US tech giant Apple has reportedly pulled the plug on its electric car project after a decade of investment into the technology, devoting more resources to artificial intelligence (AI). The halt on the decade-old project, which was reported on Tuesday and will see employees shifted to the firm's AI division, was welcomed by markets. Apple kicked off Project Titan 10 years ago, at a time when the promise of self-driving vehicles was all the rage in Silicon Valley. It originally said it hoped to release a self-driving vehicle as early as 2024. But the project got stuck in the slow lane, hampered by factors including the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first product of Apple's self-driving electric car project codenamed "Titan", could actually be an electric van instead of a car, the media reported. "According to multiple unnamed sources of German business publication -- Manager Magazin, prototypes of Apple's work have been seen painted in black and silver and the main highlight is that vans are being tested, rather than cars," Apple Insider reported on Thursday. In August 2018, Tesla's former engineering Vice President, Doug Field was appointed by Apple to lead team "Titan". "The'Apple Car' which could be arriving between 2023 and 2025, has undergone development at Apple in a variety of different. Originally working on an entire vehicle, the project changed its focus towards self-driving vehicle systems, though there are some signs it is shifting back towards overall vehicular design," the report said.

Household appliance-maker Dyson today (Thursday) announced it is accelerating plans to develop electric cars in Britain – with a £200 million investment in track-testing facilities at its new UK research centre. The firm, which is branching out from its vacuum cleaners and hair driers to take on car giants with a new generation of high-tech electric vehicles, said the move would create'more high-skilled jobs for Britain'. It is being viewed as another vote of confidence in the United Kingdom in the run up to Brexit next Spring. Cleaning up in the electric car market: This artist's impression shows how Dyson's new campus at Hullavington Airfield in Wiltshire could look as it ramps up efforts to produce a range of new electric cars Dyson is currently recruiting an additional 300 automotive engineers on top of the 400 already in place and has said the electric car project could see the firm's present UK workforce nearly double to around 8,000. The battery-powered electric cars are being designed and developed in the UK, however lower labour costs mean final assembly is likely to be in South East Asia where much of the firm's wider electronic and hi-tech production already takes place.

Nasa has announced that it has found evidence of flowing water on Mars. Scientists have long speculated that Recurring Slope Lineae -- or dark patches -- on Mars were made up of briny water but the new findings prove that those patches are caused by liquid water, which it has established by finding hydrated salts. Several hundred camped outside the London store in Covent Garden. The 6s will have new features like a vastly improved camera and a pressure-sensitive "3D Touch" display