A journalist rode in a driverless vehicle last month. The tricked-out minivan navigated busy city streets, made an unprotected left-hand turn and even reached speeds of 45 mph. According to a TechCrunch report, it was a completely uneventful, yet remarkable ride in a Waymo fully autonomous vehicle. FRANKFURT AM MAIN, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 12: John Krafcik, CEO of Waymo, speaks at the opening event ... [ ] of the IAA 2019 Frankfurt Auto Show on September 12, 2019 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The IAA will be open to the public from September 12 through 22. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) Self-driving vehicles reached peak hype a year ago.

This post was co-authored by the extended Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform (MCVP) team. A connected vehicle solution must enable a fleet of potentially millions of vehicles, distributed around the world, to deliver intuitive experiences including infotainment, entertainment, productivity, driver safety, driver assistance. In addition to these services in the vehicle, a connected vehicle solution is critical for fleet solutions like ride and car sharing as well as phone apps that incorporate the context of the user and the journey. Imagine you are driving to your vacation destination and you start your conference call from home while you are packing. When you transition to the shared vehicle, the route planning takes into account the best route for connectivity and easy driving and adjusts the microphone sensitivity during the call in the back seat.

This post was co-authored by the extended Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform (MCVP) team. A connected vehicle solution must enable a fleet of potentially millions of vehicles, distributed around the world, to deliver intuitive experiences including infotainment, entertainment, productivity, driver safety, driver assistance. In addition to these services in the vehicle, a connected vehicle solution is critical for fleet solutions like ride and car sharing as well as phone apps that incorporate the context of the user and the journey. Imagine you are driving to your vacation destination and you start your conference call from home while you are packing. When you transition to the shared vehicle, the route planning takes into account the best route for connectivity and easy driving and adjusts the microphone sensitivity during the call in the back seat.

You might expect cars at the world's largest auto show, hosted in Frankfurt, Germany, to reflect European tastes for smaller, more economical cars. And, indeed, previewing what's coming to the show in September, confirms those proclivities: Car makers are taking the miniaturization idea global. And in some cases, giving it a retro twist that will please the older, more-moneyed city dwellers who are all too happy to open their wallets to buy a little bit of nostalgia. Volkswagen finally announced it's definitely making a much-teased electric microbus, a 21st century resurrection of the beloved van from the 1960s, for sale in 2022. Based on the same platform as the I.D. electric car, it should pack eight passengers and their luggage into a vehicle the size of a small SUV and bedecked in a 60s-look packaging.