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Mysterious Apple Car Spotted Roaming Bay Area Streets
There have been multiple sightings of a mysterious van with a strange apparatus on its roof in Concord, CA and, according to CBS affiliate KPIX 5, the car is leased to Apple. Bay Area blog Claycord posted photos of the Dodge Caravan earlier today.
Photo via Claycord
One possible use for the car could be for a mapping project, as the cameras on top of the vehicle are similar to other mapping cars. The Cupertino company has been planning on significantly improving its Maps application though, with plans for transit directions, improved points-of-interest data, indoor mapping and more. It would be likely that Apple would be prepping a feature similar to Google Street View or Bing StreetSide.
Claycord, however, noted that the Apple car looked similar to a self-driving Dodge Caravan spotted in New York in September 2014. Technology analyst Rob Enderle, who spoke to KPIX, also agreed that it's a self-driving car rather than a mapping car.
Apple is not one of the six companies who have a permit for testing driverless cars, but Enderle says it wouldn't matter, noting that Apple could have a partnership with a manufacturer that allows them to lease and test a driverless car without a partner.
An Apple spokesperson told KPIX that the company had no comment.
One possible use for the car could be for a mapping project, as the cameras on top of the vehicle are similar to other mapping cars. The Cupertino company has been planning on significantly improving its Maps application though, with plans for transit directions, improved points-of-interest data, indoor mapping and more. It would be likely that Apple would be prepping a feature similar to Google Street View or Bing StreetSide.
Claycord, however, noted that the Apple car looked similar to a self-driving Dodge Caravan spotted in New York in September 2014. Technology analyst Rob Enderle, who spoke to KPIX, also agreed that it's a self-driving car rather than a mapping car.
“Too many cameras,” said Enderle. “It has cameras that are angled down at all four corners of the vehicle.”As noted by AppleInsider, Google's Street View cars do use a total of 15 5-megapixel cameras to stitch together its images. Apple's leased minivan appears to have similar technology, with 12 cameras that could potentially be used to stitch together images for a Street View-like picture.
Apple is not one of the six companies who have a permit for testing driverless cars, but Enderle says it wouldn't matter, noting that Apple could have a partnership with a manufacturer that allows them to lease and test a driverless car without a partner.
An Apple spokesperson told KPIX that the company had no comment.
Related Roundup: Apple Car
Tags: kpix 5, Apple Maps
[ 163 comments ]
Top Rated Comments
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49 months ago
Well if Apple is going to release a car, we know it will start off huge and get thinner and thinner each year as they take away its functionality.
49 months ago
I couldn't be the only person who got a Safari push notification from MacRumors and got stoked when they read "Mysterious Apple Car Spotted..." Apple's making a car?!
49 months ago
A driverless car? Being used by Apple? Hopefully it's not using Apple Maps.
49 months ago
Next thing you know, we'll find out that it was stolen from a bar... parking lot.
49 months ago
Apple Street View ? how cool is that to see the street view in the iPhone !!
but you can already do that with google earth app...
I'm sorry, but this response never makes any sense to me. You're suggesting Apple not make any effort to improve their maps app, because the Google Earth app already has street view? Shouldn't Apple continue to improve their maps app? It seems like it benefits everyone for them to be adding these features into iOS's native maps app.
49 months ago
Well if Apple is going to release a car, we know it will start off huge and get thinner and thinner each year as they take away its functionality.
Thinner, yes. Loss of functionality? Nice try.
49 months ago
A driverless car? Being used by Apple? Hopefully it's not using Apple Maps.
LOL, that joke is so 3 years ago.
49 months ago
Oh man, people are going to think Apple definitely will be releasing this. How long till the concept videos arrive?
And the leaked car covers and wheel sizes. It will be released right after the Apple Television Set from 2012.
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