Mercedes teases new convertible version of the AMG GT

A new teaser clip from Mercedes-AMG’s Instagram page shows off what looks like a roadster version of the AMG GT sports car. The car, which will reportedly be called the Mercedes-AMG GT C Roadster, is tipped to be getting a 4-liter twin-turbo V8 with 456 horsepower—which is similar to the standard AMG GT coupe. The roof of the convertible looks to be made of fabric instead of the heavier retractable hardtop. Pricing should be over US$111,000. We will find out soon enough at the Paris Motor Show where the new car will debut.

Source: The Verge

Apple might be shifting gears on its autonomous vehicle initiative

Google's own self-driving initiative has been hitting the roads for a while already,

Reports have started to surface that Apple’s secret car project might be getting put on hold and undergoing a strategy shift. The self-driving car initiative is going through what the New York Times calls a “reboot” with dozens of employees working on Project Titan getting laid off and Apple veteran Bob Mansfield coming back onboard to lead the project. Apple has been working on this secret project for about two years and seems to have struggled to make progress. They haven’t been able to differentiate themselves from the other tech and car companies working on their own self-driving technology.

As mentioned, the project is supposedly undergoing a strategy change, with Apple focusing more on developing the underlying technology for autonomous vehicles. That could mean they would partner with other car companies that are developing their own self-driving cars. But, of course, we don’t know yet if this project will happen. And if Apple would actually be okay with developing technology for others. Only time will tell.

Source: Recode

Chromebooks might integrate fingerprint scanning

Google might be looking for a way to improve security of its laptops. Mention of a fingerprint sensor for Chrome OS was spotted in the company’s Chromium code repository. But it isn’t clear yet how the feature might work with the operating system. It could make it faster to log into the device itself, access certain Google apps, or even to pay for items in the Google Play Store or third-party vendors. Google won’t be the first one to try this out. A lot of the flagship smartphones have built-in fingerprint sensors and for the desktop/PC side you have Microsoft’s Windows Hello feature that uses biometric authentication as well. For now, Chrome Unboxed suggests Google might just be working on getting basic fingerprint scanning and then we can see from there.

Source: PCWorld

Samsung halts shipment of Galaxy Note7 amid supposed safety issues

If you’ve been following the latest news on Samsung, you might have heard of claims regarding the Galaxy Note7 exploding or catching fire while being charged. While Samsung won’t confirm the reports, the South Korean tech company has stopped shipments in its home country for additional testing. Samsung’s spokesman Ki-yung Nam didn’t specify if the delay applied outside of South Korea and why they were stopping shipments.

But this announcement ramped up rumours about the issues plaguing Samsung’s latest flagship. “There’s no clear identified cause for the accidents yet,” S.R. Kwon, an analyst at Dongbu Securities, told the Wall Street Journal. “Even if there is a problem with the smartphone batteries, we don’t know if the battery was supplied by Samsung SDI.” There are multiple suppliers for the Galaxy Note7’s battery but Samsung won’t name them. There are already rumours floating around that Samsung might be considering a global recall of the Galaxy Note7 to deal with this issue.