Month: February 2016

(credit: Google)

The US government has cleared the way for Google to create a self-driving car that doesn't also have a human driver inside the vehicle that can take over if necessary. In this setup, the autonomous driving software itself would be the vehicle's legal "driver"; none of the human passengers would require a driving licence.

In November last year, Google submitted a proposed design to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for a self-driving car that has "no need for a human driver." On February 4, as reported by Reuters, the NHTSA responded:

"NHTSA will interpret 'driver' in the context of Google's described motor vehicle design as referring to the (self-driving system), and not to any of the vehicle occupants. We agree with Google its (self-driving car) will not have a 'driver' in the traditional sense that vehicles have had drivers during the last more than one hundred years."

Video shot/edited by Jennifer Hahn. (video link)

In the connected fitness world, we have yet to see one truly all-purpose device. There are a number of high-end gadgets, including the Garmin Vivoactive and the Fitbit Surge, that have many important features for workout tracking. However, health is measured by much more than how many times you hit the gym. Under Armour wants to expand personal fitness tech from just one device to an entire ecosystem of hardware and software that works together to help you understand your body.

That's what HealthBox is—inside the physical box, you get a wristband tracker, a heart rate chest strap monitor, and a smart scale. On your smartphone, you have Under Armour Record for keeping track of all your health data, as well as other Under Armour-owned apps including MapMyRun and MyFitnessPal. HealthBox is basically your one-stop shop for connected fitness, giving you three essential devices you need to start reaching new health goals. However, at $400, it doesn't come cheap, and each device could use some fine-tuning. It's a big investment to make, and anyone thinking about it should be serious about fitness so none of the HealthBox items get left behind in a bedside drawer.