share in a competitive market. The analyst's 12-month price target of $36 implies roughly 26% upside from Friday's closing price. A succession of investment firms including Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of Mobileye roughly one month after the company's initial public offering when it was spun out by Intel. Other firms that initiated coverage of Mobileye this week include Morgan Stanley, which gave the stock an equal-weight rating and a $32 price target.

☆ The Visions of Octavia Butler
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Lynell George | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +27 min

As a science fiction writer, Butler forged a new path and envisioned bold possibilities. Mural with a portrait of Octavia Butler and her name, composed of dots of various densities in 3-D space. In 1995, she became the first science fiction writer to be awarded a MacArthur “genius” grant. “‘Kindred’ was a story of ordinary people trapped in fantastic circumstances,” Butler wrote in a 1988 notebook. Her point of view was one not traditionally found in science fiction and, simply by writing, she demanded a larger world.

☆ Colombia's Grupo Aval posts 23.2% decrease in Q3 net profit
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 16 (Reuters) - Colombian financial conglomerate Grupo Aval (GAA.CN) reported third quarter net profit down 23.2% from a year earlier on Wednesday, landing at 929.8 billion pesos ($193.4 million), citing a higher effective tax rate and increased costs. The conglomerate's portfolio includes Colombian banks Banco de Bogota (BBO.CN), Banco Popular (BPO.CN), Banco AV Villas (VLL.CN) and Banco de Occidente (BOC.CN). The central bank of Latin America's fourth-largest economy has raised its benchmark interest rate to 11% - its highest level in 21 years - in continued efforts to respond to rising inflation. Grupo Aval, controlled by business magnate Luis Carlos Sarmiento, said its consolidated portfolio grew 16.5% during the quarter compared to 3Q21. (1 dollar = 4,806.07 Colombian pesos at end-September)Reporting by Aida Pelaez Fernandez and Carolina Pulice, Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Brendan O'BoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Peter Thiel's VC firm just led a $40 million investment into the self-driving startup ISEE. Here's why it's betting on the little-known player as top firms struggle.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Peter Thiel's venture-capital firm, Founders Fund, just led a $40 million raise for ISEE. CEO Yibiao Zhao told Insider the startup's first focus was software for trucks in logistics yards. Peter Thiel's venture-capital firm just led a $40 million investment into a little-known self-driving-tech startup whose founders plan to help solve the supply-chain crisis. The raise is sizable considering today's economic environment has seen less funding going toward mobility, including autonomous tech. "We don't build trucks," Zhao said.

☆ Top 5 investor in UK's Aveva plans to reject Schneider takeover
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Andreas Rinke | Miranda Murray | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - A top five investor in British software company Aveva (AV.L) plans to reject a 9.5 billion pound ($11 billion) takeover bid by French industrial group Schneider Electric (SCHN.PA), joining two other shareholders who have already said they would do the same. In September, when the deal was announced, Canada-based Mawer Investment Management and M&G Investments, two Aveva shareholders, said they intended to reject the offer. Schneider Electric has offered 31 pounds per share, a premium of about 41% to Aveva's share price in August before it announced the suitor was considering making an offer. It took majority control in 2017 in a reverse takeover that enabled the British company to retain its London listing. "The timing of the approach by Schneider is highly opportunistic and comes on the back of a broader market decline as well as weakness in Aveva's own share price," Davidson Kempner said.

☆ Aviva pledges regular investor payouts as premiums rise
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Carolyn Cohn | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jefferies analysts have previously said they expect Aviva to make recurring 250 million pound ($289 million) pay-outs. Aviva has already returned 4.75 billion pounds to investors after raising 7.5 billion in a string of asset sales since Blanc became CEO in July 2020. Cevian in the past called on Aviva to return five billion pounds to shareholders by the end of 2022. Aviva reported a 10% rise in general insurance gross written premiums in the first nine months of the year to 7.2 billion pounds. The value of new business in its UK and Ireland life division rose 46% over the same period to 466 million pounds.

To connect the iPad, just connect the adapter to your iPad, connect the adapter to your television with the appropriate cable, and switch the TV to the correct input. You can also connect your iPad to a TV wirelessly if you have an Apple TV. There are two common ways to connect your iPad to a TV: via an AV cable, and using an Apple TV device. How to connect an iPad to your TV with an AV cableTo connect your iPad directly to a TV, you will need an adapter cable that's compatible with the input you have on your TV or monitor. Connect an iPad to a nearby Apple TV using the Screen Mirroring button in the Control Center.

☆ Self-driving cars face uncertain path to U.S. deployment
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Legislation in Congress has been stalled for more than five years over how to amend regulations to encompass self-driving cars, including the scope of consumer and legal protections. And U.S. regulators have given no indication when they might act on petitions to initially approve a few thousand self-driving cars on U.S. roads without steering wheels or brake pedals. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said this month he has "very high hopes for the theoretical possibility that self-driving cars and high-tech cars will save thousands and thousands of lives because human beings have a basically murderous track record as drivers of cars. Some in the industry and in Washington also see developing self-driving vehicle technology as a competitive issue. Last year the agency directed all automakers and tech companies to promptly report crashes involving self-driving vehicles.

☆ Former U.S. military pilot who worked in China arrested in Australia
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

A former U.S. military pilot and flight instructor who ran an aviation consultancy in China is in custody in Australia awaiting an extradition request from his homeland on an undisclosed charge, officials said Wednesday. Australian Federal Police arrested him that day “pursuant to a request from the United States,” a police statement said. His move followed a report that up to 30 former British military pilots had been hired to train members of China’s People’s Liberation Army. He became an AV-8B Harrier fighter pilot and an instructor pilot during his service. It is not clear whether he continues to live in China or what he was doing in Orange when he was arrested.

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