Month: February 2021

Enlarge (credit: alxpin / Getty)

Rumors are continuing to trickle in about Apple's long-expected car project. On Wednesday, CNBC reported that Apple is close to finalizing a deal for an Apple Car to be manufactured at Kia's assembly plant in West Point, Georgia, an hour southwest of Atlanta. Apple is a famously secretive company, and I don't have any inside information about Apple's plans. But I'm skeptical that whatever product Apple ultimately unveils will match CNBC's description of it.

According to CNBC, the Apple Car, due out in 2024 or 2025, will be "fully autonomous." One source told CNBC that Apple is aiming to make "autonomous, electric vehicles designed to operate without a driver and focused on the last mile." CNBC predicts that the cars could be used for food delivery or in a robotaxi service.

If true, that would represent a dramatic departure for Apple. A central feature of Apple's corporate culture is that it sells hardware products directly to users. There are technology companies like IBM and Microsoft that focus on selling to business customers. There are technology companies—from Uber to Google—that focus on building services.

Enlarge / The head office of Janssen pharmaceutical company on February 5, 2021 in Leiden, the Netherlands. The American mother company of Janssen, Johnson & Johnson, has requested quick approval in the United States for the coronavirus vaccine that was developed by Janssen Vaccines in Leiden. (credit: Getty | BSR Agency)

Johnson & Johnson on Thursday announced it has applied to the US Food and Drug Administration for an Emergency Use Authorization for its one-shot COVID-19 vaccine.

If the EUA is granted, the vaccine will be the third authorized for use in the US against the pandemic coronavirus, likely boosting the vaccine supply in the coming months and helping to hasten immunization country-wide.

J&J’s application to the FDA comes just a week after the company revealed top-line results of its Phase III clinical trial, which found the vaccine to be 66 percent effective overall at preventing moderate and severe COVID-19. J&J’s vaccine—made by its vaccine developer Janssen Pharmaceuticals—was 85 percent effective at preventing severe disease. In the trial, severe disease was defined as testing positive for the virus as well as having signs consistent with severe systemic illness, respiratory failure, shock, or organ failure, or being admitted to an intensive care unit, or dying. The company reported that no one who received the vaccine was hospitalized or died during the trial.