WIRE)--Velodyne Lidar, Inc. (Nasdaq: VLDR, VLDRW) today announced a multi-year agreement to provide its lidar sensors to Stanley Robotics for an automated valet parking solution. The innovative service uses autonomous handling robots to help car parks to improve the customer experience and increase the number of vehicles that can be stored. Stanley Robotics is working with Velodyne's Puck and Velarray M1600 lidar sensors to provide perception and navigation capabilities that enable its all-electric Stan robot to operate autonomously and safely. The sensors provide real-time 3D perception data for localization, mapping, object classification and object tracking. Velodyne's power-efficient sensors support Stan robots in a wide range of challenging environmental conditions, including varied temperature, lighting and precipitation.

BMW began incorporating smart voice features into its infotainment systems using Amazon's Alexa in 2018. In the intervening years, the number of models sporting the digital assistant have only increased. At Amazon's 2022 Devices & Services Event on Wednesday, the two companies announced a deepening of their partnership: BMW's next-generation of infotainment systems will feature an Alexa-based assistant specifically developed with the driver in mind. The as-of-yet unnamed BMW assistant will be constructed from an Alexa Custom Assistant, "a comprehensive solution that makes it easy for BMW and other brands and device makers to create their own custom intelligent assistant tailored to their brand personality and customer needs." Those capabilities might include a proactive notification from the vehicle's assistant alerting the driver that the battery charge is low while automatically reserving a charging slot at the next off-ramp or preemptively scheduling regular service with the local dealership, and "will enable an even more natural dialogue between driver and vehicle," per a Wednesday BMW press release.

Digital evidence appears in nearly 90 percent of all crimes committed today.1 This is a massive increase. Only 20 years ago it was unusual to have digital evidence at the center of a case. It is now a big part of what juries and judges expect to see as part of the evidence that proves innocence or guilt. To learn more about how Microsoft technology can help, visit our booth 5410 at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Annual Conference 2022 in Dallas, Texas from October 15 to 18.

Boostr, the only pipeline-to-profits advertising management platform for the media industry announced the launch of Proposal-IQ, a groundbreaking new product designed to help media sales organizations improve the quality of RFP responses while simultaneously building proposals faster. By suggesting the optimal media mix and media plan for each client's objectives and tying into the media seller's real-time inventory, Proposal-IQ drives larger deal sizes, increases in average products sold per order, and higher sell-through--helping media sales organizations grow their revenue. Media companies typically send out dozens of proposals each week and have less than 48 hours to respond to RFPs, creating an enormous burden on media sales teams who need to obtain pricing approvals, conduct inventory checks and complete multiple reviews as part of a highly manual process. Time constraints and repetitiveness often lead salespeople and planners to pitch the same products repeatedly, and their choices are often based more on familiarity than on performance data. Unfortunately, only 37% of proposals contain multiple products yet the top quartile of highest growing publishers are selling multiple products on 48% of proposals.

Chipotle Mexican Grill will test two new advanced technologies to improve operations, the company said Tuesday in a press release. The advanced technology includes a kitchen management system powered by AI and machine learning. It predicts demand-based cooking and ingredient preparation forecasts. The technology will be tested at eight restaurants in Orange County, California. Another technology involves customers using the chain's app to get real-time date to better utilize "order readiness messaging, wrong pick-up location detection, reminders to scan the Chipotle Rewards QR code at checkout," among other tools.

With the addition of Qatar Airways Cargo, the world's largest international air cargo provider, PROS is a market-leader, powering nearly 40% of the top air cargo providers. Together, PROS Smart Price Optimization and Management and PROS Smart Configure Price Quote deliver impactful results to air cargo customers--up to 3% profit improvement and up to 5% win rate improvement--by optimizing prices across online platforms in real-time, providing enhanced customer experiences and driving profitable growth. PROS market expertise is an advantage for air cargo companies as the industry continues to face disruption with volatile and often unpredictable supply and demand patterns across the global network. The industry is undergoing a digital disruption, with online platform providers making digital distribution and self-service essential to compete. With PROS, air cargo companies can optimize all sides of the margin equation, embedding real-time strategies, market data, performance insights and leveraging PROS AI – all seamlessly integrated into the sales ecosystem to deliver real-time, omnichannel quotes designed to maximize profits and provide a competitive advantage.

In this regular column, we'll bring you all the latest industry news centered around our main topics of focus: big data, data science, machine learning, AI, and deep learning. Our industry is constantly accelerating with new products and services being announced everyday. Fortunately, we're in close touch with vendors from this vast ecosystem, so we're in a unique position to inform you about all that's new and exciting. Our massive industry database is growing all the time so stay tuned for the latest news items describing technology that may make you and your organization more competitive. Deci, the deep learning company harnessing AI to build AI, announced a new set of industry-leading semantic segmentation models, dubbed DeciSeg. Deci's proprietary Automated Neural Architecture Construction (AutoNAC) technology automatically generated semantic segmentation models that significantly outperform the most powerful models publicly available, such as the MobileViT released by Apple, and the DeepLab family released by Google. Deci's models deliver more than 2x lower latency, as well as 3-7% higher accuracy.

OnTerra Systems the developers of RouteSavvy automated route planning software introduced enhanced versions of RouteSavvy routing software and the RouteSavvy mobile app. RouteSavvy is cloud-based route planning software that generates more efficient routes for deliveries, pick-ups, service calls & sales calls. More efficient routes can be generated based on shortest drive time, shortest distance (the least miles driven), routes that avoid highways, and routes that avoid toll roads. "This latest release of RouteSavvy route planning software and its mobile app further refine the RouteSavvy user experience, with a strong focus on streamlined delivery management & service management functions," said Steve Milroy, OnTerra Systems president. "Software development is a dynamic function, with the RouteSavvy development team continually working to refine and enhance functionality, ease of use, and more."

Nestlé Purina Petcare is launching the Petivity Smart Litterbox System, consisting of a smartphone app and litterbox monitor that captures and transforms behavioral data into actionable insights that help owners proactively care for their cat. The smart monitor helps owners provide a new standard of care for their cats by using artificial intelligence to learn each cat's unique litterbox patterns and identify subtle but meaningful changes in weight, frequency, waste type and elimination schedule. "The Petivity Smart Litterbox System allows cat owners to get personalized insights to their cat's litterbox usage," said Dr. Avi Shaprut, DVM, Purina veterinarian. "While the device is not intended to diagnose, treat, mitigate or cure any conditions, it can help detect changes that can be early signs of health conditions like diabetes, kidney disease, hyperthyroidism, urinary tract infections and obesity, allowing cat owners to proactively seek out veterinary care earlier and unlock better outcomes." Using artificial intelligence developed by a team of Purina pet and data experts, the Petivity Smart Litterbox System detects meaningful changes that indicate health conditions that may require a veterinarian's attention or diagnosis.

The software-defined nature of the HRL131 means it is situationally aware, with the ability to adapt its scan pattern depending on the driving scenario to maximize safety. It's critical that manufacturers be able to test and validate these performance modes and the product's performance in diverse situations, which NVIDIA DRIVE Sim will uniquely enable.