Gadgetory

Google ships into the next gear of its self-driving car project I'm Bridget Carey this is your scene that update Google's fleet of fully self-driving pod robot cars are hitting the road this summer Google's taking the program to the next level of testing when we talk about self-driving cars there are really two categories ones that take on the design and mechanics of a typical car if you're familiar with like this Lexus SUV a driver can flip a switch to take their hands off the wheel foot off the pedal and give the car control google has been testing a fleet of these SUVs on city streets but now it wants to test a fully self-driving car with no wheel or pedals Google built 25 of these prototype pods from scratch these will ride on city streets in California this summer racking up about 10,000 miles of experience every week and if a human needs to take over the drivers can attach a wheel and pedals we may hear more about the progress of these pod cars at the annual Google Developers Conference coming up on may 28th the conference known as Google i/o is where Google introduces new software for Android chrome and executives also show off new products remember this is where Google glass made its debut and although we may not have skydivers this time there could be hints to the next phase of glass but then again Google may spend more time talking about smartwatches a week after Google's event comes Apple's Conference to showcase new software updates last June Apple unveiled something called homekit on the iPhone and iPad it serves as a central hub to control smart internet connected devices around your home that means you can even control something with voice using Siri Apple says the first gadgets that can work with homekit will come out next month but another company wants to take smart home controls away from your phone the tech startup scénic created the new neo it's a disc-shaped controller that rotates to control different Bluetooth devices such as your smart lights your music players or thermostat think of it as a universal remote but for smart home gadgets the company is asking for funding on Kickstarter with plans release in October there are so many smart home gadgets these days lights ovens coffee makers air conditioners but we don't have smart trash cans yet the genie camp project on IndieGoGo is trying to change that you attach a barcode reader to the side of your waste bin and scan the barcodes of items as you throw them away so it automatically adds that item to a shopping list if you think that idea is rubbish don't forget Amazon's tinkering with something similar the Amazon echo smart speaker lets you create a shopping list with your voice commands and I remember those - buttons for instant reordering makes the genie can look downright genius that your tech news update you can head over to cnet.com for more from our studios in New York I'm Bridget Carey