The 2020 Consumer Electronic Show continues, and so does the news flow as Sony announces its own electric car, Toyota unveils its plans for a smart city at the bottom of Mt. Fuji, and people are scratching their heads about one of CES’s main keynote speakers.
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Yes, it actually works, but no, you won’t be able to buy it. Not any time soon, anyway. At CES this week, Sony pulled back the curtains on its Vision-S car, an electric vehicle outfitted with all kinds of bells and whistles belonging to Sony. Vision-S project leader Izumi Kawanishi, who also runs Sony’s robotics division, sets the record straight in an interview with Impress Watch from Japan, and he says the business is not becoming a vehicle maker. Instead, he positions the concept as, “Sony’s contribution to the evolution of cars.”
Moving on to an actual car manufacturer, Toyota, which at CES this week announced its plans to not build a new car, but instead a smart city prototype at the base of Mt. Fuji. Named Woven City, the first phase of development on the site of a former car-factory will be home to 2,000 people who will test the vehicles, robotics and smart homes in a “real-world environment”.
And lastly, it looks like The first daughter’s CES keynote has sparked backlash and the #boycottCES hashtag. Ms Trump was interviewed in front of an audience of trade show delegates in Las Vegas by Gary Shapiro, chief of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which organises CES. Trump talked about how technology could improve students chances to find jobs, but, for example, having high school diplomas accessible on phones, preventing potential employers from calling the high school directly. She also stressed the importance of paid parental leave for US government workers. But many critics had questioned whether or not she was actually qualified to talk at the show.
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