You can’t make a tech empire without breaking a few cars. Or watches. Or accidentally disclosing mobile locations of users. All in all, it’s been an interesting beginning of the summer for some of the biggest consumer-oriented tech companies. Google and Facebook are both dealing with some unexpected location problems: Facebook has been disclosing user locations without their knowledge through their mobile app, and Google has found that some of its self-driving cars are crashing into cars and buildings. Apple, on the other hand, is dealing with something a little more threatening – the possible lack of satisfaction its consumer base is feeling from its new watch.
“A stumble here and there is a good thing.”
Google‘s self-crashing cars
A public report will be made by Google to document all traffic accidents that occur with its self-driving cars. Google has admitted that its cars are, in fact, capable of being in accidents, but still claims that they are essentially infallible. “Not once was the self-driving car the cause of the accident,” a rep from Google said, and the company went on to point out that it has only had 12 minor accidents over six years of testing. Google that a few of the cases have come from Google employees crashing the car while it is in its manual mode. Regardless of who is at fault, the organization will now publish the details of its crashing cars online.
Facebook‘s spying app
Facebook has decided to remove its always on, creepy feature that discloses users locations when texting. The location sharing feature would add a location to messages sent from the mobile version of the Facebook texting app, which could then be seen by anyone participating in a conversation. This has been scrapped in favor of a less intrusive feature that allows users to share their current location or where they will be in order to make planning trips more convenient.
Apple makes a bad thing
Apple is having a hard time dealing with its new watch. Many believe that there is no real understanding at Apple as to how the wearable watch is supposed to work. There are worries, according to Mashable, the organization doesn’t know how to make its watch useful. A stumble here and there is a good thing. It will, hopefully, give these companies a little more reason to fire on all fours in the coming weeks.
For more information on these tech companies check out their pages.
