Mobile Roar 88: Galaxy S6 review, Sprint cars, LG G4, and more!

This week we can finally get some closure on the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. Chris tells us why he will be getting the Edge despite everything he hates about it. We also talk about Sprint’s latest desperate attempt to get customers, the massive LG G4 leak, OnePlus’ plans for 2015, and much more.  Thanks for watching/listening!

Big News

• Samsung Galaxy S6/Edge Review

Quick Hits

• Sprint will send people to your home to set up a phone


• More LG G4 images leak


• OnePlus will be launching two phones this year


• Google starts program to highlight kid-friendly apps


• Windows 10 for phones preview rolls out, gets Project Spartan and bugs

Wins/Fails

• Kevin: Star Wars livestream / New iOS emoji keyboard


• Joe: Joe Dirt 2 / HBO says Periscope could be a piracy tool


• Chris: Galaxy S6 camera / Galaxy S6 battery life

App Picks

• Kevin: Snapseed 2.0 (Android / iOS)


• Joe: Spring Ninja (Android / iOS)


• Chris: Hearthstone for phones

Follow Us

• Joe Fedewa (@tallshmo)


• Chris Chavez (@gamercore)


• Kevin Krause (@youdontknowkev)


• @mobileroarcast

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Google’s self-driving cars have been involved in 11 accidents in 6 years, and none were their fault

“Self-driving cars? Madness! What happens when the cars get hacked? Or the electric circuitry gets all weird? Or, even worse, they become sentient evil beings? These cars must be banned before they even hit the road!”

Those are the lines we imagine many people have had run through their heads when they first heard Google was working on self-driving vehicles, but Google’s cars have actually proven to be much safer than many people could have anticipated. Head of the project Chris Urmson revealed that Google’s cars have only been involved in 11 accidents in the past 6 years.

While that number alone should be low enough to quell fears, this fact should drive that point home: none of the accidents were caused by fault of the vehicles, and they all resulted in 0 injuries and only minor damage. The most common cause of accidents were other drivers rear-ending the driverless cars, which Google says accounted for 8 of the 11 accidents.

Those are some pretty strong numbers to be able to tout, and Google’s sure to keep it in their back pocket should they ever face strong resistance from road regulators due to questions of safety.

Other choice statistics from Urmson’s latest blog post:

• Google self-driving cars have traveled a combined 1.7 million miles in testing combined


• Of the 1.7 million miles, nearly 1 million were autonomous, the rest being manually controlled by the test drivers


• Google is averaging 10,000 self-driven miles per week, which is just less than a typical American drives in a year


• Driver error causes 94% of road crashes


• In America, 660,000 people at any given moment have their attention split while behind the wheel (texting, calling, eating, etc)


• Meanwhile, Google’s self-driving cars have 100% of their attention focused over all 360 degrees of their surroundings

You can read Urmson’s full post over at Medium right now if you’re interested in a deeper look at how their self-driving car project has evolved to become one of the most safe driving experiences on the road today.

Google confirms their self-driving cars will be on public roads this summer

Google’s self-driving vehicle prototypes are real, but they have yet to be tested in very real environments. That will change this summer, according to the Mountain View company.

They confirmed that the cars would be out on public roads in Mountain View as early as this summer, though obviously not without training wheels. Each vehicle will be manned by a human test driver who will have detachable steering wheels and pedals to take over driving whenever they need.

Each prototype’s speed will be hard capped at 25 miles per hour, which isn’t exactly freeway-friendly pace but should be both slow and fast enough for safe travels through small residential and commercial areas.

Google says their goal within the next few years is to learn what people would use these vehicles for by running a small pilot program. That’s a seemingly long wait for baseline consumer trialing, though this sort of technology is so new and delicate that you have to expect it to take years before a commercial product comes to market.

In the meantime just sit back, enjoy the ride (no pun intended) and know that Google is inching closer and closer to an autonomous future for roadways each and every day.

[via Google]

GM will bring Android Auto to Cadillac starting in 2016 cars

Android Auto is spreading to more and more devices, and another fleet of vehicles is confirmed to be in on the fun. GM has announced that Android Auto would head to their Cadillac cars starting with the 2016 run, which launches at some point this summer.

The upgrades will come as part of an enhanced CUE — or Cadillac User Experience — update that will feature new functionality and improved performance. Of course, you’ll need to make sure you have a phone with Lollipop by the time the cars arrive as Android Auto is only available on Android 5.0 or higher.

[via GM]